The Dark Ghosts

16. Fugitive

Madison's POV

No. No, no, no, no. This couldn't be happening. Not now, not ever.

I could already feel myself struggling for air and tears gathering my eyes. Panic attack. I haven't had one of those in a while to be honest. Of course only him could bring this side out of me. The vulnerable one.

My hands immediately went to my chest, holding onto it and trying to even my breathing but without much success. My vision was starting to get blurry. I could barely make out my surroundings.

I found myself slowly falling on my knees. I was losing control and I couldn't do anything about it, no matter how hard I tried. My mind could only focus on one thing: what Holden had just told me.

After a few seconds, I saw some shadows come towards me. No no no, they can't see me like this. I started to get more anxious, causing me to hyperventilate even more.

I could hear voices yelling my name and other things, but I couldn't pinpoint what exactly. I still was trying to get out of the panic attack, but the more I tried, the worse it got. I was suddenly brought into a comforting hug.

"I'm here, sweetheart. I'm here," a familiar female voice soothed in my ear.

"Please, Mads, try and follow her heartbeat," another female voice said. I supposed she meant to follow the heartbeat of the person who was hugging me, so that's what I did. Well, tried to.

"Come on, honey, you are doing great," another soothing voice said. But this time it was male?

I didn't believe him though. I wasn't doing great. My breathing hadn't got any better and tears were now strolling freely down my cheeks.

This is definitely the worse panic attack I've ever had. But I guess it was understandable. This was not triggered by a nightmare, a memory or a flashback. This was triggered by reality. My reality.

"Please, Maddie. In and out, in and out," another voice desperately exclaimed.

But I couldn't. I was starting to feel exhausted and I could feel consciousness leaving my body. My eyelids were slowly closing too.

"My fa..."

That's all I could mutter before I let darkness consume me.

...

It's funny how life sometimes works, isn't it? One minute you could be all relaxed, just chilling. Then the next one everything could start crumbling down for you.

Right now, I was surrounded by silence. I could feel myself laying in a bed while my eyes were closed. After a couple of seconds of struggle, I finally managed to open my eyes and I took in my surroundings.

I was in my room and the girls were there staring off to space with worried looks on their faces. I cleared my throat to gain their attention and all of their heads snapped to me before they came rushing to my bed.

"Maddie! Are you ok?" Melanie asked me with concern.

"How are you doing?" Bianca continued with a frown.

"I'm better. Can you pass me some water, please?" I said with a raspy voice and in a matter of seconds I was being handed a glass of cool water.

"Thank you," I said before gulping it down.

"You sure you are ok?" Audrey asked me with uncertainty and I gave her a firm nod.

"What happened exactly?" I asked them.

"You had a panic attack. Because of it, you started hyperventilating and that caused you to faint," Sadie explained.

"Was it because of the phone call?" she added hesitantly.