Epidemic

*5*

"You'll die!"

My body jerked awake suddenly when I felt someone grab me; my motor skills still not functional at the moment but I was aware of things around me. They were talking, their words rushed and scared but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I was wrapped up in strong arms and my hair was being brushed out of my face, fingers pressing against the sides of my neck, trying to find my faint pulse.

"Is she okay, Zak?" Aaron's voice was the first noise to fully reach my eardrums but it still sounded muffled.

The arms that were wrapped around me lifted my head against a shoulder and then I heard his voice.

"I don't- I don't know she won't open her eyes." The panic in his voice made my chest pang with sadness and I just wanted to let him know I was okay.

I tried my hardest to move, tried my hardest to speak or open my eyes or anything, but I couldn't. My body was just limp and cold.

Zak pressed his forehead against mine and whispered something, but I couldn't quite make out what he was saying; it sounded almost like a plea. He was asking for whatever had a hold of me to let go, he was begging for me to be okay. I tried to force my eyes open, and for a split second, it almost worked. I tried again and finally, I was able to open them the tiniest bit.

My eyes suddenly flew open and I sat bolt upright in Zak's lap, choking on the air that was filling my lungs. Zak gently sat me on the floor and rubbed my back as he tried to calm me, my breathing and movements frantic as my body and mind basically came back to life. I looked around the room, the sun just barely lighting up the sky and our surroundings, the shadows diminishing as the seconds ticked by.

The hand on my back stilled and I remembered he was sitting there. I looked over at him, his blue eyes unreadable with all of the emotions running all over his face.

"What happened? Why didn't you call me?" His anger was apparent now and I wasn't sure how to deal with it.

I stuttered and rubbed at my eyes, "I-I tried. I swear I didn't do anything stupid this time, I wasn't even really talking I just, I just walked into the wrong room I guess."

I looked at him again and his anger shifted into fear and sadness, his eyes glossing over. My heart ached and tears pricked the back of my eyes, I didn't know what to do. I had somehow done the one thing I said I wouldn't do, without actually doing anything wrong.

As we sat with each other, a sudden realization washed over me. I remembered the conversation Zak and I had several hours ago and chills ran up and down my spine, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up straight. Zak was looking around the room when I suddenly reached out and grabbed his hand, our eyes meeting and the same realization hitting him as well, his back straightening with a small shiver rocking his body. What had just happened was almost the same thing that happened in his dream, just without the floating. and my neck being broken.

"Something is feeding off of us. It's reading into our biggest fears and letting us experience them." His voice was hard but I could hear the underlying fear.

My hands started to shake and the sudden urge to flee the area hit me like a brick wall, but I ignored it for the moment, "So it basically listened to our thoughts, and made them real?"

He nodded his head slowly and scanned the room again, helping me to my feet as he did so. "Let's go, we're done with this investigation."

He wrapped his arm around my waist tightly, helping me walk since I was a little wobbly. I held his other hand, trying to keep my sudden shakiness and heavy breathing to a minimum. I felt like I had eyes watching me from every angle, like no matter what I did someone was staring deep into me, almost as if they were looking at my soul. Every corner we walked around was a new feeling of panic and fear washing over me. I had to take a deep breath just to keep myself from sprinting out of the building far, far away from it. I knew it wanted to scare me, to make me run; but I had to fight it as best as I could.