Cobweb Head

t w e n t y - f o u r

"They want to see you, check you for injuries." Leo sank down into his chair, sliding a mug of tea across the desk towards me. I took the hot cup.

"Tell them to piss off – I want to stay here." I drew my knees up to my chest and blew down into the brew. Steam warmed my face. "What happened last night?"

Leo looked up from where he'd been staring down at the desk. He drew his hand up from his mug and rubbed the dark circles below his eyes. "Everyone had to run from the party – it was weird, though, no one got hurt."

I frowned, watching the sunlight cast long, tired shadows across his face. I had to tell him everything – for all I knew, Mae had already gone and told the Frights about what I knew about them, and worse, about what I'd become. A shudder found its way down my spine.

"It happened because of me." I said.

A weary smile cracked his lips. "I'm not sure how you've managed to find a way to beat yourself up about this. I'm almost impressed."

"No, Leo, it was my fault." My expression twisted at the words, as if they'd tasted sour in my mouth. "I don't just read phobias, I – I make them real."

He paused for a moment. "What?"

"I know, it's weird. But it's not so different from how you guys make nightmares, I think, and I have a standard control over it." It was an obvious lie. I mentally face-palmed. "Please don't hate me."

He furrowed his brows. "You're being serious right now?"

I placed my cup back onto the desk and wrung my hands in my lap. Why was it so hard to let the words leave my chest? My voice remained caged within the bones of my ribcage. I pinched my lips into a thin line.

"You made the swarms?"

"It was Mae's phobia, she – she freaked me out." I thought about her acidic voice and shivered. I should've told him about what she did.

By the look on his face, I could already see that he knew about her phobia and was struggling to see the proof in front of him. He licked his lips and placed the mug next to mine. "When Mae took you away somewhere, that was when it happened? When you... freaked out?"

"She knew about how I'd helped you on the hunt." I gulped down something hard. "I couldn't tell you because—" I broke off. "She... didn't want me to. She wanted to protect you. But that night, she said they were going to put an echo in my head. I couldn't – I panicked."

I didn't know why I only gave him the half-truth – trying to talk about it left my chest in knots and a face going red. Even thinking about what Mae wanted me to do left me feeling uncomfortable.

The moments that followed were full of long silences and eyes that couldn't meet. Leo seemed to be mulling over what he'd just heard, leaning back in the chair with a foot propped up onto the seat and a head knocked back. I waited nervously.

"You lied?"

I sucked in a quick breath. "I wouldn't say lied, maybe refrained from giving the whole truth."

"You lied." He didn't look angry. Instead, when he looked back up, he looked only hurt, which was shatteringly worse. "I didn't understand why Mae was so, so shaken up about the party, but now I know. You terrified her."

"I didn't... I didn't mean to." I lifted my hands up to my head, my voice etched with something that sounded a little too much like desperation. "I would never..."

"Are you one of them?"

I looked up through the hair that'd fallen across my face.

Leo continued. "The nightmare walkers the Frights have been warding off, are you with them?"

"What? No." I buried my nails into my scalp.

"They turn into the nightmare they're attached to – there has to be some kind of connection." His voice had softened, and I almost melted where I sat. "They're bad, Will, really bad."

I bit into the inside of my cheek. "I think they want me for something."

"What?"

"I ran into one a few days ago. She said they needed me." I drew my hands away with a grimace, sliding down the wall and letting my shirt ride up behind me. I clamped a sweaty fist over the blanket fabrics.

"This – this has to mean something." He stood up, wavering on his feet. I almost expected him to fall back down into his chair. "Let's go to the Frights."

I straightened hastily, and panic needled my chest, as if a piece of glass had wedged itself against my flesh. It was as if I was back in the night of the fourth hunt, where Leo had been all too eager to bring me to them. "You're not serious?"

He bit down onto his lip, looking as if he was being torn at two ends. "This is serious, Will, they might need you. If the nightmare walkers want you, and suddenly you're turning into fears, the Frights will probably know what to do about it."

"Yeah, like put an echo in my head." I rose up to my feet and dropped down onto the floorboards. "I'm not going to have one of those things knocking around in my skull."

"You don't know they'll do that!"

"And what else would they do? Use me as some nightmare reading compass?" I curled my lip bitterly. "We're not going to the Frights, Leo."

He dropped his head into his hands, which sent dark curls unfurling through his fingers like black smoke. His voice was so painfully small when he spoke next. "Then what are we supposed to do?"

I stepped forward slowly, feeling the cool boards on my calloused feet, and placed a hesitant hand on Leo's shoulder. The fabric of his long-sleeved shirt was soft, and my insides churned when I reconsidered what I was doing.

It was just a simple touch, so why was it so incredibly terrifying?

"Let's wait and see."

He looked up. "Is that supposed to be reassuring?"

"You'll probably get your way in the end – Mae knows, she's probably already told them." I felt sick just thinking about it. I dropped my hand after remembering where it was.

His smile was faint, but there. "They'll know what to do." He reassured.

I grunted and turned away, clasping my cup of tea in a shaky hand and taking a long gulp. The sweet taste warmed my mouth.