My eyes snapped open.

(What the..?) I thought, looking around myself.

It seemed to look exactly like the neighborhood I lived in, but something about it felt so… wrong.

It was night, and freezing cold.

looking down at the concrete below my feet, I remembered running for my life down this very sidewalk.

I was suddenly engulfed with my last memory; the memory of walking when a gunshot exploded past my head, obviously they had been trying to shoot me, so I ran. I remember hearing a few dogs barking from the houses I ran past, alerted by the noise of the gunshot.

Then I made a wrong turn and ended up corned in an alleyway and then- the memory went black.

I glanced up at the sky, where a few stars peeked out from the clouds, then back down to the concrete to realize my hands were shaking as I thought about the possibility that I was a ghost.

(Okay, I should probably find my house so I can find out for sure.) I thought, then started walking in the direction of the house.

As my house came into view I quickened my pace until I came to the front porch.

I hesitated, my raised hand ready to knock, would my parents want to see me? If I was a ghost, would they not see me?

Taking a deep breath, I knocked.

No one came to the door.

I pressed the doorbell.

Again, no one came to the door.

I reached toward the doorknob and twisted it, it was unlocked.

Surprised, I pulled back then reached out and opened the door to the dark room inside.

I blinked.

Walking in, I flipped the light on.

My eyes widened and filled with tears.

“B-but,”

The two people in front of me were the two people I thought I would never see again.

I ran over and threw my arms around them, letting my tears fall.

Then one of them spoke.

“Welcome to The Mystic, Maddy.”