Part 53

Part 53

Dream is in italics (𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨)

Real world is normal lettering (like this)

Third Person POV

Josh had been asleep for an hour or so before a dream began to creep into his mind. He didn't mind it at first, but then his dream became dark.

𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨, 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚. 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙞𝙛 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣'𝙨 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙩. 𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝, 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙨.

𝘼𝙣𝙙, 𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚, 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝'𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙢 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙚𝙡 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚. 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙨𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣'𝙨 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙩. 𝙃𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙖𝙠 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚. 𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣, 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙢.

"𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣?" 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙.

𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚.

"𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣?!" 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣.

𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚, 𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙖 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙝.

"𝙎𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪?" 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙚𝙙, 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙥𝙖𝙡𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣.

𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝 𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙟𝙪𝙢𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙. 𝙃𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨.

"𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣?" 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙚𝙙, 𝙘𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙮'𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚. "𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪?"

𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙.

"𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩," 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙.

𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜.

"𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚!" 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝 𝙮𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙. "𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙤 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣."

𝙒𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙮𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙧𝙮.

"𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚! 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙧!!! 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙚!" 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙.

𝙎𝙪𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙡𝙮, 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣'𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝'𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝. 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙖 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙘𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣.

Josh's eyes flew open and he saw his mom kneeling on the floor, holding onto her ribs.

"Mom, are you okay?!" Josh asked, scared that he was the one who hurt her.

"The more important question is if you are okay," Josh's mom said, looking up at him.

"What do you mean?" Josh asked.

"You were crying in your sleep before yelling something about a promise," Josh's mom said. "And then when I tried to wake you up, you started throwing your arms around."

"Did I hurt you?" Josh asked, scared for his mom's answer.

"It's probably just a bruise," Josh's mom said, brushing it off. "But I want to know what your dream was about."

"It was nothing," Josh said, fully remembering his dream and how pale and dead Justen looked.

"Well, it was obviously something if it had you screaming and crying," Josh's mom said.

"I don't remember what I was dreaming about," Josh lied. "I'm sorry that I woke you up."

"Don't apologize," Josh's mom said. "I was up getting a glass of water anyway."

"Okay," Josh said.

"Alright, I love you," Josh's mom said, kissing him on the forehead and leaving the room.

"I love you too, mom," Josh smiled as his mom left his room, closing the door as she did so.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Justen's house, Justen was having a not-so-similar dream to Josh's.

Justen has just gotten home with his sister, Natalie, when he smelled the familiar scent of weed in the house. He feared the worst as he walked through the house and to his dad's room. Opening the door, the smell smacked him across the face. That's when Justen was met with an angry dad. Justen's dad was red in the face and his bloodshot  eyes locked with Justen's. Justen immediately ran over to Natalie. He tried to pull her out of the house so nothing would happen to her, but with her frozen in fear, it wasn't easy.

Justen's dad stomped out of his room with the same angry face he had shown Justen. Natalie only stared at her father, scared of what he might do. He only pushed her aside and grabbed Justen by the collar of his shirt.

Justen tried to not let it bother him. But the aroma was too much and with Natalie watching everything, there was nothing Justen could do.

With a smirk, Justen's dad laid the first punch. And after the first punch, there were many more and Justen's dad only stopped when there was a knock on the door.

Justen's dad stopped hitting Justen and dropped Justen on the floor so he could answer door. Justen's dad smiled an evil smile when he saw Josh standing in front of the door.

"No!" Justen cried, seeing his dad's smile.

Justen's dad pulled Josh inside the dirty house and smirked at him.

"Don't touch him!" Justen said, getting off the floor and jumping on his dad's back to distract him.

Justen's new tossed Justen off his back and Natalie grabbed Justen to hold him back. While natalie was holding Justen, their dad turned back to Josh. Justen, knowing what his dad was going to do to Josh, started to try and escape his sister's grip. When Natalie felt her brother trying to escape, she started violently shaking him.

"Wake up!" she growled. "Justen, wake up!"

Justen's eyes flew open and he looked up at his dad.

"Are you okay?" Justen's dad asked, worry in his voice. 

Justen only nodded.

"Are you sure? You were screaming and throwing yourself around on your bed," Justen's dad said.

"I'm fine," Justen said. 

"Alright, just let me know if you need me, okay?" Justen's dad asked.

"Okay," Justen said, watching his dad leave before grabbing his phone.

He dialed the number to the one person he wanted to talk to: Josh.