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floor making
sure the blinds and curtains were closed, but that brief time alone
set her thoughts out on a disturbing path. Zoey didn’t seem to be
enough in her right mind at the moment to think about not wanting
the neighbors to see. Instead, she’d said something specifically
about not liking walking in the day. She had somehow managed to
come in through a locked door, going through an entire neighborhood
in broad daylight while in a state that should have sent the
neighborhood watch into a shit-tizzy. Try as she might, Peg
couldn’t figure out how that was possible. Her brain tried to look
at it from all angles, but the matter refused to form a shape that
she wanted to recognize.
    Instead the same details just kept going over
and over in her head. Fast or stealthy enough not to be seen. Not
liking sunlight. Incredible strength. And those teeth. Oh, those
teeth.
    Don’t you dare , Peg thought. Don’t
you fucking dare think it. I know what you’re going to try to say
and you’re not fucking allowed. Your mind is blown. You’re trying
to make sense of things. You have the right to lose just a little
bit of your shit here. But you do not get to start making such
crazy accusations. Not even mentally. You do not get to try to say
she’s a …
    Peg slammed her hand against the wall before
her mind could actually form the word. The pain felt surprisingly
refreshing. She did it again, then again, until finally she could
feel the bruising starting in her hand and there was a small dent
in the drywall. That was yet another thing she would have to
explain later, but it was worth it. The moment had passed. The word
that had been on the tip of her tongue was gone, and she would not
let it come back.

Chapter Four
     
    Cleaning Zoey took a
lot longer than Peg had expected. She routinely checked her phone
for the time as she helped Zoey with the shower and the time kept
slipping away toward the moment where she couldn’t make any more
excuses and would have to pick Brendan up. She’d figured that Zoey
would be able to do most of the work herself, but once she had Zoey
under the shower the girl just stood there with her eyes wide as
the water pounded down on her head. She tried saying something at
some point, but when the water had gotten into her mouth she’d
squeaked and clammed up. It was as though she had not taken a bath
or shower in the entire time she’d been gone and now couldn’t
remember what they were for. Judging from the way the muck was
caked onto her, Peg almost thought that might be the truth.
    Eventually Peg had no other choice than to
take off her own clothes and join Zoey in the shower to scrub her
down. As soon as she was under the water too the intense
awkwardness of the situation hit her. A memory, very fuzzy from
age, came to her of their childhood. She remembered their mother
bathing them together after some particularly rowdy play date in
the park, although all the rowdiness would have to have been on
Peg’s part since she only remembered Zoey as little more than a
baby. Her mother had put them in the bath together to save time and
Peg had thought that was just the greatest thing in the world, to
have her sister with her where they could play with their bath toys
together. She had a very vague memory of being perplexed to see her
baby sister naked for the first time and discover that they
actually looked alike under their clothes, and she’d asked her
mother if everyone looked like that. Her mom had said more or less,
and Peg had asked her if that included boys. Her mother had then
been quick to change the subject.
    That playful innocence about nakedness was
all gone now, though, and Peg couldn’t help but feel distinctly
uncomfortable with the idea that she was now standing naked with
her sister. It wasn’t like there was anything sexual about it, and
it wasn’t even the first time Peg had been this close to a naked
woman, thanks to a night of drunken experimentation years ago. No,
what made