Touched by the Fear

[18]

Hollis shook her head. "Ok, don't do that, Lyd," she said seriously. "It's not your fault so don't go blaming yourself. You had no idea what would happen. And you didn't force us. What happened wasn't your fault. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Lydia nodded although she still looked distant, broken. "I guess," she said with a shaky breath. "Then when that thing crashed out the window...I saw," she began.

Curiosity flooded through her. Hollis looked at her questioningly, hoping for Lydia to confirm that what she saw hadn't been her imagination. She hoped for them to finally talk about it rather than pretend it hadn't happened. "What did you see?"

Lydia stayed silent, the faraway look returning to her eyes.

"Lyd?"

She looked back towards Hollis. "A mountain lion," she said simply.

"Are you sure? Because that didn't really look like one," Hollis stated. "I saw it, too."

"It was a cougar then," Lydia told her confidently.

"That's the same thing," Hollis said with a sigh, knowing very well that Lydia knew it, too.

With a shrug, Lydia leaned across the bed and reached for the prescription bottle that sat on the nightstand. She popped the top off, shaking two pills out onto her hand.

"You're still taking that?" Hollis asked with a frown. "Shouldn't you just take one? I mean, you've taken them yesterday."

"Yeah, it's fine," Lydia told her. "It says two every four to six hours," she said, waving the bottle in front of her face. She downed them with water before leaning back against the bed.

Hollis nodded. She was unconvinced about her answer and the mountain lion story Lydia forced herself to believe, although worry for her friend outweighed it all.

The medicine took effect almost right away, her eyes becoming drowsy as she turned back to her. "I feel shleepy," Lydia mumbled and rested her head against the pillow. "Can you hand me my-my...phone? I want to text Ali. It's her birfday,"

Hollis nodded and grabbed the phone from the nightstand. But when she turned to give it to Lydia, she noticed her friend had dozed off. "I'll check on you later," she said quietly, standing up.

The phone buzzed in her hand and, when she glanced down, she saw it was a message from Jackson. Debating on replying to him that Lydia wouldn't be in school, she unlocked the phone. It appeared that Lydia had been looking through her pictures prior to Hollis arriving as an album of photos stared up at her. She went to close the gallery but a recent video caught her eye. Curious, she glanced towards Lydia to make sure she wasn't awake and played it. What she saw made her heartbeat quicken. The dark shape crashed through the window and stood up on two legs, it's red eyes glowing against the dark night. She paused the video, knowing that this was anything but a mountain lion. No wonder Lydia was in the state she was in if she watched this. If she had witnessed this.

Lydia stirred in bed but was fast asleep when Hollis looked towards her. Hollis sent the video to herself, her heart still beating fast. It wasn't until she felt her own phone buzz that she placed Lydia's phone down. With one last look at her sleeping friend, she left the room feeling worried.