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