Free Paintshark by Kingsley Pilgrim

feeling faint, but still persisted in scratching with her song. The mother fidgeted uneasily in her seat. “WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR AGES.”
    Another waitress came to the table to find out why this particular diner had raised her voice but the mother shooed her away and grunted loudly, “I WANT HER, SHE SHOULD BE THE ONE SERVING US.”
    A strange energy pulsed though Cassandra’s body and it shook her, she stopped singing and wiped her brow cased in sweat, her eyes were as wide as saucers and she turned her attention to table five. Her voice trembled. “I’m sorry, what is it?”
    The mother’s voice boomed, “IT’S MY SON’S BIRTHDAY, AND THIS SILLY WOMAN HASN’T DONE ANYTHING.”
    Cassandra swayed as she meandered over, her stomach turning cartwheels and her eyes glazed over.
    The husband patted his wife’s arm to try and calm her down, but she wasn’t having any of it.
    “NO, I WILL NOT LEAVE IT, THIS WAITRESS IS USELESS.”
    All of a sudden the powerful energy in Cassandra pulled her quickly to table five, in a few quick steps she was at the table, she flicked her head round and roared, “WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME?”
    The restaurant dropped into silence instantly, swiftly followed by the sounds of screams and chairs hastily being scraped along the wooden restaurant floor, tables were overturned as diners scrambled through the exits.
    Only table five remained as all the family sat rooted to the spot staring up at Cassandra, one side of her face had changed, on her right-hand side her eye was no longer brown but a metallic green, half her mouth had grown razor-sharp teeth, her head resembled a now crimson reptile which looked rough and leathery, a forked-tongue slithered out, which she was oblivious to.
    “WHAT YOU LOOKING AT? HAVE I GOT SOMETHING IN MY TEETH?”
    The mum nervously pointed to a mirror opposite them hanging on the wall. Cassandra looked around and let out a shriek of terror as she saw her terrifying reflection, the young girl, still screaming, fled out of the chicken shop. Muskrat and his brother beamed with excitement.
    “DAD, THAT WAS WAY COOL, CAN WE COME BACK TOMORROW?” The father stared at his wife shaking in her chair, slightly dribbling with fear, he then looked his son squarely in the eye and smiled. “Did you get that on your phone?” Muskrat nodded. “SHIT YEAH!”
    Cassandra ran down the street feeling her face as she went, her fingers ran all over her head to see if the traces of the creature she saw in the chicken shack were still there. Pausing briefly she checked her reflection in a shop window, her tear-stained face had reverted back to its white self.
    She smeared her tears and continued running through the restaurant district, the people leaving and entering various eateries were apparently unaware of her transformation in the shop a few blocks down.
    Cassandra turned into an alleyway and collapsed into a heap, rolling on the ground she crawled on all fours and pushed her back up against the brick wall and cradled her head in her hands. Moments passed that seemed like an eternity with her thoughts all over the place. Still sniffling and trembling she stood up and threw up behind some bins.
    Remembering she was meeting Kimberley and fighting to maintain her composure, Cassandra ran around the corner…bumping straight into her friend. Kimberley threw her hands around Cassandra and held her tight, resting her head on her shoulder. Cassandra cried into her friend and the two between sobs recalled their respective incidents.
    Kimberley’s voice rose in alarm. “SO WHAT DO WE DO NOW, WHAT’S HAPPENING TO US?” Cassandra wiped the remnants of snot dribbling from her nose and shook her head.
    “I haven’t got a clue, I don’t know what’s going on but I don’t like it.” She looked around at the people heading to various restaurants and suddenly felt vulnerable.
    “Come on, let’s go back to my house and work out what the hell’s going on.” Kimberley nodded in