The night was thick with silence, but Kimberly's sleep was anything but peaceful.
Her breaths were heavy, her fists clenched on the bed, and her body twitched with each shift in the dark corners of her dream.
She found herself standing in a place she had never seen but somehow knew all too well, a dark valley, with ash-colored skies and earth that cracked beneath her feet.
The air felt like smoke, thick and cold, and every tree stood leafless like shadows of the dead.
Suddenly, a loud cackle pierced the silence.
"You came," the voice echoed. Kimberly turned sharply.
There, not far off, stood Katherina, pale, hollow-eyed, her black gown floating just above the ground as though it wasn't touching it.
Her fingers were long, skeletal, and her presence was heavier than ever.
"I didn't come here by choice," Kimberly said, standing her ground.
"You never had a choice," Katherina sneered. "None of you did."
