Familiar

Chapter Twelve

Leaving the shower running, I wrapped a towel around me and sprinted to my room, rummaging in my purse for my phone and then going back to the bathroom. I phoned Ryan again, and again no answer. I cried then, sitting on the bathroom's tile floor in a towel. Hot tears ran down my face, and I let myself sob quietly. What was happening? I let myself remain like this for a couple of minutes. Then I forced myself to take a deep breath, and get into the shower.

Again, the relief was immediate. Even the burn-looking marks on my arms felt better. But it was then that I realized my back didn't hurt. At all. The marks were there, sure enough, but there wasn't any pain to go with them. Testing, I poked my left arm, and almost fell through the shower curtain at the blinding pain.

"Yep. That one still hurts." I muttered stupidly to myself.

I don't know how long I stayed in the shower, but I know by the end I was glad I lived in an apartment building with a large hot water supply. My fear and uncertainty had not completely vanished, but I felt steadier. Finally, with my skin flushed from the heat, I got out and began drying off. Being careful this time to avoid the sore spots.

My phone rang from the counter, and I checked it, Ryan, probably panicking from the missed phone calls.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Are you okay?" Ryan asked, sounding wild and frantic.

"Yes, well, sort of, but yes. For the moment I'm alright." I heard some shuffling, and Ryan's voice farther from the phone saying, "Hear that? She said she's fine." He must have moved back closer to the phone because his voice was loud again. "Dane is here, and he is freaking out. Did something happen? I'm sorry I didn't answer, I left my phone in another room to charge, and I forgot to charge it last night, and-"

"Ryan," I interrupted sternly. "Calm down, I'm really alright." I caught a glimpse of my back not covered by the towel, the red marks becoming more vibrant as my hot-showered skin was starting to cool.

"Did something happen?" His voice was still worried, and I hesitated. "Tell me." He demanded.

"I-" My skin is a weird red color, and it's like yours, but not really, I thought about saying. "I don't know how to explain it, it might just be easier to show you."

"I'm coming over. You're at home?" I thought about arguing but he seemed to have already made up his mind.

"Yes," I answered.

"See you soon." I was going to protest then, but Ryan had already hung up. Without much choice, I went to my room to change. As I was dressing, something occurred to me: It was a good thing that the marks on my back didn't hurt, or a bra would have been difficult. And the more I thought about it, the more uncertain I was about what I would do when that day did come. I couldn't very well go out without one, could I? But even the light fabric touching the bruises on my arms hurt.

I chose a tank top from my closet, not something I would normally wear outside these days, but if it was just Ryan, well, I didn't have to explain the bruises to him.

Sprawling out on my bed, I scrolled through some social media apps when the door buzzer went off. Bounding off the bed, I ran through the living room and pressed the button to let him up.

"And what if I were a burglar?" Ryan said in way of greeting when I opened the door. "You didn't even check if it was me." My mood was immediately lighter when I saw him.

"If you were a burglar, then you happened to be in the right place at the right time," I replied smartly. He grinned, and I led the way to my room.

"So," He started as I sat down on the bed and he took and turned my desk chair to face me and sat. "What's up?" My hands fidgeted in my lap, and I looked down at them. "Something happen?" Ryan probed. Nodding, I turned around and lifted my shirt up and off, exposing my back.

If he was surprised either by the mark or by my sudden lack of shirt, he made no noise. But I heard the floor protest as he stepped closer. I felt a freezing cold hand touch the outside of my shoulder.

"Does it hurt?" He asked quietly, and I shook my head. "Then did something else happen, to cause this?" I put my shirt back on and moved back to bed, and he sat next to me.

"It was right after you left, the chimes of the door started it, I think." Though I still wasn't sure what it was. "Then I was somewhere else. Like a lake, and it was dark, but not night, and there were weird trees." I moved my hands through the air like it would help me explain, but I knew it sounded crazy. But Ryan's face looked intent, listening to me. "I don't know, and it must have only been a few seconds, I tried to take a step forward, in the -place- but then I came back to the coffee shop, I fell on the floor. It was embarrassing actually." I had started to ramble but I couldn't stop. 

I vaguely noted when Dane walked in, taking a spot on the floor gazing at the two of us. "My left arm felt, odd somehow, so I checked it, and it was red too. But that one still hurts, the one on my back I didn't notice until I got home. That's why I phoned you, to see if you knew anything." I stopped then, trying to regain my breath.

By the look on Ryan's face, I doubted he knew any more than I did, and I looked at him, waiting. Ryan sighed and shook his head in a sad motion.

"I've never seen anything like that, mine were, well, normal," He laughed harshly. "Okay, not normal, exactly," I grinned at the irony of it. "But black bruises like what you've encountered before." My face fell, I don't know exactly what I had been expecting. But I guess I was hoping he would know something about this. "But," He continued. "I've heard of this happening, to others."

"And?" I asked expectantly. "What is it?" Ryan scratched the back of his neck and dropped his eyes to the bed. Then twisted to look at Dane. 

"You want to tell her?" Dane shook his head, looking strange. I didn't think normal foxes had that kind of /motion.

"Okay," Ryan conceded, sighing heavily. "It means you're dying." I blinked at him.

"We knew that already. The spell-"

"No!" Ryan exclaimed loudly, causing me to jump slightly. He lowered his voice after, looking apologetic. "It means that something is going wrong, that you're dying too quickly."

"What else?" I asked, knowing there was more. Knowing that I needed to know, no matter what it was.

"From what I've heard - and I don't know anything about it, only what I was told, but, it means that whoever you're trying to contact from the other side, is frantic, trying to get back." He looked at me like there was something I wasn't understanding. "To get back," He repeated. "To here. To the living. In whatever way they can."

I heard the words, but they didn't really make sense. Get back to the living any way they can? What did that mean?

"What does that mean, exactly?" I asked.

"It means that whoever you're trying to save on the other side has noticed you. And wants to come back."

"Isn't that a good thing?" I wondered aloud.

"It can be," Ryan admitted slowly.

"But," I continued for him.

"But, if the other person wants through so badly, they'll take any form they can, which means..." He waited, to see if I would finally catch on. Any form? Oh.

"Oh," I say out loud, thinking I finally get it. "Any form, meaning - meaning mine. Me." I took a deep breath, and I looked to Ryan for confirmation.