Chapter 89: [Bonus chapter] Gia's Monster

She used to have nightmares. She would be running through Suicide Forest, pursued by something she could't see. Every tree looked the same. Every hill looked the same. She could never make any progress in her escape from the monster behind her.

"Gia!" Her parents' voices would be calling her, echoing through the trees. And she would try calling back to them, but her voice always died in the air, falling flat against the ground before it could ever reach them to let them know where she was. 

The nightmares started when she was five. Every night for months, she would go to bed and be stuck in the same dream. And every night the unseen monster would get closer and closer until one night, it was only a tail's length away. She could feel it on her heels, and she was sure that when it finally caught her, she would never wake up. She would never see her parents or David or Theo or anyone else ever again.