REWIND: Tampered (Youtube FanFiction)

Chapter Ten

"Lost"

Day 8 – Thursday
11:09AM

||Nate Smith (NateWantsToBattle)||

I've never stumbled out of bed faster in my life after hearing Dawn scream her laughs out. My heart is racing, my palms are sweating, my face feels hot and my mind is a blur—what the hell is going on? What happened to her?

Running to Dawn's room literally took seconds for me but it felt so much longer than that because of panic. I send the bedroom door flying as I rush in, panting, to see Dawn kneeling on the floor with her back against me. Her camera is on a tripod, facing her bed, too. All her windows are closed and everything else seems undisturbed.

I run towards her to kneel next to her. I shake her by the shoulders with both my hands, scared that she might not answer me if I don't do so, "Dawn?! Oh my god, Dawn, what the fuck happened?! What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

As I grab her, I realize that she's crying—no, she's sobbing her heart out. I've never seen her face turn this shade of red, nor seen her eyes as bloodshot as they are right now, and I've seen her when Matt died—twice, even. Her sobs can barely produce a sound, showing how much air she's losing. She refuses to look at me, too, or maybe she can't even manage to acknowledge my presence.

"D-Dawn? What happened to you?" I ask again, softer this time as I draw closer to her. "Dawn, are you hurt? Talk to me. Please."

"Why is this happening to us, Nate?" she manages to mutter out in between sobs, her breath hitching every now and then. "Nate, what the fuck does he want?"

I stare at her, confused but scared—scared that another incident might have happened, "What are you talking about, Dawn?"

Dawn wails like a lost child once again, with tears streaming down her flustered face. "It's him...he got him...oh god, I should have been there! I should have left earlier!"

"What?" I ask again, fear creeping up my spine. "Who are you talking about—?"

"PHIL!!" she shout out as she slams her fists against my chest. "HE GOT PHIL! HE FUCKING GOT PHIL!! FUCK, PHILIP LESTER IS FUCKING DEAD!!"

I stare at her, at lost for words as she cries even harder. She continues to hit my chest, each punch becoming weaker than the one prior to it, as she tried to pour out her emotions. Her wails ring in my ears as I try to let what she had told me sink in—Phil? Phil Lester...is dead? This has happened to us for so many times already and yet I can still feel a sinking pit in my stomach. I feel my face heat up as my eyes begin to water. I've just met the guy yesterday and now he's fucking dead?

I pull Dawn closer to me as I try to comfort her while controlling my own emotions. I feel her tremble in my arms as I embrace her tightly. Scared that, if I let go, she'll break down even more. Scared that, if I let go, she'll completely lose it.

She was so afraid of letting Dan and Phil be in LA because of how life threatening the area is right now. I wish she was wrong to be afraid.

"D-Dan called me," she started as she continues to sob in my arms. "H-He said they just went out to buy some food when...when...oh god, Phil...I should have been there. I fucking told them to stay inside until we get there!"

I can clearly sense the mixture of sadness and anger in her voice through every word. I glance down at her, at her trembling body, before I slowly lower my head closer to her. I rub her arms in a hopeless attempt to comfort her, but I knew this won't bring Phil back to her, to them.

"We need to go back," she manages to say so quietly that, if I wasn't so close to her, I would not have heard it. "We need to save him."

Her breath continues to hitch as I pull her away, my hands remaining on her shoulders, "D-Dawn, you know that's not a good idea. We'll mess up the timeline again. We'll be in another reality—"