LOGINShare
CHAPTER SIX — OUT OF PLACE
publish date:
2026-05-17 14:00:31
Latest chapter
Seven Nights to Survive CHAPTER TEN — THE WAY HE LOOKS AT ME
The majority of the day feels like a performance I don’t remember rehearsing. I sit in class. I take notes. I answer questions when teachers call on me. But none of it sticks. Everything feels like it’s happening a half-step behind me, like I’m watching myself go through the motions instead of actually being in them. Because underneath all of it.. There’s that hum. That awareness. That pressure that doesn’t leave anymore. And worse.. I’m starting to recognize it. Not just when it spikes. Not just when something is shifting.. But all the time. Like it’s been there longer than I realized. Like I just didn’t know what I was feeling before. By the time the last period ends, I don’t wait. I don’t linger. I don’t pretend I’m not thinking about it. About him. About everything he’s said. About the way he stepped in earlier like he already knew exactly what was happening before I did. I move through the hallway quickly, weaving through people without really seeing them. I know where he’ll be.
Seven Nights to Survive CHAPTER NINE — INTERCEPT
The hallway doesn’t settle after that. It pretends to rest, having them think more. Lockers slam like nothing, just skip a beat in the middle of everything. But I feel it. Underneath the noise is like a low hum that never quite fades…And worse… I feel like I am being watched. Not just by whatever that thing was. I shift my grip on my books as I move down the hallway, trying to shake the feeling off. It doesn’t work… “Hope!” I glance up. Evan. Of course. He’s leaning against the lockers a few steps ahead, pushing off them as soon as he sees me. Easy smile, with confidence. Familiar in a way that used to feel simple. Now it just feels… abnormal. “Hey,” I say, slowly.. “You disappeared after practice yesterday,” he says, falling into a step beside me. “Didn’t even stick around.” “I had stuff to do.” “Stuff?” he repeats, amused. “That’s vague.” “It’s supposed to be.” He laughs lightly, like this is normal. Like we’re normal. I try to match it. I can’t. “You’ve been kind of off lately,” he
Seven Nights to Survive CHAPTER EIGHT — TOO CLOSE TO IGNORE
I don’t sleep. Not really. I close my eyes. I lie still. I let the hours pass like they’re supposed to mean rest. But every time I drift… I see it again. That distortion. That not-quite-shape pressing against reality like it’s testing the surface. Like it’s looking for a way through. Or worse…. I feel it. That same awareness that’s been following me for days now. Only now it’s sharper. Closer. Like it knows I saw it. Like it knows I didn’t look away.By the time morning comes, I’m already exhausted. But I still go to school. Because routine is controlled. And I need control right now. Even if it’s fake. The hallway is louder than usual. Or maybe I’m just hearing everything differently. Lockers slamming. Voices bouncing. Shoes squeaking against the floor. Normal sounds. But underneath it… Something else hums. Quiet. Constant. Like a frequency I can’t unhear. I move through the crowd automatically, my body following patterns it’s known for years. Left at the corner. Three lockers down.
Seven Nights to Survive CHAPTER SEVEN — LINES I’M NOT SUPPOSED TO CROSS
I tell myself I’m not going to follow him.That feels like a reasonable boundary.A necessary one. Because whatever this is, whatever he’s pulling me into, whatever is shifting around us, and it’s already too much. Too fast. Too unknown.And I don’t chase unknowns. I analyze them. I keep my distance from them. I stay in control. That’s the rule. So when Kade turns and starts walking away from the field, I stay where I am. I pick up my bag. I unzipped it. I pretend I’m looking for something. I count my breaths. One. Two. Three…. Don’t go after him. Don’t…. I zip my bag shut. And follow him. I keep my distance. That’s the compromise I make with myself.I’m not following him. I’m just… walking the same direction. Observing. Keeping awareness. That’s different. It sounds different in my head. It feels like a lie anyway. Kade doesn’t look back. Not once. But I get the sense he knows I’m there. Of course he does. He always seems to know.We move off the school grounds, past the parking lot,
Seven Nights to Survive CHAPTER SIX — OUT OF PLACE
Practice is supposed to fix things. That’s the rule I’ve always lived by. If something feels off, you run drills until your body remembers what normal feels like. You swing until the crack of the bat drowns everything else out. You move until your mind stops trying to solve things it can’t. Control. Repetition. Clarity.So when I step onto the field after school, I expect it to settle me. It doesn’t. Not today. The air feels different. Not heavy like before. Not sharp. Just… wrong. Like everything is sitting half an inch out of place and I’m the only one who can tell. “Daniels! Are you alive over there?” Coach calls. I blink, forcing my focus back. “Yeah.” “Then move. Warmups don’t do themselves.” “Yes, Coach.”I jog out to the baseline, rolling my shoulders as I go. The team falls into rhythm around me, with stretching, throwing, laughing like nothing’s changed. Like everything is exactly the same. Maybe for them, it is. For me…. It feels like I’m playing on a field that looks famili
Seven Nights to Survive CHAPTER FIVE — CAUGHT IN THE ACT
I tell myself I’m not going to watch him today. That I’m done with it. That whatever this is, this is a pattern, this tension, this… thing… I’m not going to feed into it. It lasted exactly twelve minutes. It starts in the hallway between the second and third period. Same place as yesterday. Same time. Same feeling.That quiet, creeping awareness like something is lining up behind the scenes. I’m at my locker, pretending to reorganize books I already organized this morning, when it hits. He’s close. I don’t turn. I refuse to turn. I focus on the shelf inside my locker instead, adjusting a notebook that doesn’t need adjusting. One. Two. Three… Footsteps. Measured. Even. Familiar. My pulse picks up. Don’t look. Don’t… I look. Just for a second. Just enough to confirm. Kade Mercer.Same pace. Same posture. Same unreadable expression.Except… This time… He’s already looking at me. My breath catches.. Not like before. Not like when I caught him watching. This is different. Because I didn’t
Seven Nights to Survive CHAPTER FOUR — PATTERNS DON’T LIE
I don’t mean to start watching him. That’s the part I tell myself matters. It’s not intentional. It’s not obsessive. It’s just… noticing. The same way I notice a pitcher’s tells. The way their wrist angles just slightly before a curve. The way their stance shifts when they’re nervous. Patterns. Tha
Seven Nights to Survive CHAPTER THREE — THE WAY HE LOOKS AT ME
I don’t usually notice people noticing me. Not off the field. On the field, yeah, that’s one thing different. Eyes are expected there. Coaches, teammates, opponents, all are supposed to be watching, calculating, reacting. It’s part of the game. … But this…. This is different. Because Kade Mercer
Seven Nights to Survive CHAPTER TWO — THE SPACES BETWEEN WORDS
I don’t usually stay after games. Win or lose, I have a system, I cool down, pack up, leave. No lingering, no getting caught in the noise after everything’s already been decided. The field is clean, predictable. Off the field, things get… messy. But tonight… I linger. Not enough for anyone to call
Seven Nights to Survive CHAPTER ONE — BEFORE THE STORM BREAKS
Senior year. Almost eighteen. Tension simmering like a storm that hasn’t broken yet. I stand under the stadium lights, rolling in all the weight of the bat between my palms like it might answer something I can’t name for one. The field stretches out in front of me, with perfect lines, clean dirt, b
You may also like
HIS HEART IS MINE.
Jolante42447.5K viewsHer Troubled Bully
D-ehis111.9K viewsCrushing on Your Majesty
suzangill53.3K viewsFalling in love wasn't the plan
Chantinglove13837.1K viewsA Not So Cute Meet With Captain Arrogant
Hands Of God141 viewsPucking The Hockey Captain: My Forbidden Fruit
XoXoDrowningSea 147 viewsBabysitting The Hockey's Star Niece For Christmas
Mary Red 119 viewsWhere the ice melts
Endian Fiction 929 views
