The Girl in the Window

Chapter Twelve

Derek walked into Athena's bedroom a couple of hours later. He sighed thankfully and smiled at Athena, who was still asleep in her bed. He patted her forehead gently. It was in the middle of the night, and he couldn't sleep. This whole situation unnerved him. He didn't like seeing his sister this way. He knew that she was slowly breaking and there was no way for him to help her. He may be her younger brother, but he had promised their parents before they had died that he would protect her. 

He worried about her hearing Effie's voice in her head. He didn't understand how that was possible, but he wasn't about to doubt her. She had been through so much in just over a week than she had her entire life. Derek was afraid of what could happen to her if this situation got any worse. He was worried about what could happen to him if things got worse. Effie could be attached to him for all he knew. He could end up hurting him instead of Athena. 

He walked over to the window and closed the curtains. He had thought that he had closed them earlier when he had helped Athena to bed. Turning back around, he saw Athena sitting straight up in bed. He jumped in surprise. She stared straight ahead and didn't move an inch. Her eyes were wide and looked to be glazed over. She didn't even look to be breathing. She was completely still. 

"Athena?" he called out to her. Slowly walking closer, he asked, "What's wrong?" He reaches out to push her shoulder when her hand flashed up and grabbed his wrist. He tried to pull away, but Athena wouldn't let him. He was the stronger one out of the two, but Athena's grip was like steel. Her knuckles were white with how hard she was gripping his wrist. "Athena, let me go!"

Slowly, her head turned towards him. Only her head moved, none of her body followed her. Her eyes were looking at him, but there wasn't any sign of life in them. He wasn't even sure if she was looking at him or if she was looking through him. They were glazed over. Her skin was pale and cold; slowly turning blue. When she talked, it wasn't her voice. He started to tremble. "Don't touch me," the voice growled. 

"A-Athena?" Derek asked in a low tone. He took a deep breath and tried to command, "Get out of my sister, Effie." He tried to control his body and stop it from trembling. 

"Athena will get what I promised to her," the voice said from within Athena's body. The voice sounded triumphant. "Your sister will be no more soon." The voice sounded like a little girl's voice. A cackle and a creepy smile grew on her face. With no warning, Athena's eyes became her own again and the grip on Derek's wrist loosened. Athena's eyes held confusion and fear in them. She was slowly breaking and that was breaking his own heart. 

"Athena?" He grabbed her hands. They were warm again and the color was slowly coming back to them. 

Athena looked up at him. "Derek?" She started to fall back before Derek caught her. He maneuvered her so she was sitting up against the headboard. "What happened to me?" She placed a hand on her forehead. Another headache was most likely forming again. He noticed that whenever she started to get one, Effie was talking to her. He found the pattern to be rather unsettling. 

Derek looked into her eyes again to make sure that she was fully back before answering. When he saw that she was fully herself again, he sighed gratefully. "You weren't yourself, Athena."

"What do you mean?" She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the headboard.

Derek shook his head. "Someone was controlling you. I'm guessing whoever was controlling you was Effie. Your voice changed. It was a little girl's voice. Your skin was cold and turning blue." He held up his wrist. "You had an ice grip on my wrist." He wouldn't be surprised if bruises would form on his skin. 

"Effie," she whispered. "Let me have the phone. I need to call Mr. Schneider." Derek handed her the phone, and, in a flash, she dialed Mr. Schneider's number. She rapped her fingers against her knee impatiently while she waited. When he didn't answer, she huffed and rolled her eyes. "Mr. Schneider, please call me back. It's urgent." She hung up and threw the phone on the bed. She closed her eyes once more, pinching the bridge of her nose. Derek wondered if she was talking to Effie because her eyes kept darting back and forth underneath her eyelids. 

Derek looked past her towards the door and saw a shadow lingering on the wall of the hallway. That's strange, he thought. All the doors are locked. He stood up and walked cautiously over to the door. 

"Derek?" Athena asked nervously. "Where are you going? Please don't go closer to the door. Come back." Her voice sounded urgent and there was a hard warning in it, but he wasn't listening. The shadow was intriguing him, and he needed to see who had gotten into their house. 

Derek ignored her and kept walking toward the shadow. He peered out into the hallway but saw no one. The shadow, although was still there. He stepped out into the hallway and watched as the shadow started moving. It disappeared back down the hall near the staircase. His body was telling him to stay put, but his mind was wanting to see to whom that shadow belonged. 

"Derek!" He heard Athena shriek behind him. He spun around to see a dark figure standing behind him with a knife in its hand. The figure was as tall as a child and the only features Derek could see were its glowing yellow eyes. Effie.

The figure came at him with the knife. He ducked, spun it around, and pushed the figure out of the room. He slammed the door shut and locked it. Slowly, Derek backed up towards the bed and sat down beside Athena.

"Locking her out isn't going to help, Derek." Athena was trembling beside him.

Derek gave her a sharp look. "What was I supposed to do? Let her stab me?" He watched as Athena squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears. Her eyes were darting back and forth beneath her eyelids. He started to reach out for her when a knife flew through the door and landed in Derek's arm. 

He screamed in surprise and pain and grabbed the hilt of the knife. Athena tried to stop him, but he pulled it out quickly. A green ooze started falling down the knife and was mixed with his own blood. He didn't know what the green ooze was, but it started to make him feel weird and weak. He started to sway back and forth before falling back onto the bed.

"Derek?" he heard Athena's worried voice call out to him. His vision started to blur and darken. He tried to reach out for his sister but, in a matter of seconds, he couldn't see anything at all. And he blacked out. 

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