Chapter 3

(I decided to swap the POV to the third person)

Waking up on the floor of his room, Mark slowly pushed himself onto his knees. Sitting back, he ran a hand down his face.

"What the hell happened..?" he asked himself.

Using his bed to help stand, Mark rubbed his eyes before heading towards the bathroom that was across from his room.

Staring at himself in the mirror, Mark checked his eyes, neck and cheeks for any signs that might show he was sick. He was bitten by a wild animal, so it wouldn't really be a surprise if he came down with something.

Next, Mark checked his arm the wolf had bitten. But...the wound was fully healed.

"How..?" he asked himself. "There's no way it healed this fast."

Running two fingers over where the bite mark should have been, it was clear it had healed.

Hearing a knock coming from downstairs, Mark left the bathroom to answer the door. Opening it, Sayori stood in her school uniform.

"Mark!" she placed her hands on her hips as she puffed her cheeks in annoyance. "Why aren't you ready?!"

"I was, uh, just about..." for some reason, Mark kept fumbling over his words.

"Are you okay?" Sayori asked, noticing he wasn't acting like his usual self. Taking a step closer to him, Sayori reached up and placed her right hand on his forehead. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed. "You're burning up!"

"...I..." he tried to say something but a sudden wave of fatigue washed over him.

Stumbling backwards, he fell to the ground in a kneeling position with Sayori quickly moving beside him, worried.

"Mark!"

Placing a hand on the floor to steady himself, he turned to look at Sayori but she was just a pink blurr in his vision.

"Sayori..." with her name being the last thing he said before his eyes closed, Mark fell back, unconscious.

Hours later

Slowly waking up, Mark quickly realized he was staring at the ceiling of his room.

The only thing he heard was his own breathing. However, the quiet sound of droplets falling back into water echoed in his room. Turning his head to his left, Sayori was kneeling beside his bed, a rag in her right hand and a bowl of water next to her.

Dabbing the rag against Mark's forehead, Sayori noticed Mark was now awake.

"Hey." she said softly. "How're you feeling?" Mark tried to sit up, but Sayori quickly, and forcefully, pushed him back into bed. "You need to relax." she told him. "I only just got the fever to go down and I'm not gonna let it go back up."

Without a word, Mark did as told and laid back down.

Dipping the rag again, Sayori rang it out before dabbing it across Mark's forhead, neck and cheeks.

"How long was I out?" Mark asked.

"The whole day." Sayori replied. "We missed school and since it's the weekend, I'm gonna be staying here to make sure you feel better."

"Sounds like I don't have much choice in the matter."

"You don't." Sayori told him. "What you need is rest."

"Right..." closing his eyes as he slowly laid back down, Sayori gently placed the damp rag on his forehead. "Thank you." Mark opened his eyes for a moment to look into Sayori's.

Meeting his gaze, Sayori noticed that the eyes staring into hers weren't Mark's. They were slit, like an animal's.

But as soon as he blinked, his eyes went back to normal.

Questioning what she saw, she didn't notice as Mark said her name.

"Sayori?"

Shaking her head on the third time he called out to her, she looked into his eyes. "Yes?"

"Thank you."

Sayori smiled as she placed her hand over his.

"Get some rest." she whispered as his eyes slowly closed once more.

After a few minutes, Sayori knew Mark had fallen asleep. Carefully standing up, she walked out of the room and into the living-room. Sitting down on the couch, Sayori turned on the TV.

She wasn't going to go home tonight in case Mark's fever came back.

A few hours later

Slowly sitting up on his bed, Mark placed a hand against his forehead as he looked around his room. Getting out of bed, Mark walked over to the door before he opened it, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

Pulling it out, a message notification from Natsuki appeared.

"Hey, where are you?" the message read. "You promised we'd read manga together! Sayori isn't here either."

Mark sent back a quick reply. "Sorry. Wasn't feeling well. Why not stop by and I'll make it up to you?"

After a few seconds, Natsuki sent her reply. "Fine. I'll be over in thirty."

"Cool. Since it's the weekend, we can pull an all nighter if you want."

"I might just take you up on that." Natsuki sent back.

Turning off his phone, Mark put it back in his pocket before heading downstairs. Walking into the living-room, he saw Sayori sitting on his chouch, watching TV.

"Oh." she said once she spotted him. "I didn't know you were up. Feeling any better?"

"Much." Mark nodded.

Joining Sayori on the couch, Mark leaned his head back as he let out a brief sigh. "Natsuki's coming over." Mark told Sayori. "I promised to read manga with her today."

"Oh." Sayori didn't take her eyes off the TV. "You want me to leave before she gets here?"

"Nah, you can stick around if you want." Mark told her. "It's up to you."

Sayori stretched her arms before standing up. "I'll get out of your hair."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." Sayori gave a genuine smile. "I spent the whole day looking after you. I think I'll let Natsuki take the burden from here."

"Ouch." Mark winced at Sayori's words. "Damn, Sayori, you didn't have to do me like that."

"I think it was deserved." Sayori teased. "After all, I had to take off school to watch over you."

Heading for the door, Sayori opened it and slid out, giving Mark a quick wave as she disappeared.

Half an hour later

Hearing a knock at the door, Mark walked over and opened it, seeing Natsuki standing before him wearing a pink short sleeve shirt and a sky blue skirt.

"Hey, Nats." Mark said as he opened the door wider for her. "What're we reading today?"

Natsuki rubbed the back of her neck. "Actually, I wanted to go on a walk with you."

Mark was surprised by this. "Where do you wanna go?"

"Just a stroll through the woods." Natsuki replied. "I found this neat little spot I've been dying to show you. Plus, I..." Natsuki began to fidget nervously. "I have something I need to tell you."

"Alright." Mark shrugged. "When do you wanna head out?"

Natsuki replied with an unsure smile.

An hour later

"How far are you taking me?" Mark asked.

"It's just a bit further." Natsuki replied. Vaulting over a log, Mark followed her motions. "It's right here." Natsuki stopped and looked up at one of the trees.

Following her gaze, Mark saw a rather impressive treehouse. "Whoa. Did you build this?" Mark asked.

"I wish." Natsuki replied. "I found it." she approached the tree and began climbing up it. Stopping to look at Mark, she gestured towards the treehouse. "Don't worry. No one's using it."

"Are you sure it's even stable?" Mark asked.

"I wouldn'tve brought you here if it wasn't." Natsuki told him. "C'mon."

Following Natsuki up the tree, he saw she was already sitting on a sofa that seemed to be brand new. "I assume this wasn't here?" Mark asked.

"The others helped me haul it up here." Natsuki replied. "Took some time, but I think it brings the place together." she said before patting the spot next to her. "Sit. I need to talk to you about some things."

Mark did as told, sitting beside Natsuki and turning his body to face her.

"You sound serious. What's this about?" Mark asked.

Natsuki took a deep breath. "What do you know about the supernatural?"

End of chapter 3