Her teeth grow sharp and pointy. Like fangs.
“Cleo!”
Her fingernails twist and grow longer and sharper.
“Cleo!! Nooo!”
She advances towards me. Her mouth opens with a scream l so horrible I w
wanted to scream with her.
“Cleo!!!!!”
I start sobbing.
“Cleo....” I choke out.
I do the last thing I ever thought I’d do. I unscrewed the waterbottle that the nurse gave me and doused Cleo with water.
She stands there, drenched, with a look of horror on her face.
“Cleo!”
I run to her.
“Cleo?”
She looks straight at me. She starts to breathe faster and she bites her lip so hard it becomes white.
“ I could’ve hurt you. I could’ve killed you, Katrina.”
“Cleo-”
“No.”
She looks straight at me. Her eyes are cold and hard. There are no tears threatening to run down her cheeks now.
“ You could be lying on the ground right now, dead.”
Her voice cracks. I can tell she’s thinking about the day her parents died. That day when her parents went for a walk in the woods. When a sudden storm swept down on this little town. When Cleo’s parents were never seen again. I struggle to find something to say that will make this nightmare end. I resist the urge to pinch myself, to make sure this isn’t a dream.
“Cleo, it’s not your-”
“Yes it is! Don’t you see?”
She looks straight into my eyes.
“ I’m a monster!’ She screams.
“ I’m a monster...”
And she runs down the gravel path that leads to our house next to the woods.
