Haunted in the Night

Chapter Fourteen- Part Two

“Well if we don’t have any suspects I’m afraid there is not much we can do about it, except be hyper vigilante, keep an eye out and don’t put yourself in any unnecessary dangers, like stay out of secluded areas for example” Bob warned them and Claire gulped, trying to swallow down her nerves, to calm herself, it didn’t work well.
Her breathing had become raspy, her face pale, it was all just too much, one thing after another, after another and it was taking it’s toll on her, on all of them.
“Claire are you alright?” Chad asked her suddenly noticing how she had begun to shiver, her body rather frigid and a slight look of panic in her eyes.
“Claire can you hear me? I need you to concentrate on your breathing, I need you to slow your heart rate, otherwise you’re going to panic and you’ll have an attack" Bob spoke to her, he had seen her like this before and knew what was coming.
Claire however could barely hear him, her mind was somewhere else, it was in the woods, scanning every tree, every dark spot something might be hiding inside, needing to know what was there, what was behind everything that has been going on.
Her breath hitched, feeling like it had jammed in her throat and she gasped, long big sudden gasps, trying to get the airflow back to her lungs.
“Shit, put her head between her knees, now!” Bob shouted at Chad who for a moment was stunned at what was happening before his eyes, he had never seen Claire like this and he had no idea on how to help her.
Quickly he did as he was told, reaching out to her he slowly guided her head down, between her legs, thankfully they were facing each other so it made it easier, once he had done that he rubbed her back soothingly, hoping it would provide a calming effect.
Claire closed her eyes, pushing herself out of the dark thoughts that were taunting her, and concentrated on the feeling of Chad rubbing her back in circles.
She stopped gasping for air, tried to focus on taking in long deep slow breaths instead of sudden smells ones, it took a while but slowly her body trembles faded away, her lungs refilled with air and her heart rate slowed back to normal.
“What was that?” Chad asked Bob, worry tainted his voice and was written all over his face but he didn’t stop rubbing her back.
“It was a panic attack, caused from stress and fear, she’ll be alright but she needs to rest, it takes an awful lot out of you, can you help her to the couch? I’ll make us all something to drink" Bob explained as he got to his feet and started making his way to the cupboards for cups.
Chad slowly got to his own feet, watching Claire carefully, before taking her by the shoulders and guiding her up, she had to put a lot of effort into picking up her weight and when she finally lifted her head he saw the toll the attack had taken on her.
She was pale, her eyes swollen and tired, her whole body ached and he could see the pain on her face.
He didn’t bother letting her try to walk to the couch, her knees looked wobbly enough just to keep her standing where she was so he scooped her up bridal style and carried her over himself, her head resting on his chest.
He was careful when he placed her down, pulling his arms out from underneath her and he quickly pulled the blanket over her, all the while she watched him with tired eyes.
“I’m sorry you had to see that, I try to hide that side away, I never wanted you to witness that" she mumbled slowly out her apology and he looked at her with soft, caring eyes.
“Don’t you ever apologise for needing help, or having panic attacks, your under a lot of stress and I’ll do anything I can to help you" he told her as he reached up and stroked her cheek soothingly and affectionately.
“Here you are, a nice hot chocolate” Bob said as he placed the cup down on the table next to her head, it was small, just big enough for the lamp it held and her cup.
“Thank you" she managed to whisper out, however her body felt weighed down, like she was too tired to even attempt to pick up the cup, and Chad noticed this.
“Do you have any straws?” he asked Bob who considered the question before setting off in search of one.
“Here one is" Bob said once he found one and brought it over to Chad, handing it to him.
Chad instantly put it in the cup of hot chocolate, held the cup and put the straw to Claire’s lips, she felt embarrassed having to have someone help her like this but she sipped at the straw before pulling away slightly, to let Chad know she had enough.
Putting the cup down he looked down at her, leaning forward and placing a soft, warm kiss on her cheek for which she smiled at him slightly before closing her eyes, she was exhausted and she couldn’t stay awake any longer.
“I don’t want you staying at the house alone either, especially if your being so easily watched there, stay here for the night, I’ll get a small mattress brought over, you can sleep on that" she could hear Bob speaking to Chad but listening in on their conversation quickly became to exhausting and she slipped off into a deep sleep.