Insane?

Chapter 12:

*SHAWN'S POV:

As I sat on the edge of the bed, an immense throbbing sensation plagued my head. I yanked my hair as if it would help the pain.

"Head hurt?" a faint voice asked.

Startled by the sudden question, my head raised to face the speaker. Though when I looked around, no one was there. Mom, I called out, Dad? You're just hearing things, Shawn. Relax.

"What's the matter?" the voice asked again.

I jumped, looking around once more.

No one.

Nothing.

God, Shawn, get ahold of yourself. You're still messed up from the other night. Calm down.

I'm still so confused. What is actually happening? I'm having these dreams where I think they're real, but they really aren't. I'm seeing things—things that aren't even there. There I was, dreaming about being tortured in some dark room, when I was just under an old tree trunk. How did I get there? How did I call Sophie?

I'm thankful that I was found, though. My parents said I could have gotten hypothermia, which I think is a bit of an exaggeration. Even though I was asleep most of the time, I remember a lot. Seeing my parents all fucked up was the worst. It broke my heart to see Sophie so worried, but seeing my parents. . .

I remember the fear and anxiety when Sophia's father found out about the previous incident. I mean, I knew she hadn't told him. I didn't like the idea of it, but I was just as scared as her. No father ever wants to hear about his little girl being harmed by her own boyfriend. I felt so sick after she walked out that door. At one point, I thought she would never come back. Her father is a protective man. He would never let her go back to an abusive boyfriend and she knows that. I know that. We all know that. Sophie is a smart girl, too. If she really was being abused, she would do everything she could to get out of that relationship. She knows she doesn't deserve that—no one does. She knows that I didn't mean to hurt her. I still think about that night and cringe. I want to take back that night and erase it. All I wanted was to not have another bad dream. I didn't think I would end up almost suffocating the girl of my dreams.

"Thinking a lot, hmm?" that voice came back again.

"Who keeps saying that? Dad, is that you?"

"Try again,"

"Mom?" I asked,

"Aha, no,"

"Who the hell are you? Stop messing with me,"

"I believe I can't exactly leave, Shawn."

His voice was so clear and close, like it was right inside of my mind. It was like my conscious, but, I wasn't controlling it. I couldn't control it. It wasn't me.

It stopped after a while. I didn't think of it as anything big since I was still hazy. As day drew to an end, I thought how I'd spend this night. I didn't sleep last night and I never fell back asleep after Sophie and her dad left the night before, so you could say I'm pretty worn out. But hey, I'll do anything to not wake up in the woods again.

"C'mon, go to sleep."

I laughed to myself. I was so tired that I was probably imagining the voice. "Yeah, okay," I said, laughing even harder. Man, Shawn, you're completely out of it.

"Let's have a fun night, Shawn."

"Nah," I answered, clicking through the television channels.