Elise held her claw to her neck. She couldn't get the words out of her head and sobbing only helped so much.
She had been through this before. She had really reassured herself into thinking she was any different. But it all came back on that island. That stupid island. The smell of death was still stuck in her nose. Bridges was right, she was a freak. A disgusting monster that couldn't relate to humans or the savage beasts that were poked and prodded at every single day. Tacet was more human than she was, what Elise went through was nothing compared to her.
Her head was on fire, she couldn't do this anymore. She couldn't. She loved her pack so much, but her existence was a danger to them. Her rotten insides were already beginning to leak into her brain. What if the old Elise came back? The real Elise?
The thought almost made her puke.
The Munchkins - no, the Small Ones. She couldn't look at them anymore, because he was right. That was the worst part, he was right. All of them were just like Small One, they were all scared little hatchlings. They never deserved any of this, they never deserved her. And now she has to be around them all day, knowing what she's done?
She thought it had clicked before. It didn't. Not until right now.
What did she do to deserve this? Nothing. This wasn't her fault! She was scared. She didn't understand, she couldn't have! She had been given a horrible start, she was locked away, she was afraid, she was confused, she was born wrong...
...but isn't that what Bridges said?
She started thinking about the Small Ones again. The ones she hasn't hurt. They were all so happy, they were all so human. They were normal. They had a normal family, they had normal lives, like Rosie. Elise was just a little girl too. A scared little girl...in the body of something horrific. She wasn't even a dinosaur, she wasn't a human, so what was she?
She thought about that old movie. The one she watched with Rosie...Beauty and the Beast. That's what it was called, right?
Maybe that's what she was. A beast. And nothing could ever turn her back.
She was just a little girl.