Twilight's Peak

Jaxon's POV

We wave goodbye to Nathan and I open the door to Liam's truck. " So... What do you want to do before we head to Nathan's house?" I ask.
Liam shakes his head and replies, " I don't know...how about let's go to Bass Pro, I want to get a new hat."
I tell him sure and he puts his truck into gear and starts to pull out. Liam grabs his phone and starts texting. I tease him and ask if it's his girlfriend and he laughs and shakes his head.
" We're just talking, remember the girl I was talking about earlier?" I nod my head and he says that she agreed to go on a date with him next Friday.
We pass a new store being built, and I find the sign that says Huff's Music and wonder what it's going to be.
Liam locks his truck and we head to the front doors. There is a brisk cold air as we walk inside and I look around and see all of the mounted animals and hanging pictures. Liam practically runs over to the hat section and I follow behind. Something catches my eye and I retire to the left where all of the candy is with a pack of Reese's calling my name.
The lady scanning my candy looks like a Royal bitch. " That'll be three dollars and fifty cents." She says rudely. I grab my wallet out and reluctantly hand her my last five dollar bill. It was worth it I told myself.
Liam walks up behind me and starts to pay for his hat, wait not one but four hats. I thought he only wanted one. Oh well it's his money.
We talk as we head back to the truck. I pull out my cracked iPhone six and see that my mom left me a message to pick up her medication before coming back home.
My mom has stage four breast cancer and the doctors prescribed a bunch of medications to try and help her. I ask Liam if we can run by the pharmacy and grab my moms meds and he says sure and starts to pull out. He puts on some sad music and I look over at him and ask why?
He says that it helps him cope with him and Rosalie's' break up and her move. I say oh okay, I understand. About ten minutes later, I'm in the waiting line talking to the pharmacist. He hands me the meds and tells me to have a good day. I thank him and turn around to leave.
Looking at all of the medicine is overwhelming, I blink my eyes several times holding back the tears. It's been so hard ever since mom had been diagnosed last spring. She was forced to quit her job as an elementary teacher and dad had to pick up extra shifts at his job to cover all of the bills.
I open the door and sit on the bench to the right. I close my eyes and breathe deeply for a few minutes. Everything will get better I tell myself. Realizing it's been too long, I get up and walk to the other side of the building and open up the truck door. Liam asks me if everything is good and I nod my head and tell him I'm fine. Liam makes a face as if he wants to say something but he glances away.
The rusted old mailbox comes into view with a tan double wide, this is where I live. He parks the truck and we walk inside my house. I hear my siblings playing in the living room and I go straight to my parents bedroom. Mom is laying down watching what seems to be Grey's Anatomy.
"Hey mom, I brought your medicine home." I say.
Her face lights up and I walk over to hug her. I pull out the Reese's that I bought and give them to her. Her face lights up and she opens them up and eats one.
" Mmm...That hits the spot. Thanks baby. I love you." she says.
I tell her your welcome and that I love her too. Liam walks up to her and hugs her too.
She says," Liam... You and Nathan were always my favorite. You know I consider you both one of my own kids." He nods and talks to her for a minute. I knew that Liam didn't have a mom and that he lived with his grandma, he didn't like to talk about it much. That's why he was so close to my mom and Nathan's.
Right before we leave, I ask her if I can stay the night with Liam at Nathan's house. She says of courses and to have fun. We walk out the door and holler out our goodbyes. Liam starts his truck and backs out as I pull the seat belt over and drives down the driveway.
The clock on the radio blinks and I notice it's five thirty and I get this weird feeling in my stomach. We're about five minutes from Nathan's house when the fog begins to roll in.
Liam has to turn on his fog lights and drive slower. This may be the thickest I have ever seen it. I can tell we're near the bridge because the road slopes and the fog lifts ever so slightly.
Is that a car on the bridge, I ask myself. I gasp, that's not just any car, it's Nathan's mustang. With his hazards on. Before I can tell Liam anything, he slams on the brakes and we both jump out of the truck and run over to the car.
Sam is inside covering his ears and eyes. I bang on the window and he looks up to us with big fearful eyes to be relieved when he realizes that it's us. He unlocks the car and opens the door to get out. He pushes past us and runs straight down to the creek and disappears.
After a moment of dumbfounded, we chase after him and demand him to tell us what happened. He proceeds to tell us everything that had happened, from them both seeing something fall off the bridge to hearing Nathan scream Sam and then us showing up.
The rest of the night was a blur, Casey and her husband showed up soon after the cops and Sam broke down in her arms. I don't remember the rest, but I do know that we ended up at the house discussing what had happened. Sam went upstairs and went to bed. My eyes begin to grow heavy and I know I can't stay awake anymore.
They continue to talk as I head to the family den and crash on the couch. I kick my shoes off and grab the throw that was across the couch and force myself to sleep. I have a series of nightmares that night. From Nathan disappearing and then my mom dying. I wake up instantly gasping for air. Liam is on the other couch with his butt hanging off the couch snoring and I get up to get a drink.
Callie's office has a mini fridge and it was the closest, so I tip toe to it and grab a coke from inside. I gulp half of it down and choke from how strong it is.
I hear whispering and freeze, it's Nathan's mom talking to someone. They keep whispering as I sneak back into the kitchen, it's Callie talking to a detective.
" Ma'am we will do all that we can to bring your boy home safely." She sniffles and nods her head.
The dark colored man proceeds to ask a series of questions about if she noticed anything different about him in the following weeks leading him disappearing.
She sees me and waves me to her. My face turns red from being caught. She pulls me into a tight hug and I squeeze back. She rubs my back and tells me everything will be okay and that they will find him. The detective checks his pager thing on his belt loop and gets up to leave.
" There is an emergency at the office I'm afraid I must go." He says and waves goodnight and shuts the front door, he reassures us that they will do everything in their power to find him.
Callie locks the front door still holding onto me and we both make our way back to the kitchen. She has heavy bags under her eyes and I can tell she hasn't slept at all. I ask her if she wants to go to bed and she shakes her head.
She finally lets me go and walks over to the fridge and grabs a bottle of red wine, along with a cup. Pouring herself a cup, she asks me how my mom is. I kind of shrug my shoulders not really wanting to talk about it because I know I'm going to cry.
She takes long sip of her wine and leans over to hug me again.
" Everything will work out Jaxon, your mom will beat her cancer because she's a fighter and Nathan will come back home." She says reassuringly.
She has to take a big gulp after forcing out that lie. She finishes her cup and I can tell she is ready to go to bed. She tells me goodnight and heads upstairs. A minute later, I hear the bed creak and she's laying down.
I finish my coke and walk back to the couch. Liam is sleeping with his butt in the air now taking about hats in his sleep, I lay back down and close my eyes.
In the morning, a series of noises from the kitchen awakes me and I just know that it's Callie making coffee from the noise of the machine grinding the beans.
I stretch my legs and get up. The powder room in down the hall and I walk over to it to use the restroom.
There is sound of life upstairs which means Sam is up. I head back to the family den and see Liam getting up. Half of his hair is standing straight up and the other half is flat.
I laugh and he mutters shut up while processing waking up. He gets up to go use the restroom.
I hear Sam come down the stairs and Liam stops right beside me as Sam sees me. We talk to him and ask him how he feels. He answers distantly and we hug him and tell him that we are going to have to be on our ways.
We tell Callie and Sam good bye and walk out the front door to Liam's truck. I open the door and get inside. I close my eyes and take in a deep breath as he starts the truck and backs up. We see them looking at us through the window and they wave, I wave back and Liam doesn't notice.
He drives slowly down the driveway and onto the road. I look to my right to see the old couple staring at us while that sit on the porch swing and drink what I presume is coffee. I wave at them and they both look at me as if they can't see me. I shrug it off and rest my head on the side of the window. We have to take a little detour because the bridge is marked off with yellow tape and we know that it's about the Nathan Adam's case.
Liam finally pulls into my driveway and up to the house. I grab my things and thank him for the ride. He tells me no problem and I shut the door to let him leave. My little sister Jordan is staring at me through the living room window and her eyes light up as I wave at her.
I open the door and step inside to my family.
Dad comes up to me and hugs me, I grab him back and begin to cry. He rubs my back and tells me everything is okay. I go to their bedroom and crawl in the bed to lay next to my mom.
She hugs me and kisses me on the forehead. "Everything will be okay honey," she tells me. I close my eyes and sleep again, this time with having my mom next to me, I sleep peacefully.
By the time I woke up, I could hear mom in the bathroom throwing up. Her medicine must be working, hopefully everything works out.
The next two days were a blur.
Jaycee came by and to visit before she had to leave. She and her family were spending the whole summer in Spain. I didn't listen to everything she said about it because I was bummed out about it. She kisses my cheek before having to leave. I shut the front door mesmerized by her beauty. Ahh Jax, she's a keeper for sure. I think to myself.
"Jaxon? Can you come play with us?" Ask my little twin sisters Jordan and JayLynn. I tease them and shrug my shoulders and say, " I don't know can I?"
They giggle and say of course now let's go.
I get up from my bed and walk with them to their rooms. I notice that they have a tea set on their table and I sit down and wait for them to begin.
First things first, I was handed pink and purple wings to put on and a tiara. I'm into my fifth cup of tea when the house phone rings. " I'll be right back girls," I tell them.
I hop up and walk down the hall to the living room to answer the call " Hello? This is Jaxon Grey speaking. " It's Callie Adams calling and telling us that she took Sam to the hospital.
" I gave him half a cup of wine and he passed out on Kason's lap and wouldn't wake up. I didn't know what to do so I called the Doctor and he told me to take him to the hospital. They told me that he was exhausted and with Nathan disappearing, it was a way for his body to cope with all of the stress." She says.
She told me that they were going to keep him overnight for observations. I take the phone to mom and she picks it up and starts talking with her. She quietly asks me to leave the room so I go back and play with the girls.
Twenty or so minutes later, mom opens her door and walks out. "Girls, gather your things, we're going to the hospital for awhile." She says.
I get up and walk into the living room to see her grabbing a mask to put over her face. I ask her, "Are you sure you should do this? The doctors told you the bare minimum of human contact."
She says it will be fine and to not ask again. I'm just like fine, so I decide to ask her, "Can I drive mom?". She nods and we open the front door and walk towards the car.
I open the drivers door to her silver mini van and start it up. The girls hop in the back and buckle up. Mom opens her door and slowly gets inside.
She puts on her country radio station and I back up. It takes up about twenty long minutes to get to the hospital and I quickly pull the van into the parking spot we get out of the car and I lock it up.
We make our way to the waiting room and find Callie waiting for us. She walks over to us and hugs my mom and freezes. She leans back with a petrified look and apologizes for hugging my mom.
My mom says it's no biggie. They talk for a minute and we follow them to a white room with Sam laying in the bed hooked up to some machines.
The girls and I wait in the hall as they both go inside, I don't want them to be scared by anything so we sit on the bench waiting. Liam calls me and says the he and his grandma are in the parking lot. I tell him we're waiting outside the door and he tells me that he'll be right up.
I lean back and talk with the girls until the girls eyes light up and I look over to find Liam and his nana walking out of the elevator.
Liam leans down and gives the twins a hug. I give his nana a hug
"How you doing Nana?" I ask.
She tells me that she's doing good and then proceeds about what she did today. "I had just gotten out of the shower, Liam and were planning on heading to the cemetery and putting flowers on his mothers' grave."
I forgot that today was the birthday of Liam's mom Hope. I think that's sweet that even though Hope isn't her own daughter, she treats her like one. Her son had ran off shortly after Liam was born, but Hope stayed and she helped her with the baby.
My mom and Callie are in full conversation as Nana goes inside to visit with them. Liam and I stay with twins and talk. We begin to talk about girls and he pulls out his phone and shows me a picture of the girl he was talking to. I believe her name is Brynn and she has short, light brown hair with freckles.
Liam seemed real happy when he mentioned her. He asks me how Jaycee is doing and I tell him that she and her family went to Spain for the summer, and that I kind of zoned the rest she had said about it. She promised to call me everyday though when she can.
I check my phone and see that we've been here over an hour and half, yet the girls have been so good. It must be because Liam is here and they don't want to show out in front of him. I think they both have a little crush on him. Liam resembled a young Harrison Ford, though I never saw it. All the girls thought so though.
I see a little boy walk past and I notice his green alien shirt. It was the same shirt Nathan had on when we first met. I had just turned eight and we were having my birthday party at the park. Everyone had left and I was on the swings alone.
Nathan got on the swing next to me and stared at me with big nervous eyes. I said hello and he shyly returned the hello.
"That's a cool shirt. What's your name?" I ask. He tells me his name is Nathan and that he loved aliens. We continue to talk and he opens up to me. We talk about how we can't wait for summer and dumb kid stuff. I laugh silently to myself and keep reminiscing the past.
I remember from that day on, we had being friends. Which eventually turned into best friends, then after we got to middle school, we befriended Liam. He moved to our school in sixth grade, and he was never shy. The most outgoing out of the three of us.
We never really cared for anyone else, it had just been us and our friendship and no one else. I remember being bullied from a girl about being trailer trash, and not having as much money as her. Nathan who definitely was better off than Liam and I put together never showed it. I've never heard him say one negative thing about him being better than anyone, he even preferred coming to one of our houses than his own. Anyway, that day when he came upon her saying that to me he opened his mouth and chewed out Amanda, that was why he never liked her. I laugh again from thinking about that.
I Snap out of my thoughts to see that Liam is staring at me with a puzzled look. He asks me if everything is okay, and I nod my head.
"Yeah it's cool, I just saw a little boy walk by with a green alien shirt one. It looked just like the one Nathan has worn the first day we met. I kept thinking about it, then I remembered the first day we had met you. You were wearing that black kiss shirt with a don't mess with me look on your face."
He laughs, as do I and Jaylynn looks up to me and says she had to pee. I tell her let's go then. "Do you need to go Jordan?" I ask. She nods her head and hops up to follow me and her sister. Liam gets up with me and we walk them both down the hall to the restrooms.
" Don't forget to wash your hands with soap and water." I tell them. They giggle and promise and run into the girls bathroom.
Liam's phone rings and he pulls it out and answers it. He listens and talks back having a conversation with whom ever it is. "That's nana, she's ready to go. Tell the girls I said bye. See ya Jaxon." He says.
I tell him goodbye and that the girls will be sad that they couldn't say goodbye. He laughs and proceeds to walk back down the hall to his nana.
After a couple more minutes, the girls come out with damp hands and we head back to where we were sitting.
When we get there, somebody else is sitting and there is only room for one of us. I sit down first and they each hop on one of my knees.
We wait there another ten minutes until finally, mom opens the door and walks out. " Sorry for the wait kiddos, we lost track of time" she say.
We say our goodbyes to Callie and head towards the elevator.
"How are you feeling mom? You look pale?" I ask worried.
I know her answer before she says it, she's going to have a rough night. We get back to the car and she pulls out her emergency medicine and takes two pills and I put the car into drive and pull out of the parking lot. She's taking long deep breathes of air trying to keep herself from puking.
I barely have enough time to pull over to the side of the road before she begins puking. I put the car into park and get out to rub her back. She hurls another ten minutes before she wipes off her mouth and says she's done. We get back in the car and I buckle up and begin to drive again. The girls are asleep in the back and didn't even notice what had happened. God, pleas let my mom be okay. I prayed to God.
I see our mailbox and pull into the driveway. I pull into the carport and shut the car off. The girls are sound asleep so I unbuckle them and carry them to their beds. By the time I got the girls in their beds I had worked up a small sweat.
Moms door is shut so I guess it's just me, I tell myself. I get a weird feeling that I can't shake so I go to the spare bedroom and grab one of the scrapbooks mom used to make to pass the time and hopefully this feeling.
I laugh silently to myself while reminiscing at all of the fun memories we made. I gasp, it's the pictures of my kindergarten graduation. I had took a razor to my head and had missing chunks of blonde hair. I remember it feeling like soft bunny fur. My parents were so mad that they just had to laugh. I was the star of our graduation letting everyone rub my head.
I open another scrapbook and find our Florida vacation from a few years ago. I cringed as I look at my adolescence face. Gosh, I looked rough, I laugh again. I really grew into my looks, or so I've heard. I loved the beach, I hope we can go again as a family one day.
I grab another scrapbook and it's mom and dad's wedding. They had just had their twenty fifth anniversary last October right before my birthday.
My eyes grow heavy looking at all of the pictures. I lean back onto the bed and close my eye for a second. I open my eyes to see that it's about twilight outside. Dad doesn't get home until past eleven so I get up to ask mom what she wants for dinner. I place all of the scrapbooks back into the shelf and shut the door and walk down the hall and pass the twins room, they are playing with their toys in the corner.
"Girls I'm about to start dinner, I'm going to ask mom what she wants real quick, but do you guys want to be my little helpers?" I tell them.
They squeal and say yes. I tell them I'll be right back and walk down the hallway to my parents room. I knock on the door and hear nothing. I knock again and still, no response.
I open the door to see mom laying on the floor as if she tripped and passed out. I panic and run to her side. "Mom wake up, are you okay? Please wake up!" I scream.
No response...
I pull out my phone and it's dead, but I see the house phone on the bed where mom had left it earlier.
I dial nine-one-one, and it dials for a second and a woman's voice comes on the line. "Hello? What's your emergency? I'm Kelly what's your emergency?" She says.
I begin blurting out what had happened and that she won't wake up. She has cancer and my dad isn't home. I tell her my address so she can alert the first response. As I'm talking to her, my moms eyes open up, but shes in so much pain that she can't say anything.
"Please hurry, her eyes are open but she's not saying anything." I say.
They ask me what kind of cancer and I state that it's stage four breast cancer.
I hear panic in the operators voice and she says they are sending an airlift team. The girls come into the room and I yell get out, they don't need to see this. Mom coughs and blood comes out.
Finally, I can hear the sound of a helicopter landing in our field behind our house. The front door opens and I hear voices and I yell that we're in here.
The door opens and I step out of the way to let the people help mom. They get her strapped in and tell me where they are taking her before they leave. I grab the girls and my dead phone and run to the van.
" Buckle up now, we have to go to the hospital."
They do as they are told and I plug my phone into charge. I put the car into reverse and speed out of the carport. My phone turns on and I call dad. There are cars in front of me so I put on the flashers. Everyone moves out of my way as I speed down the highway. Dad doesn't answer, so I try again. It goes straight to voice mail. Fu...ugh I silently spit out.
I call Liam and tell him what's happening and that we are driving to Springfield as we speak. He tells me that he's going to pray for us right now.
" Dear God, please pray for this family right now. I pray that it's your will to protect Karen and heal her. Also lord, pray for Jaxon as he drives up to the hospital and keep him and his sisters safe. I pray that whatever happens that it be your will. In Jesus's name Amen." Prays Liam.
I feel a sense of relief from that prayer. I hang up with Liam and continue down the interstate, praying the whole way up to the hospital.
"Everything is going to be okay." I tell the girls because I notice them crying in the back.
"Hey Siri call dad." I ask. She replies with," calling Dad, home." He finally picks up and I tell him everything that had happened. The only thing that I remember him saying is, I'm on my way and I love you son.
It's pitch black outside when I pull into the parking lot of the hospital. We get out of the car and head inside.
"Is Karen Grey here? She was being airlifted from Branson to here. The lady at the desk types something in the computer and tells me that she is here and being unloaded. Head over to the elevator and go up the the fifth floor and talk to whoever is at the desk.
We head over to the elevator and Jordan presses the button. After a few seconds, it opens up and I tell JayLynn to press the five button. She does so and the door closes, and we begin to go up.
The doors open up and we walk up to another lady typing on the computer. I ask her the exact same thing as the other one and she tells us that she is in surgery. "I'll let you know if anything happens."
I thank her and lead the twins to the waiting room. They run over to the kids area and begin playing. I pull my phone out to see dad calling again. He will be here in about ten minutes. I hang up and sit praying for a miracle. I sit in the chair picking at the frayed hole in my Jean.
Liam texts me and says that he is on his way and that he called Callie to inform her what is happening. She was going to pray for you guys after she hung up with me. We talk for about ten minutes when I spot dad walking out of the elevator. I tell Liam that dad just showed up and say goodbye.
He runs over to me and hugs me. He smells like oil and grease. We wait for what seems like hours. Liam walks out of the elevator and over to us. He shakes my dads hand and sits down next to me. I wish Nathan could be here with us.
My finger begins to bleed where I keep scratching at it. By the time the doctor comes over to us, everyone is asleep besides me. The girls were sleeping in the chairs next to dad.
"Hello, I'm Doctor Avery, are you the Grey family?" He asks. My dad answers him back.
I notice that it's raining outside and I stare at the doctor waiting for him to say how it went. "Mr. Grey, I am afraid that under the circumstances, we tried all that we could to save your wife. She died on the operating table." He says.
Ice begins to take over my body, starting from my heart and working its way through every little vein of my body until I'm frozen. I can't even hear the rest of what he tells us. Liam gives me a side hug and shakes me out of my daze.
I don't remember what happened after that. I was a ghost floating above my body going wherever he went. This was the worst week of my life, first Nathan disappearing and my mom dying.
I want it to end...
I wake up in my bed still fully clothed. Just for a moment everything feels normal and it inevitably sinks in what had happened.
Sharp flashbacks from last night erode my mind and tears fill my eyes. I hurriedly blink them away and take deep breaths of air to calm myself down.
I don't even feel like myself, I feel like I'm floating in space and I'm tethered to this body and I must follow it wherever it goes.
The next few days go by a blur, Sam still hasn't woken up and his birthday was tomorrow. I look in the mirror one last time and make sure my suit looks presentable for the funeral.
Liam tried calling me everyday, but I just didn't have the motivation to answer. " It's time to go kids." Dad tells us.
I get in the front seat of dads blue truck and put my seatbelt on. He starts the truck and backs up.
I rest my head on the window as we make our way to the funeral home. I wonder if there will be as many people here today as there were last night at the visitation. The book said that over three hundred people showed up to show their respects.
Jaycee texts me saying that they were on their way. She and her parents flew back yesterday for the service. I tell her that we just pulled into the parking lot and are making our way to the side door.
I avoid looking at the dark stained coffin holding my frail looking mom. I go straight to our seat and sit down, after a few minutes Jaycee comes in and sits next to me. We sit in silence for a few minutes and she leans her head on my shoulder and the tears threaten to burst.
Liams nana walks in and finds a spot over by the window with some older woman. Liam and Brynn come in and walk over to us.
"Hey guys..." he says.
I ask, "Have we heard anything on Nathan yet?" He shakes his head and says no.
The music begins to play and Liam sits on the other side of me. I look up at the screen to see pictures of us when we were younger.
I look away fearing I'm about to cry. The rest of the service goes by with a blur. The next thing that I truly remember is being at the cemetery standing over mom's grave. As they lower her into the ground, I finally let everything go.
Tears begin to rush down my face and Jaycee squeezes my hand. My dad pulls me into a hug and I feel Liam grab my shoulder. As they place the fresh dirt over the coffin I look away and stare into the tree line.
I study each tree and I see something. Not just anything it looked like a man. I focus my eyes and it looks like Nathan staring at me smiling with remorse. He waves at me and I blink and wipe my eyes. When I look again he is gone. Before I think about what I saw, another wave of sadness hits me and I close my eyes and hug my dad.
Jaycee hugs me one last time before she leaves for her flight back to Spain. Liam stands by me and tells me that if I need anything that he's here to help. I thank him and he also leaves.
That night I lay in bed staring up at my ceiling. I count each of my breaths and wait until I fall asleep.
The following days after moms funeral were a blur. Each day seemed a little better, and I know that I will see her one day.
Good things have happened since though, Sam did come out of his coma after a week. And I'm pretty sure that the detective has a lead to finding Nathan. Liam has been over and stayed with us a couple of nights. That helped. Callie even came by and checked on us a couple of times, especially dad. It's nice to know that so many people care about us. We have been searching for Nathan for three days so far, there hasn't been a lead yet. It's becoming more depressing as each day ends with no lead on anything.
Hope dwindling...
I tell dad that I need to get out of the house for a little bit and clear my mind and he understood. He tosses his keys to me and I get in his truck and leave. All of my thoughts begin to take over and I have a hard time focusing on the road. My thoughts take over completely and I black out. I go back to my moms funeral and I'm standing in front of a crying me and I look away. I look around and see Liam and Jaycee next to me crying. I remember what I had saw at the edge of the woods. I turn around to see him staring at us, well technically me now.
I run towards him hoping that he's still there when I reach him. As I hoped, he is leaning against a tree with a smile on his face. He looks at me and his face goes blank. "Help me Jaxon, help me!" His face begins to change and decay. He repeats, "Help me Jaxon, I'm scared and it's dark... I can't get out, I'm hurt...Please find me and bring me home!"
I reach for him and he dissolves into nothing. He is replaced with a man holding an umbrella and suitcase staring back at me with its rotting waterlogged face. Before I can scream, it drops the suitcase and places it's long nasty hands across my mouth preventing me from doing so.
Everything goes black and I hear distant laughter and whispers. I begin to see glimpses of a bus station. There's four people getting their picture made and I can tell they're laughing and whispering.
Gasping, I realize that the man wearing all black and holding the suitcase and umbrella is the same person that I just seen. I begin to hyperventilate as everything speeds up until there is only darkness.
I feel like I'm being drug across the ground by something. My leg gets caught between two rocks and there's a crunch. I scream in pain knowing that it's broke. The sound shifts, like I just went from a big area to a small.
There are leaves all around me as I'm being drug. I scream for help, but no one can hear me. There's a sound of a foot stepping on metal. I feel a brisk breeze and and begin to fall. The back of my bead hits something sharp and I begin to feel warm blood slowly coming out. I'm numb all over, I lay there for a long period and I begin to feel all of the pain.
I try leaning up and searing pain erupts through my side, I run my fingers around my side and feel something sticking out under my shirt. I think I landed on something from the fall. "HELP!" I scream again and again. " PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME!" I scream again. With my arm, I feel around me. I notice that there is a small body of water below me, just out of reach.
I reach for my pocket and feel my phone. This isn't my phone? I think to my self, it's too big. I tap the shattered screen and it comes on. I see a picture of a family standing at the beach smiling. I blink multiple times, that's Sam and Nathan with their sister and parents. There's a flashlight button on the bottom left screen, so I click it.
It takes my eyes a few seconds to focus to the new bright source. This isn't what I was wearing. I was wearing a red shirt and black shorts. I see my foot that's out of the water and it's wearing a grey chaco. My chaco's are green. "Nathan!" I scream. " I'm Nathan..."
This is what must have happened to him and where he is at. Moving the light around, I see that I'm in what looks like a bus. I must have came through the broken window above me.
Frozen with fear, I shine the light on a shoe. Following all the way up to its face. Is a decayed man with long hair and fingernails. The same man in that suit from earlier. I don't know why I'm so calm right now. I realize that I'm not even the one controlling me. I must be seeing what Nathan had. I yell for Nathan but nothing comes out.
If the man is dead? How is he able to get up and move around? I'm asking myself these questions trying to figure out what happened. I must be feeling exactly how Nathan felt because I start crying. He must feel so alone I tell myself.
Everything begins to speed up. My point of view shifts and I'm staring at Nathan now. I watch as he listens to audios from his friends and parents. He shuts his phone off and sleeps for long periods of time. Each time he does though, the whispering grows and turns into laughter. I can only make out a couple of words at a time. You'll never....be alone.....I'll always .....be with you.....
Those words form one sentence, "You'll never be alone, I'll always be with you." Where have I heard that before? I think to myself.
I don't even know how long it's been because there's no way of telling. I can tell Nathan is becoming weaker as the time keeps speeding up. I wonder how his battery hadn't died yet? I think to my self. Right as I'm thinking that, I hear his dad's voice and the last thing he said was, "Son I love y..." the screen goes black and I know that the battery died.
I begin to hear a faint cry come from him. He begins to pray to God. Dear Lord, please help me. Take this pain and misery away for me. I'm ready to go home. I'm...ready God." He says.
Nathan soon goes quiet and he's asleep. The whispering turns into a normal voice and I listen in terror as whatever in front of me gets up to move towards him. I hear Nathan's voice, but it's not normal, it's like his dreams are coming to life and he's talking subconsciously. As Nathan talks about wanting to go home, the man keeps repeating, " You'll never be alone, I'll always be with you."
I scream for Nathan, just so he can hear me and know I'm with him but he can't hear me. I close my eyes in the darkness and reopen them to find myself sitting in the truck with my head resting on the steering wheel. I look up to see that I'm parked in the ditch in front of the bridge where Nathan disappeared from. I look at the sky and see that it's about Twilight outside. In just a few minutes Twilights peak will be over and it'll just be darkness everywhere. Confused as I am, I know that there must be reason I ended up here and how I was with Nathan.
I need to see mom...