Player

Player: Chapter 18

**Beth's POV**
"How long has she been here? Not long? A day? Can't be. T-That's insane. I don't care. I want her away from those boys. Ray- Ray! Keep her away from them." I could hear a voice. I fluttered my eyes open and turned to my left. Dad was sitting next to me. Eyes closed. Tear stains going down his face from all the times he'd cried. I turned my head and saw mom leaning up against the window talking on the phone. I closed my eyes and felt pain in the back of my head.

Am I dreaming?

I closed my eyes and thought about before. Why am I in the hospital. What's going on? How long have I been here? Where's Matt? Matt. That sweet smiling boy who brightens the room when he walks in. That sweet boy who makes my days better. But not when you see him as a player. A cold hearted boy who doesn't care about himself but to date every girl in the whole school.

I opened my eyes and wanted to speak. But I couldn't. I tried raising my arm to get mom or dads attention. But I was weak. Too weak. I closed my eyes and slowly fell asleep. I suddenly woke up in an unfamiliar place...

**Dreaming**
I woke up to the sound of wind blowing through a small hole. I sat up and looked around.

"Where am I?" I thought. I got up slowly and walked to a window. I tried opening it but came to the conclusion that it's boarded up. I sighed. I backed away and turned to a door.

"Shhh. We mustn't wake her up. She could be dreaming." I heard on the other side of the door. I couldn't recognize the voice. No one in my family has a English accent. No one.

"Dreaming? Dreaming of what darling?" I heard a mans voice say. He sounded scared. Worried. And all kinds of mixed feelings. No words could describe of how he was feeling in the inside.

"A better place. She still has a chance to choose if she wants to live or not. We can't keep our hopes too high of she survives this. Let her chose."

"Chose what?"

"If she wants to live. Or leave." She said. I crouched down and peeked through the key hole and saw a women dressed in a very classical dress where she'd have tea in the afternoon. On her right was a man in a suit and tie looking at the women.

"What should we do?" He asked.

"We wait." She said. The man nodded his head and walked away.

"Honey." The lady said. She walked after him and disappeared. I stood up and opened the door slowly and peeked my head to see where the couple were.

"Darling we can't just wait here an do nothing! She's our daughter! We're supposed to hope and pray she'll pull through."

"I already know she'll pull through."

"How? Tell me. How?" He demanded.

"I just know."

"How do you know?"

"I prayed."

"What?"

"God told me." She said.

"This is all nonsense."

"No! I swear. This isn't nonsense."

"Your right. Your insane! Myabe- Maybe that's why our daughter is in the hospital. Your insane." He said. The man started pacing the floor back and fourth as the women cried.

"Your insane. I can't let an insane women be around my daughter."

"What?"

"No."

"You don't have full custody of her!"

"Then you won't be around her."

"What? You can't make me!" She protested.

"Then die!" He yelled. He grabbed a knife from his shirt pocket and tried hurting the women.

"No! Stop it!" She yelled. I covered my mouth at the shocking moment. She pushed him and ran away making him chase her. Then they disappeared like ghosts. Then everything went fast forwarding.

**3 Years Later**
"I can't imagine her being alone." I heard a voice say behind the same door. I peeked in the key hole and saw a women and a man talking as they're looking in a room.

"She has an older brother." The women says.

"He's only 16. He can't take care of a 10 year old. And they're not even related."

"Just like the judge said. He has a good job. He's hired a baby sitter and he can pay her just good enough." They both sounded an American.

"Then what about his parents? They seem to never be around him or even care." The women said.

"Impossible. They seem to. It's none of our business. But, we can at least hope and pray her life goes perfect."

"What do you mean?"

"Her dad killed her mom for some insane reason."

"Oh my. That's awful."

"She'll never know who her mom or was or her dad." The voice said.

"Let's hope she has a good life." The women says. They walked away. I got up and opened the door quietly and looked to my left and saw the two people walking away and disappearing like ghost.

"Everything will be alright." I heard someone say in the room across the hall from the room I was in. I looked inside and saw a little girl with brown hair sitting on a bed looking down with a women in front of her rubbing the little girls cheek. On the end of the bed was two suitcases and a small bear sitting against a bag.

"You'll have a great family." The women said. The little girl didn't say anything. The women stared at her a little bit and then walked away. I felt bad as the little girl wiped her tears away. I turned around and saw at the end of a long hallway was a chair. An empty chair. I frowned a little and walked to it. As I got closer, a little girl appeared to be sitting in it. She was looking out the window and seemed to be upset.

"Bethany. They're here." A women said. The women left. The little girl got up and stopped. She looked like me. Her mouth opens as she looked like she saw something.

"Can you see me-" As I spoke, the little girls mouth moved. I rose my left hand up. Hers went up as mine did. I did the same with my right and she did the same.

"Beth? Hi. I'm Ryan. But you can call me Ray." I heard a voice. I looked past me and felt goosebumps on the back of my neck. I turned my head slowly and met eyes with 16 year old Ray.

"I'm here to take you home." He smiled. I looked at myself then at Ray.

"No! No no! NO! T-This can't be true!" I screamed. The girl who was in the hospital was me! Her original parents are either dead or in jail! My dad killed my mom! I've been adopted by Ray and his parents?!

"Don't be scared. I'll take care of you." He smiled again. I didn't feel good. My head hurts. I'm feeling dizzy. I can't believe this. My whole life was a lie! I say Ray walk to me and picked my younger self up and carried me away. Then everything got dark. I started running. Now was not the time to be getting scared.

**Reality**
"AH! No! No! Leave me alone!"

"Beth! Beth. Calm down its just us! It's only a nightmare. Calm down." Said mom said. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I looked and saw my foster mom. I frowned.

"Honey? Honey, what's wrong?" She said. She looked at me and held my hands.

"Get away from me."