Behind You

V

The world seemed to stop, and everything went silent besides the rain. Even that had seemed to slow. Daya stared at the two girls with wide eyes. She hardly recognized her, but it had to be Crystal.

As the other girls stood still, shocked by what had just happened, Daya approached Gigi and her sister. "Crystal?" She whispered.

The creature her sister had turned into raised her head to follow her voice. Her eyes were hidden by the cloth tied around them, and her once fluffy curls were now a matted mess spilling down her shoulders. While her facial features hadn't exactly changed too much, her face was skinny and the corners of her mouth stretched back to the end of her jaw, where curved teeth could be seen.

But the more Daya looked, the more she could hardly recognize her. Her legs were longer now, almost animalistic in the way they bent. The spikes down her spine were sharp, only turning smaller and detaching to form a tail-like feature that hung off of Crystal's body. Her whole frame was larger, including her arms and the new claws emerging between her fingers.

Daya blinked back tears as she stared at her. "...What happened to you?" She whispered.

Crystal didn't answer. She couldn't anymore. Instead she let out a shaky breath, hanging her head down to press it against the side of Daya's and rest it against her shoulder.

Her new weight took Daya by surprise. She wrapped her arms around her neck tightly, avoiding the spikes that seemed to ripple with each movement. "You should've told me before you left..."

A mumble left Crystal's lips, but Daya couldn't decipher the words. "She can't speak very well..." Gigi spoke up, still holding onto the chain that she had been leading Crystal's movements with. "Or see anymore..."

Daya looked at her in confusion, her eyes scanning her for any abnormality. "How are you...?"

"I don't know." Gigi shook her head. "I haven't felt sick and haven't noticed any of the first signs of infection. And Crystal um...I don't think it's progressing anymore..."

"What do you mean you don't think?" One of the other girls spoke up. Daya looked over her sister's shoulder to see Maddy eyeing her suspiciously, positioning herself defensively in front of Jasmine. "How do you know that?"

Gigi let out a nervous breath, gently pulling Crystal's head away from Daya to pull down the collar of the now ripped up shirt she was wearing. "Because when this appeared, all of her progression stopped."

Engraved in Crystal's collarbone was a strange, glowing white shape. Daya tilted her head when she saw it, reaching out to touch it. Crystal's body relaxed slightly when she did, another incoherent word leaving her mouth.

Maddy shared a look with Jasmine before she came to look closer. When she did, her eyes widened. "Oh..."

Jasmine wanted a look too. She stumbled a little when she walked, and the side of her head was trickling blood, but a flash of hope sparked in her eyes when she saw the marking. "Hey, that looks like the flower that grew." She said, looking up at Maddy.

Gigi looked up at them quickly. "The flower?" She asked. "The white flower?"

Jasmine got excited, quickly nodding her head. "Yes! That one! I was crying one night and my tears fell into the dirt, and then only a few hours later this beautiful white flower grew. We picked it and are keeping it in a jar in the-"

There was a loud noise coming from deeper into the surrounding trees. Maddy hushed Jasmine and pulled her closer, and Crystal quickly raised her head and faced into the trees. A low growl rumbled in her throat, and Gigi carefully slipped the chain between her girlfriend's new sharp back teeth to guide her if she had to.