On Demon Wings

She sighed and came over to the bed, flicking on the bedside lamp. I watched as Ada accessed her text messages. She pointed at the screen with her slender finger.

 

“See.”

 

I looked. There was a text from me saying Ada, come here, I need you and her response B rite ther. I obviously hadn’t sent it. The time said it was sent three minutes earlier. I had been asleep and I was pretty sure my phone was in my purse by my bed.

 

I told Ada so and she brought it out. My phone was in there, as I thought, but when we went to the texting app, I saw the same outgoing message.

 

“So you don’t remember sending this like two seconds ago? You don’t remember cal ing my name?” Ada asked.

 

She sounded casual enough about it but I could tel from the slant of her brow that she was starting to worry.

 

I debated about lying to her to save some face but I couldn’t.

 

“No, I don’t remember. And to tel you the truth, I don’t remember painting my nails the other day either.”

 

“Maybe you’re sleepwalking. And sleeptexting. And sleepprimping.”

 

“What’s next?” I grumbled to myself. Things were getting more out of control by the minute.

 

“I don’t know,” she said, straightening up and tucking her phone into the waistband of her leggings. “Just don’t start sleepfucking.”

 

“Ada!” I admonished her.

 

She smiled and shrugged, delighted for having offended me. “So there was real y nothing?”

 

“Well now there’s something. I’m doing things and not remembering them! Do you have to go to the movies tonight?”

 

She sucked in her lip. “I don’t have to but I want to. I haven’t been with Layton outside of school al this week.”

 

“I thought you were going to break up with him,” I said.

 

“Maybe that’s what I’m doing,” she told me.

 

I nodded to myself. I wasn’t going to keep her from doing something she needed to do just because I was scared. I mean, what could Ada do anyway except take my mind off of things. And maybe prevent me from sleepfucking, God forbid.

 

She put her warm hand on my shoulder and squeezed it.

 

Then she paused as she stared at my face. “What’s wrong with your eyes?”

 

I felt a strange, sickening fear tighten the muscles in my back.

 

“My eyes?” I shook my head slowly. My voice trembled, “You tel me.”

 

She leaned over and tilted my head so that it was facing the light more and looked directly into my eyes. A frightened expression spread across her face.

 

“What is it?” I asked frantical y.

 

“Your pupils…are…are huge. Like, so fucking huge. You look like you have, like, shark eyes. Are you on something?

 

The fear spread up my spine. I leaped out of bed, nearly getting tripped up by the covers, and ran over to my mirror.

 

I gasped and the room started to spin. I reached out for the corner of my vanity and held myself up, stealing glances at my face. I couldn’t bear to look head on.