“Nothing happened,” Josh teasingly informed Sierra who was blushing with embarrassment.

His bed felt so relaxing that Sierra could not refuse giving in to sleep. Nevertheless, before closing her eyes, she was certain that the air conditioner was turned off and she did not cover herself with the blanket Josh was already using.

She wanted to yell angrily at Josh. If only he was not sick.

Before sleep claimed her, Josh was still burning with fever. He must have felt so hot inside and had to turn the air conditioner on.

Sierra had low tolerance in cold temperature. Josh must have seen her trembling and decided to cover her with the blanket he was using.

“I woke up and saw you sleeping beside me, holding my hand like this,” Josh raised their entangled hands and kept on annoying Sierra with his teasing smile.

Since he already looked fine, Sierra finally let go of his hand. The moment their skin parted, her locket ceased glowing.

She glanced at the bedside table and saw that it was already nine in the evening. She checked her phone and found one missed call and a message from Kate.

Renzo bought cake for Josh and dinner for all of us. We are on our way to the parking lot. See you soon, Sierra.

“Call your friend. Tell them not to come. I’ll ask Dan to drive you home.”

Reading my message without asking permission. How annoying.

Sierra took a deep breath and gazed intently at Josh. He looked pale, but at least, he could smile irritably again. His brows were not creasing. He appeared no longer in pain.

“Are you really okay?” Sierra wanted to make sure despite her annoyance and his appearance.

“I’m okay. But if you want to spend more time with me, I’ll try my best to make you happy,” he gently held her hand which she quickly pulled away. 

Sierra was mad, but she could not ignore the reaction of her locket the moment their skin made contact.

“If you really are okay, then why did my locket glow when you touched my hand? Yesterday, when you carried me from the university to that cliff, the locket was not reacting to your touch. Why is today different?” Sierra suspiciously asked.

“I’m really okay. It is your locket who has a problem. It must be malfunctioning. But if you want to stay, then stay,” Josh grabbed her shoulder and tried to push her down on the bed, but she firmly remained sitting with a deadly glare at her maddening classmate.

“Touch me like this again and I will punch you even if my knuckles break into pieces,” Sierra ominously warned that Josh quickly pulled his hand away from her shoulder.

“Sorry,” he sincerely apologized then leaned back on the stacked up pillows. “I got carried away.”

Sierra let out another sigh, looked away from Josh, and dialed Kate's number. She moved out of the bed while waiting for an answer but the only reply she heard was, “The number you have dialed is either unattended or out of coverage area.”

Sierra tried her best not to worry, but she could not help it. Kate will only ignore her phone when she was sleeping. 

One more time, Sierra checked Kate's message and missed call. The time registered on her phone was five minutes before seven in the evening.

"How long before they get here if they leave the university at 7 pm?"

"Only an hour or less," Josh replied. "Why?"

"They won't get stuck in any traffic?" Sierra asked instead of answering his question. She was getting more anxious.

"Renzo knows what road he should avoid during rush hour. What's wrong, Sierra?"

"Don't get up. You're still sick," Sierra quickly told him as she dialed Kate's number one more time.

“The number you have dialed is either unattended or out of coverage area.”

“What's wrong, Sierra?” Josh asked again, starting to look worried.

“Kate is not answering,” she finally told him. "She messaged me at 6:55 pm. Her missed call was also around that time. What could have happened to them? Why is she not answering?"

“How about Ella?”

Sierra hurriedly tried Ella's number.

“Also unattended. Can you check on Renzo?”

Josh pulled the phone from his pocket and called his friend.

“Unattended,” he said and the growing anxiety in his face was not helping. “Dan is not answering his phone either. I'll check his room.”

Josh rushed out of his bed, but after taking a few steps, he swayed and collapsed on the floor, writhing in pain while clutching his right abdomen.

“You said you're okay!” Sierra impatiently yelled as she walked over to Josh.

“STAY WHERE YOU ARE!!!” his deafening bellow paralyzed Sierra.

His voice, that sounded like a roar, was awfully similar to the voice she heard from Jin in her latest dream.

No. It's just my imagination. He can't be Jin.

Sierra cautiously approached Josh, but immediately halted when she noticed his clothes began to rip apart as his muscles bulged, his arms and feet elongated, and black fur, mixed with brown strands, sprouted all over his body.

Josh, who looked so much now like Jin in her dream, had let go of his abdomen and covered his face before Sierra could fully get a glimpse of it. He struggled to get up on his hind legs and jumped off the window.

“JOSH!!!”

Sierra finally managed to move her trembling knees and ran towards the window, but Josh was already nowhere to be seen.

What's happening? Am I still dreaming?

She tried calling Kate and Ella. Their phones were still distressingly unattended. She picked up the phone that Josh had dropped on the floor. Fortunately, it was still unlocked. She called Dan and Renzo but none of them picked up her call.

She hurriedly marched out of that room and checked every corner of that mansion while trying to get answers from the people she was calling.

After an hour of exhausting search, Dan was nowhere to be found. His phone was still unattended.

Sierra returned to the empty room of Josh. She searched the drawers of the bedside table and found a car key. The problem was she did not know how to drive.

Sierra hopelessly sighed as she put the car key, together with phone of her classmate, inside her body bag.

Again, she was left with no better option but to search for Josh. He was the only one who can take her out of that place.

She turned the torch light of her phone on before following Josh deep within the vast, dark, and thick woodland.

^#######################################^