"Here we are..." Ferb said to his younger brother patiently as they neared the door to their house.
The two of them had gradually marched their way home after the strange encounter with the shadow man, Phineas slightly lagging behind and clutched the bite mark on his arm in pain. It stung, but apart from that, it seemed utterly fine and apart from a few grazes and scratches, physically, he was fine. But inside Phineas still felt quite gloomy, he started to feel really cold, but now, the heat seemed to be rising around him and he kept coughing loudly.
Their parents wouldn't be in, both were away for a day a antique fair and Candace, was, of course, with her boyfriend, Jeremy for the day. Perry, well, who knew where he was right now and he always disappeared during the day. Just wait till their parents got home, Linda would be so furious of what happened to her son.
Gently, with a calm hand, Ferb led his brother inside and upstairs where he placed him on the bed, Phineas smiled at him gratefully, his hands ceased to shake as much as before. The shock was still alive inside him though.
"I'll go fetch a bandage for that arm, okay?" He said and turned to go, as he approached the door, Phineas felt a tickle in his throat and coughed loudly, a horrible hacking filled the room, his throat felt like he'd swallowed sandpaper.
Frowning, Ferb turned back around and went over to Phineas, lying in the bed, looking a little pale. With a glum look on his face, he placed a hand over his brother's head, it felt as if lava had been poured over it, it was so hot.
"I think you may have a fever," he said glumly and pulled his hand away "It must have been because of the water at the beach..."
"It's not your fault Ferb;" Phineas insisted, his voice sounded croaky "I did feel a little ill this morning." He was lying, but only to make Ferb feel better, but he knew better, of course the green-headed teen knew he was lying. But instead, he forced a smile.
"Hold on a minute then, I'll get the medicine and bandage like I said and I think its about time to call mum after that, okay?"
Phineas nodded weakly.
And Ferb left the room.
After about a minute, Phineas could slightly hear Ferb fumbling about downstairs, looking for the first aid kit, mutterings and grumbles, he obviously forgot where it was kept. Phineas was about to call down to him when once again, he let out a fit of hysterical coughing.
What's wrong with me? Phineas thought through the sweat on his forehead, he wiped an arm over his head; it didn't help reduce the heat. His breath was short and jagged; he struggled to let out a long sigh to relieve himself from the sudden pain in his chest. He coughed hysterically, feeling like death had crept up behind his back, his head ached and throbbed dully, nausea and dizziness overcame him. His head rested back onto the pillow.
BUMP! He jolted in his bed; Phineas clutched his chest, feeling the pain there multiply.
BUMP! He yelped and shot up from his position, sweat pouring down from his body, feeling weak and shaky.
BUMP! His teeth were clenched together now, the pain was like nothing he'd ever felt before, it felt like a hot iron rod being poked into his very soul. And it hurt.
BUMP! He was now gasping for air, he couldn't breathe...He couldn't breathe!
BUMP! He tried to scream, cry for Ferb, his mum, dad, Candace, anybody, but his body was unresponsive, vulnerable, hopefully...Can't breathe...
BA-BUMP! Phineas let out a struggled cry, to quiet to be heard from below, or from another room, it tore at his throat.
It was his heart beat that was giving him the pains, he could hear it beating; hear it throbbing away at his chest, as if trying to tear itself away from his body. His nails dug deep into his own skin, but he felt them sharper than usual and quickly lashed them away at the sharp pang of their touch. He brought them up to his face. His hands were shaking uncontrollably, spasms crept under his skin. His nails seemed to be ripping out from his finger tips. His eyes widened.
Then his body began to writhe and the spasms spread throughout his body, his head began to cloud, his mind began to grow twisted and torn. He tumbled from the bed; panic came into the boy's mind. The pain seemed to be the only thing in existence at the moment, the agony, it burned, a fire that ate at his skin and face, at his very heart and very soul.
Harsh wheezes and coughs erupted from his mouth, they were attempts of a breath, but not a wisp of air prickled his lungs. His body continued to writhe and wither, but began to steadily slow down. Agony, pain, the flashes of light in his eyes, memories and pain, more agony, pain, agony, pain.
Then it stopped.
He was curled up in a ball, shaking once more, his pupils small from shock. His breathing returned but only in short breaths, uneven, jagged and wheezy.
Hacking for more air, his struggled to move, but somehow managed to drag himself forward towards his desk. Hand forward, foot forward, hand forward, foot forward. Then slowly, Phineas lifted up his hand, it was only a metre or so away from the support of the table, but to his arm, it seemed like a mile, for it felt like weights were pulling it down.
The sound of the bang on the desk confirmed that his hand had met its mark and so he dragged himself up onto his feet, falling every so often with the struggle. His legs shook as he rose. The sweat continued to fall, now mixed with the salty taste of his tears.
He covered his face with the other hand, feeling the temperature on his head, he was roasting hot, then his hand came away and he saw himself in the mirror, his blood turned cold. Parts of him were missing, fading in and out of focus, as if he was melting into the air. From what he saw, his eyes were wide, pupils small, the size of pin pricks, darkness surrounded below his eyes, making him look tired and dull, his face was pale, grey almost. With eyes full of horror, he clutched his chest once more, not caring anymore of the nails (or the sharp claws that replaced his nails) that dug into his skin like knives.
He wasn't ill; he didn't have a fever...
His heart gave one more almighty thump.
He was dying.
And he collapsed to the floor.