and more and more and
He was whispering out loud now, a numb prayer, crushing his face to his knees. “Please, please, leave me alone—”
“Andrew.”
His head snapped up, body jolting backward with nowhere to go.
Dove was there. He had no idea how she’d opened the stall door and slipped in so silently. Her skin glowed green against the emergency lights, her lips in a line of cold fury, the kind she wore when she wanted to absolutely end someone for picking on her brother. She took his hands and squeezed.
He shook so hard.
“Come on, I’ll get you out of here.”
“B-b-b-but the thing—” He broke off with a sound halfway between a sob and a curse. The hoofed legs had vanished, but the breathing hadn’t. Thick and rasping, now coming from across the bathroom.
“Ready,” Dove whispered, “set…go.”
They burst out of the stall together. She held on to him so tightly he felt like a paper kite on a string flying behind her.
Hot breath hit the back of Andrew’s neck. He could feel it crawling,crawling, down his spine. It smelled of mold, of spoiled meat.
Andrew let out a strangled cry as Dove hauled open the door and they tumbled outside.
He stumbled into afternoon sunlight and fell onto his knees on the grass. Bile rose up his throat and he gagged on the blood slick against his teeth, on thewrongnessof it all.
“It’s just a panic attack.” Dove sounded so far away.
Two juniors turned the corner, laughing and jostling, but they broke off when they saw the twins.
“Whoa,” said one, while the other asked. “Um, are you okay?”
“Don’t go in there.” Andrew wiped blood from his mouth. “D-d-don’t—”
One of them immediately pushed the door open. Andrew tried to get to his feet, to save them somehow, but he couldn’t feel his bones. Couldn’t stand. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t—
“There’s legit nothing in here.”
Something in Andrew’s chest gave a sickening swoop. He didn’t realize until that moment how scared he’d been that none of it had been real. But how could it be real, Andrew,you goddamn fool?
Dove petted his hair anxiously, no condemnation or embarrassment in her expression. He hated the pity, the lines around her tight mouth that saidMy brother’s having a meltdown over nothing again.
It only took moments for a crowd to gather. Someone had gone for a teacher, and the track team had begun filing in from their run. People stared at Andrew with a mixture of pity and embarrassment, not quite sure if they should offer help or put distance between themselves and this mess. Andrew focused on his trembling hands, but they didn’t feel attached to him. He would cry soon, he knew it, in front of all these teens who were already staring.
Words volleyed back and forth over his head as Dove fumbled an abridged explanation that would make sense. But they both knew she couldn’t salvage this.
“He’s not feeling well,” Dove said, steel in her tone. “That’s all.”
“It was just some shitty prank, Perrault,” someone said. “You’re fine.”
“S-sorry, I’m sorry. I’m s-s-s-so—” Andrew couldn’t catch his breath. “There was this—this thing in there. It wasn’t a prank. It was real—” But he cut off, knowing he needed to stop before he made himself look worse.
He was
lsing
o
his goddamn
