meet me in the woods ☾grayson dolan au

e i g h t

[ 08 ]

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The back door he stood in front of reflected his appearance back at him, and at first he had no idea who he was. He was filthy covered in dust and dried mud, and he looked sleep deprived by the bags under his eyes. He raised his hands, attempting to smooth down his hair that stuck up in ugly angles on his head. 

After finding the spare key hidden under an old flower pot, he unlocked the door slowly so the creaking wasn't too loud. Stepping inside, he didn't see her, but it was still pretty early so she was probably sleeping.

For a second, he felt a hurt in his chest from the thought of her sleeping so soundly when Grayson was out suffering a terror in the woods, but little did he know she had stayed up all night waiting hopelessly for him to get back. It had been almost four in the morning before she had dragged herself to her room and passed out on top of the duvet.

Grayson locked the door behind him, scanning the vacant living room for any signs of recent life or change. There was none. It wasn't like he expected anything, he knew she wouldn't usually lounge alone.

He made his way into the hallway, his eyes focused on what was in front of him. He could see all of the doors were open. That included Ryder's. His gait was slow as he gathered himself, but with every step he attempted to forget about the guilt of his vivid terror. He knew she was going to be okay. He knew- or hoped- that there was nothing Ethan could do to hurt her. He would make it his life's goal to protect the girl.

Her room was dark as usual, but the lack of bright daylight made it even harder to see.

As he walked into the room, his eyes adjusting to the new surroundings, he began to see the outlines of familiar furniture and the mess of sheets upon the bed. When his eyes adjusted more, he saw her sleeping body sound asleep on top of them all, under none, which was weird since she usually slept very warmly. He stood over her bed, admiring how beautiful and peaceful she was. He knew she was safe here and it gave him ease.

"Ryder," he whispered as he let out his hand to lovingly rub her back. "You have no idea how happy I am that you're safe-"

As his hand was placed, he felt how cool she was, and how her skin was slightly tacky from a thin layer of sweat. Her skin was soft, soothing his fingertips as they cascaded over her back.

"Ryder-" he raised his hand to touch her hair, but as he looked over her body, he began to see flashbacks of his dreams.

Blood began to seep out of a wound where his hand was, giving him the illusion that his touch had killed her all over again. He blinked, trying to return his vision back to normal, and once it finally did, his head was suddenly struck by a painful headache.

Ethan stood in the doorway, watching over as Grayson made his shaky reunion. Of course he had planted the scenes in his head, but he had only attempted to take his mind for a second before changing his own.

Grayson was furious. He turned away from the girl, his headache now gone and leaving behind a dull buzz in his brain. He slammed the door shut, leaving Ethan out and alone on the other side.

The noice and vibrations from the door shook Ryder suddenly awake to sit straight up in her bed. Her eyes were wide as she panicked if someone was going to hurt her. Little did she know she was already hurt in someone's eyes.

Grayson noticed she was awake as he turned and leaned against the wall, his body suddenly feeling weak and fatigued.

"Gray?" She whispered and her voice cracked from sleep. She slipped her legs over the side of the large bed before standing and heavily stepping towards the boy against the wall.

Grayson on the other hand, his head was not right. He wasn't sure anymore if he was awake or not because his head and body just felt numb all of a sudden. It was so dark he began to have trouble distinguishing between his eyes being closed or open.

"Gray, is that you?"

"Please, don't come closer."

"What?" Ryder stopped, holding on to the edge of the nightstand to know where she was. "Are you okay?"

"I'm-" Grayson swallowed to bring moisture to his dry throat. "I'm fine. Just please don't come closer."

"Gray, why shouldn't I?"

He closed his eyes as his head pounded and then became light.

"I hurt you," he croaked. "I hurt you, Ryder."

Her dark eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "what are you talking about?"

"I hurt you," he sighed in a monotone repeat. He was like a broken record stuck on a sentence. "I hurt you, I hurt you, I hurt you..."

"Gray, what are you talking about?"

She finally let go of the sleek wooden nightstand, reaching a small hand out to lay on the chest of the stuttering boy. As soon as her fingertips grazed his skin through the rough fabric of his shirt, it was as if she was a magnificent current of electricity.

The second he felt her touch, it was too much and sudden flashbacks of the knife being sunk into her flesh filled the darkness behind his eyelids.

His eyes rolled back and his legs gave out, sending him to the floor with a thud. A muffled yell of panic filled his ears before he completely lost control of his senses, giving his nightmare a sound to go along with it.