Chapter 1

Night…

Riker POV

"IT'S DYLAN!" I shouted.

Once Dylan saw it was us, he took off into the woods, and I kept driving home as fast as I could without speeding too much. Riley didn't say anything. She just seemed kind of frozen in the moment. And she was finally back to her old self, and now Dylan's back! Was I going to lose her again? But more importantly, what's Dylan going to do!?

I parked in front of my house, and looked over at Riley. She was staring straight forward, and she wouldn't look at me.

"Riley. We're home."

Riley just sat there. I got out of the car, and walked around to her side. I opened the door, unbuckled her seatbelt, and pulled her out. We walked to her house, but she seemed like a zombie.

"Riley, do you have your key?"

No answer. Just frozen Riley. I knocked on the door, and her dad answered it. I pushed Riley inside.

"Did you forget the key?" Riley's dad asked.

"Uh… I have to tell you something," I said, nervously.

"Ok," Riley's father said, with a bad tone of voice.

He probably thought I did something! Riley's father sat down in a chair in the living room. I pulled Riley over to the couch, and had her sit down next to me.

"Well what is it?" Riley's father asked.

"Uh…"

"And why isn't my daughter saying anything?"

"Uh… Ok… How about I start at the beginning? Uh… I took Riley out to Lake George today. We walked around, and ate ice cream. I was driving her back and…"

"Don't tell me you guys were in an accident."

"No… Uh… Almost… We… We almost were. There was a person on the side of the road. And they ran out in front of my car, but I didn't hit them. But once we saw who it was, Riley stopped speaking, and she's been like this the whole ride back."

"Well who was it?"

"It was… Uh…"

"Dylan…" Riley whispered.

"DYLAN!? How!? I thought you guys said he fell off a cliff!"

"He did! We both thought he was dead!" I said.

"I need to call the police."

Riley's father got up and left, but Riley and I were still sitting here.

"Riley?"

"He's back," Riley whispered, slowly.

"Riley."

"He's back…"

"Riley, are you ok?"

Riley suddenly grabbed my hand.

"He's back!" Riley shouted, crying.

She got up and ran to her bedroom. I ran in after her. She was hiding under the blankets on her bed. I pulled them up, and sat down under the blankets with her.

"Riley, it's going to be ok. Your dad's calling the police right now. They're going to catch him, and everything will be ok again."

Riley stayed under the blankets, crying softly.

"Riley. Please come out."

Riley sat up next to me under the blankets, and let herself fall into my arms. I held her tightly to me, and rubbed her back slowly.

"Riley, it's going to be ok, I promise."

Riley's father came in, and turned on the light.

"Are you guys ok?" He asked.

"We're fine," I said, looking down at Riley in my arms, who was still crying.

"Ok, well I called the police, and told them what happened. They're going to try to find him, but until they do, you guys are going to need to be really careful. That boy is dangerous."

"We will," I said.

"Ok. Are you alright handling… this," Riley's dad said, pointing at Riley.

"Yeah."

"Are you sure? You can go home if you want. I don't want you to feel like you need to be here."

"No, it's ok."

"Ok. Oh, and Riker? Thanks for keeping my daughter safe."

"You're welcome."

Riley's dad left and closed the door. Riley's crying started to slow down. After a little while, she sat up, and wrapped her arms around me. I did the same, and held her tightly.

"Riley?"

"Yeah?"

"It's getting pretty late. I think I should probably go home now."

"You're leaving me!? After what just happened!? What if he shows up here tonight!? And are you serious about going out there in the dark where he could be hiding!? What if he's there right now, and you went out there, and he killed you!? What if-"

"Riley, shhh! Calm down! If you don't want me to leave, I won't."

"Promise?"

"I promise! I'll stay here tonight!"

"Good…"

"Can I tell you something?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm honestly really glad you want me here. I had the same thought about him being out there, and I was really scared about walking home alone in the dark, even though my house is like right there."

"Riker, you could've just told me, and I would've let you stay!"

"Really?"

"Really."

"Ugh!"

"What!?"

"I feel so stupid!"

"Why!?"

"Because I'm scared! That's so embarrassing!"

"Why?"

"Because I'm your boyfriend! I shouldn't be scared! I'm supposed to protect you, and I haven't done a very good job so far."

"I don't think it's embarrassing. And you did protect me! Riker, you are the best boyfriend I could ever have. Please don't feel bad about yourself."

"It's just embarrassing!"

"No it's not! Now come on. We're sleeping on the floor, so help me set it up."

"Riley, you don't have to sleep on the floor with me. Sleep in your bed. You'll be much more comfortable."

"No, I want to be close to you in case anything happens. You're going to protect me, right?"

"Of course I will."

Well, aside from the thought that Dylan might come murder us tonight, I was really happy with how Riley was taking it. Sure, she was clingy now, but she was normal. She wasn't paranoid. She was scared only as much as a normal person would be in this situation.

I helped Riley set up our beds on the floor. I was actually really nervous about sleeping here tonight. I was scared Dylan would come back, and then I would be here, and he'd hurt me too. But Riley wanted me here, so I needed to be here for her.

"Riker?"

"Yeah?"

"What time is it?"

"Only 10:15. Why?"

"I'm not tired, and I didn't want to go to sleep yet."

"We don't have to. What do you want to do?"

"Eat something. I'm starving!"

"It's because you've barely eaten in days! Come on, let's go find something."

We walked out to the kitchen, and Riley's father was standing there doing nothing. He was probably thinking about… Dylan…

"Riley? Is Riker spending the night?" Riley's father asked.

"Yeah. Is that ok?"

"Yeah, I don't really want him going back out there tonight."

"Ok, cool. Thanks."

Riley grabbed my hand, and pulled me over to get something to eat.

"Ok, close your eyes," Riley said.

"Ok?"

"Keep them closed."

I heard Riley get something out of the fridge, and then get silverware, but I didn't know what she was getting.

"Ok, now hold on. Stay there."

I heard Riley run to her room, and then come back.

"Walk," Riley said, pushing me forward.

When we finally arrived at her room, my eyes were still closed, and I was curious what she was doing.

"Ok, now sit down right where you are."

"Riley, what are you doing?"

"You'll see."

I could hear Riley moving stuff around.

"Ok, open your eyes."

Riley had laid out 2 spoons, and a mini container of ice cream.

"Ice cream!?"

"Yeah."

"That's awesome!"

Later…

Riker POV

Riley and I had finished the ice cream, and we were sitting on the ground talking.

"Riker?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm getting tired. Can we go to bed soon?"

"Yeah."

"Wait. Are you going to sleep in that?"

I looked down. I was wearing a short sleeved shirt and skinny jeans.

"Well yeah. I can't go over to my house and get pajamas."

"Close your eyes again."

"Why?"

"I have a present for you."

I smiled as I closed my eyes. Old Riley was still here, and she was the sweetest thing ever.

"Ok, open them."

I opened my eyes, and Riley was holding a box.

"Here. I wasn't going to give you this until we did something special, but tonight seems like a night where you need it more."

I took the box and opened it. She had bought me a pair of black and white plaid pajama pants. And they were really soft.

"Riley! Thank you so much! These are awesome!"

I gave Riley a hug.

"You're welcome!"

"Alright, I'm going to get changed, and then we can think about going to bed."

"Ok."

Riley and I took turns changing in the bathroom. And the pajamas she got me felt like the world's softest pajamas ever. I loved them.

"Hey Riker?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you open the window? It's getting kind of hot in here."

"Sure."

Later…

Riker POV

I was sitting against Riley's bed. And Riley was laying on a pillow on my lap. I was playing with her hair.

"Riley?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm so glad you're still ok."

"What do you mean?"

"Well when you came over this morning and you wanted to go to Lake George, I was confused because all you wanted to do was lay in bed. But then as the day went on, I realized that you were different."

"How?"

"You were acting like you did when I first met you, before anything happened."

"Oh."

"And I was just so happy you were doing better because I was starting to think you were never going to get better. And then when you kissed me and said we were back together again, I was so happy. But then when we went home and saw… you know who… I was worried you were going to go back to acting weird and stuff. But you didn't, and you're talking to me, and you want to do stuff. I'm especially glad that you're eating again, by the way… I'm just glad that it didn't really affect you too much."

"Are you sure? Because I'm scared."

"Riley, anyone in this situation would be scared."

"Ok…"

"Riley, you're still back to normal. Really."

"Ok."

"Ok, you're getting really tired. Let's go to bed, ok?"

"Ok…"

I moved Riley from my lap to her own bed. I laid down next to her, and before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

Middle of the night…

Riker POV

I woke up, hearing strange noises. I sat up, and realized they were coming from Riley's closet. And Riley wasn't next to me anymore!

I got up, and opened her closet door.

"Riley?"

"Riker! You scared me! Don't do that!"

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

"Riley. Seriously, what's going on?"

"Nothing."

"What are you hiding behind your back?"

"Nothing!"

"Riley."

Riley backed out of her closet, and sat on her bed, still hiding something behind her back.

"Riley, seriously, what do you have?"

"You can't be mad."

"I won't be, just tell me what it is."

Riley showed me what she had, and it was a bottle of pills!

"Riley! Why do you have that!?"

"There were some pills left over from when I still saw my therapist! I've been laying here for the longest time ever, and these pills will help me fall asleep!"

"Riley, you can't take those!"

"Why not?"

"They'll make you crazy again!"

"But I can't fall asleep!"

"Riley, it doesn't matter. Give me the pills."

"No!"

"Riley!"

Riley and I each had one hand on the pill bottle. It was now a fight to see who would get them. And Riley was stronger than I thought! She put up a really good fight! My hand was slipping, and it finally slipped out from my hand. Riley when flying backwards through the screen in the window, to the ground which was about 4 or 5 feet down.

"OW!"

I rushed over to the window. Riley was lying on top of the screen, on the ground. And the bottle of pills was a few feet away from her. But lucky for me, she didn't care about them anymore.

"Riley are you ok!?"

Riley immediately stood up, and came to the window.

"Riker, you need to get me inside before he shows up and does something to me!"

"Ok, ok. Give me your hands. I'll try to pull you up!"

I was leaning halfway out the window, trying to pull Riley up, but it was hard because I felt like I was going to fall out!

"Riker, hurry! I hear something in the woods!"