I had the same dream again, the same one I haven't had in over a month.
I woke up from my nap five minutes ago on the sofa and have been sat in the same position staring at the wall, trying to piece together my dream, which something new had happened.
The man in my dream, who I could never understand or hear what he was saying, finally reached my ears, and the words he said are still playing over and over in my head.
'I found you'
I knew I shouldn't have taken a nap, whenever something I overly think about, like that tall handsome man from earlier, I can't help but have that dream, that dream that had haunted me for years.
Was I really losing my mind here? Was I in danger to myself and other people?
I've spoken to doctors, therapists, and psychologists and not one can explain what is happening to me, they all just say I'm stressed, and still feeling the effects from that night, seven years ago.
I didn't feel stressed, and I hardly ever thought about that night, only the man with bright yellow eyes, because he made it all seem alright, and not so traumatic as everyone keeps saying to me.
There was a high chance my medication was off, I was taking multiple pills a day to have me sleep, and function but they never really had a lasting effect on me.
I needed to get out of this apartment, and chance the scenery, it always helps to be around other people, and luckily for me, tonight I was going out with Auster.
Despite Auster being incredibly overdramatic, he was a popular guy with a lot of friends, he immediately took me under his wing the moment we met on his first day, and since then he's always invited me to gatherings and parties on the beach.
Auster made me feel normal, being around him made me feel like just another girl in the crowd, a happy, healthy girl with so much to live for.
Tonight, was Auster's best friend's birthday party, they'd gotten a permit to have a party on the beach, given that his best friend's dad was high on the food chain made it all the easier.
Meaning, the guy was rich, so he got away with everything.
Auster's friends were from another planet, with parents, happy childhoods, money in the bank and not a single worry about food, or clothes or if you're going to pay the rent on time.
They all lived in this bubble, and I was just on the outside, looking in.
It wasn't all that bad though, I got free drinks and free food, it was one of those times I didn't care about how lucky they were, because in that moment everyone is too drunk to even care who you are, neverminded judge you.
My phone started ringing and I saw Auster's name, he was video calling me.
Answering it, I see Auster and then I see he's already at the beach, with other people.
"Hey girly, are you ready yet?" He asked, smiling widely down into the camera.
"What time is it?" I frown out, before looking at the time on my phone.
"Shit!" I got up from the sofa and went into my bedroom. "I'm so sorry, I fell asleep on the sofa, I think the sun just hit me you know?"
"You're still coming though, right?" I could hear him say as I left my phone on the bed.
I quickly took of my shorts and then my tank top as I slipped a summery dress over my head, a spaghetti strap flowery dress I had bought on sale a few days ago for tonight.
"Yea- yeah, I'm just getting changed, I'll be there in ten minutes." I call out, rushing over to my mirror to fix my hair.
I could hear him laugh before I heard another guy's voice ask Auster something.
"Aelia, I got to go but come find me when you get here, alright?" He said before hanging up.
I quickly brushed my wavy hair and put the sides behind my ears, then I applied a little mascara and some blush before I left my bedroom and slipped on some white converses.
Phone, keys and bag, check, now all I had to do was just take a deep breath and walk to the beach.
Luckily for me I got a place close to the beach where the party was so I only had to walk for a few minutes until I could hear the sound of music, and then the sound of people laughing as I got closer to the crowd of people standing on the beach.
It was just a typical party, bonfire, drinks, close friends and of-course greasy food to wash all that alcohol down.
I noticed Auster immediately as I stepped onto the sand, he was talking into a girls ear and whatever he said made her giggle, so I decided to give him some space and find myself a drink from the cooler.
"Madison? That you?" A voice says behind me, making me turn around, a Smirnoff ice in my hands.
Seeing who it was I smiled and accepted his hug as he wrapped his arms around me. "Hi Aaron, fancy seeing you here."
Aaron grinned as we both stepped back. "I could say the same, I never see you around anymore."
"Ah yeah, sorry." I took a bottle opener from the floor and opened my bottle. "It's just work takes up most of my time." I said with a smile before I took a drink.
He nods his head before putting his arm around my shoulder, making me look up at him, wondering what he's doing, only to see he wasn't looking at me but at someone else.
Or should I say his best friend, Auster, who was now tongue deep inside a girls mouth.
"You know what's funny Aelia, I thought you and Auster were a thing, but seeing him now..." He laughed out, then looked down at me grinning. "I'm actually glad."
What? "What do you-"
"Ah, there's the food, I'll catch you later." He said, moving his arm from around mine then jogs across the sand to pay for the boxes of pizza being delivered.
Why would Aaron think I was dating Auster? Sure, we spent a lot of time together, but I always thought of him as a brother, and I knew he thought of me as a sister, we never even looked at one another with intentions of getting together.
Auster was a good guy, no- a great guy, but he was also a serial womanizer, but it was never like that with me, we were friends and that was all, it's why I felt so comfortable around him.
Anyways, whoever Auster dated never bothered me, I wasn't in a place in my life to have a relationship, I was too busy trying to build a life for myself.
Finding a spot on the beach near the waves, I sit down and stare out at the vast sea as the orange sunset begins to slowly vanish and turn into a comforting black night.
The breeze felt nice, and the sand felt nice in-between my fingers, I always felt safe here, surrounded by water and away from buildings, it eased my mind.
I drank my pink drink and listened to the music coming from behind me, I knew that eventually Auster would come looking for me, but I didn't feel like blending in tonight, maybe it was something in the air, I just wanted to sit here and be for myself.
Then suddenly, a chill went down my spine, making me abruptly turn around and look to see if anyone was near me, as I was sure someone was looking at me, but looking back to the party on the beach, everyone was preoccupied with having fun.
I searched everyone through the crowd until something caught my eye, or should I say someone as he was walking onto the beach with a group of people heading straight to where I was, sitting close to the water.
He was with them- that guy from the locker room, the one with dark eyes and a killer body.
I don't think he noticed me yet, so to avoid being seen as some kind of stalker, I got up and started walking back to the party, only peeking slightly to see what they were doing.
They were all stripping near the water into trunks and bikinis and then walking into the water, I thought they must be crazy, the water was freezing.
I then saw him- he took his black t-shirt off effortlessly and then unbuttoned his shorts then kicked them to the sand, every muscle in his body flexed with every move, it was hard to look away as he joined the others into the water, without a single flinch.
"Ah, Aelia!" A loud voice makes me jump.
"Jesus!" I shout out, noticing it was Auster behind me, laughing at me while holding his hands up.
"Shit, sorry I didn't' mean to scare you." He cringed out before looking at the bottle in my hand.
"When did you get here?" His face dropped into a frown once he realized it was empty.
"Uh not long." I said, walking back to the party to grab myself another drink. "I didn't want to disturb you, you looked like you were having fun with stripes over there." I joked, nodding to the girl in the striped dress.
Auster's face flushed under the bonfire light as he groaned out, sinking to sit on the sand. "You saw that?"
"I think everyone saw that." I joked, making him groan and hide his face.
"She's my ex, she's been trying to get back together with me all summer." He cringed out as I joined him on the floor. "I didn't even know she'd be here."
Why was he telling me this? It was none of my business.
"It's fine, relax, I won't tell." I laugh out, before opening my bottle.
"Aelia, it's not wh-" His voice was cut off sudden loud voices shouting.
My head, along with others turned to where the voices were coming from, and when I saw what was happing, I put my bottle down and got to my feet and quickly went over to the crowd that was forming.
"OH shit!" Auster swore beside me.
Aaron had gotten into a fight with someone I didn't recognize, and they were on the floor fighting, it felt so rough and intense that nobody moved to help as Aaron and the other guy went at each other with their fists.
"Auster, you need to stop him before he kills that guy." I tell him as he nods out, hating that he must get involved.
I watch as Auster pulled Aaron off the guy and as other guy pulled the other guy away from Aaron, they were both foaming at the mouth and shouting at each other about 'she's not yours'.
I didn't know what was going on, but Aaron's eyes met mine and they widened once he saw me, then it clicked together.
They were talking about me.
Suddenly the other guy got loose and ran and tackled Aaron to the floor, making someone next to me roughly step back and push me to the floor.
I don't know what happened next as I suddenly felt everything go black, the voices of fighting had faded, and everything grew quiet.