It's not supernatural, in any way.


Curse Cycle

When she's eleven and starts unexpectedly bleeding, Dee is certain that it's a curse. This conclusion is borne out by the fact that when she tells her Dad – after some hesitation, because, well, because – he panics and they end up driving across three states to get to someone who can help.

Dee sits sick and scared in the back seat of the Impala, huddled with her legs drawn up, and tries to decide what's worse about the curse: the fact that she's apparently slowly bleeding to death, or the fact that she's bleeding to death from there, and had to tell her Dad. The thought of her impending demise should win out over humiliation, but it's a close battle, made worse by Sammy's worried looks and questions. There's no way she's explaining this to him.

When they finally reach their destination – a bar called the Roadhouse and a woman named Ellen, who gives John a look somewhere between amusement and disgust, and takes Dee aside with a sympathetic look to explain everything – humiliation declares its victory once and for all. Mostly, though, Dee's mad. She's mad at her Dad for not saying anything and letting her think she was dying, she's mad at herself for not realising (because they covered this in health class the school before last; she just didn't think it would be like this, or that there would be so much blood) but mostly, she's mad at her body, and the realisation that she's stuck with this for, well, forever. Once a month, until she gets too old (so yeah, forever) or pregnant (ugh, no) and it's going to be messy and inconvenient and even, sometimes, painful, because apparently that's the reason she's not feeling well and her stomach hurts.

She's muttering to herself about the gross unfairness of it all when they get back in the car, a paper bag with 'feminine hygiene products' clutched in one hand. She doesn't really want to think too hard about what she's supposed to do with them, and thinks that whoever first invented tampons was sick. But it's only when she starts comparing the whole situations to werewolves (moon cycles and curses and all that) that she gets a response from her dad, who has been carefully not looking at her since she told him.

He snickers.

She gives him a lethal glare, and slams the car door behind her.