The house felt empty without Ethan. No matter how hard Analie tried, she couldn't escape
the silence that filled every room, every corner. It wasn't the kind of silence that brought
peace, but a heavy, suffocating silence that gnawed at her from the inside. It had been two
weeks since his death, and yet, every morning she woke up, it felt like it had just happened.
She hadn't even begun to process it how could she? Everything had been stolen from her so
suddenly.
Sitting on the edge of their bed, the place they had once shared so many memories, Analie
felt the weight of his absence pressing down on her chest. The soft linens felt cold now. The
space beside her, where Ethan's warm presence used to be, was vacant. It was like a hole
had opened up in her life, and no matter how much she tried to fill it, it remained. She
clenched the pillow he had left behind, burying her face into it, inhaling the faint scent of
his cologne still lingering in the fabric. But even that small reminder brought no comfort. It
only hurt more.
Her fingers brushed the delicate silver necklace that hung from her neck, a gift from Ethan
on their first anniversary. He had promised it would protect her, but she couldn't feel its
power now. She wondered if there was any meaning to the chain if it was simply a symbol
of his love, or if there was something deeper to it. Her thoughts flickered to the strange
dreams she had been having since his death dreams that felt too real, too vivid. She could
still hear his voice calling her name, faint and distant, like an echo of something she
couldn't quite grasp. Was it just her mind playing tricks on her?
Suddenly, the wind outside howled, rattling the window panes, breaking her reverie. She
sat up, wiping away the tears she hadn't even realized had fallen. There was unnerving about the silence after the storm. It wasn't a natural stillness it felt charged with energy, like the world was waiting for something to happen.
The sensation had been with her since the night of Ethan's death. It wasn't just the grief it
was something else, something far stranger. At first, she had chalked it up to the
overwhelming weight of loss, but now it was becoming impossible to ignore. The dreams,
the flashes of memories that felt out of place, the feeling that Ethan wasn't truly gone. Was
she just desperate for answers? Or was there something more going on, something she
couldn't yet understand?
The thought made her shiver.
A knock at the door pulled her back to reality, and she quickly wiped her face. She stood up
and walked to the door, her heart beating faster, half-expecting to see Ethan standing there,
as though he had never left. But when she opened it, she was met with Aunt Claire's
concerned face.
"Analie," Aunt Claire said softly, her voice gentle yet full of unspoken worry. "How are you
holding up, dear?"
The older woman's eyes softened as she took in the sight of her niece pale, tired, and still
wrapped in the lingering shadows of grief. Aunt Claire had been a rock for Analie during the
past few days, always present, always willing to listen. Yet, even with her warmth, there
was an air of uncertainty around her, as if she, too, was grappling with something unspoken."I don't know, Aunt Claire," Analie said, her voice trembling. "I keep feeling like… like he's
still here. Like I can almost reach him, but I never can."
Aunt Claire took a deep breath, stepping inside and gently guiding Analie to sit down on the
couch. She sat beside her, her hand resting on Analie's. "Sometimes, after a loss like that,
we feel things we can't explain. It's normal, love."
"But it's not just that," Analie pressed. "There's something… something strange. I keep
hearing him, seeing him in flashes. And the dreams." She trailed off, unsure how to explain
what she was experiencing without sounding completely mad.
Claire gave her a reassuring smile, but there was a flicker of something deeper in her eyes.
"Your mind is trying to make sense of it all. Grief does strange things to us. But don't ignore
what you're feeling. If there's more to it, we'll find out together."
Analie nodded, though her heart still felt heavy with doubt. Could there be more to Ethan's
death than she realized? Could his spirit really be trying to reach her? The idea seemed
impossible, but deep down, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was just beyond
her grasp, waiting to be discovered.
As the wind picked up again outside, she stared out the window, her thoughts racing. The
truth was out there, somewhere. And she would find it no matter what it took.