She's older this time, maybe 10 or 11. She's sitting outside on the wooden bench that she claimed as her own. She's waiting for her family to come outside. She catches a branch cracking on the ground. She has a flashback to that time when she was little, when she saw those red eyes. She freaks herself out and she runs back inside, "Addison!" she yells, the panic clear in her voice. She searches for her sister, eventually finding her in their room, at the time white, since they just moved into the house. It would eventually become blue and neon pink, a compromise.
"Addison, are you coming outside?" she asks her, the fear slowly draining from her voice when she sees her sister. Her heart rate slows. "I will. Is it cold outside?" Addison asks her; she shakes her head. "No, it's warm." Addison nods and goes back to picking out her clothes to wear, still in her pajamas even though it was 6 o'clock. She walks back outside.
She sits back where she was before, bringing her knees up to her chest, feeling the wood dig into her back. Another branch cracks, but she doesn't let herself freak herself out. She swallows her fears and waits for her family to come outside...
Until. Until it comes after her. The beast that grabbed her when she was little escaped from her imagination and into her backyard. It reaches for her ankle but she's too fast. She screams as she kicks it away, causing her mom to come running outside, seeing her daughter screaming and kicking at nothing. That was the first sign.
***
I open my eyes. My shirt is sticking to my back from sweat, but I'm freezing cold. I remembered. I remember Addison taughting me when I was younger, a year or two ago, about my fear of monsters but I couldn't understand why. Now I do. I remembered being in the hospital a lot when I was little. I was told it was from my weak immune system. Was it really? Or was it something else?
I check the clock, 5:45. Well, I would've had to get up anyway. I hear faint crying in the bathroom next to our room. I pad over softly, knocking on the door. Addison opens it, like I expected, and wipes away the last of her tears. I don't have to ask her what's wrong, I already know. She's remembering what happened when she was kidnapped. I don't press or pry for answers, just say, "We have school today. Are you going?" She sniffles, and shakes her head. She's not going, she probably won't be going for a while. "Well," I say, "I kinda need the bathroom,"
"Right," she says, stepping out of my way, "Abbi?"
"Yeah?" I say, turning back to her. "Thanks for not asking." I assume she means why she was crying, I nod.
I have a quick shower and throw on my favorite, well, actually Nathan's favorite, shirt. It's blue and sparkly and he said it brings out the dark blue flecks in my eyes. I pull on dark jeans and black sneakers, brushing out my hair and throwing it into a braid. Addison crawled back into her bed while I was showering and getting ready for school. I ask her if she wants me to bring her work home and she just slightly nods her head yes. I grab my backpack, filled with all the unfinished homework from yesterday, which I'm hoping I can finish on the bus and at lunch since Maxx and I don't seem to be on speaking terms at the moment.
I don't really understand why Maxx had gotten so mad at me for not telling him about Addison, but I haven't known him for all that long; maybe at his old school, his old friends told him everything. I couldn't do that. While I tell my friends everything, there are things I need to keep to myself. Shaking that thought off, I head downstairs. My mom's already up and making breakfast. I smell pancakes, and peak into her pan. Yep, pancakes. And chocolate chip. Chocolate chip pancakes are Addison's favorite, that must be why she's making them. "Mom?" I ask her, grabbing a glass of milk. "Hmm?" she says. "Was I ever scared of monsters?" I ask. Those dreams I've been having are getting to me, I need to know.
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