“That’ll be three dollars, eighteen cents dear.”

A candy bar and pre-made sandwich lay on the counter, the slight jingle of coins resonating across the convenience store as Charlotte reached into her pocket, placing exact change onto the counter, not saying a word. As she grabbed her items, placing them into her bag, the cashier looked at her “Where are your parents dear? Surely you aren’t here alone.” her accent wasn’t normal for this area, a hint of spanish in it, or at least Charlotte thought it was spanish.

“What should I say?” she thought, her mind racing through possible outcomes for everything she could think to say “...They’re out in the car, across the street.” she replied, before promptly walking off, hoping she wouldn’t stop her. Her mind was racing. She had been on her own for...was it three years now? No one had asked her about her parents, not once. “What happens if-- no. Charlotte, cool it. You’re fine. Put your hand out and open the door.” she thought. The little bell above the door jingled as she left the store. Her stomach growled, but she had to conserve her food, she knew that much.

She was soon crossing the street into Grand Central Park, not exactly sure where she was going now, but she needed to do something. Doing nothing drove her nuts, like laying in bed, listening to the dripping of a faucet left on, urging yourself to turn it off but not wanting to leave at the same time. She strolled through the park and sat down on a bench to enjoy her favorite activity. People watching. She placed her bag down beside her, looking around. In the field there were a few guys, grade ten or eleven she guessed, tossing a football. To the left of them, a couple having a picnic. “Probably on a date.” she guessed to herself. She looked to the right of the field. An ice cream vendor rode around on his bike, a quiet happy tune played as if to capture people’s attention and control them, much like a snake charmer and his pipe.

She heard a scream, quickly spinning around. A man, completely naked, had tackled a young boy who was struggling under the weight. Was that-- no. “He couldn’t possibly be...oh my god…” she whispered to herself. The man was, just like the news reporter had said, gnawing on the boy’s face, who had now fallen silent. “...What did they call this…..bath salts..?” she said, half in disbelief. She looked around, most people had fled the scene, but a few still lingered probably wondering what was going on. Charlotte grabbed her knife holding it in a shaky hand, then began to run at the...whatever that thing was.

****

“Charlotte, I need you to tell me exactly what you saw.”

The police station was chaos. Only an hour later and people were acting like it was the end of the world. Charlotte just stared at the table in disbelief, her brown eyes unwavering. A few droplets of blood were sprayed across her face and shirt from the encounter before the police had arrived. They had taken her into custody as she had no legal guardian.

“Charlotte dear, anything you know may be able to help the situation.”

News reporters could be heard outside the station as they squabbled like seagulls on french fries, trying to get comments from anyone involved. Charlotte just covered her ears, trying to drown out the world, trying to feel safe. She was terrified. What had she done….had she killed someone? Would it be considered murder if he wasn’t human in the first place? All these questions, she felt like her head was going to explode.

“I killed it!” she practically screamed. The whole station went quiet, turning towards Charlotte. “I killed it because it was attacking a little boy….no one was doing anything.” She hides her head again, tears now streaming down her face. Her heart pounded. She hated being the center of attention, hated the crowds, the noise.

“I wanna go home.”