The Necklace

7: Realizing Things

I inspect the chunk of hair that just came out in my fingers as water still runs over me. I feel around my head terrified that all the hair that just came out might have left bald spots. I don't feel any noticeable spots, but I'll check again once it's dry. Why Is my hair falling out? I pick up the shampoo I used and inspect the contents. I swear to god if Jesse followed up his prank with some hair remover in the shampoo bullshit. The container doesn't smell or look like there's hair remover in it. Maybe it's just stress?

I turn the shower off and dry myself, being extra careful with my hair. From what I can see in the mirror, it doesn't look like I have any noticeable bald spots, which is surprising given how much hair fell out. I'm deciding to chalk the hair loss up to stress. Last night was crazy and I don't think I've ever had to doubt my reality in the way that I did yesterday. It must have been too much for my body to handle and now my hair is falling out. I don't know what else it could be.

I decide to not tell anyone about what happened with my hair. Sienne knows about the prank and she'd probably just make fun of me. Besides, today is our last full day at the beach and I want to enjoy it, not worry about hair.

I may be clean, but the shower and food did not help my headache and stomach at all. I take an aspirin from the medicine cabinet and go back downstairs to find out the plan for the day. As I hit the bottom of the stairs, I can already hear Mario, Stephan and Carter in the kitchen talking about Jesse.

"I don't know man, he just came in, said he had to go and left." Mario says.

"But did he say why he had to go?" Carter asks.

"Don't remember. We played like 3 games of pong by that point. Ask Elina, she probably knows."

I enter the kitchen and tell them that I actually don't know.

"Jesus El, you look like crap." Mario says.

"Subtle" I say, rolling my eyes.

"How much did you drink last night?"

"I had a margarita and a shot, basically nothing"

"Ellie is hungover and super tired because Jesse pulled a weirdo prank on her last night" Sienne says while walking into the kitchen.

"Jesse? Prank? Doesn't sound like him." Stephan says.

"Well he did. He basically paid a guy to pretend he was in danger and then had him creep on El"

"Can we just not talk about it?" I interrupt, while memories of Calvin creep into my mind.

"I don't feel so hot and I just want to enjoy our last day here, not talk about how gullible I am."

The subject gets changed and we leave shortly after to spend a day on the beach. I end up laying out with a towel over my head the entire time because I couldn't stop feeling like shit. After the beach we got dinner and went home for another night of drinking.

We get back to the house and now I'm sure that I'm not just hungover. My body feels heavy and my head has never hurt this much before. I don't even have the energy to drink tonight and I don't think I could stomach it anyway. I decide to go to bed, hoping that I feel a little better in the morning.

The first thing I notice when I wake up is Sienne repeatedly saying my name and shaking me. The second thing I notice is how badly everything hurts.

"El! Wake up, it's noon! What happened to your face?!" Sienne asks demandingly. 

"My face?" I ask groggily.

I try to sit up but am immediately met with intense nausea. I run to the bathroom and throw up, but before I flush I look in the toilet to see a rancid smelling black goo. I gasp and take a step back, seeing my reflection in the mirror. Now I see what Sienne was talking about.

My skin developed dry scaly patches that began to peel overnight. I graze one with my finger, but they're sore to the touch. The whites of my eyes appear to have a slight gray tint to them. My face looks gaunt and I swear I've never been this pale. I frantically look underneath the sink in the bathroom and pull out a scale. After weighing myself, I see that I've lost 15 lbs from the day before we left. I grab a piece of my hair and it falls out with little resistance. At this point I feel consumed by fear and call out to Sienne while I sink to the floor.

"You don't look good at all El. What's wrong with you?" Sienne asks as she comes in.

I point to the toilet silently and she sees the black goo.

"Did that come from you?! I think we should take you to the hospital." She says, concerned.

"I'll go when we get home tonight" I say weakly.

"Fine. But at least lay down in bed while I pack us up. You need to rest."

I walk back to the bed and lay down. I'm so exhausted that if I close my eyes I'll fall back asleep immediately. I start to blink my eyes, trying to keep them open but then I notice the necklace still on my nightstand. I begin to think of that night with Calvin and something he said stands out to me.

"You're going to need it to survive. Once you're bound with the necklace, you'll die after 3 consecutive days of not wearing it"

In a moment of tired, desperate delirium just about anything sounds like a good idea. I reach for the necklace and weakly slip it over my head. I close my eyes and fall back asleep.

The sounds of crows cawing jolts me awake as I realize I'm in a room made of stone walls. Across the room sitting in a red chair I see Calvin. There are several crows surrounding him, and he even has one perched on his hand. The muscles in my neck tighten as he notices me staring at him and begins to chuckle at my shocked expression. I try to scream, but sound won't leave my throat. He looks me in the eyes smirking and says "Goodnight Ellie". He then lifts his hands and sends the murder of crows flying in my direction all at once. I scream but this time sound comes out as I wake up to everyone in the car staring at me.

"Shhh it's okay El. It's just a bad dream, go back to sleep" Sienne says.

I hold my hand to chest as my heart beats out of control. The panic starts to fade as I realize we are on the way back home from the beach.

"How long have I been out?" I ask.

"Just a few hours, you really need to rest El, try to sleep more" Sienne says.

I nod in acceptance and once again feel the pull of sleep on my eyelids. I lean back in my seat, and drift back off.