True or False.

Chapter 4

One slap.

Two slaps.

One pinch.

Ow! The redness on my thigh proves I am awake. And the scene in front of me didn't change.

This is real. Not my nightmare. Well, it is, if one can have a nightmare while awake. Usually, the sound it makes when I slap myself wakes me up. Not the sound when someone slaps me because that is hard while when I slap myself, it is a soft one and that weird sound makes me cringe so much, it wakes me up from any daydream or a nightmare in this case. But this time, it didn't. And I had to pinch myself to realize I am indeed awake, or I am living my nightmare. Whichever it can be, either way it's very surreal. And now I have to stop rubbing the red mark on my thigh and stop it from spreading. But to my zoned-out brain it is seeming to be paint and I am continuing to rub it. Stop it, Ali! I scold myself. But how is this real?

I saw Cloe die; I saw her breathing stopped. I saw her lie there all lifeless and losing blood. I saw her. And now she is here at my parents' house having some red glob as if last night didn't happen. As if she didn't die in front of my eyes. As if I didn't leave her there and ran. As if I didn't kill her! Wait what is the red glob she is eating?

Slowly I lift my head to look at the dining table where my mother and father are sitting casually talking to what... undead, ghost, or simply just a shockingly, now alive version of my previously dead best friend. I try to gauge what they are eating. But the more I look the more it looks like a red glob. What the hell? I rub my eyes and try to focus, and it still looks like red something. Am I imagining the red color or is it red?

My mom notices my creepy behavior. Smiling at me she gestures with her hand for me to go sit. When I didn't move that instant, she resorted to calling me out by my name gathering the attention of my previously dead now somehow alive best friend. Great! 'She didn't know, Cloe died'. Thank you brain for that useful information!

"Alison what are you doing over there. Come eat with us. And look who is here. First my daughter comes in for a surprise visit and next Cloe, this is really a good week. Isn't it honey?" She asks her husband who just nods with a sweet smile. Yes parents, it is indeed a really good week. What with you daughter killing her best friend, basically leaving her to die, then her showing up at your house the next day looking very alive? A good week indeed!

"Yes Ali. Come sit with me. Your mom made the most delicious noodles ever." Aha so it is noodles. Then why the hell are they red?

As I start to descend down the last few steps, the stairs creeks making a noise, which inadvertently makes me cringe. But then again why, everyone knows I am here, I am not hiding anymore. Brain, keep up! Just at the last step, I look to see Cloe watching me intensely. Could be creepy but it is currently scaring the heck out of me. An involuntary chill ran down my spine making me shudder. I shake my head to refocus, to gain confidence. After all I cannot show my parents, I am scared to see my best friend here. They have no idea what happened. Or that something indeed happened. But now I notice there is a blinking number above Cloe's head. What the hell? That looks like a red colored number. Why is everything red? Why is there a number perched above Cloe's head? Does she know that?

Finally, I sit on a chair beside Cloe. She gives me a menacing smile, almost snarling at me. What? My mom not seeing it proceeds to give me some of the red noodles. And yes, the noodles are still red. Creepy. Real creepy.

"Here tell me honey. How does it taste?" I frown at my mom. Is she serious? "It's a new recipe I tried." She gives me a warm smile, while Cloe smirks at me. I see her from the corner of my eyes, and I am inclined to not eat. Who knows she could have mixed something? No Cloe does not want to kill me? Does she? I mean I did leave her to die, so indirectly I did kill her. But wasn't she already dead when I ran? I thought so. But now she is here, alive, and eating.

Taking the first bite is the scariest thing I have ever done. But the weirdest thing is the taste. I have never had food with such odd taste. I want to throw up but seeing my mother's hopeful face, I somehow swallow it. It tastes awful. What the hell is this?

"Let's eat first Ali. We have so much to talk about, to discuss." Cloe informs me with a wink. I gulp. Unfortunately, that makes the food go in the wrong track and I end up coughing. Now I have no idea if what came out of my mouth due to coughing is blood or the food. They freaking look the same. But I know one thing for sure. This 'discussion' will not be like anything we have had before. And I need to be ready.

As shocking or creepy this situation is, and I definitely do not want to sound pathetic, but I don't think I will ever be ready to have this 'discussion.' Who knows what's the night have in store for me? If this event proves anything, it is that nothing is certain anymore. And I am in so deep. In fact, I might be at the center of the storm, if I am not the cause for it.