I could feel my body being lifted off the ground. I opened my eyes, though they felt so heavy, I could have held them closed forever. I found myself in Clovis' arms. He carried me through the garden and into the house. I tilted my head to catch a glimpse of Enzo. His dark, frightened eyes looked back at me. Madi burst open the door and I was rushed into the nearest room. Clovis plopped me on the bed. Something was wrong.

Everyone was crowded into the small room; Madi was pale and panicked, Hirsh sat on the edge of the bed and was talking to me. But I couldn't hear a thing. I opened my own mouth to speak, but instead I only heard the same loud, shrill that the shadowy figure had just made outside. I grabbed my head again, trying to block out the sound, but it seemed to come from inside me. No one else seemed to hear it, and they just looked at me, horrified.

When the screaming in my head stopped, I looked at my hands again, seeing fresh blood.

Again. What's wrong with me?

I could feel myself slipping out of consciousness again, and I fell back onto the bed, hitting the headboard.

************************************

"Zuza?" a quiet, worried voice spoke above me.

My mother sat next to me. Tears sprang to my eyes because I could hear again. She stroked my face tenderly, "We were so worried about you." I looked around and saw my father, Hirsh, Baila, and Madi also in the room. Night had fallen.

"You've been asleep for a long while," Baila said in her old withered voice. "We were afraid to move you after you passed out again."

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"Where's Enzo?" I asked. My throat felt scratchy and I longed for some water.

"Enzo is fine," Hirsh assured me. "Frankly, we're more worried about you right now. What happened in the garden?"

"I-" I thought about the faceless figure above Enzo. It had no eyes, but somehow looked right at me. It had no mouth, but somehow screamed in my head. Enzo couldn't see or hear it, but why me? Or worse, what if he could see it, but ignored it. What was it? And did Enzo bring it with him?

"You okay?" Hirsh asked. I realized I had begun to tell them what had happened. But now I didn't want to. Who would believe me? No one in this room.

"I came down with a headache," I lied. "So sudden and strong, It felt like someone hit me from behind."

"Enzo said you yelled his name," Madi said, not looking entirely convinced. "Why?"

"I guess I felt scared. He was there, so I yelled at him to get help, then I fell."

"I've never seen a headache make your ears bleed," my mother noted. She turned to Hirsh.

"You don't think-"

"Let's not make any judgments too quickly Tatyana. Enzo has seen the sickness, he'd be able to tell us if Zuza got it."

But was it the sickness? Or something much, much worse?