Serena

I jump up before the zombie could claw me. We all back up in fright when suddenly the zombie falls over as dead as a doornail. I look up and gasp. There behind the zombie stands Riley. Her blond her flows down her back and she races forward to confront the other zombie. Its eyes grow wide in fear before slumping to the ground. Riley reaches down, pulls the blade out of the zombie’s stomach, and wipes it on a rag. She sheaths the weapons and walks toward us slowly. I run forward and embrace her and she pats me awkwardly on the back.

"Um, why is some random person hugging me?" she asks, very confused.

"It's Serena! We had our bodies switched for some reason," I reply, my hopes dropping. She nods knowingly and we begin to search the floors. As we walk we explain everything since she died (a very awkward subject).  We searched every single floor and finally came to rest in the lobby. Outside grows dark so we decide to spend the night in the lobby. Trenton stands in the middle of the room and Riley stands next to him. They exchange a few words. I find this weird and continue to watch carefully. Then out of the blue, Riley takes a long blade and stabs Trenton in the gut. As he falls to the ground, I feel shock, then a fiery hate rise into my chest.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I scream at Riley.

"I'm doing him a favor," she replies, picking at her nails. As Trenton's breathing becomes shallow, Kylie races up to him and holds onto him. Her tears run down her cheeks, and I make a lunge for Riley, screaming the worst insults possible at her. Eric and Nathaniel grab my arms and hold me back. I feel anger boiling in my chest and I notice Trenton in the corner of my eye. I walk slowly to his side and grab his hand. I realize I can't cry. He whispers something in Kylie's ear and finally lets go of my hand. Kylie buries her face in his chest and sobs. I get up and face Riley.

"Why?" Is the only word I can manage to get out in

"Well, he was an easy target. He thought I was innocent. You knew something was going on so I couldn't try you. Then, when I died, he didn't even try to save me!" she whispers back, equally angry.

"Just get out," I say, my voice shaking. "OUT!" She rolls her eyes and disappears. Literally, vanishes. A small gust of wind and she was gone. I walk over to Kylie and put my hand on her shoulder. She stands up and hugs me. Her body shutters with sobs. From over her shoulder, I stare at Trenton/ Eric’s lifeless body. It all happened so suddenly. Riley did him a favor? Kylie lets go and looks me in the eyes.

"Are you even sad? Do you have any emotion left?" she whispers.

"I'm dying inside. He was your boyfriend and now he's gone. I vowed to keep you two together and I failed. I'm so sorry," I whisper back, staring at my feet.

"It's ok. You did everything you could." She tries to reassure me.

"No, I didn't," I start, my voice rising. "I could've done so much more. I should've taken his place. I KNEW WHAT WAS COMING AND I JUST WATCHED!" I yell, then stalk off to the front doors. I hear Kylie burst into tears, Eric scream at me, and Kathryn yelling at me to come back. I ignore them at bang through the front doors. I sit on the curb and put my face in my hands. This isn't supposed to happen. I have nothing to live for anymore. My family is dead, my two best friends are dead, and my boyfriend probably hates me right now. I want to cry, but I can't. I sit in silence for a moment then hear footsteps behind me.

"Go away," I snap.

"Please. Just hear me out," Nathaniel begs. I stare at him while he sits down next to me.

"What do you want," I say, bitterness taking an edge in my voice.

"I have questions."

"I don't care."

"Serena, don't use that attitude on me," he snaps. I give him a dirty look before he continues.

"Did you mean it when you said you would've taken Trenton's place?"

"I was completely serious."

"What about everyone else?"

"I would die before danger even had a chance to touch you." He stares at me in awe. I roll my eyes and look away.

"You are amazing. I hope you know that. And you couldn’t have seen that coming. You couldn’t have prevented it. It’s not your fault. Don’t blame yourself," he whispers. I whip around to look at him. He pulls me into a hug and I start to feel better. We release and head back inside. I apologize to Kylie and start to look for somewhere comfortable to sleep. Kylie and I curl up on separate corners of one couch. Kathryn lays out some pillows on the soft carpet and Dawson takes a couch. Eric and Nathaniel settle in some chairs and we all slowly fall to sleep.

I wake up a few hours later from a loud crashing noise from the floor above.

"What was that?" Kathryn whispers.

"Shhh," I whisper back." Listen". A creaking noise comes from the ceiling, then a huge crash with lots of dust. The dust clears to reveal a chandelier shattered in the middle of the lobby and a giant hole in the ceiling.

"Well that was a great way to wake up," Dawson says sarcastically. Suddenly, a peculiar smell reaches my nose.

"Guys, we need to get out of here now," I say slowly.

"Why?" Eric asks.

"That's why!" Kathryn yells, pointing at the ceiling. From the giant hole, smoke pours out into the lobby. Orange light and black smoke comes from the stairs and the fire alarm screams. We all jump up and start running to the door. We make it outside and the door locks by itself. I look up and smoke and flames begin pouring out of the windows. Kathryn does a head count.

"1,2,3,4,5... WHERE'S ERIC?!" she yells. We all whip around back to the burning hotel. Through the clear glass windows I see orange flames, dark black smoke, and my boyfriend, in Trenton’s body, pounding on the door.

"NO! PLEASE NO!" I scream, banging on the locked door. "ERIC!!" He stares at me with tears pouring down his face. He mouths an "I love you", and I put my hand on the door. He puts his hand over mine. I see him coughing, and then he falls down and retches. The smoke pours over him, and then he is no longer visible. I scratch at the door, begging for him to come back.

"PLEASE!! NO!!!" I scream. "THIS CAN'T HAPPEN!" For the first time in this nightmare, I cry. I let the others drag me away far enough, then I sit down and sob into my hands.