The Nightmare Of The Dead Top Student

First Chapter

When my mom found out I placed second in the Ivy League mock trials, she lost it.

Second place again? Why can't you just take out whoever's in first! she screamed.

I promised her I'd handle the competition next time. But that night, I had a nightmare about the boy who took the top spot.

In my dream, I pushed him off the twenty-third floor.

The sound he made hitting the pavement was like a watermelon bursting on the concrete.

I woke up shivering, my phone buzzing with endless notifications from the class group chat.

I tapped the first message, and the blood drained from my face.

"Tristan Sterling just fell from the twenty-third floor. He's gone."

"Tristan's mom is hysterical. She says it wasn't an accident. She thinks he was pushed."

"Can you guys hear the sirens?"

I stared at those words for a full ten seconds.

Tristan SterlingDthe boy who beat me for the top spot.

The twenty-third floorDthe exact level of his family's penthouse at The Grandview.

I remembered seeing his address on a school form at the start of the year.

In my dream, that was exactly where I had pushed him from.

I dropped my phone, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird.

The sensation from the dream still lingered in my palms.

I could still feel the soft cotton of his pajamas, so thin I could almost feel his body heat.

It felt too real.

So real that my fingers were still twitching.

But it was just a dream, right?

Things that happen in dreams can't possibly come true.

The group chat kept scrolling, a chaotic mess of rumors and fear.

"I heard the police are already there."

"His mom is screaming that someone murdered him."

"He was the top student. He had everything going for him. Why would he end it all?"

"I live in the next building over. I heard a sickening thud, then the most horrifying scream..."

Someone posted a high-res photo they'd managed to snap.

When I saw Tristan lying in a pool of red, my heart skipped a beat.

I couldn't believe my eyes.

In the photo, Tristan was wearing the exact same navy blue polka-dot pajamas I saw in my dream.

This was too much to be a coincidence.

Despite the panic, my logic started to kick in.

I would never kill someone just because they stole my number one ranking.

So the next day, I went to school and tried to act like everything was normal.

Tristan's seat was empty. The atmosphere in the classroom was suffocating.

After class, I walked toward the faculty office and overheard a detective talking.

"We found no fingerprints on the body. For now, we're leaning toward a self-deletion."

"But he just placed first. No academic pressure, no known psychological issues. There's no motive for him to do this..."

Before the detective could finish, my teacher spotted me.

"Sienna Vance? Why are you just standing there at the door?"

The detective, a man named Miller, turned his gaze on me instantly.

My teacher quickly tried to clear the air.

"Detective Miller, this is Sienna. She's the student who placed second in the mocks."

When he heard "second place," Detective Miller's eyes turned sharp and unreadable.

"Well, now that number one is gone, I guess that makes you the new top student," he said.

I was too frozen to even respond.

By the time I found my voice, Detective Miller was already walking away.

My teacher patted my shoulder, sensing my shock.

"Tristan's death was a freak accident, Sienna. You need to stay focused. Don't let this affect your real exams."

Second Chapter

The mid-term finals arrived faster than I expected.

I thought that with Tristan gone, I would finally take the top spot.

But when the rankings were posted, my heart sank.

My classmates started whispering and snickering behind my back.

"Sienna is really cursed to be the runner-up forever. Even with Tristan dead, she still couldn't get first."

The new number one was my best friend, Chloe Rhodes.

She looked at me with an awkward, apologetic smile.

"Sienna, I'm so sorry! I know your mom is going to be furious."

"I honestly don't even know how I scored that high. It must have been a fluke."

I didn't say a word. I just grabbed my bag and walked out.

When I got home, my mom lived up to my expectations. She tore into me the moment I stepped through the door.

"Sienna Vance, you really are a permanent loser, aren't you?"

"Tristan is literally dead, and you still can't win!"

"Do you remember what you promised me?"

"Now you let that airhead Chloe take the top spot? I thought you said she wasn't even on your level!"

Internal resentment began to boil inside me.

Chloe's grades were usually way below mine. I had spent so many of my own study hours tutoring her.

I never imagined she would actually surpass me.

My mom got so angry that, for the first time, she actually struck me across the face.

I broke down, begging for her to stop.

"Mom, I won't help her anymore. I promise I'll be first next time!"

"Just give me one more chance, please."

My mom sighed and handed me a glass of warm milk.

"I'm only doing this for your own good. If you aren't the best, you'll never get into Harvard."

I grew up in a single-parent household. My mom sacrificed everything for me.

I understood her intentions, even if her methods were cruel.

She was hard on me because she wanted me to have a better life than she did.

I swore to myself that I would do whatever it took to be number one next time.

I drank the milk and went to bed early.

Chloe sent me dozens of texts, but I ignored every single one of them.

That night, she appeared in my dreams.

She was crying, begging for my forgiveness.

"Sienna, I'm so sorry. Please don't be mad at me."

I looked at her with a face of stone and said only one thing.

"Only the dead deserve forgiveness."

Then, to my own horror, I watched the "dream-me" reach out.

I pushed her right out of her bedroom window.

As she fell, her school uniform fluttered in the wind. Her face was a mask of pure betrayal and despair.

Three seconds later, there was that sickening thud.

I saw a dark, crimson flower bloom beneath her body. The sight burned my eyes.

"Chloe!"

I screamed as I bolted upright in bed. I was drenched in a cold sweat.

Thankfully, the class group chat was silent for once.

I had killed someone in my dreams again.

And this time, it was my best friend.

I looked at my phone and saw Chloe's tenth apology text. I hesitated, but I couldn't bring myself to reply.

I figured I would just talk to her in person the next morning.

But when I got to school, her desk was empty.

The bell rang, and our teacher walked in with a face like a ghost.

"Class, I have some devastating news to share."

"Last night, Chloe Rhodes took her own life by jumping from her window."

Third Chapter

This couldn't be happening.

Why would Chloe do that?

My right hand was shaking violently. That was the hand that had pushed her in my dream.

"Teacher, are you sure? Is this a joke?"

A wave of pure terror crashed over me. I could barely hear my own voice.

Every eye in the room turned toward me.

Everyone knew Chloe was my best friend.

They also knew we had a falling out over the rankings the day before.

"Do you think she felt so guilty for taking Sienna's spot that she ended it?" someone whispered.

"Since when is it Sienna's spot? She's never been number one."

"But both people who beat her are dead now. That's beyond creepy..."

The rumors were starting to get to me. The guilt was eating me alive.

Was it really my fault? Did she do it because I ignored her texts?

While I was spiraling, Detective Miller showed up at the school again.

"Sienna, I need to talk to you. Was Chloe Rhodes a close friend of yours?"

I nodded, my throat tight.

He held up Chloe's phone in a plastic evidence bag.

"She sent you a lot of messages last night. Why didn't you answer any of them?"

I told him the truth about our fight. Then I asked the question that was haunting me.

"Detective, did she... did she do it because of me?"

He looked at me, his eyes full of suspicion and calculation.

"She didn't do it herself, Sienna. Before she went to bed, she wrote in her journal about how she was going to apologize to you today. People don't make plans for tomorrow if they're planning to end it tonight."

"Then who did it?"

He watched me closely, checking to see if my grief was genuine.

"The investigation is ongoing. But I can tell you this: whoever killed Chloe is the same person who killed Tristan."

"The killer has a very specific target. They are going after whoever is in first place."

He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a whisper.

"I have to be honest with you. Right now, you are the person with the strongest motive for both crimes."

My heart skipped a beat, then started racing again.

He wasn't wrong. Even without the dreams, I would have suspected me too.

The person who gains the most from the top student dying is the one in second place.

But I had checked the security cameras at my house. On both nights, I never left my room.

I didn't have the time to commit these crimes.

But I couldn't explain why I was having those horrific dreams.

"On the other hand, if you aren't the killer, you're in serious danger," Miller added. "Stay safe until we figure this out."

I nodded numbly.

When school let out, I saw Chloe's mom standing by the gates.

She had been there every day for the past week, waiting as if Chloe would just walk out of the building.

She looked like she had lost her mind.

The moment she saw me, she lunged at me.

"Sienna! Where is my daughter? Where is my Chloe?"

She was hysterical.

My eyes welled up, but I couldn't find the words. Then another woman joined the fray.

"Sienna Vance! I know you killed my son!"

It was Tristan's mother. She slapped me across the face so hard I fell.

"My son had no enemies! You were the only one competing with him. Did you kill him just to be number one?"

Chloe's mom seemed to snap at that suggestion. She grabbed my shirt and shook me.

"Yes! Chloe told me she was worried you'd hate her for beating you!"

"It was you! You killed her!"

"No, please! It wasn't me! I swear!"

I sobbed, trying to defend myself, but the images from my dreams kept flashing through my mind.

Eventually, the school security guards had to pull them off me.

Fourth Chapter

After that scene at the gates, the entire school looked at me like I was a monster.

Maybe they were right to be afraid.

The atmosphere was thick with dread, but the National Merit Finals weren't going to wait for anyone.

Surrounded by whispers and pointing fingers, I took the third mock exam.

And once again, I failed my mother.

I didn't get first place. In fact, I didn't even make second.

When the results were announced, everyone looked at my seatmate.

Jade Lawson looked like she was about to have a panic attack.

"Both first-place students are dead! Am I going to be murdered tonight too?"

"I'm saying this nowDI am not depressed! I have no reason to end my life!"

She looked at me with pure terror while she said it.

She had clearly already decided that I was the killer.

I didn't say anything.

Killing her wouldn't even make me number one this time.

The school called the police, and Detective Miller personally stepped in to provide her with protection.

My mom, however, didn't care about the danger. She was only interested in my failure.

"What is wrong with you? Why are your grades slipping?"

"Mom, Tristan and Chloe are dead..." I said, my voice trembling.

"So what?" she snapped, her voice echoing through the house. "Do you think the government is going to cancel the exams because two kids died?"

"Everyone thinks I'm a murderer, Mom."

"With these pathetic grades? You don't have the brains to be a killer," she sneered. "If people suspect you, you should study harder just to prove them wrong!"

"Mom! Two people are dead! Aren't you worried the killer might come for me if I get first place?"

I finally snapped and ran to my room, slamming the door.

"Don't you use that as an excuse! If you get first, I'll stay awake all night to protect you!"

She used a spare key to force the door open.

She handed me the usual glass of milk.

"Drink it. Stop overthinking things. Those deaths were freak accidents. No one is targeting first-place students. If they were, they'd go after the state-wide rankings, not just our class."

I lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to find peace.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed. It was Detective Miller.

"Sienna, listen to me carefully. You need to lock your doors and windows right now."

"We just got word that there was a grading error in the third mock exam. You are actually the number one student."

"Stay where you are. I'm on my way."

I opened my mouth to reply, but my phone screen went black.

At that exact moment, the lights in my room flickered and died.

I froze, then screamed for my mother.

But no matter how loud I yelled, there was no answer.

The house was silent, except for a heavy set of footsteps coming from the darkness.

I couldn't see a thing, but I could feel someoneDor somethingDapproaching me.

The footsteps stopped right in front of me.

Before I could react, a pair of ice-cold hands clamped around my throat.

"How could you be number one?"

The voice sounded exactly like mine.

I couldn't breathe. I thrashed wildly, trying to push the intruder away.

My hand caught on something and I ripped it away.

Just then, a sliver of moonlight broke through the clouds and hit the room.

In that pale light, I finally saw the face of the person trying to kill me.

I froze in absolute shock.