Through Thick And Thin - Part 1

"Noelle! Oh my god, Noelle!" She grabbed my face as if to see it was really me.

It took me a second to assimilate that I had just forced myself awake out of pure anxiety and fear. The tears were still streaming down my face and as I made contact with Elise's worried expression, she wrapped her arms around me.

"Ah!" I jumped slightly in place as her arm rested on my back—where the scratches had been.

"What's wrong? You've been acting so weird in your sleep I was so scared, I tried so hard to wake you up, Noelle I'm sorry."

I shook my head. "It's not your fault—" I breathed in for a quick second and decided to roll my shirt up from the back.

"What's on my back?"

"Noelle!" She screamed only moments after glancing, "Oh my god!"

"Elise! What's on my back?"

Her voice was instantly softer, she was trying incredibly hard to keep calm.

"There's deep scratch—no—claw marks, five of them."