The Shedding Skin

Chapter Eight

After talking to the police, she told Paulina about what had happened. And she texted some of the details to Morticia. Mostly that the 'little girl' had broken into her house and tried to attack her. And immediately she bombarded her with questions. Asking if she was okay and if she needed her to come over. Raven wanted her to come over but it was already really late. Her Mom would probably say no and she didn't want Tish to get in trouble with her Mom. So she told her that she was fine. That her neighbor was helping her out. Also telling her that she loved her before telling her to go to bed. Promising that she'd talk about it before school.

When she finished telling Paulina the story, she said,"The whatever the heck that thing was tried to break into my bathroom. I don't know what it wanted but I doubt it was good."

"...that's incredible.",was all she muttered. Her eyes wide in shock at the story. Raven wondered if Paulina believed her at all or was thinking she was crazy. Opening her mouth to speak, the nurse continued,"I, I uh...I've seen something similar since last week. But it wasn't a little girl like you've seen."

Closing her mouth, she stared at her for a second. Then motioned for her to keep talking and took a sip of her tea. Paulina took a deep breath before she said,"I've been seeing this strange looking beast thing around where I work."

Taking a minute to process what Paulina said, she set her mug down. A beast thing. Her eyebrows raised a bit as she asked,"What kind of beast, Paulie? A huge bear or something like that?"

"No way was this thing a bear.",she said. Her hands toyed with her uniform as she continued,"It was wearing torn up dirty old clothes..."

Gripping the mug a little tighter, she tilted her head. Then she felt her eyes widen slightly and she asked,"Could you repeat that?"

"It was wearing torn up dirty old clothes...like it just shifted from a person to a creature.",she explained. Raven tried to picture this in her head and it wasn't easy. The only creature that she could think of was a werewolf. But she doubted that Paulina didn't know what one looked like. So she suggested,"So you're saying that you've been seeing some kind of a werewolf? Like Wolfman type werewolf?"

"No, it had massive horns like a deer.",she explained. Holding her own hands up above her head to show what she meant. Now she had a completely different picture of what it could had been. It sounded sort of like the Beast from Beauty and the Beast. Only a lot more ugly than it actually was. Raven said,"That sounds like something from a fairy tale..."

"It's what I saw.",Paulina said in an annoyed tone. Letting go of the mug, she said,"I believe you, Paulie. I do...I was just thinking that it sounded like Beast from Beauty and the Beast."

That made her look at Raven funny for a moment before she admitted,"I guess that it does sound like that..."

"Tish and I first saw the girl when she was singing Snow White's song...",Raven said. Picking the mug back up,she took a small sip. The drink was lukewarm now. But it helped her keep her head as she thought about the things they saw. Paulie's beast and their little pale girl. This seemed like something out of a warped fairy tale. When she finished the tea, she said,"It's kind of like they came out of a twisted story book."

Paulina checked the clock and she asked,"Do you wanna crash here for the night?"

That broke Raven out of her thoughts and she gave her a strange look. So she continued,"Your apartment door is broken in and that thing might come back. You might be safer if you stay here tonight."

"Yeah...mind coming up with me to grab some stuff?",she asked. Paulina agreed to this and went to change out of her uniform. Raven got out of her chair and put the cup in the sink. Draining it before hurrying out of the kitchen. While she waited by the door,she glanced at her phone. It was half an hour before midnight. Inwardly, she groaned at the time and wondered if she could get her essay done before bed. Figuring that Paulie wouldn't make her sleep, she decided to give it a shot. As she waited, she wondered how this thing knew where she lived. It wasn't like it ever followed her home. Or as far as she knew it didn't follow her home. 

Now she was going to be more cautious about going home alone at all. And she decided that she'd ask Paulie if it was okay to stay until she got new locks on her door. Her apartment didn't feel really safe at the moment. And being there alone just didn't seem like a good idea. 

When Paulina was done getting redressed they hurried up to her place. The door was hanging weirdly on its hinges and lock looked destroyed. She glanced over at her neighbor who gave a nervous grin as she giggled a little. Gently pushing the door open, she sighed. It wasn't the worst thing to happen that night. And if it hadn't been done, she might have been in big trouble. So she ignored it and went straight to her room to get her things. There wasn't a lot of damage done to her room that couldn't be fixed easily.

The desk chair wasn't broken but it had some gross junk on it. Most likely pieces of the girl's vomit. Putting it back, she quickly stuffed her essay into her binder along with her pencil. Then she shoved it into her backpack carefully. Raven got herself some clothes from her dresser along with her pajamas and put them in as well. She stared at her bathroom door for a few minutes before going in to get her toothbrush. It wasn't badly broken but she didn't know how to fix the broken gap. And she guessed that she would think of it after school tomorrow. 

When she went back into the living room, Paulina was patiently waiting for her. Holding her things up as she walked past, she said,"Alright let's get going. I really wanna finish my essay before I go to bed."