Tides

{ chapter nine: the real nightmare }

9.

the real nightmare

_________________

{ Hazel }

The nightmares of Erica were coming back every night that I slept. I thought they had gone away when I moved here, but I guess I was completely wrong. The nightmares had evolved and become worse in it's own way, and I don't know how to get rid of them.

The image of Erica's body was imprinted in my mind forever, and no matter how hard I try, she can't go away from me. She will always be there no matter what I do.

Mom once told me that if you want to let something go, let it all out. Knowing that I can't tell anybody about this, I finally came to the conclusion to write it down and lock it away.

So, I sat at my desk, pulled out a composition notebook and ballpoint pen, and began to write everything that happened and that was on my mind.

It all started with the meeting of a certain emerald-eyed boy ..

*~*

2 Years Ago

In front of me stood him - the emerald-eyed boy that captured my heart the first time I laid eyes on him. He was gorgeous and perfect and I was horribly in love with him. "Hazel," he began with a wide smile. "I like you a lot more than I should, and, all I'm saying is that I think we should go out .." And, with that little sentence of his, we began dating. Me and Keegan Larson, the couple that made time stop and the Earth stop spinning were an unstoppable pair.

Keegan, at the time, was always so nice and caring. Everything he did was for me, and he only thought of me. Erica, when she was still alive, loved the fact that I was finally in a relationship and that instead of being hopelessly lost and confused about love, I had become an expert in my own relationship.

But, I guess after what had happened a while after, I really wasn't.

Erica was always so happy, but she had no one to share the happiness with. In the past, she had a boyfriend, Garrett, but he broke up with her after his whole family moved to Toronto in Canada. Even though she didn't show any sadness after the break up, I could tell that on the inside she was broken.

&&&

The nightmare began when I was on Facebook one fateful night and got a message from an anonymous source. I was just browsing through one of my old photo albums and then the message appeared from the bottom right corner of my laptop.

"Erica hasn't been telling you things, Hazel. & Keegan hasn't, either. Maybe you should go see them now."

I stared at the screen completely dumbfounded: who was this anonymous person and why would they be telling me this about my best-friend and boyfriend? Either way, I felt in my gut that I had to call Erica or Keegan and find out what the hell was going on.

I grabbed my phone and dialed Erica - no answer. I did the same to Keegan's number - straight to voicemail. And then, out of the blue, my phone rang and Noah's number appeared onto the screen. "Yeah, Noah?" I asked. Noah sounded annoyed over the phone and slightly angry at the same time which was rare for him: he was usually calm and collected and polite. "Hazel .. please, come to Keegan's party."

I raised an eyebrow, "Keegan's party?" Why in the hell would Keegan, my own boyfriend, throw a party and not invite me let alone not even mention it to me. "Yes, Hazel. I just got here. Just please get here, Hazel. I beg you." After Noah begged me to come, I quickly hung up the phone and grabbed my bag. I don't know what was happening, but I knew that there was something that had to do with me. And, I knew it was bad.