Read Slash (Novella I) for Free Online Page A

walk everywhere, but luckily for her Mt. Springer was a small town.
    MT arrived at the shopping mart and grabbed a buggy. There were no crying children, pushy and impatient shoppers, or elderly people asking everybody except for the employees for assistance. The crowds shopping for Sunday dinner were still at church, making her time in the store peaceful. Too focused on trying to pick tomato paste instead of sauce, MT bumped into an employee.
    “ I’m so-“MT sentence stopped short as she recognized the face.
    “ Maria Toledo,” The handsome store clerk said with a wide smile. “How’s it going?”
    She wanted to flee to checkout. “I’m alright, Kenneth, you?”
    “ I just moved back to town and started here last Monday.”
    “ That’s nice.” She wanted to keep this conversation as short as possible.
    “ How’s Mrs. Toledo doing?”
    “ My mom is fine.”
    Kenneth nodded. “It’s so cool that you’re looking after her. If you need any help, I’m here.”
    MT wondered if he had bumped his head and forgotten their history. “She’s not good around other people.”
    “ Come on, she loves me. Prom night she took tons of photos of us and kissed me on the cheek.”
    “ I have to go.”
    Kenneth thumbed at a shelf of food. “Me too. Wait, do you still go by MT?”
    She nodded. “I do. They were my initials after all before you started to mock them.”
    “ Sorry about that, I was young and stupid. MT…’empty’, I thought I was being creative.”
    “ Nope, just cruel but I’m over it. Bye Kenneth.”
    She was glad to rush away from him. Last thing she wanted to do was revisit the incident after prom night. MT paid for her purchase, left the store and cursed the universe for hiring Kenneth at the only grocery store in town.
    Once home, MT passed the hours by stocking the groceries and looking after her mother. She cooked, cleaned, cooked some more and cleaned once again. It got late and she decided to watch some television while she fixed her mother’s hair. MT sat on the couch and her mother on the floor between her legs. As she wrestled with the rough, knotted hair, her mother behaved as promised while snacking on a bag of cookies.
    MT wasn’t halfway finished with her mom’s hair until the woman finished her cookies and started to fidget around and mumble to herself. The mumbling eventually turned into the screams and MT turned up the television to try to drown them out.
    “ Momma, you promised you would behave.”
    Fran looked up at her. “You’re empty inside.”
    “ And you’re breaking your promise.”
    “ The madness, I can feel the madness. It’s strong tonight.”
    MT’s mother was one of the people in the world that could sense and attempt to manipulate the madness. Her mother’s madness frequency was at an all-time high, the main reason for her unstable mind. Her momma broke from in-between MT’s legs and stood.
    “ Momma, sit down.”
    “ The madness is here.” Fran rushed to the front door and started to fidget with the locks. “It’s strong.”
    MT stood and grabbed her mother by the hand. “I know, but just relax and let me finish your hair.”
    Fran jerked her hand away and smacked MT. “Don’t touch me!”
    “ I told you before, no hitting.”
    Fran ran through the living room and barged into MT’s bedroom.
    “ Momma no more cookies ever if you mess up my room,” MT said as she followed after the woman.
    MT entered her bedroom to discover her mother escaped through the window. She foolishly thought back to her morning ritual and remembered she left her bedroom window opened.
    “ Shit, shit, shit, how could I not shut the window?”
    Empty slipped on her sneakers and rushed out into the night after her mother.
    She spotted her mother running towards the woods that were a few blocks down from their neighborhood. The red mumu Fran wore made it easy for MT to keep track of her. Fran headed into the woods and MT followed after her, stepping on branches and