"Ever heard of déjà vu?"
Rumble…
Thunder rolled somewhere beyond the dark clouds. The air was heavy, damp, like the sky itself was holding its breath.
Wee-woo. Wee-woo.
That was the sound of the ambulance as it pulled up to our house.
I stood frozen in the doorway, staring at my mother's cold, lifeless body. My father's hands shook violently around the handle of a bloody knife.
His teary eyes found mine.
"I did it," he whispered then laughed.
The sound was wrong.
It wasn't the laugh of a broken man.. it was sharp, unhinged, repeating as the police arrived. They forced him to the floor, pinned his arms before dragging him away.
"Are you okay? You need to go to the hospital," a rescuer asked.
I shook my head. My voice came out hollow.
"Please… save my mother."
That was the last thing I said before the darkness closed in.
When I woke, I was somewhere else.
No people. No windows.
The only light came from a torch burning on the wall beside me, casting shadows that breathed along the stone.
"Where… am I?"
A heavy thud echoed from somewhere beyond.
Footsteps. Slow. Coming closer.
From the shadows, a girl emerged. She wore a pink raincoat and muddy boots, as if she had just stepped in from a storm. A knife gleamed in her hand.
She smiled and then laughed.
"Ever heard of déjà vu?"