"Life in its ever-changing, I would gladly sacrifice being for this." She Who Changed

Chapter 11: Play Sheep

“You're so predictable,” Papa stated aloud, splayed out across my bed like it was his own.

The dark clouds in my room were passing.

I was thankful that He closed his eyes instead of looking at me in defeat. For a minute it looked like he was healthy, but I could still see the overflow of green in his body.

“Adousa go get the box” Papa looked at me with curiosity like the two didn’t just freak me out with the whole Adonin thing. Ooh, it was so creepy, “The boy who could never be, "I copied. Trying to drop my voice, which hurt my vocal cords.

They're trying to make my life a horror movie trope on such a special day.

“Did you wash up?" Papa asked, tossing and turning to where papa sat.

"Yes", I replied.

"Go do it again you look like you stink Eve.” I was close to crying but he continued as I headed for the bathroom over to my right. “Rule number one take care of your appearance, It is your weapon.”

“That was mean,” I told him he frowned and copied my voice like a brat making me tear up.

It was fair seeing I’d copied Father.

“Who wants your best interest,” he said.

“You and Dad,” I replied.

“Yes, my little Eden you are about to enter the garden full of thorns, so eager to make you cry. You must have thick skin. From the looks of it Adonin won't be around to steer you in the right direction so hold your tears back until you get somewhere private.”

I was at a loss for words. Why is he just telling me this, I was only thirteen. “Yes, Adena I know you're thirteen, you are tall for your age, it will be used against you.”

Could Papa read minds? Hopping back into the shower, I went through my routine while Papa continued talking on my bed.

"Dearest, you also have a name, don't show your pride or flaunt your wealth, you will be berated and ridiculed. Lastly, don't let anyone touch, or harm you in any way, you think for yourself. A strong suit of yours, and those silly eyes are an excellent judge of character. Please use them.”

Father had entered the room with a huge cardboard box filled with clothes, unrelated to the box my stomach rumbled from the breakfast that I hadn’t eaten.

“Is there breakfast downstairs,” Of course there was.

“Okay my job here is done, I'll let your father take the wheel," Papa said, closing his eyes again and placing his head back on my black sheets.

Father looked into the box and pulled out clothes of his choosing which didn't bother me as much as it should have.

Clearing his throat, father started listing out rules, a sign that Papa was still technically on a leave of absence.

“Rule number one no boyfriends until you're sixteen, seventeen, eighteen.” No complaints from me, no comment, that comment being ‘Eww’.

“Rule number two, skin, you're still a kid, and September weather won’t help you out in any of those teenage endeavors,” what did that mean?

“Three, pay attention in class and tell your Papa if not me about any arising problems. Yes, you will have problems, my girl. Now prepare yourself Paula’s waiting downstairs for you, be careful.” That’s a good rule, Food, I’m starving.

Losing my train of thought for breakfast, and the temptation of food I readied to leave my prison. The outfit was alright, not my style of comfortable joggers and a big shirt but hey for another day. About to run past my engraved wooden door Papa said “Adena” like I did something wrong.

“Appearance is my weapon,” I replied, knowing this was where I had messed up. Papa's words sounded a lot like when he was teaching me etiquette.

“Lotion up, let me fix your hair, and pick a perfume at the bottom of the box.” Words of wisdom, I was no longer in a rush.

We were hours out from the city. And those in a rush, are those preluding to failure.

“Lastly check in between your nails and your breath now and then, you're a peacock, keep your feathers clean, and smell good whenever you can.” I love Papa. “Everything will fall in line.” Kissing both of my dad's. I left in a hurry after eating the pancake breakfast that was prepared for me.

If you're wondering, me and my dad don't get sick, like at all. Call this another oddity of the Mabtali family. Trying to calm myself down. I was off running towards the car garage, according to Papa, I was up to code. And I don’t think there’s any better certification.

===

Papa had sent me a text on my way to school. It was funny, I guess.

Paula had forced me to sit in the backseat for safety reasons.

I'm thirteen, I should be able to ride shotgun by now. Anyway, the first thing Papa texted me was in bold letters “Use the force.” I chuckled which drew Paula’s attention.

"Morning Adena, as long as you're in my company I am to be called Aunt Paula.” She wouldn’t get any complaints from me.

“Okay, Tia Paula, Hope you're having a good day.” She laughed, keeping her eyes glued to the road.

“You look beautiful today, like a young lady. But I think the tracksuit from two days ago was more my style.” I looked down at my blue jeans like I had lost the game, sacrificing my comfort for cuteness.

The drive from the city was expectant. I’d been to the mall. I’ve seen it all.

Wallowing just a bit, Paula had arrived and parked the car. To no one's surprise, I was getting nervous already. Then I imagined the image of Papa slapping me upside my head and I decided that I would play the fool or the part. Whichever would help me out, when I needed assistance most.

“Good,” I heard in a whisper, like someone was already irritated with me. My imagination.

The school building was nothing special either. Putting on a smile, I looked at the school logo in front of the building.

"A bookworm,” How kindergarten, what is this preschool? The day was off to a start. So, I focused on Paula's back and kept walking. It was nice having some type of control over my eyes.

A relief, but for some reason I acted like it was the most normal thing in my mundane world. After Paula and I had a conversation with Mr. Conrad, the principal for about twenty minutes, we walked to my new locker.

Things were moving. But where were the students? I kept looking around for people, but everyone was tucked behind some door frame. In the Tv-shows there was always someone roaming the halls. A teacher, a student, a janitor getting ready to feed a kitten he was secretly keeping in the school basement.

“How anticlimactic.” Paula and Mr. Conrad talked to each other a few feet ahead of me.

“Miss Mabtali, what do you think of the school?” Mr. Conrad did take offense to my silence.

After that, I was escorted to my first class which was math. "Geometry...Probably?"

Unaware of the severe case of tunnel vision I was having. I spared some attention to Mr. Conrad. He was a nice man who looked to be in his forties like my parents, well like Father. Papa still looked like he was in his thirties.

I’m not the best at guessing ages. Father had told me he was approaching fifty and there wasn’t much left to say.

“We’ve arrived.” Mr. Conrad spoke, as Paula put a hand on my back as escort. I mean Aunt.

Paula had left me to my own devices, and the principal had grabbed the attention of my new math class.

“Hello, great and gorgeous." He lied; the classroom didn't look gorgeous. It was bland. But I guess having a spotless classroom is a good thing. Let’s look at it that way.

“Class of 2025 I would like to introduce a new student, as you can see, she's joining us late in the year. Be nice to her, and from here I'll let Mrs. Domith take the mic.” Vice or assistant Principal Conrad had exited the classroom as quickly as we had entered.

He had left me with eyes that stared at me like I was fresh meat. Luckily for me, Curiosity was most evident.

Mrs.Domith asked me if I wanted to introduce myself and I kind of went into etiquette mode by mistake.

Standing in the middle of class I bowed my head like a dignified young lady and said, “Hello my name is Adena Ce Raphil Mabtali.” In an instant the entire classroom laughed in my face point blank, and I had already made a bad impression on some of my new classmates.

Half of the class had their eyes on me absorbing my entire essence like I was eye candy, the other was laughing, and one girl to the left was already developing green specks.

Annoying, we hadn't met before today, but problems were arriving at my doorstep. I’d need to approach the problem at its source before she turned too green like… who?

I had drawn a blank, could've sworn that I'd met someone covered in green specks. “Shit” I mouthed by mistake. A little frustrated with myself, I wouldn't use those words.

Mrs.Domith had heard that slip, “Language” she hushed. I couldn't say anything but “Sorry, I’m nervous." Every last one of the students laughed again after that.

My eyes and their usual antics flashed back on. It was like getting my picture taken. A flash of white light hit me before I turned the specks back off. I succeeded in keeping my eyes open, causing them to water.

For a minute I stood there unblinking, unmoving, unsettled. “Find a seat,” My new teacher voiced.

I sat far away from the green beam that was forming behind me. I ended up at the front of the classroom by the door for everyone to see me.

The class was super boring. I almost fell asleep, which Mrs.Domith took notice of.

Minutes turned into an hour as I sat there scribbling on a paper, I had pulled from my black book bag. A book bag which for some reason had two changes of clothes one my size and another with a large shirt and the smallest pair of pants.

‘There’s no way I’m fitting into those.’ The pants looked like they were for a child.

A cause for a sigh, remembering the prank my parents tried to play on me.

The clock directly above Mrs. Domith ticked bye. 'Time sure flies.' I thought before a bell rang signifying the start of the next period. As I got up for the door which was right beside me. Mrs.Domith and her double chin had called for me.

I smiled and replied. “Yes, Mrs. Domith," like I'd answered my previous instructors.

‘Why the heck is she turning green?’ It was official, this place was filled with rancid energy.

“Is AP Calculus too easy for you, Miss Adena?” The woman spoke, reaching into her desk drawer. I scratched my head trying to look a bit lost and aloof.

“It’s alright but it's not a challenge yet." She was getting greener by the second, I don't think she liked it when I looked straight into her eyes. 'That's right, making eye contact doesn't require actual eye-to-eye contact.'

'What is wrong with this lady?' She was giving me a mean mug, writing a math problem on a blank piece of paper. Sliding it to the corner of her desk, grabbing the blue lined paper I spoke.

“What if I'm late to my next class?” My words had made the green go down the slightest bit. The elderly woman's hints of gray and silver had lightened up, her sour mood was somehow lifting as she looked up at the time.

"I'll give you a pass or a slip whichever is needed, “she replied.

I originally thought it'd be another problem but nope, it had taken thirty-second tops. Sliding the paper back to her, I asked for the slip, and I was off to my next class.

The hallway was crowded, and white light hit me like a lighthouse. I could block everything out, or at least I believed I could.

I closed my eyes and threw myself into the hallway's sidelines, finding myself at someone's locker, I used it to catch my breath and manage my headache. Making up my mind I let every speck of color enter my eyes, and then and there, down the hall, I saw something new flickering out of my vision.

Maybe I was seeing things, who knows? Shaking my head, I looked at a random student's back and went about my business.

'Let's focus on getting to my next class. Turning back on the specks was now like coming up for air. My eyes needed to see the specs for some reason.

Reading the paper with my schedule listed. Suddenly I was happy about being late to school.

Lunch and a break were scheduled right after math class. The math class I had just in fact come from. 'What a beautiful day,' I thought about the car ride on the way here.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

I was in my world, ignoring the students giving me glances in the hallway. If I hadn't bumped into a few people I would've practically gone unnoticed.

"Now to find the restroom," I said at the end of the hallway. Thankful that I didn't actually have to use the bathroom. After finding the lunchroom and my next class I headed to the bathroom closest to me, very close to the lunchroom.

This is where I'd find peace in the following year.

"A safe and private place" like Papa had described. The bathroom had soft pink tiles, "Typical", at least it was clean in the right places. 'Specks never lie,' there it was again like someone was talking in their sleep. It was so creepy, and I couldn't acknowledge it without being seen as crazy. Only one person came in during this hour and I was eternally grateful for the silence. From there I washed my hands, looked at myself in one of the mirrors and headed for the lunchroom.

I was nervous, this wasn't a mall, and I was alone.

I had to constantly force my head up. I couldn’t appear timid.

There was nothing particularly interesting about the school's white tiles. I was just down in the dumps, I guess. The day had just started, and my first class had been somewhat of a disaster.

“Calm” I heard another whisper causing me to turn my head to see what was behind me. It was just a reflex but at least the whisper helped me out. I had lost past the lunchroom which was right next to the bathroom. A room away to be exact.

Walking into the lunchroom, I walked right into a long line spanning the whole room vertically. I would've started scoping out a table in my next step. I've seen this scene so many times on TV shows.

Everything was fine and sort of going as planned. That was until I saw it! A figure out of place lacking color or any shade. I was taking in the sight of the little creature at the back of the rectangular lunchroom. It hopped from shoulder-to-shoulder contrasting with the green mural behind it.

The small plushy was kind of contorting the colors around it. I may have glanced for too long because the tiny figure looked in my direction like it had felt my eyes graze across its back.

It was so cute, just the cutest little fox. A Chibi-looking fox that occasionally hopped on kids' shoulders. Nibbling on their ears, no one had even noticed. The fox was so adorable its mouth was shaped like an X, and it looked like it was passing a red line of thread out of its butt- 'backside'. I didn't think my imagination was getting the best of me. I had always seen specks, forgot things on occasion, lost track of time, and even stared into space on the occasion when something was shiny enough.

Okay, maybe I was imagining the fox. "I'll just ignore it." I turned towards the blonde girl in front of me in line. As a loud lunch lady pulled my attention.

“Next!' she shouted. 'That was quick,' I reached the plastic trays and soon I'd pay for lunch. The food here looked… 'Reminder, ask about lunch substitutes.' I can't believe people ate this.

The food looked close to expiration and smelled like it too.

It had occurred to me that I had already eaten but since I had already stood in line. I was stumped on something, trying not to get nervous. But I figured, it was about time I didn't know how something was done.

“Excuse me”, Puppy dog eyes were directed towards the lunch lady. "I'm new to the school and I’ve never used these things before,” I said pointing towards the tablet and cash register at the front of the line. “You're a cute one," she said in her hair net and gray lunch uniform.

Taking her eyes off the steamy tray of green beans she called out someone's name, not even caring about the volume.

I didn't know lunch ladies got to order students around. That student was him, him being some kid named "Nathaniel!" in the lunch lady's words, not mine.

'Okay so obviously, I've used a cash register before. I'm not an idiot, I've been to the mall.' Pulling me from my thoughts one of the kids got up and lightly patted me on my back. I could've sworn that I flinched, but nothing came about it.

“I'm Nate. Short for Nathaniel," Confusing, was he scared of the lunch lady?

"Sophomore and you are... new here.” He wasn't much taller than me, probably about 5'9, as he looked down at me with his dark brown eyes. I'd activated the dance of etiquette and was in response mode.

The boy chuckled and told me. “Don’t need to be so formal, there's no need here. At the moment. Save it for the principle.” I kept calm no matter what. He was just a boy, the first I could remember talking to.

'Woah, how did that get here?' I was all for cute and cuddly Chibi's, but the small chubby fox was rubbing me the wrong way. Metaphorically. It was actually rubbing Nathaniel's leg with its furry hands. Slowly looping a red thread of “shit” around his leg after it was done assaulting him.

And for a second, I thought it cute… until it opened its maw.

Yes, a “Maw", the fox's cute little ‘x’ for a mouth and button for a nose, had split, opened and chowed down.

It was moving around Nathaniel's like it was at an all-you-can-eat buffet. I was curious and a bit intrigued at first to see a new occurrence. It kept biting but its maw was toothless.

‘Why bite, when you can’t chew?’

‘A weird creature, selectively picking kids out of the bunch to use as brunch.’ Curiosity got the best of me. I turned my eyes back on to see the specks more clearly. Right, now everything was significantly dulled by my recent control over my eyesight. Getting a closer look at the little fox and its linear movements.

'It was curiosity that killed the cat.' I had made the second worst mistake of my life.

“Why am I so unlucky?” The fox was a parasite gulping down Nate's specks. No wonder, it rubbed against his leg like it was eyeing a good melon.

“Run,” I heard in an instant.

Slowly backing away. I told Nathaniel” I, I have to go", running off I went.

Out of the lunchroom avoiding students left and right. I was praying that I wasn’t next trying to keep calm. The fox was marking the kids, it was a parasite.

Whenever the little monster opened its maw, it would wrap its string of shit around a leg or a wrist, any limb, and from there it would suck and start vacuuming its specks and replacing them with dull grays. Excreting their specks continuously into the read thread.

Nataniel’s specks “they, they were lightless.”

I hated that shade of red, it gave me chills. I had to tell Father; Papa couldn't do anything about it in his condition. “Wait what can Father possibly do, he probably can’t even see the thing.

“I'm not hungry,” I decided, Paula could just make a run for me. It was time to explore. Hopefully, the little parasite wouldn't come after me.

“I'm not giving that thing any of my specks.”

'Let's check out the library' I thought to myself. Minding my business trying to get the memory of a familiar gray mist out of my head.

"Wow, this school is big on the outside but small on the inside." I was just being delusional; I didn't see a thing.

"There was no fox in Ba sing seh." The library was around the corner and passed two classroom doors: a boiler room and another bathroom. I see why the majority of conversations took place in front of a locker.

“School is terrifying.” Looking at the boiler room. The door that led to the boiler room specks were flowing towards it in a downward draft which was another random occurrence of the day.

“This place is so weird, maybe it's not for me.” I hadn’t run into my best friend for life either. Where was she?

Entering the library which wasn't that quiet like a library should be.

I dragged my hands across the sandpaper book ledge and looked at the disappointing lineup of uncared-for books.

All lacking color, most of them a bit damaged in some places. I had decided not to turn off my sight or whatever you want to call it.

‘No more little fox parasites with their red lines of shit threads.’ I mean dung. Dung threads… Eww.

I had found myself in a lonesome corner behind a shelf for about twenty minutes, getting bored of sitting on the floor reading a 2008 English encyclopedia.

I was getting incredibly, increasingly bored, so I decided to sit at a computer.

Getting up off the carpeted floor. I wiped off my dark blue jeans and blouse with the encyclopedia still in hand.

I had turned my head, which was being blocked by a shelf to see a guy about six feet tall. He sat with a pair of earbuds in each ear. He was skinny with brown hair.

“Nate was alright, maybe…” The boy looked my way, and all hell broke loose. His eyes were suddenly glued to me.

‘Is he okay?’ The guy's eyes flashed a bright shade of pink as he looked at me.

'No, more special days.' Whose idea was it for me to come here? I sat down three computers away from the boy instead of leaving the library entirely. Failing to notice a gray fog slowly creeping in from the far side of the library rolling in from the second entrance.

I was concerned for the guy. He didn't look okay, so I asked him just that. “Are you okay?” I didn't stutter or fumble my words which was a plus. Maybe I was getting used to meeting new people.

The boy had stuttered as his voice cracked midway through his sentence which made his eyes widen in embarrassment.

“Don't be nervous, it happens to the best of us," I said oblivious to my surroundings. I didn't care to read the room or the guy to my right, which was my biggest mistake.

” Run,” I heard in a whisper while looking at facts on the Sahara Desert. It sounded like someone was having a bad nightmare. That person was me unaware of the predator that was slowly reeling in the ripened heart of an unsuspecting six-foot boy sitting three seats away from me.

Feeling goosebumps across my neck, hairs were standing on end. I looked at the guy on my right. He looked normal and wasn't paying attention to me which was good. I guess.

I had turned my neck. And he slowly turned his. I was about to ask his name but as he looked into my eyes there was no white light, only red.

It bathed the entire room. I was for a second in a red room and the boys' eyes weren’t just looking at me, they were invading my privacy on a completely different level. I got up to run away but a fog had surrounded me while I was doing all that reading. Not much reading in actuality.

The fog looked heavy, but I could see the other side of it just fine. I looked at the boy who was somehow visually harassing me. Soldiering through the awkward, I decided to get up and leave. That's when I noticed the boy intentionally copied me.

He was scrambling for my attention. As I moved, the boy moved, and from an angle, I saw something horrendous.

Behind the boy's back hiding from me at an unnatural angle was a nightmare in every sense of the word. A nightmare making the same movements as the six-foot boy.

Its fur is tarred and oily, its ears slicked down, its maw wide as was its neck long. Its maw, thin lipped and darkish purple slightly trailed down its neck. A giant six-foot fox that was perfectly aligned with the boy appeared sickly; it was skinny, looking to be both starved and ravenous causing my knees to buckle from staring at it.

The monster hadn't opened its eyes, I didn’t want to see those eyes. They wouldn’t be ominous eyes like it’s concerning squinting. Concerning as in the eye lashes wiggling and squiggling into the back of the boy’s head.

I didn’t want to see those eyes peeking through its slicked fur.

Sent into fight or flight mode, and frankly the fact there was no way I could fight something with such hungering eyes. Looking for the fox's tail I saw something that almost made me cry but something told me I shouldn't show weakness while I was being stared at by a monster.

Trailing my eyes across its orangish backside to find its red thread. The thread I saw on the Chibi fox in the lunchroom.

Red thread had been split into three. As I trailed across the thread in my vicinity, I accepted that I’d get a nagging headache and kept inching across its form. One thick thread as if made out of the muscle belonging inside of the fox's boney body had split into three, and white specks that looked to be in the form of a liquid dripped from the line.

‘Where do they lead?’ I’d seen that its stiff thread was separated into three but where did they go after the spitting point.

Trying to double back and look over all that was in my vicinity for the disappearing threads.

“Him,” His eyes were, they were the same color. A blaring red.

The boy who looked to be Mexican in what I thought to be a gym uniform, waited. He was waiting for me to say something. But I wouldn’t turn my head to look him back in his eyes.

He wanted my attention. ‘He wants me to pay him mind for staring, but why?’

The longer Idled by at the computer the image around me, the specks, clung to the boy. They gathered, moving, making the boy more real, making the Fox behind him more present. He remained dim but the fox. The conniving Fox had a red string tightened around the boy's heart and brain. It looked like it hurt, like the boy's heart was being strangled and mangled by a huge line of red shit. Something deep down told me that the huge fox wanted me next.

At that thought the fox looked in my direction, not even opening its eyelids. I doubt it knew that I could see past the fog. The weird dark reddish yellow eyes that wanted to eat me. I knew the fox hungered for me because the plushy-sized fox had done the favor of eating well in front of me.

Backing away like I was handling a wild animal. I inched myself away noticing how the Foxes thread was encircling me as If I wouldn't see the line. It was clumsily thrown about like a bad spider web, at linear angles. In this case, I was the fly about to fall prey.

The fox was waiting for me to slip on the rope. I was careful, and I surely didn't let that mongrel of a monster fox and his sickly body take a bite out of me.

Watching my steps, I eased out of that situation as best I could. I knew one thing, and that one thing was that ‘high school isn't for me.’

I had made it out of the school library while the fox was trying to pry its way into my business. Moving with caution while turning in the direction towards the school exit.

I ran towards my locker taking my phone out of my bookbag to text Papa.

I'd text him, “I'm not ready for school, I probably won't ever be.”

Sending that same message. Papa called me back instantly and I answered, soon telling him what was bothering me. I wish it had been a couple of students instead. But no, the students loitering in the hallway paid me little to no mind. Which was all kinds of selfish.

'Did I not look like I'm in imminent danger or something!?'

“Papa, I'm seeing Fox people. No, fox monsters wrapping kids up with string and eating them.” Papa took his time talking. “Adena my love, are you feeling overwhelmed.”

I kept calm and slowed my heartbeat before I replied. Trying to sound as serious as possible feeling a bit crunched for time.

I put my phone against my ear and spoke. I touched on the sore spot that was my life, “Papa I remember almost perfectly getting kidnapped, there's no way I'm just imagining a giant fox monster walking around mimicking teenagers, occasionally taking bites out of them. Also, something keeps telling me to run."

He was at a loss for words. "I'll tell your father to come get you. Stay calm." I replied with "Okay, Papa" and put on my jacket.

I shouldn't have hung up, but it was already done. I was running across the hallway frantically. And I was ready to leave this feeding ground.

Taking a breather in front of my locker contemplating leaving the school. A red light flashed hitting my back and I shivered. I didn't want to look behind me, so I walked toward the school exit.

'I didn't see a thing, I don't see a thing, I!!!' The red light was approaching quickly so I decided to pick up the pace.

How had I become a fox's prey? I thought that I had gotten away. About to turn the corner to the school entrance I noticed a red wall of string blocking off the entire hallway. Was the fox anticipating my movements? I was holding back my need to curse in frustration during this high-speed chase. If I screamed, the fox would probably start running towards me.

I backed away and felt the red light hitting me from a distance. Ignoring a suspicious warmth, I looked back to find the six-foot guy being manipulated by the fox, miming instead of moving, attached to the boy at the hip.

It was suffocating being stared down. I had to dodge every string that had arisen from the marble, so I ran in the other direction which held three doors consisting of the boiler room, the lunchroom, and the bathroom.

“Why!?” What was it with the number three today?! I was crying and no one came to my rescue.

Why wasn't anyone noticing me!? About to choose the bathroom I stopped mid-step, the red light, approaching.

The lunchroom was a no-go, The bathroom seemed super foggy as I watched a gray mist come from the door's cracks. "Okay, that's also a no-go," my mind made up. I lunged for the boiler room. Opening the door to the boiler room that had been greedily gobbling up specks, I went in.

“Great, choose the room with moving and missing specks.” It was too late. I could feel the warmth of red against my back like a heat lamp.

I shook, shivered, and prayed that I wouldn't get burned by one of the slightly rusty pipes as shadows cast behind me were cast aside by an unfamiliar red light.

The red light signified death. I had the sense that if whatever was producing the red light found me, I would die. I don't know how I would die but it wouldn't be pretty.

Hearing a voice coming from behind me I almost turned around but there was hunger in that horrifying voice, a wolf in sheep's clothing. A Fox to be more like it.

Out of options, I followed where the flow of specks would take me. Hints of different shades coalesce, and without much thought, I followed. My instincts couldn't even tell if it was a giant maw pulling the specks in. So, I kept running in fear of what was behind me.

The fox and the red light that came with were on my tail. And a power vacuuming the specks was in front of me. Pacing myself trying not to fall in the dimly lit boiler room or trip on a red thread of death. I saw something flicker in the distance.

Descending stairs unable to feel heat on top of the heat emitting from loud machines. I ran where the temperature was less overbearing.

Hear footsteps behind me echoing across the basement. I was out of time and places to run. I’d be burned by a pipe, if I tried to squeeze through the gaps and hide.

Scared out of my mind by the instinct to run and flee. In my attempt to escape harm’s way. I ran right into the vacuum tugging on my specks.

In the corner of the basement was a transparent ring that was sucking up the specks in the vicinity. I was out of options, and having some breathing room I took a picture with my phone.

I texted it to Papa with the word "Portal”.

The red light hadn't found me, and I wouldn't let it. I closed my eyes and jumped in, throwing myself at the wall. Was there anything worse than dying?!

No, nothing is worse than dying. I was taking any chance I would get to live. Even if that meant jumping through some transparent circle in the corner of a Boiler room.