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A sharp spasm went through me, causing my body to jerk against my will. Bile rose up in my throat, and I rolled onto my side, the fear of choking on my vomit giving me the strength to move. I tried to clench my jaw shut, but the chills shaking me made it impossible. I stretched my arm out and gripped the edge of the mattress. Another spasm hit me, and my knees jerked up towards my chest, my body curling into a fetal position.
Nausea hit me again, stronger this time, and I managed to pull myself towards the edge of the bed, just far enough to hang my head over the side before passing out again.
A text alert woke me the second time, and the first thing I noticed was that the pain was gone. In fact, all feeling was gone. My body felt numb and heavy. I cracked open my eyes and squinted towards the window, trying to gage the time by the tiny sliver of sunlight that crept in over the top of my curtains.
Yes, those were my curtains. I was in my own bed, though I had no memory of how I came to be in this condition. Had I been drugged? My tongue felt thick and stiff in my mouth.
I struggled to sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed. I sat there a moment, clinging to the edge of the mattress. Then another text alert sounded, drawing my attention to my backpack on the floor by the door. I knew there was no way I could make it across the room in my current condition, so I just sat there, staring at it.
What happened to me?I started to lay back down, but paused when I noticed a large dark spot on the bed. I squinted at it in the semi-darkness for a moment, then reached for the lamp beside my bed.
My arm felt heavy, making me clumsy, and I knocked the lamp over when I turned it on. Light flared into the room, and the first thing I noticed was the dried blood on the back of my hand.
My eyes darted back at the bed, and I saw that the dark spot was also dried blood, right where my head had been. I jumped up from the bed, swaying unsteadily and I looked around. I looked down at myself and saw blood on the front of my shirt.
I tried to run to the bathroom but my numb legs caused me to stumble and fall. I crawled the rest of the way to the bathroom and gripped the edge of the sink to pull myself up. I looked in the mirror and cried out at the sight of myself.
My hair was a tangled mess, and my cheek and neck were crusted with dried blood. The collar of my shirt was torn, exposing one blood smeared shoulder. I looked down at my body, frantically searching for injuries. My jeans were still fastened, and I paused for a moment, thankful to know that I hadn’t been raped.
I turned on the faucet and began splashing water all over my face and neck, and when I lifted my head to look in the mirror I froze. The blood had washed away to reveal smooth, flawless skin. My injuries from being thrown to the pavement were completely healed.
I slowly lifted a shaking hand to touch my chin. I stared at my reflection in disbelief. Then I noticed a small cut at the base of my neck. I leaned closer to the mirror to get a better look. It was not a cut, it was two small holes.
I stared at them, as if in a trance, until my phone rang again. My body jerked, and I grabbed the edges of the sink to stop myself from collapsing. I started to cry, great heaving sobs bursting from my chest. I continued to stare in the mirror as I cried, unable to look away from the marks on my neck. After a moment my phone's ringing pierced through my hysteria, and I stumbled out of the bathroom, desperate to answer before they hung up.
“Help!” I tried to yell, but the word came out a hoarse whisper. I lurched across the room, collapsing onto the floor beside my backpack just as my phone stopped ringing. I dug through my backpack and yanked my phone out just as it started ringing again.
I saw my sister’s number and answered with a sob. “Allie!”
“Sarah!” she shouted. “What's wrong? Are you okay?”
For a moment all I could do was cry into the phone.
“What’s wrong?” she kept repeating, yelling at me.
“I don’t know.” I finally said between sobs. “I-” I stopped, not knowing how to explain what had happened. With one hand I wiped at the tears on my face.
“Sarah! What's wrong?” Allie shouted again. “Where are you?”
“I’m home,” I said. Then, remembering, I raised a hand to my neck and gently touched the two small holes. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. “Something’s happened.” I struggled to stand up.
“What happened? I don’t understand.”
I looked around my apartment. Other than the bloodstain on my bed, there was nothing out of place.
“Sarah?” Allie was no longer shouting, but she still sounded concerned. “What’s going on? I’ve been trying to reach you all day.”
“I don’t know.” My face was completely healed. How was I supposed to explain that? “I was sick,” I said, “but then-” My words trailed off as I slowly walked over towards the wall of blackout curtains covering my two windows.
“Sick?” she asked. “You sounded hysterical when you answered the phone.”
“No, I’m okay now.” I raised a shaky hand, grabbed the edge of the curtain, and yanked it open. No one was lurking behind them. Both windows were shut tight.
It was dark out. How long had I been sleeping? I ran my free hand over my cheek and chin, astonished by the smoothness, when only yesterday it had been scabbing over.
“Hello?” Allie said loudly, getting my attention. “Are you still there?”
“Yeah.” I turned away from the window.
