(RIVALS) The Upside of Falling ✔️

Chapter 22: Nightmare

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Becca

I fell asleep quickly that night -- still emotionally and physically drained from the night before. After Brett dropped me, my mind was over-thinking so badly that I barely managed to get a few hours of sleep.

Thus, as soon as my head hit the pillow tonight, I was out like a light.

In my dreams I was walking through a dark corridor, trailing my hand along the wall to my right to guide my way. The darkness was everywhere, surrounding me completely. I didn't know what, or who, I was looking for, but my eyes searched the blackness endlessly, trying to find something in the dark.

My feet pushed me forward as my lungs began to ache, a cry begging to escape my throat as I felt the darkness press against me, threatening to swallow me whole.

Just when I was about to give up, to sink into the abyss and let the darkness win, I saw a flicker of brightness ahead of me. The more I focused on it, the bigger it grew.

No, it wasn't growing, it was advancing towards me.

"Becca?" A voice called out, an anchor in the dark.

The voice sounded so familiar, I knew I had heard it before, but I couldn't pinpoint where.

"Becca? Is that you?" The voice repeated, louder now as the figure approached me.

"W-who are you?" I asked, my voice shaking with the fear that coursed through my veins.

The person stood in front of me now, holding the candle up to his face and illuminating a pair of piercing blue eyes that frantically scanned mine.

"Thank God I found you," he exclaimed, pulling me into his arms tightly. "I've been looking for you everywhere, Becca. Where have you been?"

"The darkness...I couldn't find my way out." I managed to say, my voice breathless as I desperately hugged this stranger.

No, he wasn't a stranger. I was sure of that. His eyes and his voice held a kindness I was familiar with, I knew I had seen him before.

"I'm here now, love. You don't need to be afraid anymore." He murmured into my hair, squeezing me even tighter against his broad body.

"Okay," I breathed, unable to say anything else.

He pulled back, placing his hands on my shoulders and holding me at arm's length. His eyes stared into mine with an intensity that made my heart ache. I desperately tried to remember this man's name, it was on the tip of my tongue but I couldn't remember.

Why can't I remember!

"Becca, what's my name?" He asked, the kindness in his eyes now replaced by sadness.

No, please don't.

"My name," he repeated, his voice cold.

"I...I don't know," I whispered, flinching at the hurt that flashed across his face at my confession.

He reached out slowly and touched my cheek, holding it in his palm.

"Remember, Becca. Please, you need to remember me," he begged.

I searched the depths of my mind frantically, trying to recall any tiny piece of information related to this stranger in front of me. I searched and searched and searched but came up empty handed every time.