His eyes snapped opened, wide with fear and quickly sat up. A trickle of cold sweat ran down his back making him shiver. He took deep breaths, trying to clam his rapidly beating heart, feeling as if it could break free from his rib cage at any moment. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with cool air and tried to calm down. One word escaped his mouth, a word laced with anxiety and fear.

"Skyler."

•••

"Stay here."

"Ok." Alec responded. He knew he couldn't go to school with Zach, especially with the risk of somehow being noticed that came with escaping so he just sat on Zach's bed and watched the older boy stuff the last of his school suppiles in his backpack. Zach walked out the door towards the nearby corner where normaly waited for the bus, worried about Alec and yet at the same time confident that he'd be safe inside his house.

As the bus pulled up he noitced a teen a couple of years older than him walk towards his house. Alec, who was looking down at Zach through the window of the second story of his house, seemed to notice the mysterious stanger as well. Suddenly his eyes went wide and he quickly ducked down. The stanger stopped and front of his house as Zach climbed onto the bus and stared at it. He then looked at Zach, his light brown eyes bearing into his foggy green ones. As the bus pulled away he could've sowrn they turned dark, almost black as he began to glare at him through the bus window.

...

It was two hours before he knew his dream was real. Zach hadn't seen Skyler and he wasn't answering his numerous worried texts. He was gone.

*****************************

Hello. Sorry about the long break (also I was sick recently) but I'm back now. Updates will continue every week as usual unless something comes up. Until then, byeee. ❤️