Beep. Beep. Beep.

God, what is that annoying sound!? I try to pry my eyes open to see what it is but found that I couldn't move. Where am I? It feels like I'm chained down, so I struggle to try and get free, but I can't move my arms or legs. I could feel myself freaking out, which was heightened by the beeping noise increasing to a steady, constant noise. I didn't know what was happening to me.

I heard a rush of noise, and felt something prick me in the arm, before everything faded back out to black.

I desperately tried to wake myself up, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't. Day after day, I exhausted myself, fighting against the darkness that was slowly wreaking havoc on my mind. It was no use. Every time I tried a different strategy to wake myself up, it wouldn't work, and I'd slowly start to freak out until I had a full-blown panic attack, and I'd feel something get stuck in my arm, and I'd drift off back into unconsciousness.

It was tiring me out, and I ended up being in a state of complete desperation, until one day, I opened my eyes, expecting to see the usual darkness, and feel absolutely nothing, but this time was different. Instead of pitch black, it was blinding white. It shocked me because I hadn't seen anything other than black for so long, and now I was seeing bright light everywhere.

For a minute I wondered whether I was dead. I mean, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. At least I wouldn't be stuck trying to wake myself up and failing constantly.

It was weird actually. You know, most people talk about thinking they're dead and being so distraught about it, but I was kind of happy. I guess that they all had something to live for. Something to look forward to every day. Me, well, I didn't have any of that.

I knew that at least if I was dead, I would be reunited with my mother again, and God knows that I was dreading waking up and facing Benjamin. The name felt like poison on my tongue, and I didn't want to know what he would expect in return for 'saving' me.

Suddenly, I felt a rush of wind pass me, and it felt like there was someone pushing me. I spun around, and nearly fell flat on my face when I saw who it was.

There, right before my eyes, was my mother. And, as I told you before, I can see the dead, So it wasn't so much that I was seeing her that freaked me out, it was the fact that I was seeing her as if she was real. It was like she had aged.

Whenever I had seen her in the past, she always looked exactly the same as when she had died. She was wearing the same clothes, she had the same light blue eyeshadow, and shiny pink lipgloss and her hair was always in the same, perfect style. The only difference was that she never showed any signs of being dead. There was never any blood on her, she never had any bruises, and she always looked happy.

But, not this time. Instead of wearing the teal summer dress that she was always in, she was wearing black jeans and a red shirt that looked two sizes too big for her. Her hair was messy and tangled, she had no makeup on whatsoever, and she looked like she hadn't slept in years. Her eyes were frantic, and I could tell that she was scared.

But, of what?

She grabbed hold of my arms, and pulls me to her, enveloping me in a hug. Now, this confused me even more, because whenever I had seen her, or any other ghost in the past, I could never make physical contact with them.

She looks around as if she was worried that someone was going to come and take me away from her, before whispering to me, in a hushed voice.

"Alexis, you shouldn't be here. It's too dangerous."

I looked at her, confused and scared. I knew that if she was scared, then it was definitely bad. My mother never got scared. On the other hand, I was confused and hurt. Didn't she want to spend time with me?

I guess she saw the heartbroken look on my face because she closed her eyes and pulled me into a hug.

At that moment, I nearly broke down. It had been so long since I had gotten a hug from my mother, and it reminded me of just how much I missed her. It made me want to hold onto her and never let her go, even if it meant me dying.

Just as I had thought that I felt myself being pulled away from her. I reached out for her, and cried out, missing her warmth and comfort, but she did nothing, just stood there, watching me with a sad expression on her face.

I really thought she was just going to let me be pulled away, but at the last minute, I felt her hand reach out and grab my arm, stopping me from being pulled any further away. I felt my face split into a wide smile, and I was filled with hope and happiness.

Yet, all that hope disappeared with her next words and actions. She looked me in the eyes, with tears rolling down her cheeks, and told me she loved me. "I always have, and I always will. Don't you ever forget that. I'm really sorry Lexi, but this is for the best."

My heart broke I watched her slowly release her grip on my arm, and I let out a strangled cry as I was being pulled away from her. I wanted to fight it, but I had no energy left at all, so I just closed my eyes and sobbed, letting the wind pull me away, felling her touch brush the top of my arm, at the very last minute.