Unreal

Chapter 4

 The sound of a bird constantly shrieking woke Emma. She opened her eyes hastily and walked over to her window, prepared to launch a porcelain cat at whatever bird was making the noise. 

As Emma Looked outside, the only bird she could see was two blocks away. Could that be the bird making all that noise? She opened her window and launched the cat figurine she had in her hand as hard as she could. 

To Emma's surprise, it hit the bird and the noise stopped. 

The sound of Emma's own heart thudding in her chest clouded her head. She could hear other noises too: The cars driving outside, the neighbor's snoring, even the buzz Emma's alarm clock made from being plugged in. 

She barely noticed Daniel sitting in a chair that was beside her bed, watching her. 

Exasperated, Emma walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. She had only used a little force, but it seemed she had tried as hard as she could to close the door because it busted through the lock and came through the other side. She shrieked and tried to hold it in place so it would look like it wasn't broken. 

She was breathing hard, she could hear her own heartbeat and the blood pumping through her body. Emma leaned against the counter and turned the water on. She splashed her face with cold water and kept the water running, figuring out that she could hear the water traveling down the drain. She turned the tap off but turned it too much and it broke off, water spraying everywhere. She gave an angry shout and brought her fists down on the porcelain counter. Her hands crushed through the counter, sending porcelain pieces everywhere. 

The bathroom floor was now covered in water and crushed porcelain pieces. She screamed. Water sprayed everywhere making her hair and clothes wet and her unable to see. She rubbed her eyes and stumbled out of the bathroom into Daniel's arms.

"Woah, easy there," he said with his hands on her shoulders as she righted herself.

"The sink-" Emma stuttered but was interrupted by the piercing sound of a dog whistle. She let out a scream and collapsed to the floor, clamping her hands around her ears, burying her head in her knees.

"Hey," Daniel whispered as he crouched down beside Emma and put a hand on her back. She looked up to meet his eyes and expected him to have a surprised look on his face, but his expression was blank. It was as if he had heard the dog whistle that was coming from outside, as if understood what she was going through.

"What's happening to me?" Emma asked in a quavering voice.

"Listen, I can explain everything, you just need to give me time to-" Daniel started.

"Wait, you know know what's happening to me?" Emma interrupted with anger in her voice. She went from scared to angry in a split second. "Did you do something to me?!" she screamed. Hot tears started to pool in her eyes and she tried to blink them away, leaving her eyes a glossy sheen. 

She stood up and turned away from Daniel's gaze, he stood up too and she could feel his stare on her. She could hear the blood coursing through his veins, she could hear his heart pounding in his chest. She ran her fingers through her hair and spun back around to look him in the eyes. "Did you drug me?" she asked with horror written all over her face.

"No, no," Daniel said as he took a step closer to Emma but she backed away.

"Don't come any closer." Daniel held out his hands to signal her he wasn't going to hurt her.

"Just let me explain," he pleaded.

"You have ten seconds to explain what's happening to me before I throw you out of my house!"