Izzy Dead

Tick, tock. Ten minutes had passed since Rhea Fitzpatrick got home. She watched her younger brother walk up the winding driveway, hand in hand with his new friend. She thought to herself: It'll only be a few hours until my older sisters get home. Until then, I'm the one in charge. If it weren't for the dark storm clouds looming in the distance, today would be one of those days Rhea only saw in storybooks: too perfect to be believed. I bet the storm won't come until later tonight, when everyone's safe in bed. Rhea thought. Tick, tock. I'm the one in charge. Normally, little Eamonn would be home before Rhea, especially when he was having a playdate.

Ding-dong! There was Eamonn and his new friend. Rhea darted over to the door and let out a sigh. That was weird. I wonder what took them so long?

"Hi, Rhea." Eamonn smiled. "Meet my new friend Izzy. She moved last weekend, and I thought it might be nice to invite her over for a playdate."

Little Izzy cocked her head and waved, barely showing her teeth. She looked like a sweet little girl, but there was something about her that bothered Rhea in the weirdest way possible. Her blue eyes were bluer than blue raspberries, her hair was blacker than night, and her skin was paler than a ghost. This kid seemed surreal, like someone Rhea would dream about. She looked human, all right, but not quite human.

Rhea thought things couldn't get any weirder. That's when Izzy's eyes slowly changed from their vibrant blue to a bloody red. The eyes continued to shift their way across the technicolor rainbow before settling at blue once again. She hasn't even said anything yet, and now her eyes are changing color! Rhea clenched her teeth in discomfort. Is she some sort of computer, maybe? Those eyes are definitely nothing close to human.

"Sorry, guys," Rhea stuttered. "I must be losing my mind or something. I swear I saw Izzy's eyes change color, but..."
"They didn't," Izzy smirked, seizing Eamonn's hand. "C'mon, Eamonn. Let's play."

Rhea was left alone, still woozy from Izzy's vivid presence. Grandad "sees stuff" too, she remembered. He calls it his "Dementia". I wonder if I inherited Grandad's "dementia". Since Rhea was always curious, she started looking up "is dementia inherited" on her iPad.

"Silly me!" Rhea giggled after a quick search. "Since I'm not an old lady yet, I probably don't have 'dementia'. My mind was probably just playing a little trick on me."

Thud, thud, thud! Rhea whipped her head around, wondering what the kids were up to. The noise turned out to be Rhea's younger sister Bia loudly making her way down the hall.

"Have you seen Eamonn's new friend yet?" Bia smiled, gasping for air with every word she spoke.

"Oh..."

The memory of Izzy's eyes hit Rhea like an electric shock. She shook her head. There's no way that actually happened. I must've lost my mind.

"Yeah, she seems very sweet," Rhea lied. "Why don't we all play something outside before the storm starts?"

"Good idea!" Bia agreed, running off again to find the little ones.

Rhea glanced out the window one last time. The menacing clouds were slowly devouring the blue sky above. Uh-oh...

Thud, thud, thud! Bia returned with Eamonn and Izzy.

"I don't think it's such a good idea to go outside," Rhea grimaced at the approaching storm clouds.

"Puh-lease, Rhea?" Bia begged. "We have to go outside before it storms. It's such a nice day."

Rhea fumed. "I am the one in charge, and I say no!"