The rain tapped lightly against my bedroom window. The mist outside didn't begin to clear and something about it felt so heavy. Even with Ollie and Jade playing downstairs the night felt uneasy. Uneasy like something bad could happen at any moment. Everything about today was weird and out of wack. Mother was still asleep, hungover, and I assumed she would sleep all night.

I climbed onto my bed, feeling a stinging pain in my stomach as I laid down. I closed my eyes and started thanking God I was finally home. I felt grateful for every little thing. My hands. My legs. My arms. Breathing. Everything. Even though I was in pain, I got a little taste of what it felt like not to be one hundred percent healthy. A taste of not being able. A taste of limitation. I knew some people had It worse than me and I couldn't thank God enough for saving me through all of that. If one thing I learned being sick that long in the hospital is that gratitude can get you through almost everything. It keeps you strong.

While I was in deep thought, I saw Jade in the hallway through the peak of my door. She went into the bathroom. I heard the water turn on. I was thinking she was washing her hands but it lasted so long.

 She walked out of the bathroom. Her hands were soaked with water still.

I raised an eyebrow, looking through the peak of my door. Our eyes met. "Hey, you want to dry those? I have a hand towel in here somewhere."

There was a knock at my door. I thought it was her, but her arms didn't move. Her blank face and eyes and still body were all I saw. Startled, I got up as quickly as I could and opened the door. "Hey, what are you do-"

No one was there. Right in front of me, Jade disappeared. I did a full turn to look for her, rubbing my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things. For the second, everything felt like a dream but then I realized everything that happened was real. She did vanish. "Jade? Where are you?"

A female's voice of frightening laughter echoed in the hallway with me. A laugh that was forced. An evil laugh. Not human. Faint whispers creeping into my ear. I held them shut, trying to drown out the mixed laughs and whispers. I walked back into my room but accidentally stumbled over my suitcase and fell. Looking up at the door and inside of the hallway, I saw nothing. No one. I moved my hands off of my ears. No more sound. Confused and scared, I walked downstairs. I held onto my stomach. The sharp pains were still present. "Argh," I said getting down the last few steps.

Ollie sat on the couch holding his chest. He looked at me panicked. 

"Ollie!" I rushed over to him.

"I think I'm having a panic attack, I feel like I can't breathe," He said.

Now wasn't the time to ask where Jade was. "Stand up. Just take deep breaths." I held his back and breathed with him.

He took a few, looking at the ground. I know different things were racing through his head. I remember my first panic attack. I felt like I was going to die. I couldn't breathe and I asked to go to the emergency room. Mom didn't take me. She was too drunk at the time. It was shortly after our dad passed. I had to get over it by myself.

I got a cold wet rag and placed it on Ollie's head. He had been sweating terribly. He took big breaths. In and out.

"Haaaaaa-ahhhhhh" he breathed over and over.

I saw that he was slowly calming down. I stayed in the living room until he was good. Just when I was about to ask him where his friend was, he jolted up. "I'm going to open a window. I need some air."

I was about to warn him not to. Everyone kept their windows closed during the mist. They said it wasn't safe. I yelled his name but he didn't listen to me. I heard his window go up and his breathing until...it stopped and there was...silence.

A scary silence.