• I pulled the covers up to my chin and stared at the blank walls of my room. My mind was like a swirling puddle of sand being sucked down into the hourglass, everyday a little more of my memories slipping through the passing point from the top glass to the bottom.
    I struggled through a maze of memories trying to find a specific one. I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for but I knew it was in there. It was something about Liam. He was a very important tie in my past somehow. I bit my lip in frustration. What was my mind trying to tell me?
    I decided to relax thinking that maybe the memory would come to me. I sighed and settled into a more comfortable position, letting my body relax into the mold that the mattress had made over my stay. My eyes grew heavy and started to droop lazily. Before I knew it my eyes closed and my mind started to wander.
    In my mind’s eye, I had been walking through a clearing in the trees, the sun setting turning the branches around me vivid colors. I had stopped to look in awe. It had been a while since I had seen clear skies. I heard a branch creek above me. I sighed, closing my eyes letting the nature’s sounds play all around me. The wind whistled through my hair brushing against my face tickling and caressing. I smiled.
    A threatening hiss blew through the wind behind me. My eyes widened and I froze in place. I could hear, the predator’s breath rasping through clenched teeth, its eyes boring into my skull. I swallowed. Its breathing faltered catching the change in my breath. I broke out into a run, fear clutching at my heart with sharp claws, squeezing, manipulating.
    I turned and felt pavement under my shoes. The moon shone through the trees lighting my way. When had it gotten so dark? I had thought to myself. I must have been standing there for a while. All I could here were the beatings of my heart, rasps of my breath, and my own footsteps. I turned to look, but there was nothing behind me.
    A shadow fell over the moon causing me to look up in wonder. A scream escaped my lips. The beast landed in front of me. I stumbled back in confusion. It’s a human! No, my mind had corrected me, it was a human. The man smiled wickedly, noting my short retreat. “I’ve been waiting for this moment.” He had said. My eyes widened with shock and fear.
    It was Liam, one of my classmates. His voice was a little raspier than usual, but recognizable, the only thing recognizable. His brown hair, usually pulled up tight into a ponytail was hanging loosely around his contorted, gleefully scary face, his clothes were torn and dirty, his skin brown with dirt and he was barefoot and had a strange way to the way that he walked.
    He launched himself at her, like a deranged beast and landed on my shoulders grinning wickedly down at her. Then he bit into my shoulder an indescribable pain rocketing through my body.
    I woke up with a gasp, my cheeks wet from crying. Liam grunted in his sleep beside me. I jumped, startled. I turned my body to face him, his arm falling from my shoulder and limply falling to rest on the mattress. I looked at his face. He smiled in his sleep. He looked so peaceful in his imaginary world that I tried to forget the disturbing dream that I had just been shocked awake from. After all it could have just been a dream my mind conjured up, right? That’s what dreams are. Things that our mind thinks up, giving it something to do while its body is in unconscious slumber.
    Then I remembered where I was and instinctively snuggled closer to the closest thing alive, seeking comfort. I can’t trust myself to be around you. I’m changing Melanie and there’s no way of stopping it. I gasped and flinched away from him. My mind flashed back to the dream. Liam’s teeth bared, his hair flying freely, had it escaped from its tie, him snarling, his eyes cold and unknowing.
    His eyes had been the worst part. His eyes, always, knowing, so caring, had been so evil. But he hadn’t attacked me since then and he seemed to be trying very hard to control himself. He was doing really well. But he started changing today. He would get lost in himself and had to turn away.
    I swallowed hard and refocused on his face. He was so peaceful, so calm. I reached my hand out and touched his face. He stirred in his sleep, but then went back to dreaming. I snuggled close to him and fell asleep.
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