Countryside | Ruralburgh 2

Chapter 39: I Don't Know How to Move On

Chapter 39: I Don't Know How to Move On

       I hated myself. So much. If I just didn't fall asleep, if I made sure the alarm system was actually working, or if I even slept in the barn, this wouldn't have happened. If I was just more cautious, then I wouldn't have felt like my heart was breaking in two.

       It was weird. It was like I knew something bad was going to happen. It took me a long time to fall asleep with my constant tossing and turning, almost as if I was sleeping on a bunch of rocks. At first, I thought maybe my back was acting up again after my accident, but it didn't feel like to be in any pain.

       And it definitely didn't have to do with the mattress being uncomfortable. In fact, it was the most comfortable mattress I had ever slept on. Yet somehow, I just couldn't fall asleep.

       The moment I did, I felt like I was still tossing and turning. I didn't know exactly what I was dreaming about, but I just knew it left me with a bad feeling. The only thing I did remember from the dream was the haunting sound of Paint's hurt whinny, which was what suddenly woke me up from my dream. If I could even call it that.

       I sat up with a start, panting heavily for some reason. There was a bit of sweat forming on my forehead, so I wiped it away. I released a heavy sigh, realizing that nothing was wrong.

       I didn't think I would be able to fall back asleep, nor did I want be alone right now, so I gently shook Sawyer awake. He was a light sleeper, so it didn't take him long to wake up. Once he did, he rubbed his eyes before looking at me. He sat up having realized something was wrong. "Hey, are you okay?"

       I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sort of. I just had a hard time falling asleep, and then I was having a bad dream and... I don't feel like being awake by myself right now. Sorry..."

       "You have nothing to apologize for," Sawyer said. "I can run on only a few hours of sleep if I have to. Was there anything that caused this bad dream?"

       "Not that I know of, no," I said. "To be honest, I don't even remember my dream. I just know it left this bad feeling. But Paint did do his hurt whiny in my dream, which woke me up so... I don't know, maybe I'm just overthinking this whole thing. I'm worried about him."

       "I am too," Sawyer said. "But my parents did buy a really good security system and you did make the one by his stall. I don't think they'll be able to sneak onto the farm without getting caught."

       "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Can we cuddle and watch a movie or something? Maybe I just need something playing to help me fall asleep."

       "Of course," Sawyer said, grabbing the remote off of his nightstand and turning on the TV. Once we agreed on a movie, we both laid back down on the bed with my head resting on Sawyer's chest, his arms wrapped tightly around me.

       Our cuddle session didn't really last long. I was surprised I heard it with the TV on and considering it was in the distance, but I heard some sort of vehicle driving on the gravel of the farm's entrance.

       I sat up. "Do you hear that?"

       Sawyer sat up as well. "Hear what?" 

       "It sounds like someone pulled up into the farm," I said.

       Sawyer paused the movie, allowing him to fully hear what was going on outside. Sure enough, he did hear exactly what I was hearing. "That's... odd. Everyone's already home and I know they don't go out at night."

       Sawyer got out of bed, so I did as well, following him to the front door. After slipping on our shoes, we walked outside to see what was happening. As it turned out, it wasn't a vehicle coming onto the property. It was a vehicle leaving the property.

       And they were pulling a horse trailer behind them.

       My heart began to sink, immediately getting a bad feeling about this. "Sawyer..."

       "Just... stay here," Sawyer said before he started heading towards the stable.

       I didn't want to be left alone, so I quickened my footsteps to catch up to Sawyer. He didn't tell me to stay back again. He just allowed me to intertwine my fingers in his, hoping that what I was thinking, and whatever this bad feeling was about, was wrong.

       It wasn't.

       I noticed it as soon as we walked into the stables. It was the first place I looked at.

       Paint wasn't in his stall. 

       "No," I said, going into the stall to investigate more. "No, no, no." I checked the lock on the stall, hoping that maybe, Paint just panicked for a reason and broke out. But the lock was intact. It wasn't broken like it was whenever Paint broke out of the stall.

       I looked over at Sawyer, hoping that he would have some encouraging words for me. He was crouched down, examining the trip wire I set up just in case whoever marked Paint was able to sneak onto the farm. It was cut, meaning that someone not only saw it but disarmed it so I wouldn't have been notified.

       This couldn't be happening. This was a dream. This was just a horrible dream that I had to wake up from.

       But I knew it wasn't a dream. The heartbreak that I was feeling was all too well to be a dream.

       I could feel my bottom lip quivering as Sawyer stood up. Tears began to stain my eyes. "Sawyer..."

       Sawyer walked over to me, pulling me into a tight hug. "It's okay. It's going to be okay. There's no way they could have disarmed the security cameras, so we'll call the police and have them look at it." He pulled away, placing my hands on my shoulders. "They're not going to get away with this, Jamie."

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honestly just tell lulu that paint was stolen and she'll deal with it. no one wants to mess with lulu :D

even her own family (apart from zach) is afraid to mess with her lol.