CONTROL ➳ D. HALE [2]

09 ; faceless phantom

09 ➳ FACELESS PHANTOM

Malicious red eyes closed in, she couldn't move.

Water covered the ground. An iron-tight grip on her wrist, vision blurred from the pain. She tried to scream a warning, but pain radiated through her limbs, silencing her.

Blood pooled in the water, turning it a deep shade of crimson as anger filled the room.

Vengence. Guilt. Loss.

Elise jerked awake, disoriented and freezing. A cold sweat broke out across her brow as she looked around, panicked. Then, her eyes settled on Derek's face next to her, peaceful and serene as he slept. Her racing pulse calmed as he sleepily tightened the arm that was wrapped around the brunette's waist.

She wondered if perhaps she should wake him to tell him about the vision. Well, it was more like fragments of a vision. She disregarded the idea when she was how peaceful he looked. After the day they'd had, she thought that they both deserved some rest- especially Derek.

After all, nearly dying was bound to take its toll.

Just as Elise was about to close her eyes, she heard something shuffle at the end of the bed. She frowned lightly, brushing it off as Derek moving in his sleep. It wasn't until she heard the noise again that she knew that something was wrong. The noise wasn't coming from anywhere near the bed, as a matter of fact, it sounded as if it were coming from the other side of the room.

Slowly, Elise turned her head, lifting it up slightly. Her heart jumped into her throat as she caught sight of what was making the noises.

Just beyond the foot of the bed was a woman, shuffling closer. She wore a tattered hospital gown, and her skin was sickly pale. Her brown hair was knotted and filthy. The thing that was the most frightening, however, was her face. Or, rather, lack thereof.

It was as if the woman's features had been wiped free of her skin, her face resembling a blank canvas, devoid of eyes, a nose, and mouth. Elise's lips parted as the woman raised a bony arm, her index finger extending to point directly toward the brunette.

Derek was awoken as she jumped from the bed, rushing to the light switch next to the bed. She flicked the switch, illuminating the room. He squinted his eyes against the sudden light as he sat up groggily. "What is it?" he asked upon seeing Elise's panicked expression.

"There was... I saw..." Elise failed to formulate the words to describe what she'd seen as Derek got up, quickly making his way over to her. He placed his hands on her shoulders, stemming her panic just slightly. "Where did she go?" Elise sputtered.

"Who?"

"The woman. She was there," Elise explained, her hand shaking as she raised a finger to point where the woman had been standing. The gesture reminded Elise of how the woman had pointed to her, so she wrapped her arms around herself.

Derek moved to the end of the bed, his eyes flicking around the room before he peered out of the room into the rest of the loft, his eyes glowing red as he searched for anyone. "Elise, there's no one here," he said, coming to stand next to her. He placed his hands on her arms as he looked at her with concern etched into his expression.

"But I saw..." Elise trailed off, her brows furrowing. She sighed, rubbing her eyes with her hands before shaking her head as if it would clear it. "Maybe it was just a dream." She wasn't quite sure that she believed that, though.

Derek looked at her, his eyes staring into her's. Suddenly, a frown made it's way across his features. "Elise, your nose."

The brunette raised a brow, brushing a finger against the bottom of her nose to have it come away stained with blood.