It wasn't funny how the daemon crept toward Neve on all fours. It also wasn't funny how as it got closer more black stuff oozed out of its skin. And it definitely wasn't funny how it wrapped its long, bony fingers around her neck and lifted her off the ground. But it was still giggling, its mouth stretched in an inhumanly wide smile, showing black teeth.

Wait—they weren't black teeth. They were just covered in black matter. Neve whimpered, paralyzed with fear as its pale face moved closer to hers. The daemon was breathing hard, almost trembling against her, and she cringed when it exhaled, some of the blackness spraying onto her mouth. Its mouth opened wide, so wide that all she could see were its black covered teeth and the complete darkness of its mouth.

Instead of quickly clamping its teeth down on her face, it halted, its top teeth just scraping her forehead. Then it dropped her onto the cold, grimy floor and stood over her. When Neve attempted to get up, it stomped on her knee and she heard a resounding snap. Only a second later did the pain begin; she screamed in anguish, clawing at the ground as tears welled up in her eyes. Then the daemon moved closer to her.

"N-No! Stop! Get away! Get away from me!"

It ignored her protests, straddling her and opening its mouth once again. Retching noises came from its throat, black droplets raining on her face. Neve squeezed her eyes shut, sobbing and screaming incoherently as more gagging noises emanated from the daemon.

"Stop. Make it stop! PLEASE JUST MAKE IT STOP!"

Seconds that felt like an eternity passed before there was an earsplitting ring and there was black, black, and nothing more.

Neve shot up from her bed, gasping for breath and sweating intensely. Once she caught her breath, she attempted to swing her legs off the bed and was shocked by a sharp sting of pain in her right knee. She bit her lip to keep from crying out and glared at her knee. The whole thing was red and kind of swollen but not bent in any way, and Neve had to wonder for the hundredth time:

Was it real?

Were those nightmares she had real or were the daemons just getting into her head? But if it was just that, then why was her knee hurting so much? She winced, feeling a little prick of pain on her knee as she remembered the daemon snapping her knee. She shook her head and got off of her bed, mainly walking with her left leg and trying not to put pressure on her right.

Neve knew she was practically waddling to the bathroom, but she wasn't worried. She knew that her knee would soon go back to normal like the nightmare hadn't happened, like that daemon hadn't tried to kill her. But it had. And even though it hadn't succeeded, she knew another would try. So what did it really matter? She sighed and stepped into the shower.

Once she was finished, she changed into a black cardigan, tank top, and skirt way too short for her liking and left her room. She was barely three steps down the stairs when she heard someone call out, "Neve!"

Startled, she turned around, and was pleasantly surprised to see her little brother, Nathaniel. "Hey, Nate. Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"Yeah," He said, "But I had a nightmare."

"Really? Come here." They began walking down the steps together. "What was it about?"

Neve listened closely as Nate recounted his nightmare. "Well, I went inside the house and no one was there, even after a few hours. Around midnight, there was a really loud laugh and I heard something that sounded like a girl start speaking. She said, 'Nate!' I looked around, but I could barely see in the darkness, so I said, 'Who's there?' She said, 'It's me, Nate!' And I asked again, 'Who?' And then she shouted really loudly, 'Me!' and tackled me.

"That was when I found out that it probably wasn't a girl. It had weirdly shaped teeth and a really long tongue. Its mouth was really wide. It told me that I shouldn't scream because she'll hear and then it kept asking me, 'Where is she?' And I said 'I don't know' and started to cry because it looked like it was about to eat me! Then something weird happened: The monster started screaming, and then exploded! Then I woke up."

By the time Nate was finished, he looked about ready to cry again, so Neve put her arms around him, hugging him. "It's okay, it's okay," she repeated. "Nothing's out to get you."

"Are you sure?" Tears were already making their way down his pale face.

"Of course. Who would want to come get you when I'm here? I'm the scariest monster around! ROAR!" Neve put her arms up as if getting ready to pounce on him, fingers curled and fake nails sticking out menacingly. Nate yelped, sprinting down the rest of the stairs and taking a turn toward the kitchen.

Neve gave chase and ran after him, almost immediately catching him. He kicked and thrashed in her arms, but she wasn't giving in. She started to tickle him and he instantly stopped struggling in a fit of giggles.

"Admit it: I'm scary!"

"N-no, you're just—"

"Genevieve."

The familiar, apathetic voice halted Neve's movement. She let go of Nate, who stared at her for a moment before running off.

Turning around to face her mother, she greeted, "Good morning, Mom."

Her mom's gray-blue eyes narrowed. "Don't call me 'Mom'."

This was nothing out of the ordinary for her mom to say to her, but the hurt felt fresh like it always did.

But she hid it, keeping her face as blank as a new canvas. "Of course. It won't happen again."

"It better not." She wrinkled her nose up as if disgusted. "Get out of my sight."

Neve let out a wistful sigh as she passed by the woman who despised her for a reason unbeknownst to her.

Whatever, she thought. I have better things to do than talk to you anyway. Like putting on some time-consuming makeup.

She went into the bathroom and brought some makeup out of her backpack. Reminding herself where exactly to apply each type of makeup, she set to work, applying gray eyeshadow to her eyelids, eyeliner around her eyes, baby pink blush to her cheeks, and mascara on her eyelashes. She thought on the lip gloss for a moment before adding a dash of it to her lips.

Right on cue, she heard a knock on the door and flinched, dreading having to go to school. She hoisted up her backpack and left the bathroom to answer the door, only to find her mom already opening it.

Instantly, she heard the high-pitched voice of Claire Smith. "Is Neve ready yet?"

"She should be," her mom answered, sounding considerably more cheerful than when she'd talked to her.

Taking a deep breath, she stalked over to the door and opened it wider so she could pass by her mom. As she did, her mom gave her a ghost of a smile, the same one she always did when Claire and Becca came to pick her up for school. It was as if she was trying to say, I really like them. It infuriated Neve because it was one of the only times she would smile at her, one of the only times she would she would have that glint of what seemed to be commendation in her eyes.

Neve forced herself to say, "Have a nice day, Mom," and was disgusted to hear her mom say back, "You too, sweetie!" She resisted the urge to gag.

It was silent as Neve and Claire piled into the backseats of Becca's red Ferrari. But the second the door was closed, the tinted windows rolled up, Claire turned on one of the lights in the car and gripped Neve's chin tightly (But not too tightly. She would hate to leave a bruise).

As Becca drove out of the parking lot, Claire examined Neve's face, turning it left and right, upward and downward before finally letting it go and giving her a death glare. "What did I tell you about the lip gloss? Only light pink! Everything else just looks terrible on you."

Claire dabbed a cotton ball with something and rubbed it on Neve's lips. "I'd rather do this at school," she said, wiping Neve's mouth with a paper, "but we're running late. Wonder whose fault that is."

Neve attempted to stay still, but apparently, she wasn't because Claire suddenly yelled, "Stop shaking!" She gripped Neve's head. "God! Why can't you ever do anything right?"

Neve felt nothing when Claire insulted her, used to being insulted by her. Claire always said that they were best friends and she loved her, but the truth was clear: she abhorred her. Neve didn't even know why she went to such lengths to make sure that it looked like they were friends.

When they finally pulled into the school, there were a number of kids staring at Becca's car. She couldn't blame them, though; who drove a Ferrari to school? Becca and Claire. In fact, Claire probably would've been driving something just as expensive as Becca's car—if not more, just to show her up—except her mom had taken it away from her because Claire had driven home drunk once.

Claire had been so upset, saying, "I made it home fine, so I don't get why she had to take my car away!" You crashed into a tree, Neve had thought. Of course, she hadn't said it aloud. If she had, Claire no doubt would've cut off her hair in her sleep, or something else just as terrible.

"Ahem!"

Neve blinked, startled. "Uh..."

"Get out of the car!"

"Right. Sorry." She stepped out and began walking with Becca and Claire to the school, keeping her face impassive at the glares directed at her. She knew they were jealous of her being allowed to spend time with Becca and Claire, some of the most popular girls in school. Feeling the urge to run away from their indignant stares, she curled her hands into fists, her fake nails biting into her palm. Pain helped distract her from people staring.

When they were in the school, Claire and Becca started heading off in a different direction then Neve was. "Where are you guys going?" She asked quietly.

Claire stopped and turned to face her. "Becca has something really important to do in the office, so you can just go to your locker without us." Claire stopped and turned to face her. "Becca has something really important to do in the office, so you can just go to your locker without us." Her smile was gentle, but her eyes implied a challenge, as if saying, What? Are you scared?

Neve sent her an obviously fake smile and went on her way, tilting her head upward and keeping a confident stride down the hallway. She didn't need Becca and Claire at other times, so why would she need them now? She would be fine. Fine.