𝔭𝔬𝔦𝔰𝔬𝔫 | e. brock

•8•

Willow sat in Danielle's car, shivering and refusing to speak.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Danielle asked. "You look really troubled and I'm incredibly concerned."

"You wouldn't believe me," Willow said absentmindedly, fidgeting with the sleeve of her cardigan.

"Why wouldn't I believe you? What happened? Did he murder someone?" she attempted to lift the mood with humour.

When Willow didn't respond, Danielle said; "Oh shit. Did he murder someone?"

"I'll explain when we get to my apartment," Willow said without looking at Danielle.

The rest of the drive was silent, and eventually, they arrived at Willow's apartment.

She let them into her apartment, collapsing onto her couch. She curled into a ball, hugging her knees into her chest.

Danielle sat down beside her, giving her a bit of space. "What happened?" Danielle's soft voice broke the silence.

"I still don't think you'll believe me," Willow replied.

"Why?"

There was silence between the two of them, WIllow's eyes distant while Danielle attempted to comfort her.

"Why wouldn't I believe you, Wills?"

"'Cause I can hardly believe it and I saw it with my own eyes!" Willow lashed out before hugging herself even tighter.

"Wills, what happened?" Danielle insisted. "I can help you through this if you tell me."

"You'll just think I'm crazy."

"Help me understand, Wills. What happened?"

"You can't help me through this."

"At least let me try," Danielle said, eyes locking with hers.

"Okay," Willow took a few deep breaths in a futile attempt to calm down. "So, the evening started out wonderfully. He brought me flowers-" she gestured towards the vase that held the camellias. "-and he took me to a jewelry store, 'cause he's such a dork. He didn't want to get me something I didn't like, so he took me to a jewelry store and let me pick something out myself." She paused for a breath, and also to try to stop her heart from pounding at the memory of what happened.

"That's when the place got robbed. Two guys wearing ski masks entered the shop; one threatening the sales associate while the other held a gun to my head. It was my life or the money... and Eddie-" she choked on her breath. "He- he got shot."

Danielle gasped. "Oh my God! Is he okay?" She was understandably panicked.

"He's fine. After he got shot, he- he transformed into this... thing. It had fangs  and teeth and claws and-" Willow Hughes her knees closer to her chest as she felt her palms get sweaty and her heart beginning to race even faster.

Danielle gave her a skeptical look. "What?" She questioned, clearly not believing a word she said.

"I told you you wouldn't believe me," Willow muttered.

"It's just so insane, Willow! Your boyfriend is actually, what, an alien? A mutant? Some sort of monster? You must realize how insane that sounds!"

"I know it sounds crazy, Danielle! But I need you to believe me. Please," She gave her friend a pleading look. "At least let me finish explaining."

Danielle sighed. "Okay," she finally said. "Continue explaining."

"Okay. So this thing, right? It was at least 9 feet tall. It looked like it came straight from a sci-fi movie. It looked like it was made out of this black, tar-like stuff, and its eyes were milky white. It had these long fangs and claws and-"