We Meet Again.

09: Afraid

12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 8760 hours, 525600 minutes and 3153600 seconds.
An year since Jem had left him.
10 months, 43 weeks, 304 days, 7300 hours, 483333 minutes and 26300000 seconds.
Almost an year since Tessa had left him.

The two most important people in his small world were no longer with him.

Will had tried numerous times to reach tessa, but she had stuck to her words,
'I will call you when I'm ready.'
Will had been devastated when Tessa left, this time he did nothing to hide his emotions. He cried night after night, the events of that day repeating in his head. Her words ringing in his ears like sirens.
Will was doing much better than his initial stage now, he had started going to his office instead of working at home. It had been an year since his best friend had gone missing, and as they say 'time is the best healer'.
Of course there were times when it would hit him that Jem was no longer by his side. He would get horrendous dreams about Jem. They were oddly intimate dreams and they felt so real. One dream kept repeating in particular, he couldn't stop thinking about it. Will shook his head violently as if trying to throw out the thoughts in his head.
He had dreams about Tessa too, but they weren't as intimate. Will also missed Tessa terribly especially when he used to read or have dinner. Reading was the base of their friendship. If you would call that 'friendship'.
Will couldn't understand anything. So much happened in such a short time, Jem went missing, Tessa had confessed her feelings for him and not a moment later she left. Will's days were going on peacefully, but he was just waiting. He was waiting for something to happen, since it was impossible for Will to ever be at peace.

"Jem?"
"It's me, Will."
Will couldn't believe it. After all these days of misery, he was standing in front of him.
His Jem.
"Where, how-" Will started.
"I don't have much time, Will. I promise I'll answer each of your questions soon. I will reach you. I am so close to reaching you," said Jem.
Will panicked and said "Reach me? You're right in front of me. What are you talking about?"
Suddenly a black shadow came. Then came another and then another.
They casually crept and surrounded the blonde boy, a harsh contrast of white and black.
Jem seemed to be glowing beneath all the black figures. Will couldn't make out what they were, they didn't seem to have a face or a body structure.
With a start, Will realised that the shadows were hugging Jem, and slowly he was being taken away.
Will had no time to think, he quickly jumped towards the shadows, he was not going to lose Jem again.
But to Will's surprise, it wasn't the shadows that were stopping him to come closer.
It was James.
"Stay back, Will. Don't come any closer. You might get hurt, " He said while trying to fight his way through the shadows, but they were stronger than him.
"I don't care! I'm not leaving you with these.. things. I'm not going to let you go this time."
Jem shook his head.
"You have to stay back, for me. Trust me, I will be back." He yanked his hand to break free but the hold was too tight. He sighed and gave up, "You do trust me, right?"
"Always."
The shadows were already taking him away, he couldn't look. He felt excruciating pain in his chest. His broken heart had been loosely wrapped up to be kept in place.
The wrappings had been undone.
All of a sudden, when all hope was lost he saw something.
One of Jem's hands were lying free, the shadows were not that bright, they weren't careful. Despite Jem's repeated warnings, Will didn't think twice and leaped to catch his pale hand. This might be his last chance to get him back.
Little did he know, he caught nothing. Will's hand never came in contact with Jem's. His hand went through his hand and the boy fell on the ground.
And when he looked up, Jem was already gone. Again.
He screamed.

Will woke up, he felt a trail of sweat running down his back.
It was a dream.
Will sat up, and held his head in his palms. His hair was sticking to his forehead.
His breathing was heavy. It was a dream, yet the sweat, the breathing was all real.
It was the same dream, the third time in a row. No matter how many times he'd had it, it was still enough to rise the hairs on the back of his neck. It was still enough to make him sweat profusely. It was still enough to make him afraid, scared.
Will didn't go back to sleep that night.