Chapter 11

Run! Moments later, Roxanne came out of the bathroom and ran straight to her room to get dressed up. It didn't take her very long before she finally finished and made her way to the table where her coffee sat. She picked the cup and took a little sip, swallowing its contents. She placed the cup back down and gave a grandmother a hard stare. 'Well? How was it?" Linda asked with a bright smile. 'It's cold… And bitter" She said, still staring at her grandmother. 'Just like how my stay here will be from here on out." Roxanne feared within herself. 'That's too bad then. I'd have reheated it for you, but it looks like I'm out of time. I'll be leaving now. If you want to get something to eat or brew yourself more coffee, check the kitchen. The stuff you need is there." Linda said, slowly rising from her seat. 'I'll be heading out now. Take care of the house while I'm gone" Linda said, wearing her winter boots along with her bag strapped across her shoulders. 'W-Wait, Grandma… How do you expect to get anywhere this far out in the sticks? In fact, how were you able to get the supplies for this place or restock on foodstuff? You don't have a car or anything like that hidden away somewhere, do you?" Roxanne asked. There were two reasons for her asking. One was that she was truly concerned for her grandmother who lived all alone, away from civilization. How was she able to fend for herself for so long and did she plan on getting to wherever she was going by herself The second reason? If she had a car stashed away somewhere, then maybe it wasn't too late for Roxanne. She could make a getaway and run for her pure teenage life. 'Oh? I use online shopping and delivery. Those guys can get anywhere as long as it's on the map. Of course, I pay extra charges so they can bring it to me this far in, but I suppose that's the advantage of having so much retirement funds." Linda said, giving Roxanne the most unexpected answer ever. 'O-Online… Shopping?" Roxanne repeated. 'Duh! What do you think Wi-Fi is for?" Linda pointed out, entirely crushing Roxanne's notion of common sense. 'As for transportation, I've called an Uber ahead of time. I'll just have to get to the major road from here. It shouldn't take me too long" Linda said. 'It took us 30 minutes though" Roxanne thought to herself. And Linda was an old woman to boot. But Roxanne had learned not to use her common sense or apply them when it came to her grandmother. 'Oh, don't worry about me! I'll be fine!" Linda said with a smile. 'I knew it," Roxanne sighed. 'Oh, and one more thing Roxanne" Linda said, her tone now different from earlier. She now assumed a serious expression and her eyes narrowed as she focused them on her. 'Your hair and eyes… What's up with that?" Her grandmother pointed out. 'Ohh, I dye it, and these are just contact lenses," Roxanne explained to her grandmother, realising this was the first time her grandmother had seen her with the look she had now. 'Why…?!" Linda asked. 'Your eyesight should be fine, and I see no reason why you should dye your hair. So why do you take this appearance?" Linda asked, her voice now becoming more serious and a bit scary to Roxanne. 'W-Well… I guess I didn't want to stand out in school" Roxanne said, feeling nervous due to Linda's sharp gaze. An eerie silence enveloped them as the breeze blew. Then suddenly Linda burst out in laughter. 'Hahahahahahaha, I see, I see… I understand now Roxanne" She said, still chuckling a little. Roxanne was obviously confused by this but kept quiet as she observed Linda. 'But, Roxanne… You're no longer in school, are you?" Linda's question hit Roxanne like a sledgehammer. Roxanne knew she wasn't going to school today, yet she made extra care that her hair was entirely black and her contact lenses were worn. She did these out of habit, not thinking as to why she needed to know that she wasn't going to be attending school anytime soon. 'I… I…" Roxanne muttered, unable to truly answer her grandmother's query. Linda smiled as she saw the look of uncertainty and surprise in Roxanne's face. 'I don't want to see those contact lenses on you when I get back and you should wash away that dye. Their hair bleached somewhere in the kitchen, I labelled it so finding it shouldn't be too difficult" Linda said. She turned away from Roxanne and walked down the path leading away from her cottage, waving goodbye to Roxanne 'I'll be back soon. Take care" She let out before disappearing into the shrubs and trees. 'Y-Yeah… I will… ' Roxanne mumbled, still pondering on her grandmother's words. She entered the cottage and went first into the kitchen to find the bleach. She found it, took the buckets she could find and the pail, filled them with water, boiled the water with the cooker and set everything up for herself. She removed her lens, revealing her natural blue eyes as she furrowed her brows in determination. She never really hated her blue hair and eyes. She only gave them up in order not to attract attention to herself. 'Well, no one is looking at me now! Might as well go back to natural" She said, dousing her hair with the chemicals as she began the cleansing. It was now afternoon and Roxanne had taken a light breakfast. Regular oats and milk did the trick. Fortunately she knew how to make that, else she would have settled for the other weird looking cereal she found in the kitchen. 'What the hell is ‘Nutty Basins'?" She asked herself. She remained in the kitchen after washing her plates and was on a voice chat with her friend, Betty. 'OMG. I can't believe she did that!" Betty said, after hearing Roxanne's story of the previous day. 'Yeah. I know, right? Still recoiling from the shock even as we speak" Roxanne said. 'But, you know… You have to understand. Your mom is a woman, you know? She feels things. You can't blame her for trying to move on with her life." Betty said. 'Are you taking her side right now?" Roxanne said, feigning annoyance. 'No, No… Of course not… Maybe? I mean, just apologise so she'll allow you to come to the dance. It's going to be pretty lonely without you" Betty whined. Of course, Roxanne knew where Betty was coming from. She was also trying to be understanding about her mother and being honest with herself, she wasn't as upset anymore. But she still didn't want to go to the dance, and this was a perfect excuse for her. Too perfect to give up. 'I don't want to!" Roxanne said adamantly. Suddenly Roxanne felt a strange feeling permeating throughout her body. Her body hairs shot up and a feeling of uneasiness seeped into her. Somehow, she felt like she was being watched. She shook off the feeling and tried to focus on the call she was having. 'Come on Roxy! Please? For me? Just say the words sorry! I'm sure your mom would accept it with open arms" Betty nudged. 'She and her new boyfriend can go screw themselves for all I care!" Roxanne said, still feeling uneasy and it was getting stronger than before. She frowned at this and twirled her hair, a habit she developed anytime she felt nervous or unhinged. As her hands played with her blue hair unconsciously, Betty still continued to speak, but Roxanne wasn't paying much attention to her words anymore. All of a sudden, she heard loud bangs coming from a part of the kitchen. Immediately she turned to see the cause of the sound since she was already on alert since a while ago thanks to the cautious vibes she had. Roxanne saw a blurry image of some sort of beast suddenly hide its face. It was dark, had red eyes and it clearly wasn't human! 'What the hell??!" She let out. Her hands trembled at the horrifying sight, causing her phone to slip and fall as her heart began to beat faster as she quickly left the kitchen and made way to her room. 'I'll call you later Betty!" Roxanne said as she ran past her phone which was badly damaged on the floor, not bothering to look down to pick it up or listen to her friend's last words. She heard a growling sound coming from the kitchen area. Sweat appeared on her face. A wild animal? Here? Her grandmother never told her of any such thing or warned her of dangers like that which existed in the woods. Her mother wouldn't have brought her here if she knew and Linda would clearly not have left her all alone in the house if she was aware. '" She heard a scraping sound and then before she could understand what was happening a loud ‘CRASH' was heard. Whatever that was, it was in the house already. She had no time to hesitate. She quickly left her room wide ajar and went straight for the other door which led outside, to the back. The storage room! She quickly opened the door, causing a sudden rush of cold winds brushing across her face, but she didn't care. She could only do one thing as the crashing sounds and growls grew nearer… Run!