Orange and pink light colored the west wall of her room, curtains drawn back so Genie could watch the sun rise in the east. Her eyes were sore from the nearly sleepless night spent curled in a cocoon of too many quilts and knitted blankets. No matter how hard she had tried, she couldn't shut her brain down completely, that sinister voice telling her over and over that she was lucky to be alive. A few times, she had dozed off for a few minutes only to jolt awake at a creak within the old house, no doubt just the wind playing a cruel trick.

"He would have killed me… He was going to kill me…" she mumbled, tongue heavy in her mouth as she repeated the words over and over like a mantra. Her phone buzzed twice within the folds of her blankets again, but she ignored it. The night before, she'd gotten text messages from Lydia and Isaac and Kira expressing their concern, but she hadn't been able to respond. She had watched throughout the night as her phone would light up with a new text and then blink away, back out of existence. Blinking heavily, Genie patted the blankets to find her phone, lifting it up in front of her face to squint at the screen.

[From: Isaac Lahey, 6:57am]

Hope you're alright. Let me know if you need anything.

Genie sighed, staring at the text blankly in consideration. Of course she appreciated the sentiment, but she just couldn't bring herself to reply, her fingers hovering over the letters before ultimately dropping. Curling into a tighter ball, Genie let her phone get lost in the folds of her blanket nest again and returned her unfocused gaze to the window. Her eyes drooped as the sun grew brighter just beyond the tree line of the preserve in the distance. Before the sun could rise fully from the trees, she was asleep.

ooo

When she woke before noon, Genie felt listless. Her parents were bustling about in the kitchen, the old house seeming to draw the noise up through the main stairs and into her room. She didn't want to move and face them again, already feeling too tight in her skin and not looking forward to being followed around the whole day at home. It was undoubtedly what they would do, what they always did any time one of the kids got hurt or sick. Instead, she pulled a blanket over her head and groaned into her pillow, shoving her face against the fabric. The noise hurt, her throat feeling too thick and uncomfortable and sore. She needed to go and get something for the medication, but that would mean going downstairs.

Genie felt around for her phone again, not feeling it within all of the blankets she was piled under, and poked her head back out into her room. Peaking over the right side of her bed, she saw it laying on the floor screen down. She had a few more text messages, she noted when she picked it up. There were two more from Lydia, another from Kira, one from Scott telling her to feel better, but no more from Isaac. Scrolling a down to the next notification, she saw she had another text message, from an unknown number. Her nose scrunched up as she opened it. It said the Sheriff hoped she was faring well, and that he'd keep her updated if there were any developments. She typed Stiles's name into the contact slot, a confused wrinkle in her brow at the fact that he had texted at all.

The rest of the day passed too slowly, a haze of feeling panicky and suffocated. As expected, her parents were close the entire day, especially her mom, who had called out of work. She insisted on taking care of anything Genie needed, leaving Genie with nothing to do but think about what had happened when she most wanted to avoid it. Her anxiety was trying to rip through her carefully crafted exterior, to find some sort of outlet, but because her mother was constantly present, she pushed it all towards the back of her mind and tried to pretend it didn't exist. Her cuticles had been picked raw and her fingernails were bitten down to the quick until she had bled. It all came to a head in the shower, the water running too hot on her skin and turning her bright pink as she sat curled on the floor, trying to breathe through the steam and quiet, gasping sobs. She didn't leave the bathroom until the water felt icy.

Back in her pajamas with a towel wrapped around her head, Genie trailed into her room that night to see her mother curled up on her bed.

"Mom?" she asked, her voice thick from crying. She cleared her throat quickly, dropping her eyes at the worried look on her mother's face.

"C'mere, honey," her mom called, opening her arms up. Genie checked her phone on her desk on the way, relieved that her friends had stopped messaging within the past few hours. She turned and crawled onto the bed, burrowing into her mother's arms. There wasn't a spare tear left in Genie to shed after the shower, so she simply laid there, sniffling. Her mom pulled the towel from her hair, stroking through the dark strands underneath and hushing her. "I've got you."

It seemed like ages before Genie felt like she could speak again, humming experimentally. She shifted back to look up at her mom blankly. "Can I go in to take the PSATs tomorrow?" she asked, biting down on her lip when her mother's eyes hardened a little.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. You can wait a few days to go back to school. No one is pushing you."

Genie sighed, dropping her head and snuggling close again. Her mother's heart thumped slowly under her ear, a calming ocean current beneath the crashing waves all around her. "I know, mom," she murmured. "But I feel like I'm going to go crazy if I just sit here all weekend. The PSATs are only three hours. It'll be- It'll be like taking a half-day. Testing the waters."

The arms around her squeezed tighter, her face smooshing into her mother's neck almost uncomfortably. Her mom gave a weak, hollow laugh, sniffling as Genie pulled back quickly to see her crying. Genie frowned, her bottom lip trembling as she tried to wipe the tears from her mom's cheeks. Her hands were batted away quickly with another laugh. "I'm fine, honey. I just- I wish I could protect you from the world. There are people out there…" she said, trailing off as her voice grew colder and more dangerous sounding. A weight seemed as if it settled on her mother's chest as the woman took a deep breath in. Her smile was bitter and eyes glassy as she pushed Genie's hair back, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead and drawing her into her chest again. Genie blinked, stunned, at the sudden change in her mother, at the sudden gravity crashing down upon her. Her mother's voice sounded too heavy when she spoke again, like she was fighting a losing battle with the world. "There are some people out there that would hurt you just for being what you are, honey."

Sniffling, Genie nodded silently, blinking to soothe her dry eyes as she tried to digest her mother's words. They sounded so resigned, like she had thought over her words time and time again in hopes that something would change, but it never would. Her mother went silent and left Genie grasping for straws, waiting for that something more just outside of her reach she could feel with every tense inhale from her mother's breast, but Mrs. Cary didn't speak. Genie fell asleep like that, curled around her mother and wondering why the world seemed to be unraveling all around her.

A/N: As always, comments, criticisms, and suggestions are appreciated. Thanks so much! Special thanks to all of you who review!