A glimpse of the unknown. VII

Emily walked out of the bathroom in her robe. She walked to the dressing table, and sat on the chair, facing the mirror. She picked up her hair dryer, and began blowing her wet hair.

Weirdly enough, drying her hair felt difficult for her that moment. All the positions she took to make things feel easier didn't work. Frustration building up in her heart, she let the hand dryer fall freely on the table.

"You need help with that?" Dylan's voice came from behind her. The door was slightly open, and he leaned on his side.

"How long have you been here?" she asked as she turned back to face the mirror.

"Not long enough" he replied as he walked in, shutting the door behind him. He walked to her, standing behind her. He picked the dryer and switched it on and began drying her hair. The room was quiet, and only the sound of the hair dryer could be heard.

"Are you alright?" Dylan finally asked

"Why?" Emily returned

"You've been quiet since the incident this evening" he said.

Emily sighed.

"I saw something really frightening today" She confessed. Dylan stopped, and switched off the dryer.

"Want to talk about it?" he asked as he placed the hand dryer on the dressing table.

"Sit" she ordered, as she pointed the bed, and he obeyed. She turned her seat to face the bed, so that they were both seated facing each other.

"So, spill it" he urged.

"Okay, after Archer hit Cyrus, I noticed he turned quiet. While staring at him, I noticed that he had frozen..." she started.

"...of course he froze, he was trying to control his anger'' Dylan cut in.

"No, that's not the point, just listen." She said, and he nodded. "After Archer hit Cyrus, he started panting hard, and his movements were strange. That was when I glanced at him, you won't believe what I saw." Emily started.

"What did you see?" he questioned.

"Dylan, believe it or not, it was like Archer had turned into a wild animal with claws. He had the fingernails of a wild animal, black and extremely thick. When I approached him to find out if he was okay, his skin tone looked like a grey skin was dissolving away, and his eyes were really red. But when I checked his hands up close, there was nothing..." she explained.

"...maybe it was you imagining things. Since you didn't see any claws up close, then there was nothing" Dylan interrupted.

"No Dylan, listen... I didn't see the nails anymore, but visible enough were the marks of the fingernails that pierced through. The holes were there." She added.

Dylan was quiet. His gaze on her was more piercing, like he was trying to figure out if she was joking or not.

"Please believe me" she muttered.

"Are you serious?" he asked.

"I'm serious Dylan, everything happened so quickly and I didn't have the chance to process anything, nor call your attention."

"And come to think of it, it was a blow right? How come Cyrus got cratches? And deep ones at that." She added.

Dylan went quiet again, trying to process all she had said. After a while, he stood up.

"Come" he ordered, and she obeyed.

He walked her to the side of the bed, nudging her to lie down. He pulled the blanket over her shoulders.