A whole night had passed before Bex was woken up the following morning to her mom shaking her shoulder to stir her from her sleep. Bex sat up and when she looked down at herself, she discovered she was still in the same clothes from the day before, shoes and all.
Her brows scrunched together in confusion. She couldn't remember anything that happened after her French class. She looked up to her mom's scowling face for answers.
"What happened?"
"What are you talking about?" Her mom raised an eyebrow.
"I just... nothing. Never mind," Bex shook off the strange confusion and got up to get ready for school.
"I would hurry if I were you," Her mom called as she walked out of the room. "You refused to get up, wasting precious prep time. Ten minutes to be exact."
Bex groaned in annoyance and glanced around the floor for something to wear. She dragged her feet everywhere she went. Her head felt heavy and her body was slow to react to everything.
It was like there was a three-second delay to her routine. She just didn't feel right. Everything was off, harder, slower, more tiring. The more she focused on the fog in her brain the more she found herself thinking of Lyssa Norwood.
"You okay?" Nathan asked her.
"Huh? Oh... yeah," she mumbled as she headed towards the door.
She walked to school, taking it one step at a time. Her legs pulling her to her usual spot next to her friends.
"Hey," she plopped down.
"You sick or something?" Joan felt her forehead.
"No, just tired," She shrugged.
"You look awful," Mike pointed out.
"Gee thanks."
"Where's your backpack?" Darci pointed out.
"What? Oh shoot, I think I forgot it. Can I borrow some paper and a pen?" Bex turned to Joan.
"Sure," she reached into her bag.
"Freak alert!" Monroe cupped his hands around his mouth to announce the entrance of Lyssa Norwood.
Bex let her eyes drift over to the strange girl, Lyssa had been looking right at her. As their eyes met Bex's hand started to throb and tingle all over. She hissed at the sudden sensation that was not exactly painful, but not exactly pleasurable either. She held her hand close to her chest, cradling it as if to protect it. It reminded her of the needle-like feeling of when a limb goes numb but twice as bad.
"You okay?" Jaden asked.
"Yeah, just a hand cramp," Bex wrote off the strange coincidence.
Her eyes followed Lyssa's every movement as the pale girl made her way to her usual vacant table. Bex didn't understand it but for some reason, she wanted to go to her. Her missing memory had something to do with Lyssa, Bex was sure of it. Her hand burned and throbbed almost unbearably at this new revelation.
"Bex? Hello, earth to Rebecca," Joan waved her hand in front of Bex's face, causing Bex to flinch and realize she had been staring too long.
"You sure you're okay?" Darci eyed her in worry.
"I—I don't know."
"What do you mean?" Joan leaned into the conversation.
As Bex thought about telling her friends about her weird memory loss which she was sure had to do with Lyssa, the throbbing in her hand increased tenfold. She winced and tucked the hand into her body as she leaned into the table in pain.
Her eyes darted to Lyssa and found Lyssa was eyeing her. Lyssa quickly looked away, going back to reading her book. Bex frowned. She wanted Lyssa to come over to her, so she could offer herself up to Lyssa.
"Wait, what!?" Bex said out loud in alarm. "What is going on?"
Bex shut her eyes tight and her breathing became ragged as she struggled to resist the new urge to go to Lyssa.
"Bex, you're freaking me out," Joan said.
"I, uh, emm..." She couldn't form the words to explain her strange situation, her mind was clouded with one thought only.
Go to her.
Before she could think better of it, she got up and walked across the cafeteria over to Lyssa. The closer she got to her destination, the more the annoying throbbing would subside. She hesitated for a moment, eyeing the empty table before she took a deep breath and sat right next to the tables only occupant.
"Can I help you?" Lyssa peeked over the rim of her book.
"I uh, I don't know. Maybe? I'm confused. Something's happening to me."
"That was fast," Lyssa set her book down.
"What is going on? What did you do to me?" Bex began to panic.
"Take an aspirin, sleep it off. You should be back to normal by the end of the day," Lyssa put her book back in her bag before she got up and walked off.
Each step she took made the throbbing grow more intense.
"Urgh," Bex groaned before she got up and ran after Lyssa. "Wait!"
"Get lost," Lyssa began to walk faster.
"It hurts!" Bex glared at her.
"What hurts?" Lyssa rolled her eyes.
"M-my hand."
Lyssa sighed and stopped in her steps before turning to face Bex.
"What did you do to me?" Bex demanded.
"Nothing, I don't even know you," Lyssa eyed her before backing up and hurrying off to class just as the bell rang.
For the rest of the morning, Bex was in a world all of her own. Everything was hazy, making it hard to focus on anything. She felt a heightened sense of panic and a sense of urgency. Her hand was like a Lyssa detector. When Lyssa was close the throbbing would fade away. But when she was far...
She was an incoherent mess by the time lunch rolled around. Stray baby hairs stuck to her forehead which was covered in sweat. Her entire body was trembling her hands most of all. Her eyes constantly darted around in search of Lyssa.
"Bex, Bex look at me," Joan grabbed Bex by the shoulders and forced her to lock eyes.
"She looks awful, we should take her to the nurse's office," Darci suggested.
Bex couldn't focus on them, her eyes spotting Lyssa through the crowd as she sat alone at a table. The throbbing stopped and Bex couldn't explain it, but she knew Lyssa was the key to stopping everything. She pushed past her friends and walked over to Lyssa.
"Make it stop. Whatever you did, make it stop," Bex begged.
Lyssa looked up from her book.
"Bex, what are you doing?" Joan ran up beside her.
"I can't take it anymore! Just make it stop, please," Bex whimpered.
"I don't know what you are on about," Lyssa ignored her and went back to her book.
"Bex, come on, you need to go to the nurse," Joan grabbed Bex's arm and pulled her away.
"No," Bex whimpered.
Each step away from Lyssa caused her more and more distress. She groaned out loud and held her pounding head, her mind a dense fog of confusion. She couldn't even explain what was wrong with her when the nurse asked.
After finding that Bex was running a high fever, the nurse quickly called her parents.
By nightfall, Bex had descended into complete delirium. She couldn't even tell what was up and what was down anymore. Just a single thought ran through her head, go to Lyssa Norwood.
It was unbearable.
Her hands clutched at the bedsheets as she moved around restlessly. She was trying to sleep off the sudden illness, but it was no use. She dissolved into moaning and crying out in pain. Somehow, she just knew that Lyssa was very far away from her. The pain her only indicator. The longer it went on, the worse she felt. It was brain-melting, ear-ringing, skin-peeling pain.
She felt like if she didn't get up and go to Lyssa now, she was going to die.
"What's wrong with her?" Abby asked her mom as they looked on at Bex.
"I don't know," a crease formed on her mom's forehead.
"Maybe we should take her to the emergency room," Nathan suggested.
"I'll get the keys," Their father said.
They had to help Bex downstairs and to the car. She cried out in pain as they drove the opposite direction from where Lyssa was. Her hand felt like it was on fire.
"Lyssa!" She cried out.
"Who's Lyssa?" Nathan asked.
Abby shrugged and the family shared a look of worry.
Bex's eyes rolled back into her head as she hit her limit. She clawed at her hand and screamed so hard her family could see veins bulging in her neck. Blood was drawn from how frantically she scratched at her arm. Her back arched and her screams grew silent, her mouth frozen in its open state.
Something was about to give; she could feel it. somewhere inside her being she felt something snap and rip. In an instant, the pain vanished. It was over.
She collapsed into herself, taking in big gulps of breath. Her eyes fluttered before she sank into the seat and passed out. Sweat beaded on her skin, and her breathing evened out.
Completely freaked out and worried, her family took her into the emergency room right away. After several tests and a series of questions, the doctor determined that nothing was wrong with her. She was probably just exhausted.
"But she was screaming in pain," Bex's mom quickly protested.
"She did this to herself," Bex's dad indicated to the clawed-up arm.
"She was running a really high fever," Abby pointed out.
"And she was shaking," Nathan added.
"Well, she seems fine now. Just take her home and let her rest for a day or two," The doctor said.
They all sighed in defeat.
"You okay?" Bex's mom helped her to bed.
"I think so," Bex said sheepishly.
"What was that?" her mom pushed the hair from her face.
"I don't know," Bex said honestly.
"You gave us quite a scare," her dad ran his thumb across her cheek.
"I was scared," Bex admitted.
"Well, it's over now. Just get some rest. Don't worry about school tomorrow, okay?"
Bex nodded.
Her parents kissed her on the forehead and as soon as they left, she was out for the count.
She didn't wake up until noon the next day. Her whole body ached as if she had finished an extensive workout. She was extremely thirsty and hungry, which caused her to realize she hadn't eaten or drunk a single thing the day before.
She dragged herself out of bed and made her way to the kitchen. The house was silent, both of her parents worked and her siblings had school so Bex was home alone. She raided the fridge and warmed up some leftovers from the day before.
She devoured the plate of food within 10 minutes and chugged two whole water bottles before she felt satisfied. After that she went to take a shower, feeling icky from all the dried up sweat on her body. When that was done, she sat at her computer and finally typed up her French paper.
She tried to push the weird events of the day before from her mind. All of it felt like a bad fever dream. It was over, and that was all that mattered. Or at least she thought it was over, for as she laid down for an afternoon nap, her hand began to throb.
Her eyes shot open in panic.
"No, no, no, this can't be happening! Why is this happening to me?" she shot up in her bed.
Her eyes darted around the room as if it somehow held the answer to her question, but found nothing. With a whimper, she laid back down. The pain wasn't as bad as the night before, but she knew it was only a matter of time before it got to that point again.
Just thinking of it made her exhausted and she drifted off to sleep.
When her mom shook her awake for dinner the throbbing was back with a vengeance.
"Sss," Bex hissed and held her arm close to herself.
"What? Is it happening again?" Her mom kneeled next to her.
Bex nodded.
"Come on, we are going back to the hospital," her mom yanked her up out of bed.
"No, I can handle it," Bex gritted her teeth.
"Rebecca this isn't normal, you need to get checked out," Her mom frowned.
"No, just forget it. I'll go for a walk or something. I just need fresh air," Bex slipped her shoes on and quickly walked downstairs and out the door.
Her mom frowned after her.
Within seconds Bex found herself speed walking towards the direction that caused the throbbing to go away. After what felt like half an hour, she found herself deep into the woods where a big mansion-like house greeted her.
Without a second thought, she walked up and banged on the door.
No one came to answer.
"Lyssa!" Bex banged again.
There was a turn in the lock and Bex stepped back as the door opened.
"How did you find me?" Lyssa glanced around in caution, checking to see if Bex was alone.
"My hand! Make it stop, please," Bex cried out.
Lyssa's eyes drifted to Bex's arm and she sighed.
"It should have stopped by now," Lyssa said more to herself.
"What did you do to me?" Bex stepped closer.
"Nothing," Lyssa stepped back. "Go home, it should stop tonight."
"But what if it doesn't!?"
"Here," Lyssa pulled out a pen from her pocket. "Call me if it doesn't," she wrote her number down on Bex's hand.
Bex stared at the neatly written numbers and nodded in agreement, feeling reassured enough to go home. Each step away from Lyssa made the throbbing return and worsen the farther away she got. She didn't understand what was happening to her, she was scared and confused. All she did know was that when Lyssa Norwood wasn't around, things got worse.
She walked right past her family when she got home and went straight to her room where she passed out on her bed, once again having a restless sleep. Around three in the morning, she woke to the sound of tapping on her window. Confusion clouded her brain as she remembered her room was on the second floor.
Her arm wasn't hurting and she found herself getting up to open the window. Like she was still half asleep, she was in a mindless trance, her body acting on its own. She moved the curtains and discovered red eyes peering back at her. She wasn't scared, instead, she felt a strange sense of familiarity. Wondering where she had seen those red eyes before.
"Can I come in?" A voice asked softly from the other side of the glass.
"Lyssa?" Bex eyed the window in confusion before opening it.
"Can I come in?" Lyssa repeated.
"Is this a dream?" Bex asked her.
"Yes," Lyssa nodded. "Can I come in?" she repeated for the third time.
"Yes, sorry, you can come in," Bex stepped aside to let the pale girl in.
In a flurry of movement, faster than the eye could see. The window was closed and Bex felt herself get thrown back on the bed. Her mind wasn't fast enough to catch up to what was happening around her.
There was a sharp needle-like pain in her neck and before she could react to it a vail of euphoria encased her. The pain was quickly replaced by the fires of desire. Her breath came out in shallow short pants. She laid perfectly still as Lyssa held her down to the bed as a lover holds down their significant other.
The sounds of large gulps filled the air. With each new gulp sound, Bex could feel her body growing colder. Her eyes felt heavy. It was too much, she felt herself growing weaker. But the feeling was too good to fight and she surrendered herself completely to Lyssa Norwood.
"Lyssa..." Bex said weakly before she fell back into utter darkness.
____________________________________________________________
A/N: Here is the second chapter of the rewrite of Love Bites. You can check out my recent announcements for more info as to what is going on with me and my works. I am currently seeking publication for this book, so far I have nothing but no's. I haven't sent out my second round of queries yet. I've had no internet connection and have been really busy. If you know my works you can find all the unedited versions and sequels to them on my Tapas account. The link will be below. If you are new here, I hope you stick around and enjoy the ride. Feel free to give me feedback and critique my works. I am always looking to improve! Also if you guys want me to check out your stories, let me know. I am always happy to help a fellow writer.
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