"Christ!!", I threw the door knob to the ground and picked up my phone.

I dialed for Luke, not reachable. Called Abby, not reachable  and suddenly 'not reachable' became my most hated words.

Frustrated I looked down on my signal.

No,no,no!!!

I paced around the room looking at my phone with no signal and about 30% of charge. What was the possibility of dying from embarrassment?

Because I was sure of dying from one.

I was avoiding the elephant in the room sitting right on the bed.

I tried sending text messages to Luke and there was no WiFi. What did I expect? To find an easy way out? The room was weighing me down as I gave up and fell on the cushion.

"Calm down, will you?", the male voiced.

I heard ruffling sound and I saw him tuck beneath the sheets through TV.

"Try being with a person like you in a room, you will know how it is for me"

He shot up his eyebrows, "Why, you can't handle too much sexiness around you? Do you wanna bite me?"

I gagged in front of him. "Eww, Ryder. You know what I meant. Stop talking to me like that", I said scrunching my face in disgust. 

He smiled proudly for eliciting a reaction. "Honey, don't you want the guy down there?", he mocked wiggling his booty.

"Talk to me like that one more time I gonna throw up on you in disgust", I said not turning around.

He looked at me through the TV. There was a playful glint in his shiny eyes illuminated by his phone. 

Phone?!!

I turned around eyeing the phone in his hands. He was too engrossed to notice me gawking at his phone. I could take a run for it but where do I run and I wasn't sure if he had any reception. Asking him was a jab at my ego, which was gonna get me killed one day.

My eyelids dropped closing on Ryder and the world slowly faded into a dream.

I was standing in the middle of a grassland and dark clouds hugging the sky, dripping down to settle on the edge of glass blade. The green land was extended all along, that, that was the only thing I could see. 

I walked along the cushions of green gently feeling the wetness below my foot, taking in the moisture filled air. The gentle wind played along my loose hair moving it around and tickling my neck. The solitude was soothing, the calming effect spreading through my body and the peace that made my thoughts fly away.

Suddenly, the clouds changed into an angry one. Cursing and shouting at the earth, plowing the grasses. My heart was aching for them. I could hear their cries begging me to hold them tight, that they were scared to leave their home.

I extend my hands but they were still unreachable. A big thunder roared and I turn around to find a tornado standing at a distance looking straight at me, meanwhile plucking the remnants of the lives on earth. I knew. My instincts told me it was happening because of me. I made the tornado and I am going to pay for it.

I took off from tornado. My mind was filling with every sins I did. My heart was dropping to my stomach and I was off ground. The oxygen was leaving my system, leaving my lungs burn. 

A scream ripped through me, the ear piercing, throat constricting scream. The mood shifted and next moment, there was calm and I was falling.

I gasped for air when I woke up from the dream. I wiped off the thin layer of sweat from my forehead and neck. I felt tense, confused and adrenaline was pumping through me.

The room came into focus after I managed overcome the sleep inertia. I was still in Ryder's room except I was in the couch, which I weren't when I dozed off. I must've sleep walked as I usually do. 

The groggy feeling was still lingering as I wandered around the room, grabbing the water bottle on the table and chugged it down. 

I peeked open the window curtains. It was pouring heavily as if it could pluck the barn house any minute and carry it to the lake.

Outside was dark, my phone was dead. Ryder's digital clock read 1:03 AM.

I opened the windows, extending my hands to feel the water hitting my hands. All the people in the camp must've ended up in the house closer to campsite. They must've slept leaving me wondering about them.

Did Luke even worry that he couldn't reach me?

I sighed and wiped my hands. The window was about to close and a monstrous thunder hit bulging my heart for a moment.

"No!!!", the sudden scream made me stumble to turn on the lights.

There he was, sitting at the bed, rocking front and back covering his ears with his hands and eyes shut close.

He was murmuring something.

"No no no no", he was chanting continuously as I moved closer to him.

"Ryder", I whispered placing my hands on his shoulders. 

He coiled away quickly distancing us. He was looking at me but he wasn't Ryder. His eyes were telling it. He was scared.

 It was a juxtaposition seeing Ryder vulnerable. I slowly sat at the end of the bed not taking my eyes off him.

"Ryder", I said softly again.

"Bring Hayley to me", he ordered me. A sense of deja vu hit me. I was in the same situation with Matt sitting on the floor asking me to bring Corrie to him. My heart was constricting and I was holding it hard. I had to stay strong for Ryder now because I break down now, he was gonna make it more worse.

"Okay, I'll bring Hayley to you. Can you hold my hands so I can know you are okay?"

I extended my hands towards him. His face showed hesitation but soon replaced with anger. He was furious.

"I don't fucking need your hands. I need Hayley. Bring her now", he shouted. 

"I will. I will. But before that say you are okay"

He pulled me harshly, turning me around on my back with my hands behind me and sat on top of me. His feral look was making me quiver. I knew I made a mistake when he tightened his grip on my hands. I squirmed but it agitated him more.

He brought his face close to mine. " You idiot. I want her now", he said through his gritted teeth.

Who was she to him? Was there anyone in the house who could save if I shouted?

The tears were flowing from the physical and the emotional pain I was undergoing. As I was scared of Ryder, my heart was aching for his pain.

"Ryder, you are hurting me. Leave me, Please", I begged but to no avail.

"Ryder!!!", I shouted at his face. He became stunned and blinked. And Blinked.

"Emily?", he asked shocked as what I was doing beneath him crying. I was relieved that he was out of his trance and probably, leave my hands before it breaks.

He shoot up pulling me with him. Right as I thought, my hands were red and his handprints prominent for centuries. I could even open his phone with his finger prints on mine. My eyes were blurry until the warm liquid descended my cheek.

After checking my hands and assuming that he didn't break anything I looked at him.

He was looking at me confused and horrified. He was clenching his hands looking at my hands. His jaws were ticking and the strained tear from his eyes and the guilt look he gave me was all familiar.

I decided to be the big woman and play Mother Teresa.

I knee walked to him and sat in front of him. I placed my fingers under his jaw and lifted to meet his eyes.

The green eyes reminding me of those grass in my dreams was wet and threatening to overflow. I smiled at him, "Ryder"

"I hurt you". Why does it sting when a strong person's voice tremble? Was it empathy or the reality that breaks our imagination.

I sighed and held his hands and sat in Indian Style in front of him.

"Are you okay?", I asked truly concerned about him. At that moment, it didn't matter that he was someone who hurt me, who threatened me to date him, who put me through harassment.

He was someone who was same situation like Matt, who needed some comfort and feeling of security to move on with life.

"Ryder", I whispered trying to gain his attention.

He surprised me by pulling me into a hug and nuzzled his head in my neck.

"I'm sorry, Emily. I'm truly sorry. I didn't.. mean to hurt you. I'm sorry", he choked into my neck. I knew he was crying as my shirt was becoming wet. I was unconsciously crying with him. The emotional pain he was passing me through his hug was unbearable.

"It's okay", I mumbled gently tapping his back. He tightened his grip on me unaware of the effects he was giving me. My stomach burst into butterflies and he could feel my heart pang as I could feel his.

The pounding at the door burst our bubble. He slowly pulled away from me wiping his remnant tears.

I ran to the door, "Any one there? Hello, the knob's broken. Try open the door", I shouted.

"Emily, what are you doing in there?", the all too familiar voice asked.

"Connor, the door knob is broken. Open the door from that side"

He replied an okay and the door clicked.