Keep On Walking (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 3 of the Hardships Saga)

Chapter Sixteen

❝hallucination (pronounced həˌluːsɪˈneɪʃ(ə)n or huh-loo-suh-ney-shuh n), noun
a sensory experience of something that does not exist outside the mind, caused by various physical and mental disorders, or by reaction to certain toxic substances, and usually manifested as visual or auditory images.❞

Ryan couldn't sleep. It had been a few weeks since the party, and she was only feeling more sick. She had decided. She and Hunter would go to the doctors.

She sat up, reaching for the glass of water that she kept on her bedside table, but there was something reflecting in the glass that she hadn't seen before. She frowned, and looked around.

Then she gasped.

Hunter woke up. He felt like something was wrong, and he noticed that she was sitting up in bed. "Ry? Honey, why're you awake?"

She didn't reply. She didn't seem to have heard him. He sat up, feeling confused. "My dove?"

He noticed the expression on her face for the first time. Her eyes were wide, full of tears, and she looked more scared than he had ever seen her. Her lips trembled, and she was paler than the moon. "R-Ry?"

She still didn't respond, and he waved a hand in front of her face. She didn't flinch. "Ry? Honey, look at me. What's wrong?"

"Don't you see it?" she whispered.

Hunter frowned, looking at where she was staring, at the cupboard across the room. "No," he said, sounding confused.

"She's... she's watching."

His heart began to race. "Who?"

"It's her," she whispered hoarsely. There was something different about her voice. It wasn't really her voice... it was like it was someone else entirely. "She's watching me. Watching us."

Hunter took a deep breath. "Alright, Ryan. Tell me what she looks like."

"Pale... so pale... she's... hanging from the roof... from her own hair..."

He didn't say anything. She kept talking, though her voice was trembling. "Her hair... it's covered in blood from her stomach. Don't you smell the blood?"

"O-Of course I do. What colour is her hair?"

"Red. Like fire."

He felt his breathing hitch. "And... and her eyes?"

"She doesn't have any. They're just... sunken holes in her face."

"What does her body look like?"

"She's... kind of thin... but not really... and... she looks... angry..."

"Ryan... Ryan, I need you to look at me."

Suddenly, she gasped. "W-What?"

"What do you mean, what?"

"I- I can't. You don't understand, I can't!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I won't leave him! Please, leave us alone!"

"Ryan, who are you-"

"NO! NO, PLEASE! DON'T HURT ME!" She began to scream, covering her ears. Hunter grabbed his phone and quickly called Rose.

"Hello?" she said. "Hunter, you should know better. I'm in the middle of a shift-"

"Rose, there's something wrong with Ryan, she's hallucinating or something, please, hurry!"

"What- is that her in the background?!"

"Just come!"

"Mama?" Phoenix had come into the room, and he tried to walk up to Ryan. Hunter grabbed him quickly, trying to keep him away. In this state, he had no idea what Ryan might do. She screamed again, seeming to not recognise Hunter. "Don't hurt them! Don't hurt me! Please, I can't leave him! He's my everything! Please, please, leave me alone!"