Water dripped against the girls scrunched up features. Her stare so blue that it almost matched the clear edge of the very liquid she struggled to swallow. It wasn't a normal sight, seeing a shorter girl with a head of fiery red hair pulled back quickly against the cold edge of a stream.

She was standing on her tip-toes, the black converse she strapped to her feet had the tongue sticking out and laces unkempt. The once white strings now looked a sickly grey, just like the white shirt the girl wore. She was covered in dirt- the water making a streak against her cheek as she sniffed and dragged her forearm against her skin.

The stranger huffed, furrowing her brow as she looked at the water fountain. Chloe Beale had never learned how to drink from one. Not in her Eight years of life on this earth. She would rather stay thirsty and dry-mouthed than subject herself to this humiliation, even if the hallway is mostly empty.

"Do you not know how to tie your shoes either?" A snarky voice griped, making Chloe's chest tighten as she whipped her head to the right fast enough to make her lose a grip on which way was up.

She cocked an eyebrow at a girl who had clearly already hit her growth spurt. She was taller than Chloe, golden hair flowing over broad shoulders as a lanky girl stared at her with such grey eyes- grey eyes that looked almost white under the fluorescent lights.

"I uh," Chloe forced from her throat "I meant to do that, actually."

"Did you?" The girl responded, not taking much thought to the hostility of the gingers. Instead, she knelt down on the tile floor and started to stitch up the laces that hung at Chloe's feet. She was too baffled to object, instead, she just obeyed when the stranger tapped her folded knee- gesturing for Chloe to put her foot on it. She did. "I'm Aubrey by the way."

"Chloe," She said timidly "Thank you."

"It would suck if you fell." Aubrey lifted her icy gaze up to meet Chloe's for a few seconds, a smile poking through her lips. "I've been there before."

"Yeah," The smaller girl returned the smile as Aubrey straightened herself up, brushing her hands against her jeans. "I've been there."

"After lunch, I can teach you how to use one of those things if you want." The blonde suddenly seemed to grow shy as she knit her fingers behind her back, rocking as she shifted her weight from one foot to another. "You know… if you wanna sit with me or something. I'm just new here and-"

"I would love to, Aubrey." Chloe cut her new friend off, lifting her chin towards the water fountain. "But don't bother with that. I'll never learn."

She carried that same pensive stare that she did all those years ago, her grey eyes almost ghostly as she parted her lips slightly. It made Chloe want to close in on herself, to forget about the words that she had just uttered. It wasn't like she had forgotten to tie her shoes like she did for most of the elementary school and into middle- this was serious. This was something that Aubrey didn't know how to respond to.

She couldn't even pull air into her lungs, the taste of heavy cream and chocolate still on her lips as she breath pooled in a sharp cloud in front of her. She knew Chloe expected her to speak, to say something other than gawk at her like a zoo animal.

"You're uh," She finally whispered, "You're joking right?"

Chloe was silent. She wished with every ounce of her that she was joking. That she had never taken that job and pushed the metal edge of the shovel into the soil that day. She wished that she never shoved that taser into Beca's abdomen or waited long enough to hear her story. She wished she didn't die.

"No, I-" she fought past the lump in her throat "Aubrey, you think I would lie about something like that?"

"How?" was all the older girl said, staring down at the sidewalk. Her eyes were glossy now, something that twisted the worms in Chloe's stomach even more. They would never dull, not while she dug her nails into the soft skin of her palm. "I-I mean did you go to the hospital? Is that why you weren't answering your phone that night? Because you fucking died?"

Her words were a mix of anger and pure misery. She got like this sometimes, flattened by the pure truth and the serious nature of the situation. It was usually attributed to something her father had done- but Chloe was never the cause. She was always to one to hug her friend close and bring her hot chocolate the way Aubrey loved it, with cinnamon on top.

"Gallagher." Was all Aubrey hissed through clenched teeth, the movement of her eyes causing a single tear to streak against clear skin. "What did he do? Did he hurt you?"

"Bree," Chloe let out a soft breath, running a shaky hand through knotted hair. "It wasn't Gallagher. He's a nice guy… it was Beca."

"Beca?" She growled now, an inhuman sound for such a mortal girl. "Beca fucking Mitchell?"

Chloe nodded dumbly, knowing she needed to give her friend a moment.

"How are you here, huh? If you really died… and they brought you back to the hospital then you wouldn't be here right now, would you? Not in town or getting ice cream with me. I don't… I don't get it."

She was spiraling, breathing heavily as Chloe quickly grasped her elbow, her touch soothing the woman almost instantly despite its cold nature. Chloe was still a calming person- even though her thoughts were anything but. "Aubrey, listen to me. Can you do that?"

The girl whimpered as she nodded, sniffing against the cold as she swallowed roughly- staring into Chloe's eyes with such intent that it made the girl feel like she was on trial. Aubrey would be a great lawyer.

"When I went to my first shift a month ago, I was stupid. Stupid for not listening for Gallagher when he told me to turn the other cheek if I saw anything. I… I thought I was strong enough to handle anything that was really there."

"Like a grave robber?" Aubrey asked voice pitched with worry.

"Like Beca." Chloe sounded out, swallowing "She's my cat."

"Your what?"

Chloe let out a groan of frustration. "I have to stop using that as an example. Only Arum knows what the hell I'm talking about."

"Your Greek Mythology professor?" She shook her head in confusion "Chloe what the hell is going on?"

Her friend was staring down at the ground, mind racing. She was suddenly understanding why it was so hard for Beca to give her this talk earlier last month. It was demoralizing. How did you explain to someone that everything they knew was wrong? Everything they tried to repress would come rushing back in an odd flash. She was hesitating enough for Aubrey to pull away a bit, but Chloe had a form hold.

"Beca's mom murdered me last month." She finally spoke, taking her finger and looping it against her collar before pulling it back to reveal the ghost of a bite that stretched across her shoulder and neck. "She sunk her teeth into my neck and ripped out my jugular like a fucking wild animal."

A sharp intake of breath snapped Chloe back into being calm, into speaking to Aubrey softly instead of taking out her frustrations. The blonde's fingers shook as she pressed them against the indentation that was forever there.

"Beca should have let me die that night, but she didn't. I… I don't know how she did it because she doesn't want to tell me, but she did. She saved me and now I'm here. I'm here and I'm stuck like this."

"Like what?" Aubrey drew her touch back as Chloe let the fabric fall back over the scar.

The red-head drew in a sharp breath as she clenched her eyes shut. She was playing with fire, putting down walls that Beca had convinced her to brick up. The hunger shining through just enough for a familiar pressure to from under her eyes, her jaw aching as she scrunched up her face in pain. Aubrey cocking her head to the side as she waited patiently.

The girl finally opened her eyes, the once blue color having seemed to a sharp crimson that could cut glass. Her lips parting slightly as her canine teeth continued to stretch until they looked more like a demon's and less like a college girl. She hadn't even seen herself like this, never giving up to look in the mirror- yet here she was, showing her darkest self.

Aubrey swallowed roughly, eyes searching her features as she ran her fingers over Chloe's lips, her own parted slightly as she struggled to take in exactly what she was seeing, her thumb running slightly under Chloe's eye as the girl leaned into her touch, not having felt anything like this in such a long time- an embrace she hadn't let anyone conjure.

"Chlo," She whispered, voice broken.

A smooth sob moved from Chloe's chest, it was unwarranted, pushing past her throat as Aubrey wrapped her strong grasp around the smaller girl, letting her press into her chest as tears soaked into the fabric, wicking enough to make a slight chill overtake the blonde.

"I know," She whispered, running her hand against her friends back, even though she had no clue.