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

2.7

R O S E ' S  P O V

What Josh attempted to do that night was the last straw for me, and he knew he'd fucked up. I continued to share a bed with him, out of fear of what he'd do if I didn't, but aside from that, I had finally completed my goal of avoiding him that, previously, had been continuously disrupted.

I interacted with him for only five minutes each day. The five minutes it took for him or myself to fall asleep. He'd backed off of touching me for however long that lasted, but recently he had returned to holding me as we slept throughout the night. I wanted to do nothing more than rip his arm off of me.

It was as he slept that I planned how I'd escape this world. I had two pathways, and if one didn't work I'd use the second one instead. And based on how things worked around there, I was certain it was going to be successful.

As the days went pass, I felt comfortable that Josh wasn't suspicious of me. Of course it was easy to assume that as we hadn't seen each other, but it was how he looked at me and interacted with me that gave me security. He still looked at me like he had me and wasn't gonna lose me.

I wasn't sure as to when I would place things into motion. So I decided to wait and see when things felt right.

My days became repetitive once more, abandoning the house to explore the outside even with restrictions. But sometimes Josh was nice to me.

I'd venture to the shoreline, and to my surprise, my feet would enter the water. I'd look towards the house and see Josh standing on the balcony, watching me with a boyish smile. But I did not return the smiles, and instead left the beach. He was only trying to win my trust again, which was something I did not intend to happen.

Within a matter of what seemed like days, I found myself at the house alone and unfulfilled. The repetition had caught up quickly and for a split second I even found myself entertaining the idea of speaking with Josh again.

After finishing my third cup of tea in a row, I stood up and forced myself to do something, walking aimlessly.

I paused in the living room, glancing down the hallway. I hadn't been down there since Dan's appearance, but something within me urged me to wander. Taking a small breath, I entered the hall and began my walk.

As I came around the curve, Josh appeared from a room, standing in front of me. I flinched out of surprise, and I went to dart around him. Josh's hand planted itself against the wall, blocking my path and making me step back in discomfort. He dropped his hand and shamefully apologised.

"Rose, please just listen to me for a moment. That's all I ask," he asked, gazing into my eyes. I crossed my arms against my chest and eyed him with suspicion and distrust.

"Fine," I muttered. A smile twitched on his face at my acceptance, and a bit of light came onto his face.

"Can... can we please have dinner together? I loved what we had began to achieve together and I'm pissed that we've lost that, so please, can we reconnect?" Josh begged in a whisper. I looked at him for a moment, considering my options and considering how this could play out. I watched as his desperation made him sway and his eyes grow wide in hope. I pulled a false smile across my face and nodded.

"Sure." Relief spread across his face and relaxation engulfed his body.

"Thank you so much, sweetheart. I just need to have a shower quickly and then we can eat together, yeah?" I nodded in response and watched as he walked past me back to the living room. I turned on my heel and continued down the hallway as I intended.

I passed Josh's office, the door ajared and sparking my curiousity. Now with the opportunity, I pushed open and entered.

I had never been in Josh's office before this, and it was kind of how I expected it. Plain and boring. I cast my eyes around the room in an attempt to find something interesting, and then I did.

In the centre of the room laid an rug, and in the centre of said rug was a lump. An obvious, inviting lump. After a moment of consideration, I closed the door back to how it originally was and got on my knees, rolling up the rug. And the lump was a hatch - a hatch to an opening in the floor. Is this why he's spent so much time here? What could be under here?

I didn't even second-guess the outcomes before eagerly lifting up the door and peering into the darkness, desperate for answers and understanding. A disgusting, overwhelming stench hit my nostrils, but I needed to know what laid underneath this room and cautiously stepped in. My feet met a staircase, and after reaching the bottom I ran into a chord. I yanked the chord harshly and almost screamed.

I felt sick to my stomach. Utterly disgusted and horrified at the sight in front of me. Bodies upon bodies laid underneath the floorboards of Josh's office, an array of individuals piled on top of each other, with each one displaying their own unique cause of death. I felt tears pour down my cheeks at the sight of a woman missing her jaw. I wanted to tear my gaze away from the evidence of Josh's cruelty, but all I could do was keep staring. And soon enough, my glued eyes finally found something worth looking for. Angela's corpse, laying in the far corner of the cellar. Then I found Dan, his body amongst the top layer, looking fresher than the others. I slapped my hand across my face and held back my sickness as realisation crashed through my body. I'm next, he's going to kill me.

'Rose, dinner's ready!' Josh called out to me from the kitchen, unaware of where I stood and what I had discovered.

That was when I knew it was time. It was time to get the fuck out of there.

A/N: Hello everyone! Apologies for the delay in updates - I was a bit stuck with writers block. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

Exciting news - the next chapter will be the last! I hope it is an ending that you all like. It's something I've had in mind from the early chapters, so it's been brewing for a while!

Thank you for all the support. Until next chapter :)