Chapter 6: Fifth Floor

KENDALL'S POV -

This time the dark creature just sat there in stillness doing nothing. It just looked at me as if in a daze.

Then suddenly it's head perked up as if it sensed someone and I already knew who it was as I too had felt her.

As I tilted my head up to look at her I was again met with blinding bright light that always radiated off of her. But this time I was able to look at her before the blinding light pierced my eyes.

Unfortunately, all I could catch a glimpse of was her raven black hair as she stood turned away from me.

I reached up my hand to touch her and then I felt a burst of warmth radiating from my fingertips throughout my whole body.

*****

I jolted awake with a start.

My clothes and the bedsheets were completely drenched . I sensed a tingling sensation in my fingers which sent a shiver down my spine.

This wasn't a simple dream. It was an omen that Luce Mia was near.

I headed towards the only cupboard in the room which the three of us shared, to get a fresh set of clothes.

After I had changed, as quietly as I could, to not wake Miranda and Samarah up as it was 4'o clock in the morning and too early for them to wake up, I exited the dorm.

I couldn't rest knowing that Luce Mia was probably closer to me than I had thought. I took a walk in the college campus trying to sense her presence.

'Nothing!', I sighed feeling disappointed.

Maybe she was asleep. Dreams were all I had achieved for now.

As I lamented in my thoughts, I caught movement through my periphery. But as soon as I turned towards that direction, I saw nothing except for a rat scurrying past me.

"Hmmpphh", I said to myself trying to calm myself down as clearly there was no danger here.

Then it hit me again. The same peculiar scent which seemed familiar.

I tried to pinpoint it's source for a few minutes before giving up and trudging back to my room. Just as I had reached my dorm, that feeling swept through me again. But it was so strong this time that it overwhelmed me.

It made me weak in the knees and made my vision go blurry. I glanced around the corridor but found no one there.

I could feel sweat pooling up and trickling down my spine as I fought to keep consciousness.

Then I turned up my advances hearing and smelling abilities. I soon gathered that no one in the entire building was awake as it has been oy half an hour since I had left.

Then my brow furrowed and my heart skipped a beat as I heard someone yawn on the other side of the door I was standing in front of (that is my dorm) .

Oh My Fucking God!!!!! It can't be.

Have I been with Luce Mia for this long without realising that it was her.

My trembling hands had already opened the door on their own accord before I could realise, as I was faced with a very much awake Samarah who looked at me with concern in her eyes before the feeling in me grew to become a raging fire.

All I could hear was the sound of a door opening before my knees gave up and darkness enveloped me.

MIRANDA'S POV -

I found myself in the familiar darkness again.

This darkness had followed me in my dreams ever since I was a child. But nonetheless, it still succeeded Everytime to chill me to my bones. And yet again, as many countless times before, I found myself unable to move. The medical term for this condition was sleep paralysis, I think.

But this time the beast was far away from me, sitting deathly still. I tried my best to focus but was unable to make out the object which had intrigued the beast.

And then suddenly it pounced at something.

All I knew was that I had to stop it and suddenly my body felt like it was on flames as I moved to stop the beast . I woke up with a start. My bedsheets and clothes were completely drenched in my sweat.

I sat up on the bed as I tried to gather my thoughts. Then the realization hit me.

I had never been able to move in my dreams . 'But why today then?', the question rang out in my head.

Without making any noise I crossed the dim room, entering the bathroom in an attempt to pour some cold water on my face and cool myself down.

My hand had just touched the tap when I heard a very heavy thud followed by Samarah's stifled scream.

Without having a second thought my hand instinctively reached for the door handle as I braced myself to face an intruder and hopefully protect my friend from him/her.

But the scene I witnessed, left me speechless.

Kendall was lying face down on the doorway as Samarah rushed to her, painfully trying to stifle a scream. Her face now streaked with tears. I fought against the burning sensation in my eyes threatening to spill my own tears.

I ran to Kendall. After picking her up and placing her on my bed, I alongwith Samarah tried to gather our wits.

As soon as I got out of my daze, I sprinkled some water on her face. She didn't even flinch let alone open her eyes.

By now, my nerves had sky rocketed through the roof and I could only guess the same for Samarah whose face was lined with worry now.

Samarah bent down, placing a hand on Kendall's forehead and instantly removing it exclaiming," She is burning."

We decided that the best option now would be to call for help. I decided to watch over Kendall while Samarah rushed out to get help.

Kendall's face contorted as if in pain. The only idea which came to me to ease her pain was to place a damp cold cloth on her forehead.

I touched Kendall's forehead once to check her temperature. It hadn't decreased much. I placed my handkerchief on her forehead after wetting it.

Her face eased a little. After roughly 20 minutes Samarh returned with the dean and the college nurse.

The nurse checked Kendall's temperature and other vitals and informed that there was nothing much to worry about. She just had a mild fever dur to exhaustion.

She handed over some pills to me and asked me to give them to Kendall after she woke up and had eaten something.

The dean advised me and Samarah to take leave for the day and contact him if we needed further help. Samarah thanked the dean as they stepped outside to talk.Hearing them talk finally made me realise that he knew about Samarah's popularity.

'Good for us.', I smiled as I thought to myself.

As soon as Samarah headed back into our dorm, she almost had a guilty look as she met my eyes.

"What?", I questioned. She sighed before replying warily, " I had a concert to attend to and was talking to the dean about our classes."

I knew she was feeling guilty for leaving us alone. I hastily replied," it's ok. I can take care of Kendall."

She had already managed to get a break for all of us today. This was more than enough. She hugged me, clearly relieved as she whispered," Thanks. I owe you one "

After a few hours had passed and Samarah had left, I sat quietly beside Kendall in a chair.

I continuously picked on my brain to figure out the cause for the sudden decline in Kendall's health.

We had talked till late at night and Kendall had probably woken up a lot earlier than us but this alone shouldn't have taken such a big toll on her. Unless she had been exhausted the ride she had to take to get here the prior morning and skipped her meal.

"This is what had happened probably ." , I said out aloud as I mused with my ramblings. Then I noticed Kendall stir a little.

Hopefully her consciousness would soon return. Out of nowhere, I caught a sudden movement in my periphery through the window.

My breath got stuck in my throat as I noticed a guy in a black hoodie staring directly at me . Creep.

I blinked to myself a few times to look clearly and just as I had thought there was no one there. I was probably hallucinating, I concluded as no guy could be standing outside my window on the fifth floor.