One By One

One by One Chapter 24

Anna’s POV

I woke up at around 4:45 am.

I couldn’t sleep. Every time I tried, I’d just wake up a half hour later, and take forever to fall asleep again. I sighed. I guess I’m waking up for good now.

I kept thinking aboutAustinbefore I went to bed.

Maybe I was a little harsh on him. Maybe leaving him because he was keeping stuff from me was the right thing to do. Maybe his reason for lying was a really good one and I shouldn’t have reacted that way and I was just stubborn.

 I groaned. I don’t know what to think anymore. It was all too confusing, and my exhaustion was only making for questions and thoughts run through my brain.

Reluctantly, I dragged myself out of bed. I tied up my tangled locks and headed to the kitchen.

I made myself a coffee- I had a feeling it was going to be a long day.

As I was sipping on my burning hot drink, I noticed that it was snowing. My heart sank.

Austin and I had this unspoken tradition that we’d watch the first snowfall together. It didn’t matter what time, wherever we were, we’d call each other to meet up somewhere or if that wasn’t possible, we’d at least call each other and notify the other.

I waited, hoping that maybe- just maybe- the guy I loved would show up.

I missed him so much, and right now, I just wanted him back. I didn’t even care if he didn’t tell me what was going on with him, I just needed him here, like I needed air to breathe.

I realized that he wasn’t going to come, or call for that matter. It hurt to be honest.

I felt my cheeks burn as my tears left a trail down my face. I wiped them quickly.

It was my fault for breaking up with him. What did I expect? Him to come running, begging to take him back?

I sighed and put my mug in the sink.

I headed over to the living room and put on the movie channel. I didn’t feeling like doing anything today. Just waste the day watching whatever was on TV. I was too depressed to do anything else.

Besides, I was all alone, while Ashley was over at Luke and Claire’s, sleeping over.

I was in the middle of watching A Nightmare onElm Street(the original ‘80’s version, with Johnny Depp) when the phone rang.

I picked it up, hesitantly, after 2 rings.

“Hello?”

I listened to the person on the other line. I couldn’t wrap my head around what they were telling me.

I hung up and grabbed my jacket and boots.Austinwas in an accident.

*****

I stood in front ofAustin’s pale, unconscious body. I stared at it for a while. Then I turned to the nurse.

“What did he have on him when it happened?” I asked her. I wanted to see if there were any clues of what happened.

“It’s all over there” the nurse pointed, without looking up from her clipboard.

I muttered a quick thanks before going over to the stuff.

All there was was a leather jacket and a hoodie.

I glanced at the hoodie, instantly recognizingAustin’s favourite Hollister hoodie. I checked the pockets. Nothing.

I looked over to the leather jacket. This, I didn’t recognize. I brought it over to my nose, only to inhale an oddly familiar cologne. It wasn’t strong, and I knew for a fact it wasn’tAustin’s.

It’s probably the killer guy’s, I thought.

I searched the pockets to see if I’d find anything helpful.

I pulled my hand out, surprised of how much I found.

There was a keychain with various keys, an iPhone, a wallet, a pen, and a crumpled up bill.

I straightened out the bill and read its message.

Austinknew the guy personally. Of course he did. That’s what he wasn’t telling me.

Well it makes all more sense now. He knew the guy and all he’d done and probably why and his history and identity, yet made close to no effort to find him and have him locked up. Perfect sense. I shook my head.

Even if the guy was holding something overAustin, it was an idiot move. To just let it all happen, and practically ignore the fact he killed so many people we cared about.

I picked up the iPhone and entered the most obvious numbers I can think of. 1234. Didn’t work. 1111. I sighed with relief when it displayed the home screen.

I went over to settings, then general information, then about.

I gasped. The name was Jason Loftner’s iPhone.

I stared at the screen for a while. Now I saw it. The slight resemblance that Austin and Jason had.

The blue eyes where similar in shape. They both had thin lips, and defined jaw lines.Austin’s hair was golden-brown, while Jason’s was dark brown. But they were both the same texture. And they were both pretty tall too.

He didn’t really tell me much about his childhood before he moved here 6 years ago. It must have had something to do with Jason too. I may never know.

I went over to Austin’s body and lay next to him.

“I’m sorry about everything. I love you, and I just want you to wake up. Not be in a coma. I want you, and I miss you” I rambled. I sniffed and wiped a tear. My eyelids got heavy, and I drifted off into a deep sleep.

*****

I woke up an hour later. I looked over at Austin, disappointed to see he was still unconscious. I sighed and kissed him on the forehead.

“I have faith in you. You will wake up” I whispered.

Then I walked out of the hospital room.

“Hey, Jessalyn” I heard a familiar voice.

I turned to see Luke, giving me a sad smile.

“Hey” I whispered sadly.

“I heard what happened, and I came to check on Austin and you. Ashley is still over at mine, safe and sound.” I forced a thank-you smile and he gave me a sympathetic one back. “Come here” he opened his arms. He was standing right in front of me now. I couldn’t control myself and I bursted into tears, letting him hug me.

His hug was surprisingly helpful, giving me a little warmth, and security.

“You want to go get a coffee in the cafeteria? He asked. I looked up into his warm green eyes and nodded.

Then we headed down, side by side.

******

 K sorry I took so long to upload. I started the chapter a while ago but didn't want to drag on the upload date any longer. so i finished it like 10 minutes ago and am posting it now :D so this is NOT THE END OF THE STORY. I WILL UPLOAD SOON AND CONTINUE FROM THERE. Hope you like it so far :)