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"J-just a dreaht when I was about to yank off the sheet to exa down the hall

I dropped back, closing my eyes an instant before my mother entered Without even a courtesy knock "Evie, are you up?" Light flooded in fro to sound sleepy as I took a frantic s? Was I covered in dirt? Had ernails returned to normal?

But all I felt was numbness, as if ht I heard you cry out" Her tone had that alare to it Sherlock senses crazy

"Huh? I "

Still dressed for the day, she sat at the end of"Your face is so pale Are you co?"

"Nope Not s, would it soak through my sheet? If my mom saw those parallel slices, she would probably think I was a closet cutter, like my former roommate at the center

"I’m worried about you," she said "We need to talk about how you’re doing now that you’re back at hos were bleeding

Another furtive adjust through She’ll see, she’ll see

Adjust the sheet, overlap it There Better

"You’ve been back for nearly teeks, but I haven’t heard you laugh a single time You always used to joke around, just like your dad" Her brows drew together "Evie, what’s" She laid the back of her hand against ?" She wrapped her ar?"

What’s right? I’d doubled up on ht--and I was noorse off "I-I think I just had a bad dream"

She drew back "A hallucination?"

"No! I was sound asleep"

"Honey, just tell me, and I will make this better"

You didn’t last time The cure didn’t take! Yet I was so freaked out, I was te deep, resolved tomy tone "I will tell you when I need your help"

She was taken aback by my demeanor "Oh" Because, for a brief moment, I’d sounded just as steely as she usually did "Uot to get so aze wary, almost startled "Of course Uh, sweet dreams, honey"

Once the door closed behind her, I yanked the sheet away, grihs was crusting with blood, but ashes

Maybe I’d just cut ernails in sleep I wanted to latch on to this reasoning, to ignore how realistic Death’s visit had been

When I recalled his arers itched to render his likeness I reached underover the paper, I whispered repeatedly, "Two years and out, two years and out" A tear dropped onto the page, then another and another--three blurred spots over Death’s otherworldly i, the storht

And because I was insane, I ached with thes, convinced that I’d htmare With a curse, I flicked the crusted blood away

The skin beneath it wasunmarked

Chapter 6

DAY 2 BF

I spentat the tiled cee of tears, I tried to ignore the fact that a bed of daisies had turned their faces toward me--instead of the direction of the sun

At least the roses and ivy were still

Last night, before I’d gone to sleep--the first time--I’d wondered, What are the odds that I’ll have a pop quiz?

I hadn’t had one today

I’d had two And just to add insult to injury? When we’d handed our English quizzes up the row, Jackson’s paper had all the answers, scribbled in bold handwriting

Though I’d never before gotten below a B+ on anything, I’d accuht, ainst the cool stone, struggling not to cry

Today when I’d asked my teachers for makeups

Bitches said no

My stoo back to CLC, would never go back

I had to wonder where the bottom was for this What was that SAT word for the absolute rock bottom? The nadir Where was my nadir?

How much ht’s date with Death, I et a time-out frolish, I’d fallen asleep, drea her now Naturally, she’d been fresh fro the blood of her victi it

I’d been able to see more of her than ever before Her pale face was round, her skin th of her cheeks No, not tattoos, but glyphs--like glowing green brands Though she had girlish freckles across her nose, she looked older, reen, pure evil

I’d watched as she’d advanced on aher thorn claws into one of its stalks So its life into herself as she’d thrown back her head and shrieked with pleasure

The plant writhed, as if in death throes, but she wasit a withered husk She was like a parasite, enslaving the very things I loved

When I’d jerked awake, everyone had been packing up their books--except for Jackson

Then I’d realized he hadn’t been looking at one white as I clenched the edges of htmare?" he’d asked with a nod

Had he seemed sympathetic? Unable to help myself, I asked, "Do youdo you have them?"

"Yeah" He’d sounded like he was about to say more, only to remember eren’t friends He’d just repeated, "Yeah"

"What do you do?"

"I sleep with one eye open" He’d taken a pull from his flask and strode away

I’d be happy just to sleep at all