Monique

Scary Nightmares. Lovely Drugs.

She turns. She moans. She trashes on her bed. She screams. She bites her lip until blood dribbles down the sides of her mouth. Her fingers dig into the pillow, yanking the feathers from within the material. She howls his name like a lone wolf in the night.

"John."

Her eyes open. Her breaths are deep and heavy. Her bed is drenched in sweat. She can hear her parents banging on the door yelling her name, begging her to open the door. Monique shivers and curls up in a ball. She raises the rouge blankets to her chin and stares into the darkness.

Morning comes. The birds sing outside her window. She wants to shoot them. She wants to roast their chicks and fry their eggs to let them know the consequences of disturbing her sleep. She can't be bothered. Maybe tomorrow she'll do it.

It's eleven o'clock when she gets out of bed. She stumbles to the bathroom and empties half her guts into the toilet. She sits on the cold tiles for fifteen minutes before flushing the toilet. She can still taste the vomit in her mouth. She rinses her mouth with water. It still tastes like acid. She can still taste a small hint of cheese from last night's dinner. She even has a piece of lettuce stuck on her teeth. It's disgusting.

She leaves the bathroom and puts on over five jumpers. It hurts to breathe. She gently opens the door and heads downstairs. Her mum sits at the table still dressed in her nightgown.

"Where's dad?" Monique asks as she walks past her. She needs something to drink and fast.

"He's in the basement," Her mum replies. Monique pours a bottle of juice into a cup and drinks it ice cold. Her body tingles. She shivers. Her mum stands up and hands her three new pills. "What are these for?" She's not in the mood for extra pills.

"It's to help you sleep better."

Monique doesn't hesitate. She throws her head back and swallows the pills. She heads back to her room and instantly blacks out.

She forgets she hasn't eaten. She hasn't taken the pills the doctor said to take. She's going to become mental. A feral. An animal.

She forgets as she is drawn into the waves of sleep.