This wasn’t a kid anymore; I was looking at something much different. A normal kid would have been climbing through the tree, acting like the bushes were walls to a fortress that they were trying to sneak into.

How long was she back here like this? How did the other kids not notice her back here? More importantly, how the hell did she even get like this?

This wasn’t my student–this was a monster.

As hesitant as I was, I forced myself to lean over and look behind the bush. That’s when I got my answers, but a new question arose: Why?

Part of me wished I didn’t.

• Legends of the Dark
• Original Works