Abigail Henson wouldn't be surprised if someone told her she was going insane. First off, she took the long way home. Who does that? Not Abigail, is the answer.

Second, a cat spoke to her. But that wasn't even the crazy part. It was the fact that the cat speaking didn't surprise her as much as it should have.

Finally, for the first time since her sixteenth birthday, Abigail had a dream. Yes, that sounds sad and heartbreaking and other connotations of that word, but it's true; Abigail Henson hadn't dreamt in almost four months. The sudden reoccurrence, however, was anything but pleasant.

Abigail dreamt of death.

•

Do you have any fat free milk? Was the first thing Abby heard when she awoke in a cold sweat. She paid no mind to the talking cat sitting at the foot of her bed, clawing away at her black duvet. The girl immediately jumped (yes, jumped) out of bed and rushed to the bathroom.

With the cold water running, Abby scooped some up in her hands and splashed it on her steaming face. The girl looked up into the mirror, gazing at her reflection in distaste and feeling a sense unfamiliarity; like it wasn't herself staring back. In a way, it wasn't.

Abby groaned loudly, successfully scaring Cleo to the point she meowed loudly and fell off the bed. The cat stared back at her "owner", but said girl paid the animal no mind. She was stuck in her own head; trying to make sense of what her imagination decided to create for the first time in what felt like forever.

It started off as Abby walking through a vast green meadow, the dandelions and chrysanthemums swayed proudly in the wind as the girl ran. At first, it wasn't for anything in particular; Abby was just having fun.

But then the flowers died, and so did the happy and content vibe the environment withheld. So did a part of Abigail.

She screamed in her dream, louder than she's ever screamed before. At first, she didn't know what she was screaming at, but when Abby saw the shadows through her peripheral vision did she understand.

Something was following her.

But what scared her the most, was the fact that it felt more like a memory than a dream.

•

"Are you okay?" Maddie asked when she saw Abby hanging by her locker that day in school. Abby looked up, a blank expression on her face. Her eyes were bloodshot, prominent bags underneath them. Skin deathly pale, hair unbrushed; so basically everything Abby usually was not.

The dark haired girl sent a quick false smile in her friend's direction, and slammed her locker door shut.

"Hey," Maddie frowned, grabbing Abby's arm before she had the chance to escape to first period. "What happened?" The blonde asked, sending her best friend a worried look.

"I just couldn't sleep as well last night," Abby vaguely explained, impatiently waiting to escape this conversation. When Maddie sent her a look of disbelief, Abby added, "seriously, I'm fine. The neighbors just decided that last night was when they wanted to get frisky."

Maddie chuckled, seemingly believing her friend's words and let her arm go, jokingly saying "You're free to go!" Abby laughed along with her, a real laugh; one she didn't expect to come out of her after a morning she had.

Maddie turned around and headed in the other direction to her class, and only when the blonde turned away, did Abby walk out the front doors of the school. Surprisingly, the girl didn't ditch school as much as one would think. In fact, today was the first time in her four years of high school that she actually left without a care in the world.

Not really coming up with a plan beforehand, Abby didn't know where she was going exactly. She couldn't go home, her mom wasn't at work today. She wasn't particularly hungry, either. And that's how Abigail Henson found herself in the woods for the second time that week.

And that's when Nicholas Scratch arrived.

(note!)
woohoo i updated. i surprise myself something ngl
anyways hope you enjoyed this (short) chapter
also: what he heckidy doodle we're almost at 800 reads that's so cool!! u guys make me happy :)))

before i leave you off till next time, i have a question i hope you guys can answer:
would you be interested in a sirius black fanfic?? it's anything but caos related but I've had this draft for what seems like forever and recently ive been adding onto it a whole lot.

make sure you guys check out my other books too (if you like them, comment and ill update)

merci beaucoup tout le monde!!