you will find me ↬ zach dempsey

thirty two ;

*listen to wait by m83*

chapter thirty two: his demise and its aftermath

(  ~ third person's pov!~ )

gabriella lays on her empty bed with a thin layer of sweat coating her forehead, stirring and jerking sharply in her sleep. she was in the middle of a dream sequence that puts an unshakable fear lie deep in her chest.

the girl examines the slope of the mountains of colorado, the sun emanating intense heat that makes her squirm uncomfortably in her clothes.

she wasn't alone.

the boy with the beautiful green eyes speaks up from behind her, his voice surprisingly even and calm as though the pair didn't hike the mountain for quite a while now. "whose idea was it to climb this freaking summit?!"

"yours." gabriella answered as a matter of fact with a cocked eyebrow at the direction of the boy.

"i don't think i can go on much further." jeff spoke quietly and gabriella frowned at the sadness on his tone. it wasn't likely for jeff atkins to be downcast, if anything, he was always the boy to-the-rescue- whenever someone was sad. she was so used to seeing a bright smile on her face and seeing him in this kind of state makes her heart crack. "i.. i can't.. not anymore."

"what are you talking about, jeff?" she tried to laugh it off nervously, watching him with the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears. "is there something wrong?"

he looked up to meet her eyes and she was shocked to see tears brimming his eyes. he doesn't say anything and instead, he stunned her with a hug so tight it was impossible for her to breath and his hug crushing her small body and preventing her from breathing properly didn't matter because seeing jeff atkins' sad made it even harder for her to breath. it scared her even more. "i'm sorry, i'm sorry i wouldn't be here anymore." he whispered by her hair, his face scrunched up as he fought back the tears. "it wasn't my fault. i was careful, i swear. i'm sorry, i'm sorry.."

"sorry for what?" she asked. "jeff, you're really scaring me right now. what is happening?"

he pulled away and looked at her with a sad yet fond smile. he cupped either side of her face delicately, "don't blame yourself, elle, promise me. i might never be around anymore but i'll always be watching and guiding you in every step of the way."

"blame myself for what? what do you mean you'd never be around anymore? wha..? stop scaring me, jeffrey atkins, it's not funny," she reprimanded feebly, her voice shaking as the waterworks started.

"go on without me." he urged, nodding his on top of the mountain. "i'll always be with you."

gabriella cried hard as jeff detaches his arms from her and took a few steps back, his feet dangerously close to the end of the peak of the land they stood. she wanted nothing but to feel him hold her again because that's what he'd always do when she cries. "jeff..."

"i have always loved you." he spoke gently, looking at the girl who became a huge part of his life with so much love. he quotes his favorite poem, "for everytime you think of me, i'm right here in your heart."

gabriella frowned at his reference of the sad poem he loved that revolved around the loss of a loved one.

"i love you," the small breeze of wind carried his whisper to her like a feather and as if in a slow-motion, he fell back from the cliff and her screams came out as gurgled and blood curling, stretching her hand out to pull him back and save him.

she didn't.
she couldn't.

gabriella gasped, sitting up abruptly from her bed. she was shocked to see her dad crouched in front of her with his hands on her shoulders from which he's been shaking her awake. behind him, her uncles were stood by the doorway, the three of them wearing the same worried and alarmed expressions except for her uncle cade who couldn't handle his emotions and cried silently on his hand.

it was only now that the girl felt the dampness on her cheeks, the rawness of her throat from her screams and the heavy pants puffing out of her mouth. the nightmare felt so real, she never wanted to sleep again and see jeff go through with it again. she says hoarsely, "why are you guys here? i thought you're coming home tomorrow afternoon?"

"you were having a nightmare. when we got home, we could hear your screams from the front door."her dad watched her with a somber expression and he averted his gaze. "lauren atkins called me. there's something that happened to jeff.."

gabriella stood up even straighter at the mention of jeff, the sight of him stepping back and letting himself fall from her nightmare burning at the back of her lids. "what? what happened to jeff? is — is he—is he okay?"

"he's at the hospital right now.." cade emerson answers with a tear-stricken face, his voice shaking as well as his hands. "he's gone, ellie."

those three words brought a sharp ringing in her ears and she stared blankly at her dad and uncles, waiting for any of them to speak up and tell her they were only joking and jeff was only pulling his stupid pranks on her upon his amusement.

she couldn't remember what she did next but all she could remember was the shaking of her body as her eyes saw the empty space she left for jeff from when he promised to be laid at next to her. she could remember pushing her uncles out of the way as she raced down the stairs, stealing the keys from the kitchen table and driving down the route to the town's local hospital. she could remember the violent swerving of the car as she blindly drove it and left it parked infront of the emergency room and running towards the front desk, shakily asking for jeff atkins and the nurse directing her to the fourth floor, noting the sympathetic look the woman gave her. the wait for the elevator to reach the fourth floor was gruelling and when she got to her destination, she saw jeff's parents sobbing, clay sat as straight as a rod while staring off into space with tears on his eyes.

lauren atkins looked up and her eyes came in contact with gabriella and she cried even more, pulling away from the embrace of her husband and enclosing her with a hug. she held her closely, crying on top of her head, bracing herself to tell her the devastating news because she knew it would break her.

"honey.." she mewled. "jeff was dead on arrival. he-h-he was r-r-revived f—for only a m-m-minute but he couldn't h-h-hold on."

she couldn't hear anything.

but the hospital corridor was filled with her spine-chilling screams as she collapsed onto the floor and tried to drone out the world without jeff atkins.

it felt as if a part of her was already dead too.