Sleep Paralysis - Josh Franchesci, You Me At Six AU (COMPLETED)

1.8

A U R O R A ' S  P O V

That night I didn't sleep for a single second. Although one week could seem like plenty of time for others, once I considered all of the relationships I had built and other life commitments, I came to the already exhausting realisation that my ultimate fate would require an overwhelming amount of mental and logical preparation.

Coming up with a reason was simple. With my father's history of high blood pressure and parents divorce, no one would bat an eyelash if I said he had a critical heart attack and would need my care for a few months in Sheffield. I'd ask my old family friend, Sean, to pick me up from the train station, telling him that I was just visiting. The night my train was to leave, that's when Josh would come to take me.

Perhaps they'll figure out I had been lying all along, although they would never know why. Perhaps I had been abducted whilst changing stops. Perhaps I just vanished. Let's be honest - who would be able to deduce that a demon obsessed with me had whisked me away to God knows where to keep me as his?

With my train ticket purchased to leave a trace, and things that I needed to organise written out on a notepad, I pulled up the contacts in my phone and began to make phone calls. I called Kelly first. She would be suspicious if I left my job before breaking the news to her first. The ringing tone hardly made it to a third buzz before Kelly picked up.

'Hey, Rose! How are you?' she chirped in her usual princess-like tone. I took in a quiet breath as I prepared to start to saw away at my best friend and I's friendship. God, Josh. You couldn't have just snatched me away. You had to torture me like this first.

"Not well - I have some really bad news," I muttered sadly as I paced around my apartment in anxiety. My free hand fidgeted with my shirt and I found myself constantly chewing my lip.

'What's up?'

"My dad had a heart attack," I lied, my words feeling like vomit. Pure garbage - pure fucking garbage. I hate myself.

'Oh my god! I'm so sorry. Do you need me to come over? Is there anything I can do for you?' I barely heard a single thing that Kelly said as she rushingly spoke, distraught about my false tragedy despite never meeting my father.

"He's fine-ish. They were able to save him, but the results were... drastic." I bit back my tears and felt lumps clogging up my throat. Maybe this will make things a bit more realistic. But if I cry she'll come over regardless, and I just want to get this over and done with as soon as possible.

'Oh god, what's going to happen?'

"I need to move back to Sheffield for a couple of months to take care of him." I felt as though my heart grew blacker as I strung up my charade like I was evil.

'I'll drive you! I'll do as much as I can to make this as smooth as possible for you. God, I can't even imagine the emotions you're experiencing right now and having to drop your life here temporarily on top of it!'

"It's fine - I don't need you to do anything for me. I appreciate it so much though. I'm going to catch the train to Sheffield and a family friend will be picking me up. A moving van will take my stuff and I'll be able to come back to my flat once he's able to rely on himself again or we can find a suitable caretaker," I soothed. Kelly can't derail this.

'Are you sure?' I could almost hear the frown in her voice.

"I'm certain, but thank you so much anyways - I appreciate it," I said once more, now gripping my phone tightly as I waited for her to finally give up. A moment of silence waited. I opened my mouth to ask if she was still there, only to be interrupted.

'I'm always a phone call away if you need any help, okay? How about we grab coffee tomorrow to clear your head?' A smile grew upon my face, feeling satisfied with how I handled the situation, despite the guilt coiling around my heart.

"Sounds great." After organising our coffee, we gave our goodbyes and ended the call. I let my tears fall and shut my eyes tightly, sitting down on my couch. I sobbed as I accepted that in less than a week I would never see Kelly again and reminisced on our short, yet fruitful, friendship. I allowed myself to wallow in my pain before pulling myself together, reminding myself of the things I needed to do.

I filed my leave notice at work, including an apology about the short notice. My employers replied quickly with condolences and reassurance that my leave was fine. Two days before my departure would be my last day. Despite offers of a going-away party, I declined. I didn't want to waste their money.

I then sorted out my apartment, bills and other related things. I was tempted to end all of the contracts and just make it all go away for the sake of my family, but I knew that would only arise more suspicion. I don't need people going on a wild goose chase for me.

By the end of the day, everything was sorted. I had chosen to organise my will when I first moved out and felt secure knowing that my belongings wouldn't just sit here. With heavy feet and tired eyes, I changed into pyjamas for bed and brushed my teeth. I entered my bedroom, noticing that one of my notebooks was opened and a pen laid beside it on my dresser, despite not being in my bedroom since the morning.

I made my way over. I picked up the note and scoffed softly at the message scribbled across the paper, tossing it into recycling.

So smart, my beautiful Rose. It'll all be over soon.

A/N: yikes - back at it again with the long periods of time in between chapters. And I'm sorry that it's a bit of a filler! Quick little side note, I realised I accidentally called Rose 'Aurora' last chapter haha. Apologies if any of you picked up on that - I was writing something else around the same time and got my characters jumbled.