Page 41 of Blood Lust

I lean in closer to the screen, like I can get physically nearer to her through it. I feel every letter I type like it’s a piece of skinpeeling away.

Fang950: Try me.

MoonDance77: I’m not normal, haven’t been for a quite a while. I just pretend well.

Fang950: I don’t want normal. I want real.

MoonDance77: Years ago, I turned into... something. Something else, something other.

I wait, my fingers hovering above the keyboard.

She’s never said it like that so clearly before. I feel a spike of electricity shoot up my spine.

Fang950: How long now?

MoonDance77: Six years. I don’t eat like I used to. I don’t sleep the same. I’m faster, stronger. I have this crazy inner alarm thing. My nails are super gross.

Actually, I had seen her nails and chose to ignore them. The nails, I know, are always a dead giveaway.

MoonDance77: My husband doesn’t like the new me. My kids don’t ask.

She’s onto me. She’s testing me.

Or maybe, just maybe, this is the moment we step out of the shadows together.

Fang950: You’re not alone.

MoonDance77: You’re one, too, Fang?

Fang950: I’m something. I’m afflicted, cursed, confused.

MoonDance77: Say no more. Are we crazy?

I let that sit.

Finally, I type: No, we are different.

MoonDance77: You sound like someone who’s been through it.

Fang950: I’ve been through it, broke open, and never put back together again.

MoonDance77: Do you believe in monsters?

The words glow on the screen, pulsing like an ember in theblackness.

My fingers hover, the cursor blinks.

Three breaths pass before I respond.

Fang950: Only the ones who don’t see themselves in the mirror.

MoonDance77 is typing…

MoonDance77: I resemble that remark.

Fang950: I know.

MoonDance77: You’re calling me a monster?

---