the bad boy's scared of bugs

Chapter 24-sunrise

24|sunrise
R I L E Y

"Riley! Oh my god, Riley! Get up!" A pair of hands shake me from my sleep. I barely lift up an eyelid and look at the clock.
"Geezus, it's literally one in the morning. What do you want?" I look at my mother, who was standing there in a panic, talking to someone on the phone.
"Riley! It's Madeleine's mother on the phone. She's just found Maddie on the floor with blood everywhere—I'll just hand you the phone. Here!" She thrusts her mobile into my hands before I can barely register what's happening.
"Uhmm hello? I heard that Maddie is—"
"Riley? Riley Henzel? Is that you? Oh, of course it's you I could recognise your voice even my ears were filled with wet cement. It's Madeleine's mother here and Maddie is—oh god Maddie wake up! Riley, please I know how much Maddie has tormented you over these years but I don't have a car and—MADDIE! Hang in there sweetie—" Mrs Grey wailed in her shrill voice.
"No." I replied coldly. My mother looked shocked but didn't say anything after I glared at her.
"Riley, please. Maddie could die!" Another wail.
"Look Mrs Grey, with all due respect, I honestly don't give a damn about how much of a bully she was to me. But William," I swallowed the lump in my throat as tears threatened to rise. The line was quiet on the other side. "W-William, h-he had everything to live for, Mrs Grey. But no, he decided to kill himself. And do you know why, Mrs Grey? You do, don't you? After so many months of torture from Maddie, he couldn't handle it anymore. You should've seen his body, his lifeless body. You should've seen the blood. Y-you should've seen his face. He was just lying there, dead. DEAD!" I screamed, the tears poured down. I looked over at my own mother, my pained expression mirrored hers.
"Riley..." Mrs Grey whispered softly.
"Honestly, why did you even call this number? Why? To take advantage of the fact that you still think that you're friends with my mum?" I asked.
"Riley Henzel, please. I'm begging you as a mother—"
"As a mother? As a MOTHER? Honestly, you even have the face to call yourself a mother? What kind of mother would let her own daughter act like that?"
"Plea—"
"There's something called an ambulance. And this is the wrong number for said ambulance." I interrupted, before hanging up the phone. I handed back the phone to my mum and locked myself in my bedroom after she left wordlessly.

That night, I drifted off to sleep thinking about William.

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I was sitting in my room. My old bedroom, from before we moved. From before William died. I look around and see him. William. Standing there.

"William! You're alright! You haven't died!" I rushed up and grabbed him, feeling every bone in his broad shoulders.
"Died? I haven't died. Anyways Riley, I have to tell you something." His face was lit up with excitement, a wide smile on his innocent face.
"Go ahead." I was still holding on to him, in fear that he would disappear.
"I really like Maddie, Riley, I think I want to be with her forever." He smiles.
"What? With her? Why would you want to be with her? After everything she's done." My heart sinks at his words.
"I. Want. To. Be. With. Maddie. I want to protect her and be there for her forever and always." Will replies insistently, his smile still plastered on his face. I feel him fading away.

Suddenly it's very dark. As if I'm in a movie and the scene has just transitioned. I see William again. But this time he's laying there in a pool of his own blood. All I see is that last stare he gave me before he falls away. Away into the abyss.

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I jolt awake, feeling my t-shirt cling onto my back. I sit up and at look at the time. It's four in the morning. I lay down and try to go to sleep before realising that there was no way I was going to be able to sleep after that nightmare. Instead, I get up and turn on the desk light. As I sit at my desk, my hands hover over the handle of my drawer. The drawer I haven't opened in a long time. The drawer that's I've been too scared to acknowledge. Nobody else know's what's inside that drawer because I've locked it. Not even my mum knows.