“Katy, why don’t you at least sit down,” Nikki said, reaching out to guide her to the chair.

“Leave me alone!” she snapped. “You didn’t see it. None of you saw it. You don’t know.”

Andrew approached her but was wise enough to give her some space.

If he saw what I saw… Kate thought.

He said, “Kate, what’s going on?”

Just thinking about it made her want to sink back to sweet oblivion.

“It…it’s not human.”

“What do you mean? Was it an animal?”

She shook her head, her back to the door, feeling all too vulnerable.

“It’s a monster.”

Ryker tried to hand her a glass of water. “It’s all right, Katy. You just need some time to settle down.”

She smacked the glass out of his hand. It shattered at her feet, water splashing her bare ankles.

“What the hell?” Ryker said, staring at the glass bits.

“I’ll get it,” Nikki said, rushing to get the broom.

Andrew didn’t say a word, but the expression on his face spoke volumes.

He thinks I imagined it. The sick girl with the fever and on enough meds to knock out a rhino is just having a hallucination. It’s not just Andrew. They all think it!

“Don’t you dare look at me like that,” she snarled, pointing at Andrew specifically.

Her eyes started to sting from the sweat pouring into them. She blinked hard, stomach quivering, legs wobbly, but she refused to be treated like an invalid.

“I saw it! I didn’t imagine it.”

Andrew held his hands up, palms out. “Why don’t you tell me what you saw and we’ll take it from there.”

Nikki was on all fours, sweeping up glass and mopping the water with a dishtowel. The broom knocked into Kate several times but she refused to move. She was going to stand there for as long as she wanted. They couldn’t make her lie down like some maiden with the vapors. They couldn’t!

“Why should I bother?” Kate said. “It’s not like you’ll believe me.”

“Don’t say that,” Andrew said, keeping his voice calm when it was plain he wanted to yell at her. Ryker stood to her side with his hands in his pockets, unsure what to do.

She grabbed the cord and ripped the blinds open. Beyond the window was pure onyx. Nothing was standing on the porch, waiting to be revealed.

But it was out there. Kate was sure of it.

“You want to know? Fine. But if you say one word about me having a fever or try to tell me what I saw wasn’t real, I’ll…I’ll punch you in the freaking throat.”

Where was this coming from? Kate had never been a violent person.