Beyond: Beyond the Lights

Chapter 33

MADELINE

It always started the same way.

I was back in my dorm room, the walls closing in around me, suffocating and heavy. Everything felt wrong. The air was thick, and the shadows seemed darker than usual, stretching unnaturally across the walls. My heart pounded in my chest, my breathing quick and shallow as I heard footsteps outside the door.

I wanted to run, but my legs wouldn't move. I was frozen, trapped in place as the door slowly creaked open. He was there. The drug dealer. The man who'd attacked me, who had stolen my sense of safety that night.

"Madi," he whispered, his voice taunting, cold, like it had been that night. The one I couldn't forget.

He stepped into the room, his face twisting into a cruel grin. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. I couldn't move, I couldn't fight. His hand wrapped around my wrist, pulling me toward him, just like before. The same hand that had pinned me down. The terror surged, rising up my throat, but no sound escaped. I was powerless again.

Suddenly, everything went black. And then... Jamie's voice. I could hear him, far away, calling my name, but he wasn't here. I was alone.

I woke up screaming, the sound tearing from my throat, my body drenched in sweat. My heart raced so fast it felt like it might burst from my chest. The familiar darkness of my room swallowed me up as I struggled to catch my breath. But I wasn't in the dorm. I wasn't trapped. I was safe.

"Madi!" Elena's voice broke through the haze, and she was by my side in an instant, her arms wrapping around me, pulling me close. "Shh, it's okay. You're safe. I'm here. You're safe."

I clung to her, trembling, my breaths coming out in ragged gasps as the panic gripped me. The nightmare still clung to me like a suffocating fog, the memory of that night flashing behind my eyes. I couldn't shake it. It was like he was still there, in the room with me, hovering over me like a shadow that refused to leave.

"You're okay. You're okay. Just breathe," Elena whispered, her hand stroking my hair as she held me.

After a few moments, my breathing began to slow, but the fear still lingered, heavy in my chest. I pulled away from Elena slightly, wiping at my face with shaky hands. "I'm sorry," I muttered, my voice thick with emotion. "I didn't mean to wake you up again."

"Hey, no." Elena's voice was soft but firm, like it always was when she was looking out for me. "You don't have to apologize. I'm here for you, Madi. Always." She reached over to switch on the small lamp beside the bed, casting a soft, warm glow over the room. "Was it the same dream?"

I nodded, my throat tight, still trying to shake off the remnants of the nightmare, the same nightmare that had been on repeat since I started sleeping in my dorm again.

Jamie had been adamant about me staying with him for the week following, while we discussed with his mom the next moves, eventually finding the guy who had done that to me. But once Lucy Attridge had locked him up, I begged Jamie to let me stay in my dorm, with the comfort of knowing Elena was there, he obliged.

"Yeah... it's always the same. He's there. I can't move. And I just feel... trapped. Like I'm back in that room, and I can't get away."

Elena sighed, sitting down on the edge of my bed, her hand resting on mine. "Madi, you've been carrying this around for so long. Have you talked to Jamie about it? Like, really talked?"

I bit my lip, shaking my head. "I don't want to put this on him, you know? He's got Maria, and I don't want to add more to his worries. He's been through so much already."

Elena frowned, her brow creasing with concern. "But, Madi, you can't keep this to yourself. You don't have to protect him from your feelings. Jamie loves you. He'd want to know what's going on. He'd want to help you through this. You shouldn't have to carry this alone."