Shift

The Proposal

When it was time for Scarlet to leave the hospital, the doctors didn't want to let her go. She'd showed up on Halloween night, covered in blood from the deep scratches that had covered most of her body. They showed her the pictures.

Bite marks in her legs, and one in her shoulder, were a sure sign that it had been wolves that had attacked them. Claws had torn through her clothes and her skin, digging awful red gashes across her stomach, her chest, and even her face. And now, just over a week later, she was leaving the hospital with a few faint, rapidly fading scars. There was no other sign of her injuries anywhere.

"I don't blame them," she said to Adrian. "Of course they want to keep me here for observation, I just magically healed from a near-death wolf attack. I'm a freak."

Adrian chuckled. "You're not a freak. There are cases of incredibly rapid healing all over the place, okay? Let me talk to them. You have to get out of here, the lighting is giving me cataracts."

Scarlet watched through the window as Adrian spoke to the doctor. At first, the doctor simply shook his head, pointing toward Scarlet's room with a frantic, confused look on his face. She could just barely read his lips. She focused hard on them and then she could make out every syllable. She thought for a moment that she could actually hear them talking.

I've never seen anything like that before, the doctor was saying.

I understand, Adrian replied. He was calm, collected, nodding along as the doctor spoke.

Scarlet watched Adrian's expression change ever so slightly as he leaned toward the doctor and made eye contact. The doctor stopped speaking.

You're right to be confused, Adrian spoke slowly. But Scarlet Usher is fine, and she is free to go whenever she's ready. Adrian paused, the doctor stared at him in silence. Right?

Yes. The doctor's reply was almost robotic. He turned, stiff, and walked away.

Adrian poked his head inside Scarlet's room. "Let's go."

"What the hell was that?" Scarlet asked.

"What? I'm charming." Adrian winked. They walked through the hospital, past the gazes and whispers of doctors and nurses, to the front desk.

"I need to sign out," Scarlet said to the woman frowning behind the desk. "Or whatever. I'm leaving."

The woman lifted a clipboard and slid it across the desk. "Sign here."

Scarlet scribbled her name as the woman pulled a small paper bag from a shelf behind her and handed it to Adrian.

"Your things," she said to Scarlet.

"What things?"

"The things you came in with," she said. "Your clothes, we had to throw out, but a few personal items were found."

"Thanks," Scarlet said. She couldn't recall carrying any personal items, but she didn't care. She followed Adrian outside and felt the cold air against her face for the first time since Halloween night.

As they drove, Scarlet opened the paper bag. The first thing she saw was the polaroid photograph the girls had taken in Andrew's Bay. It was accompanied by some spare change, a tube of lip balm, and Paul's pocket knife, which appeared to be smudged with dried blood. She peered down at the contents of the bag but didn't reach in.

"Is everything alright?" Adrian asked.

"Yeah," she said. Scarlet closed the bag. "Fine."

They pulled into her driveway about twenty minutes later, and Adrian followed her up the porch steps. She hesitated before the door, peeling off another notice that had been posted there. This one was from her mortgage company. Her heart skipped and stuttered as she pushed the door open. She stepped inside and her stomach churned, the clean lemony smell clawing at her nostrils, the brand new, still-in-the-box coffee pot glaring at her from the countertop.