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chapter 8 - Slumber

.................Harriet POV.............

drip...

drip...

drip...

the dripping tap echoes through the house, breaking the hollow silence that fills the rooms.

The thing in my head starts crawling across my skull in impatience, I haven't fed in a few days. I push the gnawing thoughts to the back of my mind and start to wonder what to do with Brian so he's out of the picture.

Tasmin sits stiffly on the stairs absentmindedly biting her thumb nail. She looks so pathetic sitting there, eyes puffy from crying and hair hidden under an over sized hoodie.

"Hey Taz?" I say quietly, careful not to send her back into a fit of tears. "Should we go downtown and get something to eat? We have no food."

Tasmin shrugs, avoiding my eyes as she taps her fingers in time with the dripping tap.

"Come on let's take your mums car, I can drive."

Well, I think I can, looks simple enough. If a human can do it then so can I. Grabbing the car keys off the counter, I gently coax Tasmin off the staircase to which she gets in the passenger's side without batting an eye as I lurch the old Holden into drive.

"You left the handbrake on." Tasmin croaks.

"Oh hah, right." I gulp nervously, making my way jerkily to the supermarket.

..............Tasmins Pov................

Somehow we make it to the supermarket in one piece, Harriet drives like a maniac all the way here.

"Do we need milk?" Harriet asks me nonchalantly, Humming as she grabs a bottle. "Hey is that Alex?"

I see Alex's spiky hair before anything else as she quickly runs up and gives me a hug. It's comforting to see her, something normal.

"Wow you have gotten like, really thin Tazzy what have you been up to? Don't see you much at school these days."

I smile weakly, quickly averting my eyes. "Oh I'm good, I've been quite busy is all."

Alex and Harriet look at each other knowingly.

"What?" I ask defensively.

Alex snaps back into her perky voice. "Nothing! I'll see you around Tasmin, hopefully." Grabbing a bottle of skim milk, she disappears into the confectionery aisle.

I notice blonde hair dye and bleach in our shopping cart among the baby carrots and apple juice.

"Um why is this in here?" I pull the hair dye out with a picture of a yellow blonde model grinning on its cover.

"Oh I'm thinking of dying my hair blonde for a change. We can look like twins!" Harriet twirls a black tendril of her own hair, eyeing mine with an unreadable expression.

"We should go." Harriet hastily turns the cart around, pushing it towards the exit. I watch as she wiggles the cart past incoming customers down the narrow aisle.

"Harriet!" I puff, trying to catch up with her. "The checkout is over there." I point in the opposite direction, nodding to the attendant at the counter.

Harriet whips around "I know, I'm trying to make a break for it; Keep your voice down" she hisses quickly.

"What!" I squeak in alarm. A swift nudge in the ribs silences me as I meekly follow, hiding my face in my hoodie. As we pass through the doors, I think by a miracle we have made it until an alarm blares obnoxiously sending us into a frenzy as we sprint to the car. A scrabble of footsteps and muffled shouting quickly follows behind.