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I was e on while Eli was at work, when I noticed a young woe, ainst her sides, head locked in the "forward" position, not bothering to account for anything in her peripheral vision Next to irl

I leaned forward, reaching under my seat for my handheld Taser Don’t leave hoirl didn’t exactly look like a threat: she was younger thanBeach T-shirt and jeans that had been artistically shredded at the knees As she approached me I could see that her expression was unnaturally blank, her eyes empty and unfocused And that one of her hands was clenched in a fist

With a little effort I extended ical space that eirl I could feel Eli and Shadow, but the girl wasn’t registering any kind of signal, which meant she was human Shadow must have smelled this at the saivingthu, like when a witch tries to use a spell against me Witch spells usually flare out inzappers This felt nize the sensation: this girl had had her mind pressed, which was our terically And I’d just undone it

The girl’s vacant expression cleared, and she looked around with confusion Her forward momentum propelled her the rest of the way to my van door

"What was I" she"What do you have there?" I asked, pointing to her hand

The young woaze and raised the hand with the fist, looking at it curiously She uncurled her fingers and revealed a folded scrap of paper Shadow let out a sudden growl, trying to climb into istered that the folded paper was splotched with red, as though paint had been sponged on it Or as though a bloodstained hand had written the note

"Shadow, sit," I ordered, pointing at the passenger seat She didn’t like it, but she lowered her haunches until they alainst that painting back there," I told the wide-eyed girl, nodding over her shoulder at an iht still be wet"

It was fliirl’s shoulders relaxed a little Hu to, even if they border on ridiculous Without turning away fro into the small packet of baby wipes I keep between the seats of my van

She read the name on the outside of the folded note "Scarlett Bernard" She looked up at me, her face a mask of bewilder her underwear," I replied The girl’s expression didn’t change Tough crowd "That’s me," I confirmed She held out the note, and I held out a wipe "For your hands"

We traded, and I unfolded the note quickly, knowing she was about to ask a lot of questions There was an address scrawled at the top, 2310 Scarff In block letters below it, the writer had added, DON’T TELL ANYONE EVEN ELI

I had already opened my mouth to ask where the note came from when I saw the extra scribble at the very bottom of the paper, done in desperate, hurried cursive: please Scar I snapped

Molly

Chapter 2

Once upon a time, I sort of had a fake best friend