Connected [Luke Hemmings]

• Chapter 31 •

• Chapter 31 •

Renn

I stir awake, and it's still dark outside. I look at the time with one eye and it's 4.21 in the morning. Letting out a groan, I wrap myself in a hoodie and walk to the kitchen.

I've been having these horrible nightmares of Sawyer coming back and "finishing off what he started" with me. Since then, I've been taking online classes, and now Michael knows about it. He promised not to tell anyone about it, and I hope he keeps it. Every night, I wake up at around 4 and I don't go back to sleep again. I get too scared, and no one knows about these nightmares.

Jana thinks I've just been really stressed and upset that sleeping is hard for me. I go with her theory, because it's not that far off.

Somehow, tonight is different. Usually when I grab a cuppa, I'm able to stay awake until the full sun comes out at around 5.30 and I start my day. But I'm tired, and I want to sleep. My eyes can't stay open, and I want to go back into my comfy bed and fall asleep. But I'm too scared.

When I finish my tea, I walk back to my room and lay in bed, thinking. I think of random things, like why the sun rises on the east, and why God chose Earth to put his beloved people on. Then my eyes close, and I fall into a deep sleep once again.

"Come back here!" he yells. My feet are running, but I can' go any faster. I'm stuck on the same speed, and he seems to be going faster and faster every time I look back.

"Help me get her!" Sawyer yells to someone else. I hear two people running toward me, I look back and I bump into someone. I fall on my back and they pick me up.

"Renn?" the voice calls. I turn to see Luke, holding my hands. I shake my head.

"No," I plead, "no it's not you."

"Renn I can help you! I can help you!"

I try to take Luke's hand and let him pull me toward him, but I slip. Luke doesn't stop, and helps me run behind the big building.

"Why are they chasing you?" he asks, out of breath.

"Saw-Sawyer's trying to rape me," I say.

"God Renn, why didn't you tell me? You know I love you, I'd come for you in a heartbeat."

I don't say anything, and Luke is confused. He starts to call my name again and again.

But when I open my eyes, I realise it was all a dream. Luke never saved me from Sawyer. He wasn't there when I needed him the most, and I know that's stupid to say.

"Renn? You okay?" asks Jana. I turn to see Jana still in her pyjamas.

"Um, yeah I'm fine," I say.

"You didn't sound fine. You were yelling out Luke's name, care to explain?" asks Jana.

I shake my head vigorously. "Actually no, I don't," I say. The dream is bothering me. I've had a few nightmares before, but they never had Luke in them. This was the first one. And in it, he told me he'd do anything for me. If only dreams come true.

"Oh come on, Renn just tell me," says Jana, "I don't judge."

Sighing, I decide to tell her, and in the middle of our conversation, the doorbell rings. "I'll get it. We're finishing this right after," says Jana, walking out of my room. When she comes back, I hear speaking and the voice is so familiar I almost choke on my own saliva.

"Bianca?!" I exclaim.

"Renny-Boo!" she yells, and we jump into each other's arms.

Bianca has spent almost two months in California with her older half-sister. She's thinking about moving there, once she has enough money of course. So now, she's stuck back in boring old Sydney. "What are you doing here?!" I exclaim.