“Sharlene… Sharlene.”

She stirred awake, heart pounding, as a whisper echoed in her ears — gentle, familiar, and sorrowful.

Her eyes blinked open, adjusting to the dim light. Standing before her was a figure she knew too well.

“Grandma?” she whispered, rising quickly to her feet.

But her grandmother didn’t answer. She simply turned and began to walk away.

Without hesitation, Sharlene followed. Her feet moved on their own, guided by something deeper than thought. The world around her blurred until she found herself standing before a massive mansion — majestic, unfamiliar, and strangely cold.

She stepped inside.

The air was heavy. Long velvet curtains swayed though no wind touched them. The soul she had followed was gone.

Then she saw a woman seated before a vanity mirror, humming softly as she combed her hair. Her beauty glowed — radiant, alive.

“Leah…” Sharlene gasped.

She knew that face. She had seen it before — in dreams, in flashes of sorrow.

The woman’s joy faded. The image shifted like rippling water. Now Leah sat curled on the bed, pale and trembling, tears streaming as she held her stomach.

“Why?” Leah’s voice cracked. “Why did you do this to me? Even to our child… you showed no mercy.”

A sharp pain gripped Sharlene’s chest. Leah’s grief sank into her bones, too real to be just a dream.

Her grandmother appeared again — close yet distant, watching silently.

“Grandma… what do you want me to do?” Sharlene whispered.

No answer. Only that same deep, knowing stare.

Suddenly, the world shifted again. A man stood before Leah.

“I’m not happy anymore, Leah,” he said coldly. “We used each other. I never loved you.”

Leah trembled, but her voice held. “I know. I knew it all along. But I loved you anyway. All I ever wanted was love. Why couldn’t you give that to me?”

Tears blurred her vision as she fell to her knees. “I forgave everything — everything. Just don’t leave me. Please.”

But the man walked away without a word.

Rage surged through Sharlene. She wanted to scream, to strike him, to defend Leah. But she couldn’t move. She was only a witness to pain carved in time.

The scene dissolved into darkness.

A soft shake pulled her back. “Sharlene? Are you okay?”

Vivianne’s voice snapped her awake. She found herself sitting against the wall. Tashia was beside her, worry etched on her face.

“You need to rest,” Tashia said gently.

Sharlene’s head throbbed as she stood, leaning on her sister for balance. Inside, she sank onto the couch.

“I’ll go help with the preparations,” Tashia said before leaving.

“Thanks, Tash,” Sharlene murmured.

When the door closed, silence crept in again — heavier than before.

Her parents were still nowhere to be found.

I shouldn’t expect them anymore, she thought bitterly.

She pushed herself up and walked to the window. Guests continued to arrive, dressed in black. But then her gaze froze.

A woman in mourning clothes stood among them, her face turned away. No one else seemed to notice her.

In her hands was a bouquet of roses — but they were withered, brown-edged, lifeless.

Sharlene’s heart clenched. She had seen those roses before.

The woman began to move forward. Someone brushed past her — yet she didn’t budge. She glided silently above the ground, leaving faint, bloody footprints mixed with mud.

Sharlene’s breath hitched. A chill crawled up her neck, freezing her in place.

The woman approached the coffin, laid the withered roses on top, and leaned close, whispering something Sharlene couldn’t hear.

Then she turned.

Sharlene’s eyes widened.

The woman had no face.

Yet Sharlene could feel her gaze — cold and piercing — staring straight into her soul.

Then came the smile. A slow, twisted smile that made every nerve in her body tremble.

“Ma?”

The small voice shattered the silence.

Sharlene turned sharply, expecting to see Ashley — but it wasn’t her.

It was a child in a hospital gown, eyes hollow and full of sorrow. Then, before her eyes, the face shifted — and became Ashley’s.

“Mama,” the girl whispered.

Sharlene screamed—

—and woke up.

She was back on the couch, drenched in sweat, gasping for air. Around her, the quiet murmur of visitors filled the room. Everything looked normal again.

Just another nightmare.

She looked down at herself — still in yesterday’s clothes. The dizziness had faded.

Slowly, she rose and walked to the bedroom. Inside, Ashley slept soundly, peaceful and unaware.

Sharlene sat beside her, watching her small chest rise and fall. After a long while, she stood and got dressed again, ready to face the mourners outside.

These dreams… these nightmares, she thought. They’re becoming too real.