The summer sky was a darkening mixture of pink clouds and purple gradients. There seemed to be a dim filter set across the atmosphere, which made it difficult to navigate through the trees in the woods behind Sylvia's backyard. But the trees and grass smelled fresh, and the breezy air satisfied Sylvia's flushed face.

Billy was awfully quiet. It was the day after the incident with his stepfather, so she figured that was why. He didn't want to talk about it and she didn't want to bring it up, though, she needed to. She hated that she could only hear their breathing and the crunching of leaves and twigs beneath their sneakers.

She halted her steps and stood in front of him.

"Billy," she said quietly, and he looked into her eyes.

"Yes?" he questioned.

Sylvia stared down at her feet. "I'm... um, I'm sorry."

Her vision began to grow blurry, and those uncomfortable, hot tears pricked the corners of her eyes. She felt a tightness in her chest - she promised herself she wouldn't cry in front of him. But she couldn't hold it. She was tired of holding it.

He shook his head as he stared at her. "Sylve, come on, Sylve," he tried to comfort her, but she couldn't stop.

She was sobbing as she tossed her arms around him. She felt him stiffen beneath her touch, and she pulled away immediately. She rubbed her eyes, trying to clear them as she looked at him.

"He hurt you," she told him. "He fucking hurt you."

"No, he didn't," Billy tried desperately to get her to stop crying, reaching over to rub her arm. "He didn't, Sylvia, he yelled at me. That's it. That's all."

"Don't lie to me!" Sylvia cried out. "He hurt you, he always hurts you."

"Sylve-"

"Take your shirt off then," Sylvia demanded through a snivel. "D-do it. Take your shirt off."

"Ah... no, I'm not going to do that," he told her, and she could hear his breath growing heavier.

"Why? Huh? Because you'll have bruises on you, right?" she practically screamed out. "Right? Take your shirt off."

"I'm not taking my shirt off, okay?" he yelled out.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she couldn't say it enough. She just wanted to say it over and over.

"You have nothing to be sorry about, Sylve. Nothing!" he cried out to her, trying to calm her down. "So stop saying that."

"I left you. I left you like a coward. I could've helped you, I could have done something... you're not safe there. You're not safe," she told him. "There's something wrong with your stepdad. He's fucked up."

"I know that, I know. But listen, you did the right thing. If you would've stayed, it would've made things a lot worse. Trust me on that," he comforted. "Please, don't be sorry."

Sylvia couldn't bear her thoughts - they were attacking her. Billy needed her help, the girl at her window needed her help, but she didn't know how to help them. She felt incapable.

Billy held her in his arms. His heartbeat was directly against her ear. Her other ear heard the swaying of the treetops, the gusts of wind which blew leaves across the land, and her heavy breathing from her sobs.

"I saw her again last night," Sylvia finally said into his shirt, closing her eyes.

"You did?" he whispered, and she nodded against him.

"This time, she talked to me," Sylvia said.

"No way, what'd she sound like?" he asked. "What'd she say?"

"She just said 'help'. I'm useless, Billy. I'm totally useless," she told him. "I couldn't even respond to her. I couldn't even ask what she needed help with."

"You're not useless. Is - is that why you wanted to walk through the woods?" he asked. He knew that the two of them always used to walk through the woods behind her house when they were younger. It was therapy for both of them.

Sylvia shrugged her shoulders and nodded.

Billy rubbed her back. "What do you think she is?"

Sylvia shook her head. "I don't know. A ghost... or, maybe just a stupid hallucination. I wish I knew."

"Let's keep going, it's getting dark," Billy told her, before he turned to search through the backpack that was slung over his shoulder.

He pulled out the flashlight and illuminated the area in front of them as they continued their walk.

*

Sylvia and Billy split ways before she stepped into her house. When she flung her front door open, her heart dropped at the sight in front of her.

Her friend from the mental institution, Quinn, was sitting beside her father on the couch, talking to him.

Quinn was in the middle of saying something to her father before he turned to look at Sylvia. Sylvia nearly screamed, before she sprinted over to him and flung her arms around his neck.

"Sylvie, this boy came to the door an hour ago and told me that you and him were the best of friends back at the place," she heard her father say.

When her father noticed the two of them silently hugging as tight as possible, he laughed and inched towards the doorway.

"I'll leave you two alone," her father concluded, before he slipped out of the living room.

"Oh, my God, Quinn," Sylvia whispered into his neck after some time of hugging. "What are you doing here?" she asked while pulling away from him.

"They discharged me. I'm out, Sylvia," he said, pulling her into his arms again and hugging her as tight as possible. "I'm finally out of there."

"Let's go in my room, I have a lot to tell you," Sylvia told him as she pulled him through the hallway.

*

The two of them spoke for hours, until the clock turned to ten. Sylvia didn't want him to go. She didn't want to fall asleep that night and be awoken by banging on her window. She wanted it all to end - she just wanted to be normal.

"I've gotta get going," Quinn said after looking at his watch. "But listen to what I said. It might be a hallucination... it might not be. But ask her what she wants from you," he told her.

"I tried to talk to her," Sylvia told him. "I tried. But I couldn't speak. It was like my lips were sewn shut."

"No, Sylvia, you're stronger than this," he told her. "You're stronger than this. Look her in the eyes, in those terrifying, bloody eyes, and ask her what she wants you to do. If you need anything, and I mean anything, I'm a phone call away."

Sylvia stared at him, and she took a deep breath. "I'm going to do it. I'm going to be strong."

"There she is," Quinn teased with a smirk. "That's the Sylvia I know and love."

Sylvia hugged him again, before she pulled away and stared into his eyes. They still had bags beneath them, but nothing as bad as she remembered in the institution.

She was grateful to see his eyes holding a specific light in them that she had never seen before.

"I love you, Quinn," she whispered before she kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

There was a knock at her window, startling both Quinn and Sylvia. It was Billy. He stood at the window, his eyebrows furrowed as he stared at Quinn.

"You didn't tell me you had a secret boyfriend?" Quinn said in shock.

"Oh, that's just my friend, Billy," Sylvia said as she jumped up and flung her window open, letting in the cool summer air.

Billy slid into her room from the window, before he stopped to look at Quinn. Quinn gave him a smile and, much to Billy's surprise, threw his arms around him.

Sylvia laughed as Billy's eyes widened and moved to Sylvia for an explanation.

"Quinn, Billy. Billy, Quinn. He's from the institution," she explained as Quinn pulled away from him.

"Any friend of Sylvia's is a friend of mine. It's so nice to meet you!" Quinn smiled before he looked down at his watch again. "Oh, I've really gotta get going. Remember what I said, Sylve, and it was nice meeting you, Billy," he said with a wink, before giving Sylvia one last hug.

When he walked out of the room, Billy sat on Sylvia's bed and watched the doorway.

"He's interesting," he pointed out after a few minutes. "You've never talked about him before."

She shrugged her shoulders. "I honestly didn't think I'd ever see him again. He was in for depression and suicide attempts, after his parents kicked him out."

Billy tilted his head. "His parents kicked him out? What the - why?"

"He's gay," Sylvia told him. "Was it not obvious to you?"

"Oh," Billy's cheeks flushed as he nodded. "That's... fucked up," he said quietly. "He seems so nice."

"Yeah," Sylvia nodded. "He's staying with his aunt now. But anyways, why are you here?" she asked.

"I figured I'd stay the night with you so you wouldn't be so afraid of that girl," he told her. "If you're okay with it."

"Aw, William," Sylvia cooed as she sat on Billy's lap and threw her arms around his neck. "You're so sweet. Of course I'm okay with it."

"You're acting different," he laughed, his arm moving around her.

"Quinn instilled confidence in me," she explained with a smile. "I am going to talk to her tonight. Mark my words - I'm going to look Helen in her eyes and ask her what she wants."

"Good, you need to," Billy told her. "I'll be here, too. I'll be able to see if I can see her. It'll give you some closure, hopefully."

"If you can see her," Sylvia said while slipping off his lap and moving to collect her pajamas out of her drawer, "don't be scared of her. Don't scream or anything. She's terrifying, but I feel bad for her."

"I got it, I won't," Billy said, turning away as she changed.

When she was done, she crawled into her bed as Billy moved to the floor.

"You can stay in bed with me," she told him.

The two of them climbed into her bed, and Sylvia cuddled up to Billy as they lay in complete darkness. Billy fell asleep in a matter of minutes, as Sylvia just continued to stare at the window until her eyes finally closed.

*

When Sylvia opened her eyes, Helen was staring into her room. Sylvia almost had a heart attack at the mere sight of those eyes staring at her from the window, so silently - no banging, no groaning, no nothing.

Blood was spilling down her lips as she brought her finger to her mouth to indicate for Sylvia to be quiet.

Sylvia looked at Billy, and she contemplated waking him up as he slept. But she knew that it wasn't right. This ghost, hallucination, whatever it was, needed her help. And Sylvia needed to obey her.

Sylvia slinked out of bed and walked over to the window, where she was face to face with Helen.

Sylvia's heart was pounding in her chest as she clenched her fists at her sides and looked into Helen's eyes.

"What do you want from me?" Sylvia whispered with her teeth gritted together, her voice trembling. She looked over her shoulder to make sure Billy didn't wake up, before she looked back towards Helen.

Helen's eyes just watched Sylvia. Blood still dripped from her lips.

"Nine-one-one," was all Helen said, her voice raspy and hardly there.

Sylvia swallowed hard as she closed her eyes. "I have called the c-cops before, and they can never find you," her voice couldn't stop shaking, but all she could hear was Quinn in her head. This wouldn't end until she found out what Helen wanted.

"Nine-one-one," Helen tilted her head to the side, her eyes wide as she looked at Billy, who was still asleep. "It hurts, help," she told Sylvia. "Help."

"Help with what?" Sylvia cried out, still straining her voice to keep it quiet.

Helen brought both of her hands up to her neck and squeezed, as her eyes widened and she began to cough out blood. It splattered on Sylvia's window, and Sylvia jumped back in fear as she shook her head rapidly.

"No," Sylvia said. "No, no, I can't do this."

Sylvia was absolutely horrified. She began to sob in fear, as she fell to the floor of her room and shook on the ground. "Get away from me! Bother someone else!" Sylvia screamed out, threading her fingers through her hair and tugging.

Billy immediately woke up, looking over at Sylvia before he stood to his feet and ran over to her.

"Sylve? Are you okay? Did - did you see her?" he asked, before he looked up at the window.

"Is she there?" Sylvia screamed out, banging her fists on the floor as she cried. "She won't leave me the fuck alone!"

"She's not there, nothing's there," Billy said as he wrapped his arms around her to try and calm her, but it didn't work. Sylvia was pushing him away, crying more quietly this time.

"I need her to go away, Billy," Sylvia sniffled, staring into Billy's eyes as her hair stuck to her face from the tears that poured down her eyes. "I need her to leave me the hell alone, that ugly bitch!"

"It's okay, Sylvia," Billy said quietly as he stood to his feet and flung the window open, leaning out of it to look both ways. "Nothing's out there. Okay? Look, nothing's out there."

"Is there blood on the window?" Sylvia asked quietly, too afraid to look for herself.

"No," Billy answered. "There's nothing. She's not real, Sylvia," he told her.

Sylvia couldn't stop trembling no matter how hard she tried to settle her breathing. Goosebumps were standing up on her flesh and her heart was pounding so loud. It all felt real to her. It had to be real, it had to be.

"She's not real," Billy whispered one last time.

_

I've decided to make this story longer. it was originally only 8 chapters, but it's been extended.
therefore, it takes some time to get to the real good stuff.
again, here's my author's note reminding you to please stick with me because it takes time :)
(I'm so annoying)