Chapter 7 cont... GLEN

.......he was excited to see more of the town.

The gap between the buildings was too small for a car, but big enough for emergency fire escapes for each building.

“So, are all these buildings just empty? Where does everyone live?”

“They were full at one point and most people still own them, but when the infection hit, no one wanted to live by the forest anymore.”

“Since that’s where they were hiding out?”

“Yup.”

“Everyone moved into houses and buildings closer to the church whenever--” She paused looking for the right words. “—Whenever a new unit became available.”

“I see. And the people that weren’t able to move because there was no ‘availability’?”

“They got better locks.”

They made a right turn into an alleyway behind the Doctor’s office. The building across the alley was brick like everything else in the town. Instead of glass for windows, there were filled with bricks and the back door was reinforced steel. Chris rapped his knuckles on it just to check.

“That’s the morgue and crematorium.” Katrina said.

“Seems the Doctor doesn’t want anyone to get in.”

“Or out rather.”

Chris left it at that. They took a left through another small walkway and ended up on Roseberry Street where they took another left on the sidewalk.

“All these buildings are occupied it looks like. What makes this street different than the one back there? It’s just as close to the forest!”

“I don’t know. They only thing I can think is that this road has more businesses. And a police station.”

Katrina was right: there was a soda fountain and pharmacy, a small furniture store, a bank, a hair salon and hardware store. This street was more welcoming with trees lining it’s sidewalks and people sitting in chairs outside of the buildings; even if they were mostly elderly people.

As they passed the small police station, a stalky kid with glasses, in an officer’s uniform came running out. He had spikey blonde hair and small, evenly placed facial features.

“Katrina, hey.”

“Hey Glen.” He response was less enthusiastic.

Katrina saw this moment coming and she wasn’t overly keen to talk to her ex-boyfriend of two years; not while Chris was around anyways. She knew Glen was still in love with her, she had gotten letters from him while she was in Colorado and while they were relatively innocent, they were always ended with “I can’t wait until your pretty face gets out of there and comes home. Love always, Glen.” It was as if she had gone to jail. Katrina knew she’d always have a soft spot for him, but knew it would calcify soon enough. Glen wasn’t good for her anymore; they had nothing in common. She was infected, he wasn’t. He always talked about having a big family; she couldn’t bear children. She stopped and mumbled under her breath to Chris “Sorry.”

Chris shrugged; he didn’t know what Katrina was apologizing for.

Glen gave Katrina a hug that lifted her off her feet with her hands still by her side. “I thought I would have gotten to see you sooner. You’ve been here for two days now.” He put her down and stepped back to look her up and down.

“Well, I just got here yesterday—“

“And you must be the journalist guy.” Glen stuck out his hand “Nice to meet-cha!”

Chris obliged and commented “word travels a little too fast around here.”

“Pardon?”

“Chris. Nice to meet you too. There’s so many nice people around here.”

Glen smiled and turned to Katrina, “So I was thinking, maybe when you’re not busy we could go for lunch, or ice cream? My treat.” His face was beaming at Katrina and Chris immediately understood what Glen’s intentions were.

“Oh, um that’s very nice of you but—“she glanced over at Chris who shook his head to say: don’t look at me. “I’m going to be pretty busy as long as Chris is here. I’m helping him with his interview stuff.”

Glen looked disappointed and Chris felt bad. “I’m sure you can take some time if you like to have some ice cream of all things with Glen. Don’t let me take up all your time.” He smiled at Katrina who looked at him in disbelief. Glen looked like his parents just told him he could have a puppy. “But on one stipulation: I can come by and talk to you tomorrow sometime at the station?”

“Sure, my shift starts at seven in the morning and I get off at four, come around anytime. And then Katrina, you can let me know about that date.” He leaned in closer and lowered his voice a little. Katrina noticed his breath smelled like bubble gum. “I can take a break pretty much anytime I want, and they give me a free ice cream over at the soda fountain. Can probably get yours free too—but if not I’ll pay of course.”

Chris rolled his eyes and Katrina began to regret losing her virginity to him. “Such a gentleman.” She replied sarcastically.

“You know me. Anyways, it was nice meeting you Chris. And I’ll talk to you two later.” He beamed at them and pushed his glasses higher on his nose with his middle knuckle.

Glen walked across the street towards the Soda Fountain. Chris rolled his eyes but smiled at Katrina. “Sounds like someone has a crush on you.”

“Ugh, don’t get me started, and you didn’t help.” They continued walking again.

ending chapter 6 (part 1): the doctor's office.

......Luckily Chris was already holding onto his notebook.

They got out of the apartment and heard the lock click into place. Chris glanced to his left down the long dark hallway. There was a long, dust wooden railing on the right side of the hall which, if anyone had tripped just a little they would probably tumble over the side, landing on the switchback of stairs. At the end was a lilac colored door. Chris knew that Jerrid’s wife must have picked that color and he felt a wave of sadness for Jerrid sweep through his body.

Katrina lead the way down the steps and out onto the street. She made a swift right turn out of the building and walked towards the forest. “So how do you like this place so far?” She knew that Chris had barely seen any of the town but she just wanted to make small talk.

“Um, it’s hard to tell. It’s a cute little town. Seems like a good place to grow up. Especially if you had friends to go exploring with…or siblings.” He hadn’t forgotten about the birth announcement he found.

“Mmmm.” Katrina took off her thin jacket revealing her small figure. There was not much fat on her body at all Chris noticed, giving her the once over from behind. He admired the softness and even tone of her skin.

“The sun is definitely up!” He said glancing up at the sky shading his eyes with his hand. It was becoming extremely hot and muggy outside. “Glad I wore a T-shirt.”

Katrina didn’t acknowledge him. “We’re almost there. It’s just on the corner there by the forest.” She continued leading the way down the large sidewalk. The passing buildings all seemed unoccupied. If they weren't, someone was doing a poor job of keeping them clean; the cream colored brick was streaked with dark lines of dirt reaching the ground.

Chris hadn’t even noticed that any of the buildings were occupied when he drove by earlier. Now he saw the unmistakable Red Cross next to old ‘Stevenson Family Practice. Est. 1925.’ painted above the door. “So, tell me a little about the Doctor so I can be prepared.”

“Lets see. His father and father’s father were Doctors in this office. He prides himself in his work and has been trying to develop a cure for the infection in his spare time. He loves this town and the town loves him. He’s very warm-hearted and truly cares about the well-being of the town’s people. We don’t have a shrink here but he’ll gladly talk to people about their problems-- especially after the infection hit. OH, and he’s also the mortician, there’s a crematorium in the building next door to his. Just be polite and respectful. ”

“Okay. Good.” They were on the doorstep of the office and Katrina put a hand on Chris’ back to guide him through first. Chris took a minute to look at the brick building. The windowsills on each side of the door were wood, painted the same red as the lettering for the name. The blinds were closed so it would be easy for anyone not familiar with the building to think it was closed—or drive right past.

The door lead into the middle of a square waiting room painted a plain eggshell color. The reception desk was planted straight ahead guarding another closed door, which Chris assumed lead to the doctor and his patients.

“Why hello, how can we help you today?” The receptionist was a perky blonde and looked about twenty-two. Her breasts were bubbling over the rim of her pink shirt like a glass of soda that had been filled too high. In a last-ditch attempt to make her outfit business-casual, she threw a pink unbuttoned cardigan over her shoulders. Chris was immediately attracted to her.

“Umm, well, you see…”

Katrina came around from behind Chris to give him a hand. The receptionist recognized Katrina immediately. “Katrina! You’re back. Everyone said you were in Forest Hills, but I didn’t believe them.” Her smile stayed glued in the same position as she came around from behind the desk to give Katrina a hug.

“Lucy. Good to see you.” Katrina had gone to school with the girl. She was much more popular than Katrina but that didn’t seem to affect her ego. Katrina liked her positive attitude and willingness to get to know everyone no matter how ’cool’ they were. She was a good fit for Dr. Stevesen’s office—even if her clothes weren’t. Katrina elbowed Chris to give him one more shot at presenting himself. “This is my friend Chris. He’s from New York.”

“New ‘Yolk’?” Lucy let out a little gasp “I’ve Always wanted to gaw there!”

“Oh, well. You should.” Chris glanced at Katrina then back at Lucy’s full chest. He quickly corrected his gaze to her teeth and continued: “Well, I’m originally from Virginia, but—um, is the Doctor in?” Chris’ mouth was dry and he really hoped the doctor could see him soon.

“Oh.” Lucy bounced back to the desk and tapped her pencil on the appointment book. “Well, he has one person waiting” She pointed the pencil to a woman sitting in the corner trying to look out the window—regardless if the blinds were shut. “but she should go back in a jiff. Can ya’ll wait?”

“Yeah we’ll wait.” Katrina replied for Chris.

“Great. I’ll tell him you’re here. Oh, can you just fill out this form for me?” Lucy pushed a clipboard with an information sheet towards Chris.

“Oh, I don’t think that’s necessary. I’m just here to interview him.”

Lucy’s smile faded a little. “I see. I’ll let him know. Have a seat.” She flashed her teeth at Chris and went through the door behind the desk.

Chris and Katrina went across the room from the waiting woman, next to the coffee table. “ Thanks for coming with me.” Chris wanted Katrina to know that he appreciated and welcomed her presence.

“Don’t mention it. It’s kind of interesting for me to watch.”

“Watch what? Me struggle?”

Katrina laughed, “Well it was interesting watching you try and tear your eyes from Lucy’s bundles of joy. But no, that’s not what I meant.” She was looking right into Chris’ eyes.

“One of your eyes is half green, half brown.” Katrina had a weird feeling take over her emotions. She had felt it before, but didn’t recognize it. Her heart beat a little faster and then she realized she was trying to get Chris’ attention.

“I do? Really? Maybe I should talk to the Dr. after all! Where’d that form go.” Chris smiled to portray his sarcasm.

Katrina smacked him on the arm and looked down to hide her face—now a darker shade of pink. “It’s neat, that’s all.” Katrina smiled and picked up a magazine off the table. ‘National Geographic’; typical Doctor’s office magazine. She looked at the date: March. Only four months behind. Not bad. She flicked through the magazine, looking for the cover story about Wolves. They were her favorite animal regardless if she had never seen one.

Chris looked at her just a moment longer before opening his notebook to jot down a few questions for the doctor. He liked how she was unconcerned that her hair was coming undone, letting little wisps of hair out, sticking to the thin sheen of heat-induced sweat on her neck. He quickly looked away because he felt he shouldn’t be concerning himself with such things.

Lucy came bouncing through the door over to Chris. She bent over to talk to him in a whisper. “Um, sorry Chris but Dr. Stevensen would like to know what business you would like to discuss with him.”

Chris took extra effort not to look at the crease of bosom that had just been thrust in front of his face. Katrina laughed through her nose. “Yeah, sure. I’m here trying to get information about the infection.” Chris said in an equally quiet voice.

“Oh. ‘Kay.” Lucy bounced up and went through the door again.

Katrina and Chris looked at each other with raised eyebrows. They both laughed.

Chapter 6 continued.

.....

Beside the article was a picture of Katrina’s father—cigar in mouth—with a caption underneath that read: “Forest Hills Logging tycoon is new father to twins”.

How come Katrina never mentioned that Emily was her sister? She told me that she was her cousin. Chris could hear the lock of Mama’s apartment starting to turn. He quickly folded up the paper and slipped it back into the secret spot he found it.

“What are you looking at?” Mama asked. Katrina was standing behind her unmoved by what was going on.

“Oh, um I was just looking at this photo album I found. I hope that’s Okay. There’s some really good photos in here!”

Mama took the book out of Chris’ hands and placed it back above the fireplace. “You really shouldn’t go snooping through people’s belongings chicken.”

“I’m sorry, I was looking at the nice framed pictures here and saw the album.”

Chris glanced over at Katrina was oblivious to Mama’s tone of voice and reaction to the album. Chris knew then that there was some sort of secret being kept about Katrina and Emily being sisters.

“That’s Okay honey. I made some chicken noodle soup and more bread this morning. I’ll get us some. I won’t be but five minutes.”

“More bread? And soup? You’re a busy lady Mama.”

“It keeps my hands fresh and mind busy”. She chuckled and skipped into the kitchen. Katrina and Chris moved to the table and sat down.

“How was your uncle’s?” Chris asked to be polite.

“It was good thank you. My uncle had already left for work when I got there. I’ll try again tomorrow.”

Chris wanted to ask why it took her so long if her uncle wasn’t even home, but thought it was none of his business.

“What did you do while I was gone?” Katrina eyes were searching his.

“Well, I drove into the forest, and I found this old farm.” Chris pulled his camera out of his pocket. “I was going to ask you about it.” Before he turned the camera on Katrina replied:

“It belongs to the Dr. It was an inheritance from his uncle. No one goes there. It’s pretty much become abandoned. But the property is huge. It goes from the house all the way to the road that we came in on.”

“I could see that it was abandoned but what’s with the electric fence?”

“Oh, well Mister Stevensen was an old crazy man apparently. RIGHT MAMA?”

“Huh?” Mama popped her head around the corner.

“Mister Stevensen. You knew him didn’t you?”

“Well yes Trinket, he’s the town Doctor.”

“No Mama, his uncle.”

“Oh yeah, he was as crooked as a dog’s hind leg. Kept mostly to himself in that cabin on the edge of town.” Mama disappeared back into the kitchen.

“Huh. So does the Doctor do anything with it?” Chris asked Katrina.

“Oh, I don’t think so. He said that he doesn’t want to tear it down because it was a part of his family, but it’s too old to sell now and since no one in the town goes that way—not even Jerrid—no one’s bothered by it’s being there.”

“Is that the only farm in the area?”

“On that side of town yes, there’s a few more to the west of the town.”

“What’s that round building beside the cabin? It looks like a grain silo, but it seems too short and stubby.” Chris clicked through some of the pictures while Katrina looked on curiously.

Katrina laughed. “Depends who you ask. As kids we thought that’s where mister Stevensen hid little children, the grown-ups thought it was converted into a shelter that went below ground incase the apocalypse came. He was always going on about that to people in town. Scared us kids half to death. It was probably just nothing but an old chicken coop or something.” Katrina looked back at the pictures.

“What happened to him? Old mister Stevensen?”

Katrina leaned back into the chair. “He was one of the first to go through the infection. The forest was the favorite place for the infected so his house was the obvious choice. Jerrid and Gregory used to stay close to there until the infected some how figured that out and stayed farther away.”

“Oh yeah, I saw them today on my way out of the forest.”

“They saw you?” Katrina was looking at him with hard eyes, but a relaxed face. Some pieces of hair around her face had made their way out of her ponytail and she kept batting them away with her fingers.

Chris nodded to confirm that he saw them and they saw him.

“Oh, they’re not going to be happy with you: snooping around in their forest.”

Mama came around the corner carrying a tray with three soups, a basket of bread, butter and three lemonades garnished with a lemon slice and mint sprigs. “Oh baby, were you in the forest today?” She said as if he was a four year old who got into the cookie jar.

“Um, yes. I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal. There were tire tracks and everything.”

“No one goes in the forest anymore. No one’s allowed to go in; it’s Jerrid and Gregory’s territory—at least until the infection is completely wiped out.” Mama set a bowl in front of each of them.

“Okay, I won’t go in again. I don’t need to be eaten up by any zombies. Knowing my luck, there’d probably be only one zombie left and I’d be its meal; starting the cycle all over again.”

“Don’t say that!” Mama exclaimed. “You’re too skinny for any Zombie.” She winked at Chris and they started on their meals.

“Okay.” Chris laughed. “But after lunch will you take me to the Doctor’s office?” Chris directed his question towards Katrina. “I really need to start interrogating some people.”

Katrina had a mouth full of food so she nodded and looked at Mama for a reaction but Mama was contently eating her food trying to stay out of their business.

“Mama?” Chris asked. “I noticed these markings on the railings downstairs. They look like human fingernail marks—as if someone was trying to hang on.” He got that example from watching too many paranormal shows and horror movies.

Without looking up from her soup, Mama replied, “That’s precisely what it is chicken.”

cont...End of Chapter 4

.....Jerrid didn’t remove his gaze from Chris’ face. Even when he walked towards the apartment door, Jerrid standing in the same spot watching Chris; his hand was supporting his own weight on the trunk of Chris’ rental car. Chris only stopped long enough to see that the rear end of the car was dipping considerably under Jerrid’s weight.

When Chris got inside he felt a sense of relief when he locked the door. He leant against it and rubbed his head feeling the band-aid still gripping his skin. “Ugh” he sighed in embarrassment.
Remembering Mama trying to turn the lights on earlier, he reached for the light switch and flicked it up and down a few times. They all finally flickered on with the buzz of the energy flowing through the circuit. When he looked down, there was a red patch on the third step. 'My blood, I’ll wipe that up later' he thought. When he reached for the railing, he immediately retracted his hand when he saw four long, thin scratches dug into the wood. Chris’ thoughts turned into what he learned watching 'ghostly encounters'-type television shows. His heart dropped when he looked at the opposite railing; there were four more scratches exactly the same. 'Those have to be human!' He thought. He traced the scratches with his own finger-nails until the reality of the situation set in and he raced up the stairs.
“What took you so long?” Mama was sitting on one of the chairs in the living room. He sat down in the chair next to hers, leaving his bag at the front door.
“I ran into a lovely fellow named Jerrid.” Chris said sarcastically. He decided not to ask about the scratches on the wooden railings just yet.
“Oh.” Mama chuckled a high-pitched vibration. “Oh Darling, his intentions are good. You’re just new, so you’re going to raise red flags when they’re on the patrol.”
“They’re on patrol?” Chris said. “And there’s more of him?”
“Yes honey, we still have patrols even though the situation has been relieved. There’s three of those boys who still go out at night-time these days.”

Katrina came and sat indian-style on the couch.
“What’s with the hunting get-up?” Chris asked.
“Was he wearing his rifle?” Katrina interjected.
Chris shook his head, "um, I don't know. Maybe." He faintly remembered seeing a strap across Jerrid’s chest.
“Sometimes they’ll go deep into the forest and make sure there isn’t any stragglers.”
Chris nodded. “Stragglers?”
“Yes Baby.” Mama replied. “Somehow the infected found out they were more comfortable in the shade of the forest and they could come in to town when they were really hungry.”
“But the infected haven’t figured out how to coincide with each other yet so there’s only usually one or two together in the forest. When they’re in the village though, they seem to find each other and hunt in large groups.” Katrina watched Chris’ reaction. “It’s a bit more fun for Jerrid and Gregory when there’s only a couple in the forest; it's like, a game.”

Chris felt like he should be writing this all down but didn’t want to offend Mama. Instead he just nodded and tried to commit it to his already exhausted memory.
“Don’t look so scared baby. You don’t need to worry about it.” Mama comforted. “So, tell us again why your hear.” She popped a chocolate almond in her mouth and covered her lips with the crook of her finger.
“Well…” Chris started, “I just started a job at this paper in New York and the news editor wanted to do a piece on the Forest Hills plague and the people that were still infected, who were returning from Colorado. But since accepting the piece I now realized—with the help of Katrina—that this was not a plague at all.”
“No, I don’t think so.” Mama smiled. She squeezed her eyes together and grinned at Katrina. “But I guess in some sorts it was and with a few word games the government was able to cover it up as that.”
“I’m hoping to get some interviews tomorrow. Can you help me?”
“I would love to darling but I don’t know if that’s such a good idea for me to help; don't want to give people another reason to gossip you know. But I can tell you that there’s a few willing-to-talk people that hang out down at the coffee shop on the opposite corner of this building. It’s called Mary-Jo’s”
“That’s a start. Thank you.” Chris smiled at Mama and Katrina.

Mama and Katrina didn’t say anything else until Mama excused herself and announced that she was going to go to bed.
“Old ladies like me don’t stay up very late anymore. You kids don’t stay up too late either. I’m sure you’ve had a long day.” She started walking down the hall and turned around. “Oh Chris, I never asked you: How long are you staying here for? In Forest Hills I mean.”
“Only for a long weekend. If that’s Okay with you?”
“Of course Ducky, I was just wondering. You’re welcome to stay as long as you like.” She turned into her room and shut the door.

Chris turned back to Katrina. “Thank you.”
“For what?” Katrina asked.
“For being a part of letting me stay here. It can’t be fun having someone come in and take over your time alone with your grandmother.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s probably good having you here; being a buffer for the beginning. Plus she likes you.”
“It seems like she likes everyone.” Chris was taking a dig at Jerrid, but didn't know if Katrina picked up on it.
“She tries to find the best in all people, but she definitely likes you.” Katrina got out of the chair. “I think I’m going to go to bed now too. We can get up early tomorrow and introduce you to the locals if you like.”
“Yes, I would like that. Say seven-thirty?”
“Sounds good. Good-night.”
“See you in the morning.” Chris got up, grabbed his bag and made his way to his new bedroom. Even though it was early, he was knackered and welcomed the bed with open arms. He knew that he should do some writing, but decided to start tomorrow when he had a clear mind. He fumbled with the futon until he got it laid flat and put the sheets on. He stripped down to his boxers and the t-shirt he had on, climbed under the covers and thought about the day's stories; afraid he would have nightmares. He fell asleep almost immediately.

***
Katrina fell asleep with her clothes on. She had intentions of staying awake just long enough to re-familiarize her self with her old room; she didn’t want to wake up and not know where she was-- like so many times before. Her exhausted body had another plan.
She tossed and turned all night, the familiar and re-occuring dream of her parents snuggled up in their favorite chairs in the front room. It was their favorite room because of the massive granite fireplace. Katrina noticed the fire was almost out; the last pieces of wood were nothing but glowing lumps of ash. Her family lived in the oldest house in Forest Hills. It had been passed down from generations-- since her relatives had built it and founded most of Forest hills. Most of the house was still intact with the original features. The only thing that had been changed were the wooden window sills and some floor panels that had disintegrating from being food for pesky termites. The walls in this particular room matched the dark burgundy of the rugs. Katrina walked towards the old leather chairs turned towards the fire, their backs to her as she came into the room.
She had just come home from visiting Mama and she was early as requested by her parents.
Katrina announced her arrival “Hey.”
There was no movement from the chairs. Her mom who was usually knitting or crocheting was not moving and the yarn and needles were on the floor haphazardly. Her dad’s book was draped across his knee as if he had fallen asleep. Katrina thought this was odd since she had never seen her dad fall asleep anywhere other than his bed, and her mom was a very organized person, especially when it came to her crafts. She brushed it off as a first and moved a little closer. That’s when she saw both her parents jerk and stiffen.
“Mom, dad?” She became worried and unwillingly prepared her muscled for a possible escape.
Without warning, her parents pounced up from the chairs, searching until their fourth sense honed in on her. When they locked on, both simultaneously turned and soared across the room at Katrina in one leap. On the second pounce—the one that she knew would be fatal if she didn't move-- Katrina whipped around and threw herself through the big wood doors she had just come, closing them behind her until she felt them click shut.
She was aware of the fall breeze and was lucky she had her coat and shoes still on.
“GREGORY!” She yelled. Nothing. “GREGORY!” She screamed again, this time with a blood-curdling tone. She was running towards the bell tower hoping to find someone on watch. After she hopped the fence into the cemetery, hoping to slow them down, she turned around and saw the two figures gaining on her, running endlessly without tiring. “GREGORY!” She kept sreaming until she saw him running towards her. Thank god! She thought. She experienced an extreme burst of energy and all of a sudden felt like she had been lifted from the ground and was flying.

Katrina would never forget Gregory’s reaction: he had stopped, in shock of what he was seeing: Katrina’s own parents, flesh and blood chasing after her for their next meal. “No, it can’t be!” He said out-loud.
“GREGORY YOU HAVE TO SHOOT THEM!” Katrina had already accepted the reality that she was parentless and If they didn't die, she would be viciously ripped apart--eyes first--and turned into food.
Without any more hesitation, Gregory pulled the rifle off his back, aimed and fired twice. He didn’t miss. He replaced the rifle on his back just in time for Katrina to fall lifelessly at his feet. She started weeping into her hands.
Gregory bent down and wrapped his arms around her. Katrina could feel warm drops falling onto her neck: Gregory’s tears. “I’m sorry Katrina. I’m sorry.” He whispered into her hair.
This was the reality of what happened, but Katrina’s dream always continued on with a different, surreal ending each time:
Gregory tried to protect her with his own body but instead was ripped from her back. When Katrina looked at the spot where Gregory’s body landed, both her parents were hovering over him. The woman looked at the man and he nodded at her. She bowed down to Gregory’s eyes and one at a time, covered each with her mouth sucking them out and viciously chewing on them; shoving the nerves and membranes into her mouth with both of her bloody hands. Gregory was shrieking in pain trying to grab at his face, but the man—Katrina’s transformed father—was holding him down for the woman.
Katrina wanted to run but her legs felt like lead. She didn’t want to scream, but she couldn’t help herself and she yelled “NO!”
Immediately they turned and the man jumped on top of her in one leap. The woman was on top of her just as quickly. Her last sight was Gregory was still screaming, grabbing at his empty eye sockets. An open mouth, smelling of death covered her vision and everything went dark. She jolted awake and realized she was safe in her bed at Mama’s. She wiped the tears off her face and looked at her watch. 3:25 am. She decided to get up and get a glass of water, only to find Mama in the kitchen as well.
“You finally woke-up child.” Mama wrapped her arms around Katrina and they both started to weep.