She kept Tatum's hand in hers like it would anchor them both to what was real, like it would anchor them to the world. She zoomed in and out of traffic, focusing on Tatum's voice and tutting and shushing her when she talked about dying.

"I don't give a damn about the car, my mom gave it to me as a gesture to get me back on her side," she sniffled. "You aint gonna die though," she reassured her. "Keep focusin'," she said. "Tell me about pokeymon," she encouraged the girl. She had seen it before when people were near death, they needed to talk about stuff that was unrelated, they needed to focus away from the pain. "Don't you think that would be cool if they were real? They'd be real cute wouldn't they?"

Her head was spinning when she told her Leland's suspicions. "A werewolf?" she asked, her voice shaking. "No," she shook her head, fighting tears. Werewolf meant that it would change Tatum's life forever, that this was something the poor girl would have to deal with every full. "No, there couldn't be a werewolf," she fought the hysterics in her own voice. "You musta scared it off baby," she said nodding. "That's right, you just scared the piss right outta that wolf."

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)