Your birthday starts the same way it always does.

Your phone alarm blares. Sarah bursts into your dorm room, throwing a party hat at you. “Wake up, birthday girl! We’re going out tonight.”

You groan, rubbing your eyes. “Too early for this.”

She laughs, tugging the blankets off you. “Come on, it’s tradition! Big party at the OBX house. Everyone’s gonna be there—JJ, John B, Pope… even Rafe.”

Rafe Cameron. Your childhood best friend turned complication. You haven’t seen much of him lately, but he’s always there, lurking in the background with that unreadable smirk.

The night unfolds in flashes—booming music, too many drinks, the thick summer air clinging to your skin. You lose track of Sarah in the crowd, and somehow, you end up outside, stumbling down a darkened path alone.

Then—cold hands, a shadow moving too fast, a rush of fear.

And then you wake up.

Your phone alarm blares.

A knock on your door.

“Wake up, birthday girl!”

Your breath catches. No. No, this already happened. The party. The drinks. The dark path—

Sarah rips the blankets off you again, just like before. But you barely hear her. You remember.

It’s just a dream, you tell yourself. A weird case of déjà vu.

But then it happens again. And again. And again.

No matter what you do, you always end up alone. You always end up in the dark. And you always—

Your phone alarm blares.

“Wake up, birthday girl!”

Panic grips you. You start trying to change things—leaving campus, staying inside, avoiding the party. But nothing works. Every path leads back to the same nightmare.

And Rafe? He starts noticing.

“You’re acting weird,” he says one night, studying you from across the firepit. “What’s going on?”

You hesitate, your heart racing. “If I told you something crazy, would you believe me?”

His jaw tightens. “Try me.”

You exhale, the words catching in your throat. “I think I’m being murdered. Over and over again.”

For the first time, someone believes you.