5 Chapter 4

What?" I asked confused. I thought maybe she had come back to ask me to look for her cat again, but when I looked up I saw a fresh cut across her cheek. I gasped but Derora didn't seem to care about the blood marking her face. She fumbled with her hands.

"I said I need your help! No questions asked," she said firmly. My courage fell into my shoes when I realized that there probably wasn't any escape from these crazy people. I was going to call the cops when I get in the house, and maybe an ambulance too, I thought as I glanced back at the loose skin on Derora's cheek.

"Okay." I led Derora into the house. While she stayed in the kitchen I checked the other rooms for my dad. His study's door was closed. I sighed with relief. My dad probably fell asleep in front of the computer again. In the kitchen Derora was busy washing blood from her face in the sink. She looked up unfazed and dried her face with the kitchen cloth. It was stained red and she didn't even apologize. I sat down at the table and Derora sat down across me.

"Get me a needle, thread and some whiskey. If I have it I'll tell you why I'm here," she said staring at me. This was definitely not the sweet girl I met yesterday. I stood up and searched the cabinets for a needle and thread. I didn't know why she would need that, but I wanted to know why she stood outside my house in the rain. I placed it on the table and carefully backed away.

"I'm not giving you the Whiskey," I said nervously.

Derora stood up with a force and opened all the cabinet doors until she found the liquor cabinet. I flinched as she cracked the cap off the bottle and took a few large gulps. I couldn't help but look at the skin hanging loosely from her cheekbones as she held her head back. It was hard not to gag. Silently I reached for my phone on the charger. My fingers automatically pressed 9-1-1. Derora swung her head to look at me with panic tracing her face.

"NO. Please don't call the cops, Let me talk first. Put that phone down where I can see it."

Hesitating I put the phone in the middle of the table. Derora sat down again while pulling thread through the needle, then taking more sips whiskey.

"I lied yesterday. I don't have a cat. I ran away from home, because I'm mad at my parents. I wan't to stay here for two nights," she confessed. My mouth hung open.

"No way! Where's your friends? Go to them, I don't know you," I said confused.

"I'm mad at them too."

Concerned I looked at Derora again. She was pinching her skin together at the place of her wound. She held the needle up to her face .

"Stop!" I yelled knowing that she was trying to stitch her wound herself. It was too late. The needle already pierced through the skin and crimson red blood seeped through her fingers. In horror I tried not to puke.

"Stop! Stop! I can get you to the hospital!" I yelled just hoping she would stop, but the second thread was already through. Derora flinched only a little as she pushed the needle through for the third time.

"No, I have done this before and I will be fine. If you take me to the hospital my parents will find me there," she replied.

My stomach churned and I jumped up trying to take the needle from her hand. She slammed her fist onto the table.

"NO! Look I am fine. There is trouble at home, I just want to get away for two days," she said between clenched teeth.

My head felt dizzy at the sight of the needle hanging from her face. I hurled over the kitchen sink puking out my breakfast. I stood there with closed eyes until Derora finished her DIY stitches. I handed her a bottle of disinfectant and a pack of ice with trembling hands.

"Fine you can stay in the basement, because my dad would call the cops," I said with my head between my palms. I wanted to slap myself in the face for allowing Derora to stay here, but I guessed I felt sorry for her.

"What the hell is happening to my life," I whispered under my breath.

***

After setting up a bed in the basement, I went upstairs to sneak Derora some food. We had pork and vegetables for dinner. I put a few spoons onto another plate.

"What is that?" Derora asked as I gave her the plate.

"Pork and vegetables," I rolled my eyes. Derora scrunched her nose up and shoved the plate back to me.

"I'm vegetarian," she replied coldly. The image of her stitching herself back together flashed through my mind. If she could pull that off, she might as well eat meat. I didn't say anything though, because I wasn't looking for an argument.

Irritated I grabbed the meat from the plate and shoved it into my own mouth, giving her the veggies. She started eating immediately with her fingers. Within minutes the plate was clean and sparkling.

"Thank you," she said coldly, wiping her mouth.

I gave her a stare, and turned around to go upstairs.

"Goodnight."

In my bed I got the book out of the bag. The sudden urge to read everything overwhelmed me again. I wanted to throw it away, but my fingers opened the cover against my will. My heart thumped hard against my ribcage. Typed words covered the all the pages. I tried reading it, but nothing made sense to me. The first sentence read: Made was discovery fascinating a recently.

I rubbed my eyes and tried to read the second sentence.

' Patiently rests motherclock world's the, forest pine nearby the in, roses and thorns between. '

My head ached at trying to figure out what this person tried saying. It was definitely English, but none of it made sense. Curiously I paged through the book, only to find that all the sentences were scrambled. I gave up on trying to read and fell asleep instantly.