A F T E R D A R K | PAUL LAHOTE - 1

24

My phone rang by my side and I checked down to see the caller ID. Alice's name flashed on the screen and I swiped to accept the call. I barely had the phone to my ear when her panicked voice rang through the speaker, "Sophia!"

My eyes narrowed at her tone and I pressed pause on the program I was watching, "Alice, something the matter?"

"It's Bella! I had a vision, she's in danger."

I shot up from the sofa immediately, "Where, Alice? Where is she?"

"A beach!" She shouted into the phone and I heard a car engine revving, "It was only snippets but she was jumping off of a cliff. I didn't see her surface."

I knew exactly where she was and exactly what she was doing. I searched every bench for my car keys but I couldn't find the assholes anywhere. I yelled in frustration, "Alice you better be sure about this!"

"I am, I swear Sophia! I won't be long, I'm an hour outside of Washington."

I found the bastards hidden under the takeout menus in a draw in the kitchen and shook them with an accomplished grin on my face, "Yeah well Washington's a big place Alice."

"You don't have to remind me! I'm going as fast as I can!"

I slammed the door behind me unlocking the car and jumping straight in, twisting the keys in the ignition and switching Alice to speaker phone. I pulled my belt on quickly and sped out of the driveway, "Alright, I'm on my way. I should be there in less than five minutes."

"You need to hurry Sophia, she might've already jumped!"

I pushed down on the gas peddle further, "What time of day was it?"

"What?"

"In your vision! What time of day was it?"

"It was light, exactly like it is now!"

I grumbled, "Oh great." I pulled up to the beach, abandoning my car as close as I could get it. Here I was in the freezing cold in a pair of jeans and a three quarter sleeved top as the wind whipped around ferociously. I could still see Bella, stood on the edge of the cliff looking down while hanging one foot off the edge of the cliff, "Okay Alice I'm here, she hasn't jumped yet! I have to go."

"Wait, Sophia—"

I hung up quickly and jumped out of my car, leaving the phone inside and taking off towards Bella.

The wind was strong today and the tide was pretty much all the way in. Bella was seriously toying with life and death if she was even contemplating jumping into those waves. They were choppy and incredibly unsafe. When Paul and I cliff jumped together the water was calm and now it was the exact opposite.

Pushing my legs to run faster up the hill, I shouted my sisters name. She didn't turn to look at me though, she just kept her back to me, "Bella, don't jump!"

Running across the edge of the cliff to get to my sister I forced myself to move faster. She still couldn't hear me. She took her jacket off and dropped it on to the floor by her side and took a small step back, "Bella!" I screamed as loud as I could, "Stop it!" Before I reached her she jumped off and I saw her fall quickly until she disappeared into the water, a small splash in her wake.

I waited with baited breath at the edge to see if she would surface, praying that she'd swim back up and everything would be alright.

I barely saw her head come up but it was there. She had rose to the water level, treading while looking about and I sighed in relief, glancing around her.