Bex slept through the whole night and only woke in the morning to her mom shaking her awake. She was still in her clothes from yesterday shoes and all. She sat up in confusion. She didn’t remember a thing.

“What, what happened?” Bex asked her mom.

“What do you mean?” Her mom asked.

“I just, I mean… never mind.” She got up and got ready to go to school.

The events of yesterday were like a fog of confusion in her brain. Parts of it looked like a dream, felt like a trance, parts of it were missing completely. She was so confused. The only thing she could recall clearly was that it had something to do with Lyssa Norwood.

Bex was considerably slower today. She dragged her feet on the ground, she only ran the brush through her hair a couple of times before staring at her reflection for what felt like forever. She slipped into some black skinny jeans and a t-shirt before dragging herself downstairs.

She didn’t feel right. Everything felt off. Harder, slower, more tiring.

“You alright?” Her brother asked her.

“Huh? Oh yeah.” She mumbled grabbing her dad’s toast and heading out the door.

She walked to school and up the steps one step at a time. Her legs pulling her to her usual spot.

“Hey.” She groaned as she sat down.

“You okay?” Joan asked.

“I think so, I just feel tired I guess.” She shrugged.

“Where’s your backpack?” Darci asked.

“Huh? Oh damn, I think I forgot it. Can I borrow some paper and a pen.” She looked at Joan.

“Sure.” She shrugged opening her own bag.

“Freak alert!” Monroe called.

Bex’s let her eyes drift to the entrance where Lyssa walked in. At the sight of her, her hand started throbbing and tingling all over. She hissed in surprise and held it close to her chest.

“You okay?” Jaden asked.

“Yeah, just uh, got a hand cramp.”

“A hand cramp?” Mike snorted in amusement.

Bex ignored them as her eyes followed Lyssa to her usual vacant table. She wanted to go to her, but she didn’t know why. Her hand burned and throbbed at the sight of her. It was almost unbearable.

“Bex, earth to Rebecca, hello!” Joan waved her hand in front of her face causing Bex to flinch.

“You sure you’re okay?”

“I don’t know.” She admitted.

“What’s wrong?” Darci asked.

“I-I don’t know.” She said slightly terrified.

“What do you mean?” Joan asked.

Just then the throbbing in her hand increased tenfold and she winced and held it tightly to her chest. Her eyes darted to Lyssa who was looking at her from across the cafeteria. She wanted to go to her, to offer herself to her.

‘Wait, what? What is going on!’ Bex started breathing heavy as she resisted the urge to go to Lyssa.

“Bex you’re scaring me.” Joan worried.

“I, hn, uh, mm” no words would form as her mind became clouded with one thought only.

Go to her.

She ignored all her friends and got up and walked across the cafeteria over to Lyssa. The closer she got the more the throbbing would subside. She walked over to her and sat next to her. Lyssa stared at her over the rim of her book.

“Can I help you?” Lyssa asked.

“I uh, I don’t know. I, what’s happening? I’m confused.” Bex felt panic rising.

Lyssa sighed and set her book down.

“That was fast,” Lyssa said to herself.

“What? What’s going on? I feel weird.” She said.

“Take an aspirin, sleep it off. You should be back to normal tomorrow.” Lyssa got up and walked off.

With each step she took the throbbing grew more painful.

“Urggh.” She grunted holding her hand again.

“Wait!” Bex followed her.

“Get lost.” Lyssa sighed.

“It hurts,” Bex said.

“What hurts?” Lyssa rolled her eyes.

“M-my hand.”

Lyssa stopped in her steps.

“What did you do to me?” Bex demanded.

“Nothing, I don’t even know you,” Lyssa said before hurrying off to class just as the bell rang.

“Ahh.” Bex cried out, holding her hand close.

All morning Bex felt a heightened sense of panic and fear. She felt like she was on the constant verge of a panic attack. She could always tell when Lyssa was near because her hand wouldn’t throb as painfully. But when she was far, it felt like thousands of needles pricked her skin.

She was a mess by the time lunch came around. An incoherent mess. She was sweating and shaky, her eyes darted around in search for Lyssa.

“Bex, Bex look at me.” Joan grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to meet her gaze.

“You don’t look so good, let’s take her to the nurse's office.” Darci offered.

The throbbing subsided, she was close.

Bex pushed them away and scanned the crowd she spotted Lyssa sitting at a table alone. She marched over to her.

“M-make it stop. Whatever you did. Make it stop.” She begged.

Lyssa looked up at her.

“Bex, what’s going on with you?” Joan chased after her.

“I can’t take it anymore! just make it stop!” she begged.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” Lyssa gave her a confused look.

“Bex come on, let’s go to the nurse’s office.” Joan tugged her away.

With each step, Bex became more of a mess. She groaned out loud and held her hand tightly. She couldn’t even explain what was wrong. The nurse took her temperature and found her to be running a fever of 103. He quickly called her parents.

Bex was delirious by nightfall. She couldn’t even tell what was up or down. Only one thought ran through her head and that was the thought of going to Lyssa Norwood. She tossed and turned in her bed, crying and moaning in pain. It was unbearable. She was a sweaty mess.

She clutched at her bed sheets and kicked around on the bed. Moaning and crying out. Lyssa was really far now, she could tell. The pain was mind-numbing. Ear ringing, brain melting. She needed to go to her or she felt like she was going to die.

“What’s wrong with her?” Abby, her sister asked her mom.

“I don’t know.” Her mom worried.

“We should take her to the hospital.” Nathan her brother said.

“I’ll get the keys.” Her father said.

When they pushed Bex into the car she cried out in pain as they drove the opposite direction that Lyssa was in. She could just tell. Her hand felt like it was on fire.

“Lyssa!” She cried out.

“Who’s Lyssa?” Nathan asked.

“Beats me.” Abby shrugged.

Bex’s eyes rolled back as the pain put her to her limits. Something was going to give, she could feel it. She clawed at her hand and she screamed in the car, she drew blood. Then with a snap somewhere inside her being, it was over. The pain vanished in an instant.

She collapsed into herself. Catching her breath. It was over. The nightmare was over. Her eyes fluttered as she looked to her worried and quite frankly freaked out family. Then she just passed out.

They took her into the hospital and after several tests determined there was nothing wrong with her, that she was probably just exhausted.

“But she was screaming in pain.” Her mom tried to explain.

“She did this to herself.” Her dad indicated to her clawed up arm.

“She was running a fever.” Her sister pointed out.

“And she was shaking.” Her brother added.

“Well, she seems to be fine now. Just take her home and let her rest for a day or two.” The doctor said.

They all sighed.

“Rebecca, you okay?” her mom asked as she helped Rebecca get ready for bed that night.

“Y-yeah I think so.” She said sheepishly.

“What happened? What was that?” her mom asked.

“I- I don’t know. I felt like I was on fire. Like when you are really, really, really hungry and that pain that tells you to eat, like that, but ten times worse and all over. I just, I have no clue.” She said.

“You gave us a scare.” Her father frowned from the doorway.

“I scared myself. I thought I was going to die.” Bex admitted.

“Just get some sleep. You aren’t going to school tomorrow.”

“Okay.” She easily gave in, and as soon as her head hit the pillow she was out like a light.

She was dog tired. She didn’t wake up until noon the next day. Her whole body ached as if she had finished some extensive workout. She felt thirsty and hungry. It was then that she realized she hadn’t eaten or drank anything the day before. She dragged herself out of bed and went to the kitchen.

No one was home. Both her parents worked and her siblings were at school. She was alone. She raided the fridge and pulled out some leftovers heating them up in the microwave. In less then five minutes she devoured the whole plate. She drank two whole water bottles before she felt satisfied. Then she went up to take a shower as her body felt icky from dried up sweat.

After that, she sat at her computer now that she had free time and type up her dumb French paper. All of yesterday just sort of felt like a weird fever dream. It was over, or so she told herself. Because as she laid down to take a nap her hand began to throb.

Her eyes shot open.

“No! no, no, no” she held her hand close to her.

‘this can’t be happening; please tell me this isn’t happening!’ she panicked.

She looked around her room as if it somehow held the answers. But found nothing. She whimpered and laid back down. The pain wasn’t as bad as yesterday but she felt it was only a matter of time before it was.

She closed her eyes and forced herself to go to sleep.

When her mom came to shake her awake for dinner, she was hit full force with her throbbing.

“Sss!” she hissed holding her arm close to her again.

“What? What is it? Is it happening again?” her mom asked.

She nodded.

“Come on, we are taking you back to the hospital.” She yanked her off the bed.

“No, don’t make me suffer that again. I can handle it.” She gritted her teeth.

“Rebecca I’m worried about you, this isn’t normal.” Her mom frowned.

“I know! Don’t you think I know! Forget it, I am going for a walk, I just need fresh air.” She slipped her shoes on and walked outside.

In minutes she was speed walking towards the direction that made the throbbing go away. She walked for what felt like half an hour before she came up to a big mansion like house in the woods.

She banged on the door.

No one answered.

“Lyssa!” she banged again.

She heard the lock turn. She stepped back as the door opened.

“How did you figure out where I live?” Lyssa asked in confusion.

“My arm! Make it stop!” she begged.

Lyssa let her gaze go to Bex’s arm and she sighed.

“It should have stopped by now.” She said more to herself.

“What did you do to me!?” she demanded.

“Nothing, go home. It will stop tonight.”

“What if it doesn’t.” she whimpered.

“Here, call me if it doesn’t.” she pulled out a pen and wrote her number on Bex’s arm.

That was enough reassurance to make Rebecca walk home. Each step caused the throbbing to return. She didn’t understand it, it scared and confused her. All she knew was that her hand somehow could recognize when Lyssa was and wasn’t around. Like her own personal tracking device.

When she got home, she went to bed without dinner and had a restless sleep.

She woke at 3 AM to the sound of tapping on her window.

For a second, she was confused, her room was on the second floor. But her arm wasn’t hurting and she felt like she was in a trance. She got up and went over to the window. Red eyes peered back at her. Where has she seen those before?

“Can I come in?” I voice asked from the other side of the glass.

“Lyssa?” she said in confusion opening up the window.

“Can I come in?” She repeated.

“Am I dreaming?” Bex asked confused.

“Sure, let’s say that. Can I come in?” she asked a third time.

“Yeah, you can come in.” she stepped aside.

In a swift movement, she was in and the window was closed. Bex felt herself get thrown on the bed. She was lost, confused, dazed.

Then euphoria encased her as she felt a sharp pain on her neck for a split instant before it was replaced by the fire of desire inside of her. Her breath came in shallow pants as she laid still as a statue letting the euphoria wash over her once more.

She could hear Lyssa taking large gulps. Feel her body slowly growing colder.

“L-lyssa.” She moaned. But her voice came out weakly and her eyes felt heavy.

Too much. She thought to herself. She is taking too much.

Then she was encased in utter darkness.