Are You Afraid?

Chapter Seven: Jared

"What?" I ask.

"Hungry, you know, you want some food in your tummy?"

"Oh, uh yeah." He looks at me weird then shakes his head. "Okay then come on." I follow him downstairs and Al looks up at me.

"Hey sis, sleep good?"

"Yeah." I sit beside him as Jare goes in the kitchen to grab some grub. "Hey has Jare been acting weird?" I whisper.

"No, why?" I shrug. "Well I got homework, so I'll be in the kitchen." He gets up and leaves the room as Jare walks in.

"Here you go." Jare hands me a sandwich and I look a the tv.

"Thanks." I say looking at the tv. "Hey turn that up." Jare turns up the news and I put a hand over my mouth.

"It seems that Lucy Williams was found dead this morning. The police haven't given us any details, but we believe it was an animal attack from what our on site reporters tell us." The news women explains and Jare looks at me, knowing that I was friends with Lucy.

"Sophie?"

"She's dead?"

«^-^»

Vision forgotten, I let Jare comfort me while Al is in the kitchen.

"Hey, it's okay." Jare says.

"How? Lucy is dead."

"And you're alive." I look at him in a little shock.

"Jared, a girl I work with-worked with," I correct myself, "is dead. Yeah, I'm alive but she's dead." I cover my face with my hands

"I'm sorry Soph..." I let him hold me for a while. Then my phone starts going off, I grab it and answer.

"Hello?" I ask.

"Soph, you okay?"

"Lucas?"

"Yeah, are you okay?"

"I just found out about Lucy being dead, so no I'm not."

"Okay but physically."

'Oh yeah, the vision.' I think to myself.

"I'm fine Lucas. Just tired."

"Good. I'll see you then, right?"

"When?"

"Dunno, whenever." I hear a smile in his voice and a small one crosses my face. "Right?"

"Yeah."

"Bye Soph."

"Good bye Lucas." We both hang up and Jare looks at me, confused.

"You're hanging with him again?"

"Just talking." I shrug.

"Why?" I shrug. "Soph-"

"I know Jare." I look back at the TV as a picture of Lucy takes over the screen. "I know."

«^-^»

Jare's new girlfriend calls him and begs him to come over because she just found her best friend Lucy was dead. I let him, feeling safer when he's gone once I remember my vision.

'Jare's eyes looked wolf like in my vision, could he have killed-no! Its Jare, and he's human. Maybe he just jumped at me to freak me out, after all I didn't see what happened after he jumped at me. If his eyes really were wolf like then he'd have to be a werewolf or something, and werewolves aren't real. Monsters aren't real.' I think to myself as I lay on the couch. 'And what was Lucas hiding from me? He was acting funny and I know he's hiding something.'

'"Be careful.'" I hear him say in my mind.

'But be careful of what? He had to mean that newcomer-wait, did the newcomer kill Lucy? Why though? And how does he know Lucas?' I sigh as all the thoughts run through my mind. 'It was probably just an animal like the reporter said.' I sigh and flip through the channels, a small headache forming.

«^-^»

"Thank you for letting us stay Mrs. Lowe." Dad says as we get in my car.

"Anytime Darrel." Mrs. Lowe says as we drive away.

The police got us a new door and declared our house clear so we get to go back. That doesn't stop dad and Jare, who tagged along, from searching the house while Al sat in the car with me. Once it was deemed clear, we went inside.

"The only room wrecked, was yours Soph." Dad says to me as I go up to my room.

I push the door open slowly, still freaked after what happened last time. I look around and gasp, taking it all in: picture frames smashed, glasses cracked, and their thrown all over the place; my curtains are shredded to pieces; my bed spread and pillows are torn apart; the carpet is ruined and pulled up in some spots; my walls have giant claw gashes on them; and there's huge paw prints all over the place.

I walk in slowly, feeling a small headache hit, but not a vision headache. I kneel down and pick up the only picture I have in my room of me and Lucas when we were little, and that's only because it was our families together at a barbecue before Lucas' mother stopped hanging around us as much. My mom's and Lucas' faces are covered by cracked glass, and mine has a giant crack splitting across my eyes. I turn it over and open the back, pulling the picture out slowly so it doesn't get caught on any of the glass.

I look at the picture: mom and dad are leaning on each other, smiling in a way I haven't seen dad smile in a long time; Al is laying in mom's arms, asleep; Lucas and I are laughing at something; and his parents are smiling at the camera. A tear slides down my face when I realize I'll never be surrounded by these people again since my mom is long gone and Lucas' mom thinks I'm a witch. I wipe away another tear and put the picture down.

I touch one of the giant gashes in my wall, realizing they really are claw marks. I shiver and close my eyes as I feel the groove of the gashes.

"Soph?" I turn and look at Jare. "Are you okay?" He looks over my room. "What did those you think?" He asks, and I feel afraid for some reason.

"I don't know. Something big, and angry."

"How do you know they're angry?" He asks.

"Why else would they crack my mom and Lucas' face in this picture?" I lift it up and show him.

"Maybe it just happened naturally?" I shake my head.

"Not like this. Look at it, the cracks aren't natural for a fall." He stands beside me, and I feel my muscles tighten for a reason. I needed to get my vision out of my head.

"Why so tense?" He asks me. "Are you afraid?"

"No, just freaked." I mutter as I walk over to my bed. "They ripped my bed up." I mumble and sigh.

"Well, you can always sleep in my bed again." I look at him, lifting an eyebrow before looking back at my bed. He walks up behind me and gasp when he grabs my arms tightly. "I'm serious Soph." He murmurs into my ear.

"Jared, you're hurting my arms." I whisper and he lets go, backing up.

"Sorry, I don't know what that was about." I look at him and he kind of shakes his head, rubbing his forehead. "Sorry Sophie. I'm going to go." He mumbles and walks out of my room.

I don't move, looking down at my destroyed bed. My heart is pounding against my ribs, and I try to slow my breathe down. I slowly turn around and walk out of my room, then head towards the bathroom, passing Al's room and stopping as I get a headache. Another vision attacks my body, throwing it into shock.

My vision blurs.

I get dizzy.

I collapse.

The vision overtakes me.

~Picture of Lucy, the dead girl~

*Video dedicated to Lucy*