𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

Colorado, Denver

October 14, 2020 – 11:32 A.M.

The canteen was full and the voices of the students were mingling making me hear murmurs everywhere, I picked up the tray and took small steps while picking up what I needed and putting it on the board. Today dessert was lime jello and although I didn't like it I knew Mary would want to repeat it so I put a jelly bowl next to the glass.

- Jade, watch out!

I heard Kathy's voice and turned to look at her, but I slipped and fell. Everything on the tray had fallen to the floor, the cutlery was scattered, the plate broke and I cut my hand on one of the pieces of glass when I put my hand on the floor. I stood up and blood ran down my arm staining my clothes. My gaze remained fixed on my hand covered in blood, something was wrong, it's as if that blood didn't belong to me.

A loud noise caught my attention and I looked straight ahead, the canteen was empty and out of the corner of my eye I saw a shadow move on the wall. I slowly turned my head, following the shadow that diminished as I walked. The shadow stopped when it reached the door that led to the courtyard and passed through it as if you had come out of the canteen.

I took a step back as tears streamed down my cheeks, the door slowly opened, and the noise echoed through the canteen. It was too dark to see who or what was behind that door but something flashed in the darkness, I closed my eyes. I felt a hot, heavy breath near me, but I was too scared, and when I felt something touch my face, I screamed in horror.

I hurriedly got up and felt the sweat running down my face, I was so scared that I trembled when Kathy approached me. She sat down next to me and put her hand on my shoulder trying to comfort me, at the same time she looked away from me as her mouth moved but I couldn't concentrate on the words.

- Jade – I heard a soft voice murmur my name and I looked up, Mary was on the other side of me and raised her hands putting them in my face forcing me to look at her – It's okay, Jade.

I didn't even had to say how worried they looked and although it wasn't the first time they had seen me in this state, it was still hard not to be worried about the situation. Something I hadn't told them yet was that dreams were getting more and more realistic and I was getting harder and harder to distinguish reality from fiction, I wanted to tell them, I tried to tell them, but it started to get harder to figure out if they were real.

- You're safe Jade, you're in a safe place – she whispered as her thumbs caressed my cheeks – We're here, we're with you.

I knew they were, the problem was that they also used to appear in my dreams and everything seemed so real that I didn't even realize it wasn't them. I glanced at Kathy as she took her hand off my shoulder and placed it on the bed.

- She's right Jade, we're here for whatever you need.

- I know – I whispered – I know you are.

They exchanged glances as if communicating telepathically and from their restless looks I could tell what they were thinking. It might not be the first time these dreams had happened but it was definitely the first time I had fainted, whether it was because of the dreams or because of my lack of food, this hadn't happened before and it only proved to me that I was getting weaker and weaker, physically and mentally.

I didn't want to continue to be a burden to my mom or Liam, and I know I should take care of my health, but sleeping for five minutes had already become a privilege for me. On the other hand, the way that I eat got worse, I stopped eating dinner and little by little I stopped eating all day. For some reason I couldn't keep the food inside me, even if I ate a simple apple I would end up running to the bathroom and vomiting what I had eaten.