Possessed

Chapter 12: The Condition

By the time the movie was nearly over, we were fighting to stay awake. Huh, guess sleepovers don’t exactly turn out as expected. I asked the two of them if they preferred the couch or if they wanted sleeping bags. They both sleepily agreed to go with the former. Elaine separated on a different couch to give Odette more space and I sauntered towards the cupboard in the hallway where we kept our camping materials- spare pillows, tents and sleeping bags.

I started to drag out a sleeping bag from the tight stack, when an acute headache shot through me. I dropped the bag and rolled over in pain. My head felt as if it was on fire, the flames licking at the inside of my brains. I screamed so loud, I thought my throat would split. This time, though, it was slightly different from my previous encounters of such incidents. My head wasn’t the only one with stabbing agony pouring into it; my whole body also ached. I didn’t faint this time either. The pain was simply relentless and incessant, so much that I had a sudden urge to grab a knife from the kitchen stand and put an end to myself right then and there just to stop it.

I could just make out my friends footsteps as they rushed towards me.

“Aries?! Aries!” Their screams sounded so distant, like from a different realm.

My head lolled back and forth. The anguish was gone, leaving me completely drained of energy and with fatigue seeping into my veins. Their voices weren’t perceptible enough and I was too worn out to reply back. Instead, I just rested my head on the cold floor and let myself drift off.

When I woke up in the morning, the first thing that came to my notice was that I was lying on the couch, not the hard floor that I’d fallen asleep on the night before. The mention of the night before brought back with it a flood of memories and I felt ashamed that our little sleepover had been ruined.

I spotted Odette and Ellie standing with their heads together, talking in low tones.

“Elaine?” My voice was barely audible. I hadn’t expected my voice to be that dry.

I sat up on the couch and Elaine briskly walked over, a look of concern in her eyes. She mutely handed me a glass of water which I drank to my fill gratefully.

“What happened?” I clutched at my head even though there was no pain now; only a lingering soreness.

Odette said, slowly, “Aries, you fainted again. I already talked to your parents; they’re on their way.”

I sat up as fast as I could. “What?!” I almost yelled, “You called them? WHY?! You know I don’t want to tell them. They’ll only get worried for no reason!”

“No, Aries,” Elaine shook her head, “You’re anything but fine. We heard you last night. You were practically writhing with pain on the floor. You NEED to consult your parents. They’ll know what to do.”

“But-“

“No buts,” Odette replied firmly, “Now you rest till they arrive. We both will be right here if you need anything.”

I sank back onto my pillow, exhausted. “Tell me what happened,” I moaned.

Elaine started speaking, describing the events of last night. I was not really surprised that I couldn’t even recall any of the things she said ever having taken place. This wasn’t the first time, after all.

“What do you think is happening to me?” I asked quietly, breaking the silence that followed Elaine’s explanation.

“I don’t know….” Elaine trailed off, while Odette looked thoughtful.

“Do you think…” I began, drawing in a sharp breath, “Do you think it has something to do with this house?”

To say that my friends were taken off guard would be an understatement, judging by the looks that were plastered onto their faces.

“Why would you think that?” Elaine questioned.

“Well, from the time we’ve moved into this house, there’s this presence….” I stammered, unable to quite put it into words. I turned to face Odette, “Remember the skeleton we found in that corner room?”

She nodded her head abruptly. We didn’t need to clarify ourselves to Elaine. She already knew.

“So you think it is the house that’s haunted?” Elaine concluded.

“Not really ‘haunted’, no, that sounds too…childish. More like maybe there’s an undead spirit in my house that wants revenge?” I put forward the thought that had been pestering me for a while.

Odette eye’s darkened at my words. Did I say something wrong? I wondered.

“You mean a spirit that goes around rattling doors?” Elaine cocked her eyebrow. She appeared rather comical, but this was no time for laughing.

I was about to say something equally witty, when I heard the front door open and moments later, my parents emerged from the hallway and into the room where we were seated. I saw worry lining their faces as they dashed towards me.

“Mom, I’m okay,” I assured her, as she held me in a rib-cracking hug, weeping.

“Is my baby okay?” she sobbed into my hair, “Why didn’t you tell us before?”

I glanced past her and caught sight of my dad standing in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest. “You have some explaining to do, young lady, “he reminded me when he met my eyes.

“Okay, we’ll get going then,” Elaine said cheerfully as she and Odette got up from the couches and headed towards the door.

“Wont you have breakfast with us at least?” I asked hopefully.

“No, it’s fine. You take care now,” Odette answered back.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything to eat?” my mom prodded further.

They shook their heads no.

“We’re taking Aries to the therapist now. We can drop you two on the way?”

I stared at my mom incredulously. “Therapist? Really?” I echoed.

“That would be great, Mrs. Avelda,” Elaine spoke politely. She had the brains to avoid my gaze, considering the death glares I was shooting her.

My mom, without answering my question, gestured for all of us to get moving. I followed by parents from a step behind, my friends beside me.

“Gee, thanks for the free ticket to the mental doctor,” I said to Elaine and Odette sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

“Sorry,” Elaine whispered to me apologetically, as we headed towards my family car- a blue Volkswagen.