Out of the Darkness

89

When it was empty, I lay back on my towel and closed my eyes. Might as well make good use of this sun. Sam didn't say too much, and I noticed him on his phone when I opened one eye to see what he was doing. Eventually the rest of the guys came back, and sat down with us. Corey pulled out a few of the snacks that we had brought, and passed around some grapes and almonds. "You want any?" Devyn asked, nudging my leg. I opened my eyes again, and shook my head. "I'm good," I replied. "So Colby," Kat started. I inwardly groaned because I already knew what was coming. "Why didn't Anna come? I like her." I sat up, and pulled my knees up to rest my arms on them. "Because I didn't ask her, Kat." Corey's eyes widened at my reply but he said nothing. "What? Why?! I know you like her. I can tell by the way you acted around her," she said. I rolled my eyes. "I didn't act any different around her," I replied. "Besides, I didn't even invite you guys. Jake did." Her eyes narrowed at me. "Uh oh," I heard Sam whisper. "Cole Robert Brock, I don't care if you want to be alone, stuck in your little emo head, but when SAM, MY BOYFRIEND, asks me if I want to come to the beach with you guys, I'm coming. You wanna know why, Colby? Because we're FRIENDS. Because I enjoy hanging out with you guys. Because it's what friends do. Now get over yourself. I like Anna and I want to get to know her better. I can't do that unless YOU invite her because I don't have her number." "She doesn't have a phone," I said automatically, a little shocked that Katrina had just went off on me. I probably deserved it though. "Then how do you get in touch with her, huh?" she asked, a little haughtily. I shrugged. "She has a house phone but-" She cut me off, by shoving my own phone at me. "Then call her. Tell her to come meet us." I shook my head. "NO." "Why not? You like her. I saw the way you looked at her, Colby." "Kat, give it a rest," Sam said, shaking his head at her. She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I just don't want him to mess it up by being too prideful or whatever it is. She's a really sweet girl." "It's his choice, not yours," he said quietly, looking at her sternly. I shot him an appreciative look. "I know," Kat sighed. "I just hate seeing you so sad, Colby. You're like a brother to me. You know that. I just want you to be happy." I smiled at her. "I know Katrina. I love you too." Everyone was quiet for a moment, all of us feeling a little awkward, I think, before Corey spoke up. "Well...now that that's settled, who wants to go spend the rest of the day doing stupid shit that could potentially get us into trouble, but will be a ton of fun. Especially for the explorers." He waggled his eyebrows at me and Sam. "What do you have in mind?" I asked. "Hiking," he answered. "Um, that's not gonna get us into trouble, Corey," Sam replied. "If we're trespassing, it would," he answered. "We're listening," I said, a smile growing on my face. "Yeesss," he said, then started to explain. Apparently, he had been hiking with a couple of his friends in Griffith Park. They went off trail, to smoke a little weed, and stumbled onto private property. There was a run down old brick home, with a huge pool behind it. "Great place to go skating or just to drink a little," he said, shrugging. "Who's in?" We all agreed, and started packing up our stuff. We found the place relatively easy, and scoped it out for security cameras, just in case. The rest of the evening was spent in laughter, drinking, skating...well, mostly busting our asses since it had been a while, and just having fun with our friends. It was just what I needed. When I crashed that night, I felt hopeful that I was too tired to have any dreams, much less nightmares. I was wrong. The same nightmare, the beach, Anna being tortured or ripped from my arms by some dark force, happened again. And again and again. It was every night. It became routine. I tried drinking Monster Energy drinks, and loads of Starbucks to keep me up as long as possible. I didn't want to sleep. I didn't want to keep experiencing this over and over again. "You need to talk to someone, Colby. Or go to the doctor. Have you tried Melatonin?" Sam asked, his eyes worried as they took in my deep set eyes and the shadows beneath them. It had  been weeks since Anna disappeared and I still wasn't sleeping. I shook my head at him, feeling utterly exhausted but wired. "No. What am I gonna say, Sam? I lost my ghost girlfriend and I keep having nightmares about her because I don't know how to help her, since she may be stuck in an alternate reality?" The guy that Amethyst had tried to connect us with, Ash, still hadn't answered his phone. We still tried every day, but not as often. I felt like it was all a lost cause by now but I still couldn't let her go. "Hold on," he said, standing up from the table and walking into the kitchen. A few moments later, he came back and held out a vitamin bottle to me. I took it and glanced at the label. It was Melatonin. "You really think this will work?" I asked, unconvinced. He shrugged. "No, but it's worth a shot. When you get shit faced drunk every night, pass out, and the nightmares still wake you up...I don't have a solution, brother. Just a maybe." I poured a couple into my hand and tossed them into my mouth. I used the remaining bit of my White Claw to wash them down. "We need to talk about it though. About giving up," Sam said, quietly.