Hidden Fear

It Lives Within The Skin

"Hey, guys! Check this out! " my best friend , Yani , ran towards us with what looked to be some sort of worm in her hand. "Eww. What is that? Gross, Yani, put it back, " my sister, Louise , looked as if she was going to vomit . Yani rolled her eyes, " Stop being a baby, it's harmless. See?" She held her hand closer to Louise. "Ew! God no! ," Louise pretended to gag and started dramatically scratching various parts of her body as if being in the mere presence of it had caused her to get hives. I rolled my eyes at my sister's childish behavior. "Cara, you ever seen anything like this before. Cause I haven't. It's so weird looking." I hopped off the hood of my boyfriend's car and walked over to where Yani was examining the thing in her hand closely as if it was going to sprout wings and fly away.

As I got closer, I could understand why my sister acted the way she did. It was, most certainly disgusting. Yani's hand was covered in dark green slime, the thing she held was most definitely not a worm. At least not one you'd see in your yard after a heavy rainfall. It was long and slender, almost like a snake. Its body was so white, that it was almost see through. Its four beady green eyes sat diagonally from the other. I lowered my face closer to her hand, I used the tip of finger to touch its body. "Ew! Cara! Don't touch that thing, you'll get an infection or something." I turned my head to see my sister covering her face with her hands. "Lou, chill out. Like Yani said, it's harm—-fuck!" I jerked my finger back.

The damn thing bit me. "Eeee! See I told you not to touch it, " Louise shrieked. Yani looked confused, she looked closer at the mysterious creature in her hand, "That's weird. I don't even see a mouth on it." I showed her my finger, which bore six deep teeth marks in the flesh. "No mouth, huh? Then explain why my finger has teeth marks." Yani shrugged her shoulders and stared confusedly at her hand. "Put it back already, "Louise snapped. I watched as Yani shook the slimy little thing back on the fallen log by the eerie green colored pond. "Can we go now? Besides, Cara you need to get that looked at. What if you end up losing your finger?" My sister paced back and forth, the heels of her stilettos sinking in and out of the freshly rained on dirt forest floor. "It won't come off, shit!" I turned to see Yani scrubbing her hand harshly up and down her khaki pants leg. The dark green slime looked as if it was seeping into her skin.

The three of us climbed into the car. Yani continued scrubbing till the slime seemly vanished. "That's weird, where did it go" She studied her pants leg closely but there was no sign of slime ever coming off her hand. "I, for one, am not coming back here or going out in the woods ever again," my sister blurted, she wrapped her arms around herself and looked concerned. I ignored her and pulled back into the trail towards the cabin. Louise had hidden herself away in one of the guest rooms upon our arrival back. Yani and I, figured she'd eventually get over her little tantrum sooner or later. It was almost midnight when the sound of my best friends scream awoke me from my sleep.

I tossed open the door, running my eyes with the back of hand. My sister stood in the entrance of her room across from me, her large blue eyes filled with worried locked on the door a few inches down the hall. "Do you think she's okay?" she whispered. I gave her a dumbfounded look, "How am I supposed to know?" Louise rolled her eyes, "I don't know, best friend spider senses." It was my turn to roll my eyes, for a twenty-three-year-old my sister acted like a child. "Well while you hide away in your room, I'll go check on her like the good caring person I am. " I slipped my cold feet into a pair of bunny slippers and rubbed my hands up and down my arms to ease the chilling sensations. Louise tip toed behind me in her oversized panda onesie, her teeth chattering close to my ear.

Although I was appreciative that my state park ranger boyfriend, Fisher, allowed us to stay in his cabin while we were away on fall break it was tough without any central heat or even a fireplace, the long nights at the cabin was chilly and nerve wracking. Luckily, he had made sure we had plenty of blankets and hot chocolate stocked up for our time here. "Yani?" I knocked lightly on her door. "Maybe she went back to sleep?" my sister whispered. Another bloodcurdling scream escaped from behind the door. I could feel my sister pushed herself tightly into me, her arms wrapping around mine. "Yani, is everything alright?!, " I asked in fear. The door opened slightly. " Um, why are y'all looking at me like that? " She looked at us confused with a toothbrush dangling out the corner of her mouth. Louise reached out to poke Yani's arm. "You're still alive! " My best friend looked at my sister as if she was stupid, "of course? Why wouldn't I be."