Protect Me

Chapter 27

Hey readers! Here's Chapter 27 of 'Protect Me!' I honestly didn't think my story would get this far, or that anybody would like it. And here I am posting chapter 27 *tear tear*. Thanks to all who comment and vote on my story, this one's for you! 

Riley POV

I was walking aimlessly. Where I wanted to go, I had no idea. I couldn't remember anything. All I could do was walk forward. I kept walking until I reached a beach. The beach looked familiar. I sat down on the sand, looking out into the water. 

"Riley," A voice called out to me. "Oh god, Riley."  My eyes widened. I recognize that voice. My head whirled around. 

"Nate!" I shouted. But Nate couldn't hear me. 

"Why did you have to leave me, Riley?" he continued. He sounded so broken. I ran up to him, waving my hands in front of his face. 

"Nate, I'm right here!" I called. "Nate!" It was like I was invisible. He couldn't hear me or see me. "What the..." I started. Why was I invisible? All of a sudden I felt myself spinning and twirling. I shut my eyes tight and let myself be thrown onto the ground. When I opened my eyes I saw that I was no longer on the beach, but on a cliff. I stood up slowly and looked around. How did that just happen? I walked around until I found Nate yet again. He was sitting at the edge of the cliff staring at the open sky all around us. "Nate..." I tried again weakly. But it didn't work. Nate couldn't hear me. He just kept staring blankly in front of him. 

"It's so hard without you, Riley," he murmured. I wiped the tears on my cheeks that I didn't even know were there. "And I don't think I can do this anymore." Do what? No... 

Nate stood up and looked up at the sky, grabbing his hair in his hands. Don't do it Nate, please don't do it. He stood at the very edge of the cliff, his bare toes off the side. 

"N-No!" I choked out. "Nate, No! I'm right here, Nate please look at me I'm alive! I'm right here!" I cried. As expected, Nate couldn't hear me. He took one last deep breath and flung himself off the cliff, and into the air. 

"NO!" I screamed as I sat up, shaking and sobbing. I felt hands grab my shoulders and I screamed once again. 

"Riley!" I heard someone shush me, "Riley, it's okay. It's me, it's Jayden. Please stop screaming, someone's going to come in here." Oh, god. It was a dream. A terrifying, surreal dream. I crumpled into the fetal position on the bed and sobbed as silently as I could. 

It's been almost a month since I've been here. I've had nightmares before, but none as real as this one. This one felt like I was actually there. Jayden wakes up when I start screaming to quiet me down. We've almost had someone walk in once to see what all the screaming was about. That was a close call. Every time I wake up shaking he tries to calm me down. He really is a good guy. He's dong all he can to get us both out of here, but it's hard. It's not like I can just walk out of here singing, 'fooled you, fooled you, I'm not really dead!' We have to come up with a plan that gets us out of here unseen. We're trying.

 Although it's been a month, I still can't get used to the fact that Nate thinks I'm dead. Gone. It must be so hard for him. There's not a minute that goes by when I don't think of how he's doing, what he's doing....