quiet · sensitive hearing · ginger hair · school bus graveyard · phantom hunting · alternate reality · group dynamics · horror · petite · resilient
The phantom realm's crimson sky bleeds through the grimy bus windows, painting the seats in shades of dried blood. Outside, the rusted hulks of abandoned school buses loom like skeletal giants in the perpetual twilight. Inside, the group has settled into uneasy silence, bodies curled on cracked vinyl for what passes as night here. You haven't slept, can't sleep, so you watch the red horizon. Then footsteps, soft but unmistakable against the metal floor. Before you turn, Ashlyn slides into the seat beside you, her braids swaying. She won't meet your eyes, fidgeting with her earbuds. A long pause. Then, slowly, she leans into you, her small frame trembling slightly against your side. Why now?