The Beautiful Monster

"That's still an important part of health," Alyssa replied with a smile. They would both go on to help many people. She could feel it.

They were crazy college kids now, but they were about to be professionals. It would be a whole new world for them both.

Zoe nodded, looking proud.

"And this all started in a little psychology class," she said with a warm look.

She threw her arm around Alyssa's shoulders and squeezed her to her side tightly, almost dragging Alyssa off her barstool.

Alyssa laughed in surprise and placed her arm around Zoe's back, hugging her close. She tried not to think about how sad she would be when she moved away and left Zoe behind in this college town.

This moment and this night weren't meant for sadness. It was meant for celebration.

There were so many things coming to an end soon. Endings usually led to sadness, and Alyssa could already feel the onset of that, but she tried to focus on the good of it all.

When one thing ended, another began, and she was about to experience a lot of new beginnings.

She would be a doctor one day, and this next step was one of the most important. She had to make all of the moments surrounding it count.

"And it'll end with the best graduation party ever," Zoe finished as she let go of Alyssa.

Alyssa was excited for the party. It would be the perfect thing to wrap the last four years up into one night. She had experienced so much, learned so much.

She wouldn't take back those four years for nothing, no matter the bad times or hard times that she endured. They were all part of the experience.

"We have so much to do," she groaned as she leaned against the bar. She didn't know how they were going to get everything done for graduation and the party in time. There never seemed to be enough time.

Zoe waved her hand dismissively before hopping off the barstool. She grabbed Alyssa's hand and dragged her with her.

"The only thing that we need to worry about doing right now is dancing," she replied before leading Alyssa to the busy dance floor of the club.

Music thumped throughout the space as bodies upon bodies moved against each other to the beat. It was rhythmic chaos.

Alyssa smiled and followed, feeling ready to move and give herself over to the music. The dance floor was an escape, and she desperately needed that right now.

She walked through the sea of dancing people, feeling them sway and grind near her as she and Zoe found an open spot to dance in.

"It feels like we haven't done this in forever!" Zoe shouted over the music as she put her hands up, swaying to the beat.

Alyssa nodded her agreement. They spent a lot more time studying and working than dancing nowadays, but she supposed that was adulthood.

The older she got, it seemed like the more work that she did. But at least she would be passionate about her work.

She fell into the thump and tremble of the music that surrounded her, letting her eyes fall shut as she moved.

She let her head sway side to side, taking in the electronic noises. She felt like she was on a whole other planet. But reality always snuck back in.

Alyssa felt someone brush against her back. Usually when she felt someone come up close to her, she brushed it off. It was a packed dance floor, so it was impossible to not touch anyone while moving through it.

For some reason, she felt compelled to look this time. She opened her eyes and glanced over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of something dark moving behind her out of the corner of her eye.

A shadow.

Her heart lurched in her chest as she spun around, trying to peer through the crowd and spot the shadow that she swore that she saw behind her.

With the flashing lights flickering through the dark club and all the people around her, it would've been easy to mistake someone or empty space as a shadow, but she swore that she saw it move.

Why did she keep seeing a shadow? She turned back around to face Zoe and ask her if she had seen anyone behind her, but a sudden pain in her wrist made her flinch.

She lifted her wrist in front of her eyes, seeing two cuts about an inch apart on her skin. A look of confusion appeared on her face as she glanced around, trying to see what had cut her. Maybe someone's jewelry or nails hit her.

The two little cuts burned slightly. They almost looked like two little holes. She grimaced at the pain before moving closer to Zoe. She grabbed Zoe's arm and pulled her close.

"I'm going to the restroom real quick," she said, wanting to see the cuts in better lighting without so many people around her and bumping into her. She couldn't concentrate out here.

Zoe nodded before going back to dancing, not knowing that anything was wrong.

Alyssa guessed that Zoe hadn't seen anything weird happen. Maybe nothing weird happened. She wasn't sure. She didn't feel sure about anything anymore.

She hurried out of the crowd and to the bathroom, letting the bright light wash over her as the music became muted in the background.

She moved to the sink and looked down at the small cuts, feeling the pain pulse beneath her skin. She hadn't ever experienced a cut feeling so weird before.

She inspected it closely, wondering what had hurt her. Why did so many weird things keep happening to her?

She was starting to reach her capacity for odd happenings, especially since she didn't want to talk about them to anyone else.

Plus, there seemed to be some sort of shadow popping up everywhere. She had to be hallucinating it for some reason. How could a shadow follow her?

It moved quickly and slyly, always sticking to the corners of her vision or staying far away so that she couldn't get a great look at it.

It was frustrating at this point because it kept showing up, like it was taunting and tormenting her for some reason. Why her?

A few seconds later, the bathroom door swung open. Zoe stepped inside and gave Alyssa a concerned look.

"Are you okay? Do you feel sick?" she asked as she placed a hand on Alyssa's back.

Alyssa realized that Zoe probably thought the tequila made her rush to the bathroom to throw up.

She wished that was the reason. It was much easier to go through and explain than a shadow figure and two cuts on her wrist. She didn't even know where to begin with all of that.

"I'm okay. Just needed some air," she replied, which she knew was a sorry excuse. They had only been out on the dance floor for two songs. They were usually fine for five before they had to take a break.

"If you want to call the night early, we can," Zoe said, looking understanding. "I know they've been working you hard at the hospital."

It was nice of Zoe to offer, but Alyssa didn't want to ruin her night. If it wasn't for the weird cuts and shadow figure, she would still be out on the dance floor right now.

She wanted to try to ignore all of these weird things as long as she could.. She was sure that they wouldn't follow her all the way to New York, but she hoped that they didn't keep happening until graduation.