Maybe if she just stayed right here, in this room, in this small house--no one would find her. Maybe. It hadn't worked in the past, but maybe it would work now. This time. Maybe, maybe, maybe...
A crunch of brush made her jump and the blonde shifted away from the wall. Calm. Calm thoughts. It wasn't even near changing time yet. She had a week at least. Why was she so jumpy? Calm down! Her brain screamed at her to be more calm but all it did was make Carol more anxious, wound tighter and tighter, the stress teetering on the edge of snapping and letting all her little demons come out in a panicked mess.
It'd been a year and she still wasn't used to the new... senses. Even like this, her hearing was peaked, and so was smell. Someone was coming. Funny. She used to be friendly, but now, she just pressed herself backwards, away from the scent, praying they just moved on. Please, please, please... She didn't want to hurt anyone else.
They didn't listen and the door swung open. Blue eyes raised, wide and frightened, and she nearly fell trying to back away. "No. You should leave. Now."
Hands raised, her sleeves (from a shirt far too big for her) fell down to her elbows in time to see the timer click to zero.