Cora's birthday was on April 5, 2008, and when she finally turned 14 it was like the best day of her life. Aaron is older than her, but it goes to her head. He's so small. How is it possible to be older than me? She was happy no matter what. Her parents got her a Polaroid camera for her birthday; she had only a few friends that came and she was happy with that. Aaron got her a book from her favorite series. It was the last book in the series that she was reading and she was so happy she almost passed out. The Polaroid camera she got from her parents was so cool, she ran around taking pictures of her and Aaron, and her parents and grabbed a magnet and put it in the fridge. Cora's a type of person when you show the love you have towards her you will see the real side of Cora. 

Two months after her birthday, her parents got a call saying that they had to fly to Europe within the month. Cora and her parents have two dogs and their both Siberian huskies, they are both loving and protective. Her two dogs are named, Thor, and Hercules. Thor is an all white husky, and Hercules is White and copper. Cora's parents finally decide to bring it up to her that they had to go to Europe for a friend's funeral. Cora was really fond of her mom's best friend. Cora's mom's friend was like an aunt to Cora, she got her gifts and candy from Europe. Her name was Savanna. Savanna and Cora were really close since, Cora's mom took Savanna under her wing since she was little. Savanna was in Europe for college, she was studying dance. One day, Savanna was walking in the streets on her way back to her dorm she just dropped to the ground. She was taken to the hospital and no one could find out what happened. Her death certificate was signed as a stroke from pressure and stress. Two days later Cora's parents got the call to travel to the funeral within the month, her funeral was at the end of the month. Cora’s parents were hesitant to tell Cora because they all loved her so much. 

Cora's parents didn't want her to go because she would be so heartbroken standing there watching one of the people she loved the most be buried in the ground. Cora was begging to go and her parents stuck with their decision that she was not going to the funeral. Her mother said “ You are staying home, end of story.” Her parents knew she was really sad, and her dad decided to tell Cora: “If you stay home and watch the dogs and the house, you will get paid.” Cora wasn’t too pleased with this response, but she knew they would never let her go, so she said okay and gave in. Cora ran up to her room after that stressful conversation, and she cried in her pillows all night. In the morning, Cora's eyes were all red and puffy from crying. That day, Cora's mom let her stay home from school. Once Cora's parents left for work for the day she was home alone with the dogs. She started to write in her journal all day talking and writing about Savanna. Later that day Aaron came over to comfort her and, as Cora sat on the floor, Aaron sat there and hugged her for the longest time. 

The week of the funeral, her parents started to pack their bags and put cards in the bag for Savanna's parents. She watched her dad as he put his suit in his bag thinking that they get to say a goodbye to Savanna, but Cora doesn't. Her dad saw Cora watching him as he packed, he stopped and said to Cora, it's better if you stay here. Both of Cora's parents said that it was for the best and that she wouldn't want to go to her funeral. Three days later her parents have all their bags and their tickets and are ready with everything by the door.

The day came Cora said in her hesitant voice in her head, she snapped out of her mind spacing, and she said goodbye to her parents. They gave each other hugs and kisses. Cora’s parents told her they may be gone for a few weeks because Savanna's parents need reassurance and they need help to regroup after the loss of their daughter. Cora was scared to be alone that long, but her mother said, “You can have Aaron come over whenever you feel alone or scared.” That made her feel a little better that one of the people she loves the most won't leave her. 

The first night came with her being all alone and her parents left for Europe. Cora laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling waiting and waiting for something to happen. She looked out the window in her room, it was pitch black in the middle of nowhere. Cora was almost about to call Aaron, but it was already two in the morning. Cora eventually fell asleep at two in the morning. When she woke up the sun was shining into her bedroom, thinking that she was crazy to think she wouldn't be fine because after she woke up, the doorbell rang. Cora looked through the door, and of course it was Aaron standing there smiling. He was holding a container of his mom's famous mac and cheese that their whole block goes crazy for. They both sat in the living room eating mac and cheese, with a load of blankets and pillows, binge watching so many series. 

After Aaron went home, Cora cleaned up the room a bit, so it's not messy. Cora was so tired that she didn't care that she was alone, she went up to her room and passed out on her bed. When her alarm clock went off, she woke up and noticed that it was eight in the morning but no sun whatsoever. She was shocked and ran out the front door, so fast that the dogs followed her whimpering as if they knew what happened. She watched the moon but nothing moved. By now it was 10 in the morning already. Cora wanted to go get her phone and when she got it. It was either out of battery or she couldn't reach anybody.

Cora looked towards Aaron's house and she couldn't see anything. She could get a hold of anybody. She started to hear a screeching noise, Cora and the dogs ran into the house, locked the door and watched through the window where she couldn't be seen. Cora watched a shadow that looked like a person walking closer and closer to the house. Cora got a shovel and tried to protect herself. She and the dogs hid as well as they could. Cora heard the door open with a squeaking noise, though she thought she locked it. It was like the shadow knew exactly where Cora was hiding in the closet, the drift of wind got heavier as the shadow came closer and closer to the closet. The dogs got so scared that they ran out of the house, opened the closet door and ran into the darkness, Cora could hear the house shake all her books falling off the walls, the table moved. The dishes fell from the counter and broke on the ground. The windows were bruised and it got so cold. The shadow coming towards her screamed silently and then it went dark and when she opened her eyes, the shadow was gone. The dogs hadn’t been seen for a while and it was pitch black outside the house. Cora went on like this for 2 weeks and she realized she was never getting out of whatever she was in, her dogs were gone, and she couldn't get a hold of her parents. 

The years went by and Cora was still alone. Her dogs were still gone, they never came back, and Cora fell  asleep crying every night, like she has since it first happened. She was as white as ever, her skin had a certain tone to it and because the sun has never come up, so her skin has a tone to it. Her silky red hair is so long with so many locks of hair flowing down her back. Cora's is now 19 years old because it has been 5 years since the sun went down and has not come back up. As Cora eats her dinner that she makes in the kitchen, she sits down and eats her dinner the next night, she makes herself a meal as she reads her book while she eats. Cora has read almost every book on her shelf over and over again. 

Cora went to bed again for the thousandth time as she cried herself to sleep. Something woke Cora up in the middle of the night, and just like 5 years before there was a shadow that was walking in the dark making themselves well known to Cora. The shadow walked up the steps to the front door and barged in. The shadow had a dark cloud of matter that floated around him, and you could see his bright red eyes that shone straight through the fog. Cora started to walk downstairs and she saw what she hoped she would never see again. Cora walked up to it hesitantly and asked shakily, “What do you want again? I know it was you who did this to me!” 

Cora started to have tears running down her face as she remembered the first time the shadow thing came into her house and destroyed whatever he could. Cora remembered the Polaroid camera her parents got for her the last week that she ever saw them. The shadow sat there for a minute, just watching her. 

Cora asked again: “What do you want again? I know it was you who did this to me!” 

You could hear the gasping of the shadow was going to say something. “Think, Cora. Who could have done something so bad to me, for me to be like this to you think…” 

Cora sat there and thought and thought as she was crying. It finally came to her that she remembered the book that Aaron gave her for her birthday. She ran and got the book and looked in it and she found out that as she read the lines over and over, she noticed that it was Savannah's story. It began with where she was born to when she died and became thirsty for revenge. Cora's eyes grew big, realizing that this shadow was Savannah. The shadow finally answered Cora's question of “what do you want again? I know it was you who did this to me!.” 

The shadow said in a deep voice, “You were the one I loved the most, and you didn’t  come say goodbye to me.” Cora told the shadow, Savannah's ghost, that she didn't have a choice. 

After Savannah's ghost understood, the shadow dissipated. Savannah's spirit was at rest and Cora's life the next morning was unreal…