The Shedding Skin

Chapter Four

The following day at school was difficult. Morticia's focus was on her sister's condition. She couldn't think of anything other than that. It was strange how she went from healthy to sick to not waking up. How could she have gotten that sick so quickly?

Doodling in the margins of her notes, she sighed. Nothing was adding up. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard people whispering. A redheaded girl that she had gym with was talking about a little girl she'd seen earlier that morning. One with black hair, rags for clothes and pale skin. And that she was standing in front of a weird well. For a moment, she wasn't too sure what to make of this. Then it hit her. That sounded like the child she saw in the gym. Keeping her face neutral, she listened to her classmate talk. She whispered,"It was so freaky. She was by the woods outside of the track field singing to herself."

"I tried to find out what she was doing and she walked away.",she continued. Her friends didn't sound like they believed her. One whispered that she was lying to them. But she continued to insist that she had seen this little girl. So one of her friends asked if she had any proof that she was telling the truth. She answered,"I took a picture of the well."

That surprised her. It was something she should've thought of doing when she had the chance. Carefully, she watched her classmate sneak out her phone and show her screen. Morticia wished that she sat behind this girl. Just to see what the pictures looked like. Her friends whispered about how weird it was before the teacher scolded them. The girl with the phone hurriedly hid it as she apologized.

This was starting to get very strange very fast. A little pale girl that sang into a well. Stephanie's condition. It seemed a little too weird to be coincidental. At least in her mind it was starting to be. She wondered if they had any connection at all. As she wrote down her notes, she decided to share her thoughts with Raven. If there was anyone who could figure out if this was just a strange coincidence or not, it would be her. 

When the lunch bell rang, she hurried to Raven's locker. Nervously tugging at her backpack's straps as she practically sprinted through the halls. Barely managing to not run into people as she passed them. It was hard to not just push people as she made her way through. When she spotted her, she called her name and picked up her speed. Raven turned towards her with a puzzled look on her face. Then slowed her pace as she asked,"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just need to tell you something.",she said once she was near her. Catching her breath, she said,"Someone else saw that little girl we saw yesterday."

Giving her a blank look for a moment, Raven asked,"What little girl?"

"The one with the gross gunk on her face and the dead pale skin?",she suggested. Slowly, Raven seemed to remember the girl. And she said,"Oh, the kid who disappeared when we got Mrs. Hawkins..."

"A girl from my gym class saw her this morning near the track field.",she continued. As they walked she told Raven the story that she had overheard. When she finished, Raven asked,"Do you think that well is still out there?"

"Maybe? But who cares?",Tish said. It wasn't important to her, so why did Raven care? Her girlfriend answered,"Well I was kinda wondering what it was made of. I mean it disappeared as easily as she did."

"She's a ghost so it's probably just like her.",Morticia said. Then immediately regretted as Raven started giggling. She said,"Ghost well. Oooh! That's what happens when wells aren't properly laid to rest!"

"You're an asshole, you know that?",she asked. Raven gently bumped her shoulder as she said,"True but you still love me."

"Yeah, I do.",she said. As they walked into the commons room, they talked about the girl. As well as Stephanie's condition. And after talking about it to Raven, she started to realize how they didn't seem connected. A ghost and illness in one day had to be coincidental. Just because something supernatural happened didn't mean it was related to her. After they got their food, Morticia said,"It sounded less like alien conspiracist in my head than it does coming out of my mouth."

"You should make a t-shirt with that.",Raven suggested. She poked at the chef salad she got with her fork for a moment. Then she continued,"I mean it is super weird but there's nothing to tie the two together. Aside from us being near it."

"Which really doesn't mean they're connected.",Tish agreed as she opened her milk. There was nothing else that could connect the two. She sighed as she said,"Thanks for hearing me out and not calling me crazy over this."

"No problem.",Raven said. Both girls ate quickly and got up to dump their trays. As they walked to the tray station, Raven spotted the little girl. Her back was to them and she was standing at the edge of the darkened woods. By the time they dumped their trays, she was gone. But the well was still there. Morticia whispered,"Just like that girl said. This is getting really freaky...."

"Either this is a really bad Halloween prank or we're being haunted again...",Raven muttered. Her eyes fixated on the weird well. Tearing her eyes away from the well, she checked behind them. Everyone else was starting to leave the commons room for class. Nudging Morticia, she said,"We better get going. The well probably will be there when we get back."

Not wanting to leave, Morticia groaned as she hurried to get her things. It was strange seeing something like this again. After a couple of months of nothing. She hoped that Raven was right about the well being there when they got back. It would be nice to investigate a part of the weird little girl. Even if it was just something simple as a well. As they made their way to their shared class, she asked,"Do you think she'll do anything if we get close to the well?"

"Probably not and even if she did, she's a kid.",Raven reminded. Looking down at her girlfriend,she smiled. Then she questioned,"How seriously scary can some little girl with a well be?"

"You've never watched 'The Ring', have you?"