The tinny sound rang across the room as the metal silver tray clattered noisily onto the floor. Behind Nico stood the creature- be it monster or ghost. Its outline strange and nebulous- there but not quite. It was as if the creature was struggling to materialise itself into this plane of reality. I sat transfixed, watching it with each passing millisecond in a surreal kind of horror. What was it? And was its skin so blackened with dirt?
It all happened in slow motion. On second I was sitting on the bed holding my towel to my chest, then the next Nico's unconscious body was slamming into me hard. I fell backwards against the bed, and then for a second time Nico's body slammed against me, with his shoulder hitting my face. My lips were pushed against my teeth and I felt sting as the skin of my bottom lip split in two. I gasped out loud in reaction to the shock and pain.
Nico's dead weight settled on top of me, and I took a second to get my bearings. I was pinned against the mattress and my view of the room was being blocked by Nico's enormous shoulder. I tried rocking his body off of mine but quickly discovered that my hands and legs were being constrained by the bed sheet I had wrapped around my body. It was at this point when I felt the cold panic beginning to swell inside my chest. I was trapped under Nico, in a room with a strange and dangerous entity.
Keeping calm I gently tried to wriggle my way out from underneath Nico. My movements were weak and rubbery but I did my best to keep calm and keep moving. After half minute of wriggling, I had cleared an inch of Nico's shoulder giving me a slightly better, but still somewhat limited view of the room. I held my breath and listened to the silence, praying that the creature had gone. When I heard nothing, I decided to lift my head slowly off of the mattress to peek over Nico's shoulder.
Struggling I peered over Nico's shoulder and caught a glimpse of something black... and moving. Immediately I dropped my head back against the mattress, but the object followed me and came into view. It was a hand reaching towards me.
A cry of panic escaped from my lips and I watched in horror as the blackened hand grew closer. At first I had thought the skin was black from dirt, but it soon became apparent from the large flakes of blackened skin that the flesh was burnt. I drew in short sharp gasps of air as I frantically tried to push Nico off of me. The hand was coming closer and my breathing was becoming erratic. I could now see the burnt skin of the tips of the fingers peeling upwards, exposing patches of pink whitish flesh which oozed with blood. Finally I let out an enormous scream.
It filled the room and echoed down the corridor. Within a second footsteps came thundering towards the bedroom and I heard Jacques yelling my name, "Mia... Mia?!"
"Jacques!" I screamed back.
The hand withdrew away from me and disappeared out of my line of sight. The footsteps grew louder and I heard Jacques gasp, "What the hell?" as he entered the room.
Within a matter of seconds Jacques was next to me, hauling Nico's unconscious body off of my body. As soon as Jacques pulled the body clear, I sat up and freed my arms and legs from the bed sheets. Catching my breath, I felt sweet relief washing over me. Jacques stood over me protectively, running his hands down the sides of my arms. He studied the tears streaming down my face and asked, "What the hell happened?"
I responded by wrapping my arms around Jacques' neck and drawing him close.
"Please get me out of here, I cannot stay in this apartment," I sobbed.
I didn't need to ask twice. Jacques carefully scooped me up from the bed and carried me out of the room and then out of the apartment. He bypassed the elevator and rushed down the stairs into the underground garage. I clung tightly to his body, drawing heat from his skin. I couldn't believe how cold I felt.
Jacques strode pass several expensive cars and eventually stopped at the familiar black SUV from last night. He then fumbled about in his pocket and unlocked the doors with the remote key. Then holding me close he slid into the back seats and pulled me onto his lap.
"Shit Mia, you are freezing cold," He said, trying to rub some warmth into my shoulders.
I buried my face into his t-shirt and cried, "What am I going to do?"
"You are going to calm down and explain to me what the hell I saw back there," Jacques said.
I shook my head, "I don't know- I have only seen it twice. Once last night before Laura's arm was broken, and then just now right before Nico was knocked unconscious... when you came it was trying to touch- oh God what if it comes back?" I cried.
Jacques fell silent and replied, "What do you mean by 'it'?"
I pulled back and studied Jacques face for a second and realized that whatever I had seen, had disappeared before Jacques entered the room. I stared at Jacques for a moment and swallowed hard. Oh shit- my cover was nearly blown.
"I don't know what I am talking about?" I murmured pulling away from Jacques.
"Like hell you do," Jacques replied, dragging me back against him.
"Please don't ask me," I replied.
Jacques shook his head, "When I walked into that room and saw Nico slumped over you, I thought that you were being sexually assaulted. But when I rush over to your side I find that Nico is stone cold out- now why is that Mia?"
I look up into Jacques eyes and realize there is no other way around this. I am going to have to tell Jacques what I saw.