"No, Mom. I'm not going with you both. I already have my own plans."
I didn't understand why Mom was insisting so much. She had never behaved like this before.
"But, sweetie , you should-"
"No. No 'but,' Mom. I want to celebrate New Year with my friends. I don't want to attend another boring relatives' party."
Finally, after so long, I had a chance to relax. I wasn't going to ruin it for something so dull.
"Sweet..."
"It's okay, honey." Dad spoke up while fixing his tie. "If she doesn't want to join us, let her be. She rarely gets a chance to enjoy her life."
He was standing there in a perfectly stitched black suit, looking effortlessly handsome.
"Thanks, Dad, for taking my side," I said, hugging him tightly.
"I'm always on your side, sweety," he smiled, hugging me back.
"Huh! I can't compete with this father-daughter duo," Mom finally gave up and walked out.
"You're looking really handsome, Dad," I teased.
"Hahaha! Thanks, sweetie."
"Take care of yourself-and don't be late," he added before walking after her.
I followed them to the door.
They walked ahead of me, fingers intertwined, while I trailed behind at a small distance. I felt overwhelmingly happy-like the luckiest girl in the world. I had the best parents anyone could ask for. I had already accomplished my dream.
I was smiling brightly when suddenly-
Everything began to vanish.
Mom and Dad's silhouettes started fading into nothingness. My smile disappeared instantly. I quickened my steps toward them, but before I could reach them, they were gone.
I looked around-nothing but darkness.
"Dad! Mom!" I screamed with all my strength.
"Dad! Mom!"
"Sweetie...!"
"MOM!"
It was Mom's voice-desperate, calling for me. I ran toward the sound.
"Sweetie...!"
"Dad, I'm coming!" I ran faster.
"Sweetie...!"
"Mom, Dad, I'm coming!"
But with every passing second, their voices grew fainter.
"Sweetie..."
"Mom! Dad!"
"Sweetie..."
"Mom! Dad!" I screamed-
-and suddenly opened my eyes.
The darkness dissolved into a dimly lit room. Their fading cries were replaced by the steady tick-tick of the wall clock. In a blink, everything changed-from dream to nightmare, and from nightmare to my lifeless reality.
This wasn't the first time I'd had this nightmare. Ever since that incident, they had been haunting me like this. It had almost been a year, yet I was still restless.
But whatever it was-I knew I deserved it.
I glanced at the clock.
2:00 a.m.
I let out a heavy sigh. Two pills... still an hour and forty minutes .
I got out of bed, drank some water, and stepped onto the balcony for fresh air.
The breeze brushed against my skin, cold and sharp, slipping through layers like it knew exactly where to hurt. It carried no smell of life, no laughter, no warmth-only the distant echo of emptiness. The kind of silence that doesn't comfort, only reminds you how alone you are.
Every sound felt louder because of its loneliness-the faint rustle of trees, the hum of a faraway light, the soft creak of the balcony railing. Even time seemed slower, dragging each second like it didn't want to move forward.
The night wasn't just dark-it was hollow.
And standing there, wrapped in the quiet, it felt like the world had paused without me... leaving me alone with my thoughts, my memories, and the ache that only the night knows how to awaken.
Suddenly, the night screamed.
The sharp screech of tires tearing against the road ripped through the fragile silence, violent and unforgiving. Before my mind could process the sound, a car burst into view-rushing forward at a reckless, unnatural speed.
It twisted and swerved across the road, moving like a wounded snake, out of control, desperate. Anyone could see it-the driver had already lost the battle.
Seconds later, the car crashed into the roadside with a deafening impact and overturned.
The sound that followed-metal folding, glass shattering-wasn't just noise.
It was terror.
It was enough to shake a soul awake.
And just like that, that night returned.
The night where everything ended.
My life.
My world.
My happiness.
My parents.
I had lost them in a car accident just like this one. The same chaos. The same helplessness. The same final sound.
If I had reached there on time... I could have saved them.
The thought carved itself into my mind like a punishment.
This was my fault.
I wasn't fast enough. I wasn't there.
And because of me, they were gone.
My chest tightened, breath turning shallow, as if the night itself was pressing down on me. I couldn't let it happen again. I wouldn't. I couldn't survive carrying another death on my conscience-not theirs, not anyone's.
Tears blurred my vision, burning hot against the cold air. I shook my head instinctively, as if denying reality could erase it.
"No..."
Fear rose inside me-not loud, not frantic-but cold and suffocating. The kind of fear that freezes your blood.
"No... not again."
Before my mind could catch up, my body moved on its own.
I ran.
I didn't feel the freezing ground beneath my bare feet.
I didn't feel the cold slicing through my skin, through the thin fabric of my clothes.
All I felt was the past chasing me...
and the desperate need to outrun it.
By the time I reached the car, my lungs were burning and my legs were trembling, yet my body refused to stop.
The vehicle lay overturned, silent now-too silent.
For a moment, I just stood there, frozen, staring at the crushed metal as if it were a living thing that might suddenly breathe again. The headlights flickered weakly, casting broken shadows across the road. Smoke curled into the air like a slow, dying sigh.
"No... no, no..." I whispered, rushing closer.
My hands shook violently as I grabbed the door handle and pulled. It wouldn't move. I pulled again-harder this time-panic crawling up my spine, tightening around my chest.
"Please," I murmured, not knowing who I was begging anymore. "Please don't do this."
The smell inside the car triggered something deep and cruel inside me. My vision blurred-not from tears this time, but from memories crashing into me without warning. My parents' faces flashed before my eyes. The same twisted metal. The same helpless stillness.
You're too late.
The thought hit me like a blow.
"No!" I shouted, shaking my head fiercely. "Not this time."
I forced myself to look inside.
The driver was there-alive. Barely conscious. Breathing.
With trembling hands and a strength I didn't know I had, I somehow managed to pull him out of the car. The cold road pressed against my knees as I lowered him carefully, my heart pounding so loudly it drowned every other sound.
"Hey... hey, look at me," I pleaded, holding his hand tightly.
"Please, stay with me. I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you."
He was bleeding badly, yet his eyes were still open-glassy, unfocused, but conscious. Each shallow breath he took felt like a fragile promise that could break any second.
"Don't close your eyes," I begged, my voice cracking.
"Please... don't."
Tears spilled freely now, dropping onto his hand as I held it against my chest, as if my warmth could anchor him to this world.
I needed help.
An ambulance.
Now.
The realization hit me like a slap-I didn't have my phone.
Panic surged again as I searched his clothes desperately, my hands shaking, my mind racing. Nothing. Then my eyes caught it-his phone, lying just inside the wrecked car, screen cracked but still there.
I loosened my grip slightly, reaching toward it.
His fingers tightened around mine.
I froze.
He was scared.
Scared that I would leave.
Scared of being alone.
My chest ached painfully as I understood.
"I'm not going anywhere," I whispered, gently cupping his cheek, forcing him to look at me. "I promise. I'm right here with you."
Only then did I reach for the phone, keeping one hand firmly in his. My fingers fumbled as I unlocked it, tears blurring my vision while I dialed for help.
"Please hurry," I said into the phone, my voice shaking.
"There's been an accident."
I went back to him immediately, holding his hand again-tighter this time.
"Hold on," I whispered. "Just a little longer."