RECAP:

Becca.

It wasn't long before the next message pinged below the first one.

Needs.

I waited for the next words to appear, the lump in my throat growing.

You,

And then my phone nearly fell out of my grasp with the stream of notifications following the last ones.

Ashton.

It's.

Time.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I could already feel my other hand clenching into a tight fist.

Looking back, I wished I had never opened that sick message.

Even closing my eyes didn't escape the torturous rays of sun. With one hand shading my reddened face and the other pouring luke-warm water from a plastic bottle into my mouth, I felt drained after spending the last few hours in this sweltering hell.

Still no sign of Ashton.

It wasn't like I was alone. I had Josie and Ethan, who were currently either side of me, and housed the same exhausted look as I imagined myself to have.

Heat will forever have that effect on me.

Tipping the bottle further towards the cloudless sky, I pictured myself in some sci-fi movie. Not the ones with aliens and spaceships, but the kind where I would be scorching in the middle of some unheard-of desert and shaking a metal bottle above me so that I would get the last drop of water to survive.

Dramatic, I know, but I'll blame it on the heat getting to my head.

Am I hallucinating?

The tanning oil that I had stupidly worn this morning was yet to soak into my skin and I could almost feel it sizzling off my legs. Maybe today was the day that I became a doughnut.

Realising that my stupid thoughts would eat me alive if I remained lying on my towel, I shuffled to my feet and met a familiar rush of lightheadedness.

"Hey, I'm gonna head inside for a bit. Want me to take any rubbish as I'm going? I asked the two of them and was handed a few ice lolly wrappers before I brushed the heated sand off of my towel.

Each step I took up the staircase felt heavy and my head pounded for the desperate need of water.

After walking, and counting, the forty-two-and-a-half steps, It was just my luck that the door was locked from the inside.

"Shit." I cursed as my knuckles beat into the glass with more force than I imagined.

I spun around, glancing back at the beach, and decided that there was no way I'd be going back.

Here goes...I thought as I pulled out my phone and clicked on Ashton's contact.

After the houseparty two years ago, he had wrestled me for my phone to put his number into. I didn't really care...It wasn't like I was ever going to use it. Infact, until last night at the beach, I had completely forgotten about having his number.

It was only when he had pulled out one of my headphones, that he made me distracted and took my phone from me. The whole of the way back had been him taking stupid photos of me with black and white filters on stapchat.

I was shocked to see that one of the photos from last night had been sent to him on my phone.

I don't remember sendi- Oh.

Squinting under the powerful rays, I tried to make out what the dark picture was of.

The task appeared impossible so I mentally told myself to look later and send a quick message to him.

hey

can you let me in

i'm stuck outside lol

4:24

Which door?

4:24

the one that i couldn't open

yesterday

:0

4:25

No, might just leave you there.

4:25

ugh pleaseee

if i pass out it's ur fault

also

who even uses caps anymore?

don't even get me started on the comma

4:25

It's grammatically correct.

Don't be so dramatic.

4:25

I'm only coming because you haven't replied.

You could be dead.

4:28

The sound of a key being twisted alerted me that he had followed through with his texts.

Should I pretend to be dead?

My back was already pressed up against the stone wall and I allowed my eyes to remain closed.

I held my breath.

"Holy shit." He paused. "Oh no no no now I will never be able to tell her." He whispered and ran a hand through his hair.

The voice inside my head yelled for me to ask what but I knew that It would ruin my cover.

After all, dead people don't talk.

"I'll never be able to tell her-" His voice suddenly lost all sadness and his hand firmly grabbed my chin. "-How bad of an actress she is. Like jeez you wouldn't have fooled anyone with that little act." He said and I shot my eyes open for the pure intention to glare at him.

"It was cute though." He added and my eyes softened slightly. Key word: slightly.

"I could always close the door again. " He remarked and pulled his face towards mine so that we were inches away.

"Where's the fun in that though?" I replied with an amused tone.

"You make a good point." He smiled and moved slightly closer to me

"When do I not?" My head tilted closer to him.

"Fine.I take it back."

"No you don't." I finished and trailed my hand to the back of his neck and pulled his lips onto mine.

The kiss was slow but I pulled back almost instantly.

"You like me too much to do that." I added and he brushed himself off before standing up and offering me a hand.

He kept a hold of my hand and held the door open for me.

Stepping in, I was hit with a blast of cool and crisp air that made my headache ease slightly.

Key word, again: Slightly.

"Whatever floats your boat Becca." He remarked but his voice somehow sounded so distant compared to our proximity.

My pupils began to dilate and my entire body became tingly like a million fires erupting from my core...

...not in a good way.

The pounding got harder, louder. Like a heartbeat throbbing into my skull, It boomed through my eardrums and demanded my attention.

Infact, It took up so much of my attention that I almost didn't hear my name being called in slow motion. The distant voice was now miles away.

Scrap that...thousands of miles away.

LIke an echo from a dark and gloomy tunnel that I couldn't quite reach the light from.

But that was the thing. There was no light.

The pounding finally took control.

"Sounds like she has a heat stroke." A familiar voice talked but as the ringing in my head returned, an external groan escaped my lips and I tried to bring my focus onto controlling my deep breathing.

"Oh, she's up. Becca, how are you feeling?" A female voice asked.

"Who's Becca?" I replied and centered my vision on the bodies before me.

The pounding in my head was a stubborn son of a bitch and refused to get lost, but I couldn't pass up an opportunity like this for some quality entertainment.

From looking left to right, I appeared to be lying on Ashton's bed with Josie beside me, Ethan crouched on the floor and looked at me with a sympathetic look whilst Ashton propped himself against the wall with his arms crossed above his chest and a foot resting on the high skirting board.

"Becca w-we're your friends." Josie stuttered, her smile dropping in an instant.

I furrowed my brows and pretended to be analysing the situation with a fearful gaze.

"I- I'm not B-E-C-C-A." I spelled out and pointed to Ashton at the back.

"Who's the whacko in the back?" I questioned and pointed to Ashton whose smile grew when he knew what I was getting at.

Both Josie and Ethan snorted and I turned to face Josie.

"The one with the really bad fashion taste?" Josie started and I let my entire act slip.

"Yeah the one with the-" Before I could finish Ashton was on top of Josie and I, tickling us to death.

"Get off them you twat." Ethan called and Ashton held eye-contact with me until he was off the bed.

"We've ran out of drinks for the evening so Ethan is gonna drive us to the store. You guys want anything?" Josie asked and shot me a smirk.

This bitch thinks she's doing something...

...Little does she know.

"Just pineapple juice please." I responded and Josie's smirk grew.

"Okayyy I'll see you kids laterrr." She replied and tugged at Ethan with keys in her hand.

"You take fucking care of her or-" Ethan started but Josie was already pushing him into the hallway.

"We're such good parents." She muttered but It was loud enough for both of us to hear and eye roll to.

"You're going to pay for that." Ashton spoke once the front door closed with at bang and he then propped himself onto his bed that I hadn't bothered to move from.

"I've heard that one before."

"Never been one for originality." He replied and I pulled my head to meet him but my body believed otherwise and allowed it to fall beneath his arm.

"You wanna watch a movie?" He asked and I nodded into his chest. He got up abruptly and came back with a slick looking macbook and a few bottles of water.

Although I wished for something with less...well...bees, Becca seemed to want to watch 'The bee movie' above watching anything with real life people.

"People are overrated." She said and pressed play.

Beneath the fluffy blanket, our legs entwined together which allowed me to feel her shaking from her heat stroke.

I rubbed a hand along her armin a pathetic attempt to take whatever she was going through away.

I should have let her in quicker. I told myself.

She's in this state because of me.

With all problems aside, I felt comfort in Becca's presence. It was calming, alluring.

Dragging me from the screen and my thoughts, my phone buzzed.

Tick.

Just like the many other messages that I had received from the number, the words were often sent individually, so I waited for the wave of notifications to follow.

Tock.

I tapped my thumb impatiently on the device waiting for the next message.

But it never came.

I gulped.

With my brain going into overdrive with all of the thinking, I completely forgot about the cartoon playing.

Was it just a silly game?

How would they know anyway? No-one other than me knows...

"Holy shit you look like you've seen a ghost." Becca's croaky voice spoke.

That was it.

What if 'UNKNOWN' is a ghost?