THE MOMENT SHAY SAW HER BEST FRIEND LYING motionless on the ground, she fell beside her. There was a loud buzzing in her ears. She saw Theo fall beside her too, shaking Jade. "Jade, please. Jade, wake up, it's alright. Please, you are alright," Theo said.

I can't lose her too. Please, no. Shay shook Jade gently, and an immense amount of relief flowed through her when she saw Jade turn over and reveal her face, which also revealed the fact that she was breathing and had an annoyed look on her face.

"Oh my god, Jade," Kai said as he patted her cheek gently, and Jade slapped his hand away. Will laughed with relief, and Rose took Jade's hand in hers.

Jade got up slowly, rubbing a hand over her eyes. "Dude," she snapped sleepily. "First that guy makes me work like a donkey and then you guys won't let me sleep," she said, still rubbing her eyes and yawning. Shay suspected that 'that guy' was Will.

Will chuckled, "You look like an angry bird." All of them laughed, hearty with relief and also to Will's joke. Jade removed her hand from her eyes quickly, to glare or snap at Will, but she stopped. Jade frowned as she looked at her best friends on her knees in front of her, forming a protective circle which only Leo could break.

"What's wrong?" She asked, her hands interlinked with Theo's. A fangirl trapped inside Shay screamed with happiness, and she saw Rose, who was the ultimate fangirl. Rose was nodding vigorously, pumping her fist into the air. Jade sent both the girls a confused glance.

"Well," Kai shrugged. "We heard Leo barking and came out to find you sleeping. Except, we didn't know you were sleeping. Everyone else was worried, but I assure you, I only came to check if you were dead so that I could get all your video games." Kai joked, the relief on his face betraying what he said earlier.

Jade rolled her eyes. "I'd haunt you forever if you take my video games." She stretched her hand, another one still interlinked with Theo's. "Come on. I'm sleepy. Let's go inside."

Shay fell into step beside Rose and smirked, "Someone's sooo gonna lose the bet," she drawled. Rose's face was still alight with happiness, "Nah. Theo and Jade are smart, video game masters, photographers and budding hackers, but they can be slow in things like this. At least two weeks till they get together." Rose said, shaking her head.

Shay whisper shouted to put some more sense into Rose. "Look at them! They are walking into the house with their hands interlinked! It's a sign, Rose! A sign that you are gonna lose the bet."

Meanwhile, Will and Kai were discussing their own bet. Kai's hands were flying everywhere to prove his point, to Theo and Jade, to his heart, to Will and back again. Will was calm as he ran a hand through his hair while listening to Kai's argument, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

Shay stared at Will, absent-mindedly stroking Leo's fur. She stopped as she stared at him, looking at his attractive features and marvelling at how gorgeous he looked without trying.

His sea-green eyes, sharp jawline, rumpled chocolate brown hair, lips stretching into a soft smile, single dimple on his right cheek. His hoodie hugged his leanly built body in all the right places, and—

A chuckle snapped her from her daydreams, and she tore her eyes from Will with difficulty, training them on Rose' face. Rose had a larger grin on her face, her electric blue eyes had held a mischievous spark. "What?" Shay asked defensively and Rose shook her head, still smiling. "Oh, it's nothing."

Baffled by her best friend's weird behaviour, Shay shook her head.

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Shay had learnt to walk and run on the beach, where sand shifted under the feet every second, making it hard to run. But she was fast on the sand, therefore even faster on land. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't exactly run away from her nightmares.

Nightmares were like never-ending dark tunnels, which could make the person in it terrified of what might pop out of the darkness, and running away wouldn't help at all.

Shay woke up with a jolt, her blonde hair tangled and tears streaming down her cheeks. She inhaled sharply as she went out of her room and went to the room beside hers, knocked hesitantly.

She hiccuped as she knocked again, sobbing uglily. Nightmares were getting worse day by day. They were too vivid and realistic for Shay's liking. The last time she had a nightmare, she ran to him. His soothing words let her fall asleep without fear again, his warm hug reassuring. He stayed awake until she fell asleep, though sleep is something he rarely gets.

She rapped the door again, wiping the tears off her face. There was no response. So she opened the door which opened with a creak and looked at the room. "Dad?" Shay called out, her voice hoarse.

She stepped into the room her mother and father slept in and frowned at the dust-coated floor. It looked like it hadn't been used in years. She thought of Nick and Marina, Will's father and mother, sleeping upstairs, and wondered if she should go upstairs and ask what had happened.

She stepped inside the room as she shut the door behind her, her bare feet soundless against the floor. The dust particles stuck to her feet, and the surface of the floor was very cold.

She stared at the cold, empty, dark room and the realization set in. Coldness seeped in through her feet, freezing every vein in her body. The ice crystallized her heart. Shay never felt this cold in her life.

She crumbled down as her hands flew to her chest, then to her mouth. Shay's throat tightened and her stomach twisted. She covered her mouth with her hands to muffle the agonizing screams coming out.

Time slowed down, and she watched as her entire world crumbled. The hard truth was choking her, the air she was breathing in not quite reaching her lungs. Her father was dead. Dead. It's almost been two years since he died, but she still couldn't process it.

She remembered how she used to get nightmares before her father died, and he used to be the first one she ran to. When she woke up this time, she headed straight to their room without even thinking about it. She came to the room she never dared to come in for two years in blind agony, hoping her father would do something about it. Her father, who was dead. Dead.

She curled up on the floor which made the ice in her veins even worse. Beads of cold sweat rained down on the dusty floor, her hair damp with sweat. She shivered as she wrapped her arms around herself, running them down her hands soothingly. But it didn't do the trick.

She didn't feel warm, the coldness was even more intense now. All she could think about was the worst day of her life, the day her father died. All she could recall was the choking sense of despair, a blinding sense of agony over the crushing loss.

It was bad enough that her father died, but she felt like she was sent down an endless downward spiral when she found out about Marina's death too.

Shay's eyes were swollen and her cheeks were damp, the cold air biting into her skin. She tasted blood. She vaguely recalled that she bit her lip too hard to stop the screams. Instead, Shay put her hands tightly against her mouth hoping they would stop the high-pitched screams from tearing outside, tearing her insides apart too.

Shay lay on the cold hard floor, then sat up slowly. She sobbed as she hit her head against the wood of the bed in front of her once, and pain thrummed through her head.

It still didn't stop the memories flooding in, the scenes of the day flashing in her brain. It had happened suddenly, again. Just three months ago her grandparents had died in a car crash, which had been really very hard to process. Just when she had accepted it and, sadness was reducing, just a bit, her father died.

Her grandparents' death had been hard enough for all of them, but her dad dying was the last straw. Shay's world broke like it was made of glass, the colourful and bright world she knew had lost its appeal. She saw the world as it is, dark and cold. Snatching everything away from her.

She was beyond seeing and hearing in the dark surroundings around her, the time ticking slower than usual and the darkness threatening to consume her entirely.

It had happened way too suddenly. Shay had been in her room, doing HIIT workouts. Hours and hours spent with music blaring and exercising hard, hoping it would take away the sadness in her heart over the death of her grandparents. She tried out particularly hard exercises, not caring if it hurt her in the process of learning. She had drowned herself in it.

That was when she heard stressful voices coming from downstairs. She stopped the music and padded downstairs as she swiped at her sweat, peeking into the hall. Her father was leaning heavily against a wall, sweat covering his face.

When Shay went to him and squeezed his hand, he opened his eyes and gave his daughter a painful smile. "I'm okay, kiddo," he had said as he kissed the top of her head.

Those were the last words he spoke to his daughter. Ever.

The ambulance had arrived then, taking her father away from her. Shay wasn't even allowed to the hospital. Her mother had come back with her to the house, sitting beside Shay as she told her to sleep. Your father will be alright, Jessica had said.

The next day, she bolted upright and looked for her mother. She wasn't there. When she heard noises coming from downstairs, Shay jumped down thinking it was her father.

But instead, she saw an ambulance drive in haste, its siren growing fainter and fainter. She looked at the unusual amount of people in the hall, sobbing and clutching at each other. A jolt went through her heart as she anxiously searched for the mother's or father's face in the sea of faces. Her mom was huddled in a corner, sobbing violently. Her hands were on her hair, pulling them as she wept.

Shay heard a thump amongst all the noises as she fell to her knees beside her mother, her hands trembling as she shook her mother's shoulder. Jessica remained irresponsive, her shoulders shook as she cried. Shay slipped a hand under her mother's chin and lifted it up, dreading the answer to her unspoken question.

Jessica looked up, her eyes were blood-red. Jessica then enveloped her daughter in a sudden hug, sobbing into Shay's shoulder as she told her that a mysterious infection unknown to mankind had taken her father away from her. No one was diagnosed with whatever happened to her dad, before or after his death.

Shay didn't want to believe it. She wanted to believe that it was a prank and her father would come home, laughing her worries away. But it didn't happen. She really realized that her father was truly gone when she saw his lifeless body wrapped in a white sheet.

"No, no, no." Shay had whispered to herself that day. Her body wracked by sobs. She remembered repeating those words to herself that day as she fought to breathe. Every breath she took in was hard. Her father wouldn't come back no matter what she did.

A gasp, then a heave, and another gasp. Her throat was clogged with remorse. Suddenly, her mind went blank. She couldn't remember the last thing she said to him or him to her. Shay couldn't even say a proper goodbye to him.

Shay was trapped forever in a moment of horror, sadness and denial.

Her grief was and still is raw. It was like putting a band-aid over a bleeding wound and tearing it off repeatedly. Her chest felt heavy and her hands were trembling uncontrollably. She remembered that the people around her were talking but Shay couldn't hear anything. She saw their lips move but couldn't make out anything. There had been a roaring in her ears and Shay had lost track of what they had been saying.

Her world was sinking, and Shay was drowning. She was still drowning.

A metallic taste brought her back from the haunting memories of the horrible day.

The muffled screams still tore from her raw throat, and her nails deep in her hands. She couldn't feel any pain. Shay wished that she was the one dead instead of her father.

Shay climbed onto the bed her parents used to sleep, crawling to the spot where her father slept. She laid there, hoping the warmth would emerge from the spot or hoping that she could smell his presence. There was nothing.

Nothing that indicated that her father used to sleep there. No warmth. No smell. Nothing.

Shay screamed. It was a scream that rose higher and higher, the one with no words. It was a scream of loss so intense that there were no words for it. Shay clawed at her throat.

Shay was suddenly furious. Furious at the world for taking her dad away. Furious at her dad, her grandparents and Marina for going away. Furious at her nightmares. Furious at her own existence.

Shay tore at the mattress and pillow until she gouged out blood and feathers stuck to her fingernails.

Shay would never see him again. Would never see the way her father grinned, never smell him when he hugged her tightly, never feel him ruffling her hair or kissing her forehead, never hear him teasing her with Will.

Shay remembered swallowing sleeping pills weeks after her father died. They never worked. Shay was always left screaming into the pillows as she was now. Shay had cut her hair on impulse after learning about Marina's death because looking at her long hair had always reminded of Marina braiding her hair for Shay.

A ray of light appeared in her room and disappeared again. A hand gently took her hand, as if afraid to scare her away. Shay sat upright and turned to see Will, his face twisted with concern and worry. She saw his tired eyes and a rush of guilt went through her.

I took away what less sleep he always has. Her thoughts washed away immediately when he hugged her, she sobbed into his chest. Shay threw her arms around his neck and buried her face into his collarbone. Will caressed her hair as he told her, "You are okay. You're with me. Whatever you dreamed of is not true. It's not true."

But that was the thing. It was true.

Will rocked her back and forth, but Shay was still crying. He cupped her face in his hands, "Please stop crying, Shay. Please. I hate to see you cry. It hurts me a lot too." His face wore a pained expression as he wiped away his tears.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Her voice broke before she could tell that she was apologizing as she woke him up.

"Don't apologize, Shay. What are you apologizing for?" Will asked her gently as she hiccuped.

Shay hugged him again, some of his warmth slowly seeping into her body and melting the ice around her heart. "I'm right here alright? Just sleep, Shay. You need it. I'm not going anywhere, I'll be here if you need me."

Shay looked up, "Promise?" She asked. She knew it was childish, but she needed the reassurance.

"I promise. I'm never going anywhere. Always here. I promised it to you when we were kids too, remember?" Will smiled at her, his thumb wiping away the tears off her face as he gazed at her intently.

Shay nodded and gave him a watery smile before she buried her head in his shirt, his smell was comforting and reassuring.

Will ran a hand down her back soothingly as she reassured her, her tears staining his white shirt. The world around her turned hazy and blurred.

Sleep had had Shay in its claws, and she was slowly falling asleep in Will's arms.

His arms did what the sleeping pills couldn't do.

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