It was Peter convulsing next to him that woke Elio up. He felt the tightening of muscles - the straining of his whole body and heard his ragged breath.
'Peter!' he yelled, sitting up, terrified, unsure if touching him would help or make it worse. His face was contorted, like it had been in the video, one arm raised, his jaw appearing dislocated.
'Someone help!' Elio screamed, hoping someone next door would hear him.
He picked a glass of water from the bedside table hoping that throwing it over him would end the seizure but it made no difference. 'Peter!' he shouted once more, trying to shake him awake. His force knocked the boy onto the floor, the impact seeming to make it stop. Elio got out of bed, his heart racing. He got down on the floor, sitting next to Peter who was shaking but no longer seized up. Elio turned him over, wiping the spit from his face.
'You're ok now, it's over,' he said, cradling him in his arms.
'What happened?' Peter asked, still catching his breath.
'You had a seizure.'
'What?' he replied, frightened.
'It's alright, it's stopped now, you're ok.'
Elio grabbed the remaining glass of water from the bedside table and gave it to him, letting him drink; then helped him across to his own bed.
Peter lay down, still in shock.
'I'm gonna call your Dad,' Elio said, reaching for Peter's own phone from the bedside table. He tried Mr. Graham's cell, then the house phone, then his mother as a last resort. None of them answered. This too sent a worried chill down Elio's spine, but he ignored it.
'Ok, they're not picking up, but I'll try again in a few minutes, they're probably just asleep; let's get you to the campus hospital.'
Elio helped Peter to get dressed, got dressed himself and walked the other boy towards the hospital wing.
He filled them in on what happened, waiting until they told them they would keep Peter in for observation over night. They tried his parents too and got no repsonse. Elio found himself irrationally angry with them - thinking that a family who'd lost their daughter in such tragic circumstances would be more concerned about their remaining child.
Elio went back to the dorm and barely slept; in the morning he went to class, something he definintely would have blown off had it not been mandatory. He texted Peter along the way and got a response about half an hour later.
'Doing ok, going back to dorm for rest. Talk later; thanks for looking after me x.'
Well that was a relief, at least he was recovering quickly. When Elio returned from class Peter was there, not sleeping, but sitting on the edge of the bed staring blankly ahead - something that Elio now realised was a symptom of his PTSD. Instantly dread filled him. He dropped his backpack on the ground.
'Are you feeling better?' he asked tentatively.
Peter didn't respond for a moment.
'She killed him,' he then said, his voice unrecognisable.
'What?'
'She set him on fire.'
Elio's jaw dropped, he covered his mouth.
'She said that it was the notebook, that she tried to burn Charlie's notebook to make it stop but it took Dad instead of her.'
Elio felt his throat constrict; the monotone, defeated voice that Peter spoke with much more gut wrenching than if he'd been emotional.
'They arrested her.'
Elio stepped closer; unable to speak. There was nothing he could say at this point that would help; he didn't seem to have the ability to access his voice even if he could find the right words.
'It was just like in the dream. Remember? I found him just before she chased me; he'd been burned.'
Elio sat across from him, shaking his head.
'It tried to get in last night, just like before. You were there, you felt it.'
'You can't believe that, that's not what happened.'
'Then what did happen? My mom just killed my Dad because she's crazy? You think I'm crazy?'
'You're in shock, which is understandable but-'
'The only reason it didn't get in last night was because you pushed me to the floor. If it tries again I can't stop it.'
Elio shook his head. 'Let's go back to the hospital,' he said, 'let's try to someone you can talk to; a grief counsellor or something-'
'No one can help me. It's gonna happen no matter what I do.'
Elio watched him, knowing he was far out of his depth; he needed to call someone, but there was no way to do with without Peter seeing.
'You don't have to do anything,' Elio said, getting up and pulling him into a hug.
Peter hugged back, but mechanically, like a wooden doll who'd been forced into the position, there was no warmth there at all. He could almost feel the despair raditing from Peter in waves. He couldn't blame him, if his mother had done the same- well it didn't bear thinking about.
'I'm gonna call someone,' Elio said, pulling back from him. 'They're gonna come and help ok?'
Peter looked at him, thorugh him; barely registering that he'd even spoken.
'I'll be back in a second, don't go anywhere,' he instructed, though the only place there was to go was the bathroom. Elio kissed his forehead, then left the room, not wanting Peter to overhear, even in his almost catatonic state.
Elio called the counselling support helpline and explained the situation to a receptionist who cut him off, saying she'd pass him on to someone who was better equiped to help.
Elio waited, nervous about the amount of time this was taking.
'Sorry for the wait, how can I help?' a new voice said about five minutes later.
Elio explained again, annoyed by the amount of detail he had to go into for them to acess whether this was worth their time or not. Eventually she said they'd send someone down when Elio stated that he wasn't sure he could persaude Peter to come to them.
He hung up the phone, grateful that a professional was on the way. He re-entered the dorm, panicking a little when he saw the en-suite door closed and Peter no where in sight. He took a breath and walked towards it, giving it a gentle knock.
'Peter? Are you alright in there?'
There was no response; sending his adreanaline spiking.
'Peter?' he asked again, turning the door handle which was locked of course.
'Come on, I just need to know that you're ok.'
'I'm fine,' he said. 'Give me a few minutes ok?'
Elio swallowed, backing away from the door. He sat on the bed, restless, not as relieved as he'd hoped he'd been by Peter's response; especially not when he didn't exit the bathroom after another five minutes.
'Come on man are you jerking off in there?' he joked nervously after another minute, checking his watch, wondering how long it would take before someone showed up.
Peter didn't respond.
'What are you doing? You're freaking me out now.'
There was more silence, followed by a sustained groan of agony.
'What the fuck? What happened?!' he demanded.
There was a scream this time; a visceral pained sound, like a wounded animal.
'Peter!' Elio yelled, banging on the door. 'Open the door, let me in!'
