I reached for the night lamp with one hand while raising my other one when Melissa spoke out.

"Octavia, he's back!" she screamed as I put the light on,  "Who's back?" I asked from her. "The killer!" she said as she passed out.

I held on to her to prevent her from falling. I laid Melissa on my bed and splashed some water on her face, hoping it would revive her. But it was to no avail. I then shook her vigorously and tapped her briskly and yelled hoping it would wake her, but nothing worked. I  checked her vitals; her pulse was slow  and  her face was pale as a sheet. But  that's when I noticed the handprint on her neck, which wasn't there before.

I had no idea how it had appeared on her neck if she just had a nightmare, but I had no time to ponder on that, so I raised her legs above her heart level to help blood flow to her brain and started performing CPR on her. It did not work, which meant it was time for Plan B.

I opened my safe and reached for the book when the doorbell rang yet again. I peeked through the peephole and saw Jared at the door. I opened the door and informed him of the situation. He called emergency services while I went upstairs and performed CPR on Melissa. "How is it going?" asked Jared while walking in. "Still the same," I answered, frustrated at not being able to revive her. "Does she have a pulse?" asked Jared in a worried tone. "Yes, she does. That's what bothers me," I said, frustrated. "Don't worry; an ambulance is on the way," he said, tapping me on the shoulder.

"I am not used to feeling helpless," I said as I kept trying to revive her. "What's that mark on her neck?" he asked, bending over. "I believe it's a handprint and no, I have no idea how she got it; she did not have it when she arrived," I said. "What?" he asked, "Are you saying that you don't know how this happened? That the handprint just appeared out of nowhere?"

"Yes, that's what I am saying," I said, not knowing if he'd believe me. "OK, I think you should keep that detail to yourself for now," Jared said. "Why do you say that?" I asked; but as he opened his mouth to reply, the bell rang. The medics had arrived.

They followed me into the room and asked the details of the situation. As I told what happened, they looked at me like looking at a person with a mental disorder, or someone who was high on drugs.

"I know how this must sound, but I am neither crazy nor on drugs," I said as they checked Melissa's vitals. "What's wrong with her? Why won't she wake up?" I asked impatiently. "She's in a coma," answered one of the medics as they took her away. "How is that possible? She just had a panic attack brought on by what I presume was a nightmare," I remarked.

"Well, something did happen to her to cause this much fear; plus there is a handprint on her neck, which means she has been attacked," said another one as she got into the ambulance.