Imaginary

It was late, very late in the night.

Skylar was fast asleep, lost in a forever abyss of her troubled mind. Skylar, before tonight, had not gotten barely any rest since the incident that left her with negative thoughts, that only seemed to trouble her situation even more than before. After many convictions, Ryan finally got her to get some rest for her own sake, stating the fact that not sleeping will not make the incident go away. Skylar, granting his wish, went to bed without another word, which she regretted later that night.

In the middle of her, somewhat, peaceful sleep, she started to hear voices, calling her within her mind. She did not recognize whom the voice belonged to, all she knew was that it did not comfort her one bit. She tried to tune the voice away, but it only made it become louder, nearly screaming. It no longer was only saying her name, it was saying foul sentences, ones that sent shivers up Skylar's spine. She gripped the sheets of her bed, her teeth gritting against each other, but it did not make the voice go away. She cried out, not being able to escape the living nightmare.

Ryan, ever since the incident, had been staying at Skylar's house. Skylar needed all the comfort and support she can get, Alexandria was the only real family she had left. Ryan slept on the couch in the living room, since the only other bedroom in the house was Alexandria's, and he knew he wouldn't be able to have a good slumber in there, even sleeping in the house was sometimes a problem. Ryan was awakened by the sound of Skylar's cry, and he jolted up, eyes wide in alert.

"Skylar!? Are you alright?!" No reply. Ryan ripped the covers off him, jumped off the couch, making a wild dash towards Skylar's bedroom door.

"Sky?!" He slammed the door open, his eyes scanned the room, until they fell upon Skylar's shaking form.

"Skylar?" He crept up slowly towards the bed, until he noticed she was still asleep.

"Skylar, wake up." He called out for her, yet she still did not awaken. He gripped her shoulders, shaking her body. He called her name again. Skylar's eyes shot open, gasping for air. Tears were fresh, falling from her eyes like rivers down her pale cheeks. She noticed it was Ryan who awakened her from her nightmare, and she pulled him into a tight embrace, weeping into his chest. Ryan returned her hug, running his hand up and down her back, trying to sooth her cries.

"Sh, Sky, it was just a dream." All he got was a shaky breath in reply. A few minutes passed, yet Skylar was still in her shaken state.

"Sky-"

"T-that wasn't d-dream, that was a-a living nightmare." She shuddered. Ryan sighed.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"N-not really. But Ryan?"

"Yeah, Sky?" Skylar pulled away from the hug, sniffled, before looking Ryan in the eye.

"I think I know who caused the crash, and it was not just a accident."