a frenzy of paranoia begins circulating through localized online forums. chatrooms. youtube. eight-thousand trending posts scattered across the internet, obsessed with a conspiracy; seemingly random missing persons reports alleged as murders. science girl's message boards become increasingly dominated by questions that scare her, a sharp, processed feeling festering like a diseased wound under her sternum. the chemical reaction of acid burns. poisons. the chemistry that seizes the human nervous system in its death-throes. claudette can feel it bleeding into her physical life. in the fliers of missing people layered over bulletin boards and bus stops. in the way she finds herself gravitating towards crowds. eye-witnesses. public places sheltered by the daylight.
she is grateful for jj. he humors her anxieties with a buddy system, escorting her through the long bus rides to and from her internship's field research projects, set up in a federally-protected national forest.
her feet are aching when she sags into the long, leather-bound seat, tucking herself against a dusk-misted window. idly aware that jj takes up the space next to her, sharing the booth.
claudette does not remember sleeping, as she opens her eyes, feeling heavy, groggy, slowly lifting her head from jj's shoulder. the gap in her memory startles her.
@pyrrh1c says: “I wondered when you were going to wake up. You almost didn’t survive.”
she tenses. freezes. the bus jostles over a pothole, and claudette realizes that she is safe. "...you’re teasing me,” she makes an objective statement, not an accusation. offers jj a relieved smile, ignoring her nerves. "i guess you earned it. f-for indulging me.”











