Don't cheat death.

I wake up excited for my 8th grade class photo. I get ready as fast as I can and as I'm running out the door to my bus stop I yell goodbye to my mom. My excitement for the class photo was overwhelming and seemed to make the school day fly by. Once the last bell rang I ran outside to search for my friends. The class picture was being taken on the steps at the back of the school that faces a field where the playground is for the younger classes. Everyone in my grade was finding their friends and choosing their steps to sit on for the picture. Once I found my friends we sat down and waited impatiently for the principal to take our picture. She finally started asking us to quiet down so we could hear her count down so my friends and I started to get into the poses we wanted to for the picture. I sat in the middle of my two best friends so I chose to put my arms around both of them and just smile. The principal started counting down but just before she got to one there was an explosion from underneath us. The stairs were turned to rubble and I could see my best friends go flying before landing on the hard concrete. They were both unconscious, and so were most of the other students in my class. Some were screaming in pain from losing limbs or being crushed by the rubble the stairs became. Some were being burned by flames that came from the ground and caught their clothes on fire.

I wake up hearing a terrified screaming and soon realize it's coming from my mouth. I stop screaming and know that I've had that dream before. I had that same dream when I was 14 on the night of my 8th grade class photo, and because I had that dream I was able to save everyone in my 8th grade class. I convinced the principal to reschedule the photo for the next day because any of the students that played sports would have to choose between a game or their class photo. The principal agreed that everyone should be included and rescheduled. I waited outside the office for my mom to pick me up at the front of the school and the stairs exploded at the same time they did in my dream. I'm now 24. My fiance rushes into my room holding a knife, looking around the room for whatever could've made me scream the way I did.

"Are you ok?" Noah, my fiance of 2 years, asked.

"Yeah, just had a nightmare." I sighed, rubbing the crust from my eyes.

"What was it about? Or do you not want to talk about it?" Noah asked, knowing that I sometimes need to just not think about things to get over them. I know why I had that dream again. My two best friends from that day have been trying to plan a reunion of our 8th grade class, and I've refused to go because I feel like if we're together in the same place at the same time again that death will come for us. Of course, I can't tell anyone this because they'll think I'm crazy.

"It's nothing important. I've had the dream before. I'm okay." I explain, not wanting to go into more detail. Noah looked a bit disappointed that I didn't want to tell him about my nightmare, but seemed to brush that off pretty quickly. Noah made me breakfast and left for work. I had today off so I focused on cleaning the house, doing laundry, just typical adult stuff. I finished all of the house chores by 2pm and decided to relax by watching some t.v. About an hour into watching a drama show Noah calls me.

"Hey babe! How's work going?" I asked, knowing he had to be on break because he's not normally off work until after 6pm.

"It's been alright. I need to ask you a favor." Noah said, sounding nervous. He's never this nervous so it must've been a serious request.

"What do you need?" I asked, wanting to get right to it. His nervousness was making me anxious.

"My work is having a dinner party tonight and I thought it was next week. Could you pack my suit, tie and dress shoes and bring it to me? Maybe get dolled up yourself so I'm not bored and trying to make conversation with my coworkers?" He explained and asked, sounding like he really needed me to be with him. I did remember him telling me he had a company party coming up but he made it sound like it was next week so I believed him.

"Sure, when should I be there so you have time to get ready?" I asked, wanting to make sure I got there early enough for him to change.

"I technically need you here now but I'll wait until you get here. Work let us out early for the party so that we could get ready but we're supposed to be there around 3:30pm." He explained, seeming upset that he had to rush me.

"I'll be there soon, love you babe." I said, hanging up the phone and bolting up from the couch to my bedroom to throw something on really quick and do my hair before packing his bag. I knew where everything he would need would be so packing his stuff took only a few minutes. I left the house and drove to his work as fast as I could. I got there at 3:15pm. He took his bag from me and rushed into work to change in the bathroom before having me get into the passenger seat of his car since he knew where the party was. He seemed excited, more than I would've expected for a company party. I started to get a pit in my stomach. I felt extremely sick and I couldn't understand why. I tried to ignore it. I was just going to a company party with my fiance. What could my intuition be trying to tell me? I kept trying to figure it out but I just couldn't. We pulled into a driveway outside a big two story house, and the driveway was full of cars.

"I thought they usually held your company parties at the country club." I said, confused as to why we were outside someones house.

"They do. Just get out and follow me." Noah said with a huge smile on his face. The pit in my stomach grew and I felt even more ill. I hate surprises so I felt like maybe that was why I felt so sick. Tried to ignore it once again as I followed him around the side of the house to what I assume to be the back yard. A huge group of people came into view as we rounded the corner of the house, and I realized... I recognize everyone.

"Surprise! Welcome to the reunion!" One of my best friends yelled as she made eye contact with me. I was instantly filled with fear.

"No, we need to leave. Now!" I yelled, nearly screamed in fear. I just somehow knew that if we were all together again that we were going to die. Noah held my arm to prevent me from leaving.

"Dana, why are you so against meeting up with your old friends?" Noah asked, confused and probably thinking I'm crazy for my reaction.

"You won't believe me if I tell you the reason, but you have to trust me. I can't be here with them. I just can't." I told him, trying to convince him to take me and leave.

"Dana, didn't you miss us?" My best friend that screamed earlier asked, looking hurt. Her name is Celina.

"I did, but I really can't be here. I can't tell you why, but you have to listen to me. I can't be here with everyone." I insisted. Trying to convince them to let me leave.

"Dana, I'm here with you. Can't you at least try to loosen up and hang out with your old friends? You don't have any friends so maybe you could reconnect with your old friends tonight." Noah persisted. I desperately felt the need to leave, but I could tell he wasn't going to let me leave right now. Maybe after an hour I could convince him. Nothing would happen in that amount of time, right?

"Okay. I'll give it a try, but you need to stay close to me." I told Noah. I felt like if something was going to happen, that he was somehow going to be safe from it, and maybe if he was close to me he would be able to protect me from whatever might be coming. Noah nodded, understanding that I needed him to stay close. We walked around, had some food that one of the students from my class had barbecued, and I caught up with Celina and Margaret, my other old best friend. I watched the clock closely and after an hour I started to feel like nothing was going to happen. Maybe it was all in my head and I was crazy. I had been avoiding my friends all because of some made up fear. I started to make myself feel ridiculous for the way I thought. Another half hour went by and it started to get dark. Some people were planning on staying the night at the house while others lived close by and had no problem driving. There were thick woods that outlined the back yard and some of the guys wanted to explore, probably out of boredom. One of them ran out of the woods with excitement, telling everyone to look at what he found. Everyone was curious, but some of the girls asked if it was a dead animal before following the others. As we all walked to where he said he found something, we weren't sure what we were going to see. I held Noah's arm as we approached what he was trying to show us. I couldn't see it at first because too many people were gathered in front of it, but as I was able to make my way forward to see it I felt the pit in my stomach again. There was a huge footprint in the dirt not very far into the woods outside the house. The guy who found it was sounding excited that we were going to be rich because we found proof that big foot exists. I was still terrified, feeling like we were all going to die soon.

"Noah, we need to leave now." I told him, hoping he wouldn't argue with me now that I had been here for over an hour. He looked at me like I was crazy.

"Dana, you have nothing to be afraid of. He probably made that himself and called us out here to fake us out. Big foot isn't real." Noah said, getting angry with me. He seemed to get along with some of my old friends so I think he just didn't want to leave yet.

"Please. I stayed for over an hour and I enjoyed my time out here but we need to leave now." I insisted. I desperately wanted to tell him why, but I knew he wouldn't believe me or would've thought I was crazy. He rolled his eyes and sighed in defeat. I could tell he was starting to give in to my wants.

"Fine, but we have to say goodbye to everyone first." Noah said, seeming annoyed with me wanting to leave so soon. Some people that looked at the giant foot print in the ground had already made their way back to the house so I said goodbye to everyone that was still in the woods with me. We started to make our way back to the house when I heard a deep grunting and growling behind us. There was a guy walking behind us so I assumed it was him. I turned around to ask him to stop, but when I turned I saw the guy behind me was frozen in place looking behind him. I looked up like he is to see... big foot? Big foot!

"Run!" I yelled, yanking Noah as I had us run back to the house. As we ran I heard the guy screaming in pain as we were running. I got a flash of him in my dream at the school, he lost an arm and was screaming in pain, then a flash of what I assume happened to him. His arm was ripped off at the shoulder by the beast. The flashes were quick, but they showed up like flip book images.

"Everyone get inside!" I yelled, trying to save us, but I knew it was no use. This was coming for us because we evaded death once, and we had to be living on borrowed time. Death was waiting for us to be together again. We are all going to die tonight, and as that sunk in, I looked at Noah. I was angry that he brought us all together, but I was sad because I knew I would be leaving him soon. Everyone ran into the house and shut the sliding glass door, like that was going to be enough to keep the beast out. Some people ran upstairs, probably to try to get out through a window upstairs to jump down and get to their cars, some were hiding, that was what I planned on doing. I knew I wasn't going to be able to get away. I found a closet and got inside it.

"Noah, this was why we couldn't be all together. This was why I needed to leave." I told him quietly, listening for any commotion outside the closet.

"You knew big foot was going to come after you?" Noah asked just before we heard the glass door shattering and felt the thuds of the beasts feet on the floor inside the house. Someone screamed upstairs at the glass shattering so it drew the beast upstairs. I saw the flash of my best friends unconscious from the school dream, then I saw a flash of the beast pushing Celina so hard she dented the wall with her skull and had blood streaking down her face, Margaret tried to throw something at the beast, then the beast took both hands and clapped them together around her head. Her head was crushed like a crinkled up paper, blood was gushing out of her headless body as she collapsed.

"I saved us all from death in 8th grade. That's why I avoided everyone." I explained to Noah as the flashes were showing me what was happening. Death wanted me to see how everyone was dying as a punishment for skipping out on him the first time.

"You don't have to die here. Just leave me. I love you, but I know it's not your time yet. I didn't know you then." I said as quietly as I could. I started to cry, because I didn't want him to leave, but I knew death would follow me if I tried to leave. He didn't deserve to die because of what I had done ten years ago.

"I'm NOT leaving you. Just come with me." Noah spat out angrily, too loudly. The beast had to have heard it.

"I can't!" I yelled as I jumped out of the closet and tied it shut.

"Call the cops. They'll be able to save you. " I said as the beast came down the stairs. I ran for the back door, trying to coax it outside. Maybe if I let it kill me it'll leave everyone else alone. It followed me. I stood still, staring the beast down as it got closer and closer to me. When it was only a foot away it grabbed my head and lifted me in the air. I saw the flashes of everyone dying at the school, then I saw flashes of how they would die by the beast. People were ripped apart, limb from limb or crushed to death. They were all still going to die. Then I saw a flash of Noah, stuck in the closet, listening to everyone screaming in pain as they're ripped apart or crushed. The cops do come and save him, but he waits until it's quiet to call. I felt an immense pain in the sides of my head, then nothing. I'm dead. the grim reaper was waiting for my spirit. I thought he would take me to wherever I was meant to go right away, but he forced me to stay and witness my friends being torn apart by the beast.

"Your friends would've had a less painful death if you didn't save them. You were meant to survive that day, but because you kept their lives from me I felt you had to die. I'm keeping you here to see how hurt the man you were never meant to meet feels now that you're gone." Death told me as I floated near my body now. The cops arrived and got Noah out of the closet. He was mortified looking at everyone's bodies as he walked around. He asked the cops to help look for me, and when he showed one of the cops the picture, they saw me when they first pulled in so they lead him to my body. Noah broke down crying.

"I'm sorry Dana. I should've listened when you told me you wanted to leave. I can't undo what I did, and I'm so sorry." Noah says hysterically, holding one of my hands. The cops overhear him, and arrest him as a suspect. Don't cheat death, because the way you die could be worse the next time around, and the lives of the people you weren't meant to meet could be unbalanced forever.