The Preternatural Shadows

Chapter II

I bolted upright, coughing through my dry throat and gasping for as much air as I could; my eyelids no longer weighed more than it should. Warm blood drained from my face and I was bathed in cold sweat. My fist was clenched in a tight grip, my knuckles were paler than usual. My breathing slowly returned to normal and I was finally aware that I'm in my bedroom.

"Grandma?" I could feel millions of needles pricking the back of my throat when I spoke.

The approaching footsteps echoed off the passageway, announcing the arrival of either someone humungous or a group of people marching in unison. The sound of heavy footsteps was deafening; I pressed onto my temples, trying to get rid of my headache.

I looked up curiously to see who was walking so fearlessly, just in time my grandma asked, "Oh, dear. How are you feeling?"

I was right, there were more than one person coming up the stairs. Prue and Harvey followed behind my grandma, and never have I ever seen them looked so worried in my 17 years of existence. They changed their outfits into something simpler and I guess I've successfully convinced Prue to remove her nasty makeup.

"I...I don't know. What happened?" I questioned. Prue handed me a cup of warm water and I chugged it all right away. The soreness in my throat faded gradually.

"You fainted right after we left Cedric's library. Luckily that old lady, who stared at us because we were too noisy, found you lying on the floor and informed us right away. You were fortunate enough that we hadn't gone too far," Prue came forward and sat beside me.

"Oh, look at those purple lips! I should go make something for you to eat." My grandma left instantly.

I looked out of my window, admiring the stars glistening the night sky, and a thought hit me, "How long had I been sleeping?"

"Just a few hours. Don't worry, your boss was quite nice, she told us that she won't fire you," Harvey sat at the edge of my bed, "Do you remember what happened before you fainted?"

I lolled on Prue's shoulder, her hands patting the top of my head. I tried recalling my memories from the start when Prue and I were walking to Cedric's Library, then Harvey came and they both argued. After that, they left and I organised a stack of old comics at the very end of the library. What happened next? Just then, fragments of images swam aimlessly around in the pool of my thoughts, like pieces of an unsolved puzzle. I found myself in an eerie room facing a faceless black hooded figure. My vision was blur and foggy, I opened my mouth to scream but nothing came out and my legs felt like noodles. Then, it was just me and my abysmal nightmare. It was sucking all the air from my lungs and engulfing me into the eternal darkness. I felt a sense of falling into a bed of thorns. Cold and paralysed.

"Earth to Chloe!" Prue tapped on my shoulder and momentarily brought me back to reality.

A small shiver crawled up my spine as I explained my story to Prue and Harvey. Surprisingly, Prue believed me and professed that the library was haunted. Harvey, on the other hand, insisted that it was all just a nightmare.

"But it felt so real! I'm pretty sure it wasn't just a dream."

"Not a dream, a nightmare."

"I was being suffocated by that thing... that monster or something..."

"Monsters don't exist in this world, Clo. You're probably just too tired from staying up late to read every night. Your body was just trying to help you, so thank yourself."

Was it really just a nightmare? Or was it real this time? Before I could argue back, my nose crinkled at the smell of rich tomato soup and chicken pie. It wasn't until my stomach growled that I realised I was exceptionally hungry.