Noah sat on the vanity seat wringing his hands together, “Wouldnt it be better to do that in the daytime.”

I shook my head, “No, it won't stop that thing from attacking and I don't want to go into the woods when it's crawling with police officers.”

“I'm scared Syd, this isn't a game anymore, this thing is killing people.”

“When was it ever a game? This has been serious from the start.”

Noah put his face in his hands, "I know, but can you really blame me for reacting the way I did?"

"Noah, if I really killed that guy what makes you think I would have told you anything? I mean I had plenty of opportunities to do the same to you. So why would I go through the trouble of actually telling you what happened?"

"I didn't really give you a choice, did I?"

"It doesn't matter, this isn't your problem, its mine."

I grabbed the flashlight off the floor and stuck it inside my backpack.

Noah's brows furrowed together, "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to find that thing," I said evenly, not wanting Noah to know that I was scared out if my mind. Just the thought of facing the creature in my nightmare made me feel sick.

"Are you insane!" Noah screamed and I shushed him.

"If you wake up my mother, I will throw you under the bus first"

Noah lowered his voice, "Are you insane? You can't go looking for that thing on your own. It's already killed, someone."

"I survived it once, I'm sure I can survive it again. Besides no one will be safe if we just leave it."

Ignoring Noah I turned around and walked to the window. Noah's fingers folded around my arm, his eyes were focused on my face.

"Syd, I think its time we go to the police."

I looked at Noah and my mouth fell open, he was being dead serious. Pulling my arm from his grasp I took a step back.

"The police, are you being for real now? We would be laughed at or worse, locked up!"

He ran his hands through his hair, gripping the dark strands tightly “Then let me come with you.”

"No, you're going to stay as far away as possible. I don't have time to babysit you as well."

"Hey, I can look after myself! Besides I could just follow you."

I shook my head, I had a feeling he wouldn't let me leave without him.

"Fine"

I turned and marched to my window clambering out on to the roof with Noah only a few inches behind me.

Quickly climbing down the vines that grew on the side of the house my feet touched the ground with a soft thud.

I looked up to see Noah struggling a bit, going up was a lot easier than coming down and if you weren't careful you would have a nasty fall.

He finally made it down and I smirked at him.

“You probably cheated.” Noah groaned.

I chuckled, "What are you talking about, that took years of practice"

We sprinted across the lawn and reached the edge of the woods. I pulled out the barbie flashlight from my bag.

Noah suppressed a laugh, "Nice"

"Shut up, it's all I had or do you want to go in there without one," I asked pointing to the dark woods that loomed over us.

Noah quickly shook his head, "Oh no, never mind, it's an awesome flashlight"

I laughed and began trudging forward into the dark woods with Noah close behind me. The clouds in the sky obscured the moon and stars but every now and then a single white beam would break through and bathe the trees in an incandescent glow before it was swallowed up by the clouds.

Not a sound was made, the woods eerily quite. I heard my heart beating wildly in my chest and the slight crunch of our footsteps echoed loudly in the silence.

I heard a rustling sound in some brush nearby and went dead still. Noah grabbed my hand and pulled me closer while both of us held our breath.

The rustling went quiet and I let go of my breath. The terrain was getting harder to cross and Noah started falling behind, just as I was about to slow my pace a white blur rushed past me and tackled Noah to the ground.

I spun around and fear almost crippled me, yellow teeth and red eyes had Noah pinned to the ground. Noah had his hands placed on the creature's chest as it snapped its jaws viciously close to his face.

Without a second thought, I rushed forward and tackled the thing off of Noah. It was strong and bloodthirsty and it took all my strength to keep it down.

I wasn't going to be able to keep it down any longer but it wasn't interested in me, it wanted Noah.

Pushing my full weight on the struggling creature my hand frantically searched for something to use as a weapon.

My fingers closed around a cold rock, bringing my arm up, I smashed the rock into its head but it still moved.

I kept hitting until the creature stopped moving, it's body went limp and I was breathing hard. Light flashed into my eyes and I hissed loudly.

Noah lowered the flashlight, I must have dropped it.

He sucked in a breath, "Syd, your eyes."

I snapped back to reality and shook my head, pushing myself off the ground I stood up. I look at Noah, his pale skin and wide eyes were filled with fear.

"What about my eyes?" I asked.

"They're glowing red," he whispered.

I frowned, everything that just happened and he was worried about my glowing eyes? Looking back at the creature, I noticed that it was the same one from my dreams.

She had a tattered white lab coat on, her face was gone, but I was sure that this was the thing that had attacked me weeks ago.

"Noah, pass me the flashlight, please," I asked.

Noah fumbled but passed me the flashlight anyway. Once my hand closed around the metal, I guided the beam of light to the body.

Sure enough, she was wearing a lab coat but in this light, I could see a name tag on her coat.

"Dr. E. Benette," I read aloud.

Noah came up next to me and studied the shirt as well. The logo on the other side of the coat looked like a B that ran into a T. It looked familiar but I couldn't remember where I had seen it before.

Noah breathed out "That's Biotech's logo, she must have worked for them."

I was still stuck on the name, this wasn't a monster, it was a person. Who most likely had a family and I just killed her.

Guilt started to fester in my stomach as I looked at her. I wanted to look away, but I forced myself to keep my gaze steady.

I had done this, I had decided to end her life and I spared no mercy. The least I could do was look at her.

Noah gently tugged at my arm, "Syd, we can't leave her here, someone can find her."

My body wouldn't work, I stood rooted to my spot. Guilt and anger raged on in my mind until Noah began shaking me.

"Syd come on we need to move her," he said.

He sounded so far away as I fell into my own abyss. Noah began dragging the body into some nearby bushes but he was struggling.

I snapped out of my comatose state and helped him, he was right the body could not be found. That would raise too many questions that we didn't have answers for.

As I bent down, I saw a slight glint around her neck, I reached out my hand to pull on the golden chain. A heart locket was attached to the thin wire of gold.

With shaky hands I removed the necklace, Noah didn't say a word but he watched my every move.

When I looked over to him he nodded his head once and I slipped the necklace into my pocket. We covered the body as best we could and left.

We didn't speak on the way back and that was okay, I didn't want to talk at all. As we walked Noah's hand found mine and a little bit of my soul was at ease.

As he laced his fingers through mine I thought about how he was almost killed tonight. All because of me.

Noah had his truck parked about half a street from my house and I walked with him through the quiet streets. I had to make sure he got home safely.

Reaching his truck Noah pulled me close and gave me a fierce hug. I breathed in his scent letting it soothe my wounded soul. I knew getting attached to him was a bad idea but at that moment, I couldn't help myself.

"You saved my life, Syd, thank you," Noah whispered in my ear and a delightful sensation traveled down my spine.

I hugged him closely before letting go and didn't leave my spot until his taillights disappeared.

Clambering up the vines, I finally made it into my bedroom and tightly shut the window. I stared at my reflection. There was blood spatter all over my face and a few leaves were stuck in my hair.

Roughly pulling them out, I jumped into the shower, turning the faucet on full blast. The heat seeped into my skin and steamed up the small bathroom. Scrubbing my skin until it was raw.

I fell into bed thinking about only two things. I was the cause of Noah being in danger and I killed someone. The first nearly made my heart cave in. How would I deal if Noah actually got hurt?

Then there was the guilt, I had taken a life it didn't matter if she killed someone. I still had no right to take that decision into my own hands.

Silent tears were rolling over my face and coating my pillow. I cried for Noah and the life that I took. Eventually, I fell into a merciful sleep with no dreams.