Vanished || l.h. au

three

Luke.

I woke with a gasp.

Everything was dark. I gasped for breath but I felt nothing. It was like I was nonexistent. I puffed my breaths, waiting to feel the weight of my lungs pressing down on me, but again I felt nothing. I looked down at myself, my blue jeans and black t-shirt still on me. My shoes were still on my feet, caked with dried dirt. I was clearly here, yet I felt like I wasn't. Something didn't feel right.

Where was I?

My eyes scanned the room. A closet was to the left of me, and the bed was rather small, but not enough to where I fell off. The moonlight shone past the curtains of the window beside me and I felt a source of heat to the right of me.

And that's when I heard it. The sounds of muffled sobs accompanied with movement as the source of heat to the right of me trembled. I looked to the person, and immediately recognized the soft, brown curls that blanketed her face, hiding her from me. But I knew already who she was, it was hard not to know.

Beth.

"Beth?" I whispered, turning my body making myself closer to her. "Why are you crying, babe?" I asked, but she just continued sobbing, sniffling every few sobs.

"Beth, please talk to me." I pleaded, but she didn't even look at me or acknowledge my presence. It was if she didn't even know I was there.

"Beth, please look at me." I whispered, trying to comfort her. I reached a hand out to her shoulder but it never made it. My eyebrows furrowed, not understanding what just happened. I tried again, but once more my hand passed right through her shoulder. She didn't move.

I jerked my hand back, my eyes widening as I stared at my hand in shock. "What is happening to me?" I panicked, my breathing turning to hyperventilation. I placed my hands on my legs, and they touched. I wrapped my arms around each other, and they touched. I reached for the lamp on the side table next to me, but my hand passed right through it.

"What?" I whispered to myself, confused. I pressed my hands down on the bed beneath me, but they passed right on through, disappearing into the mattress. "No, no, no.." I chanted to myself in denial of what was happening. This couldn't be right. I was here, I had to physically be here.

I looked down again, and that's when I realized I was never sitting on the bed; I was hovering right over it. It explained how light I felt, and why I couldn't feel the pressure of my lungs as my breathing pace increased. This was all impossible.

This couldn't happen to people. No, you only see this stuff in movies. This wasn't happening, this was all a dream. I couldn't actually be - dead.

"Beth?" I called again, but she just continued crying. She buried her face further into the pillow, her sobs coming out lower and slower, reducing itself to just a few sniffles. Soon, her crying stopped and she just laid there, shifting her body to where she was staring up at the ceiling now. Here face had dried tears lining her cheeks, and her eyes looked empty.

I reached out to wipe away the tear stains, but once again my fingertips and her cheek didn't physically touch. I sighed and pushed myself into a kneeling position in front of her.

"Beth, can you hear me? Can you see me?" I called out to her, but she continued looking up at the ceiling, not hearing my calls.

"Beth, please. Please, answer me." I pleaded, desperately. I knew she couldn't hear me or see me, she would have by now. But there was that desperate hope that still had me clinging.

"Please." I whispered, again. I closed my eyes, when she didn't respond again, feeling hopeless. What was happening to me?

I got off of the bed and swung my hand at the vase. It passed right through, not toppling over like I intended to.