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"SO, YOU WENT ALL JEFFREY DAHMER, and then puked up a bunch of feathers?" Frankie summarized in bewilderment, picking mindlessly at the bagel on her lap. Being cramped in the corner of the school library wasn't exactly the most comfortable way to spend her lunch hour, but it would have to do. She'd hardly had any time to argue once Reyna had pulled her into the secluded space.
"It wasn't like that," In her own opinion, Reyna had never looked worse. The bags under her eyes had become uncoverable, and her already pale skin glowing translucent in the harsh yellow light. She'd even brought herself to school in one of Abbey's old college sweaters, despite the stains of white paint scattered on the maroon fabric. "It wasn't intentional, it's like something took over my thoughts. Like this, primal urge to kill,"
"Primal urge to kill," Frankie parroted thoughtfully, leaning forward. Reyna's eyes were bloodshot, her bandaged hand rapidly ticking against her thigh. "When was the last time you slept, Hannibal?"
Reyna shot a withering glare towards her friend, but could hardly muster it with how exhausted she felt. She rubbed her hands over her cheeks. "I don't know, two nights ago? Maybe three,"
"Well, there's your problem," Frankie stayed, tossing a piece of bagel into the air and catching it in her mouth. She seemed a little too lighthearted for their topic of conversation, and it irked Reyna a bit more than it normally would. "There's tons of cases of people hallucinating when they're sleep-deprived, just take some Nyquil to knock you out tonight."
"No, Frankie, you don't get it." she grumbled, her hair falling into her eyes. She could still feel the way the sheep's blood had dripped down her fingers, the way it's organs ripped apart in her hands. It had felt too real to only be a dream. And that day at Lydia's—her body shook even thinking about it. "I can't sleep, because if I do then I see crazy shit but if I don't then I see even crazier shit and apparently fantasize about murder and there's nothing I can do to stop it-"
"Whoa, hey tiger, take a breath," Frankie rubbed her hand along Reyna's shoulder, hoping to put an end to her down-spiral. "Look, we're gonna figure this out. And by that, I mean I'm gonna figure this out while you get some rest. You're not helping yourself by torturing your body."
"Well, it wasn't doing so well when I was taking care of it, either," Reyna snapped, chewing at her already painfully short nails.
"Look, the only way we're gonna figure this out is together," Frankie clipped, not taking her eyes off Reyna. The girl had always had a bit of a short-temper, but never to this extent. "So you need to trust me,"
Reyna swallowed hard, reprimanding herself. She didn't know what was going on with her mind, but she did know was being a terrible friend. She scratched at the tip of her nose, bringing her eyes up to the ceiling. "I see it all the time, you know. Blood, gore. Any time I close my eyes, it's there, and it doesn't go away no matter how much I sleep or distract myself or And that day at Lydia's-"
