I followed the road until it finally led me out of the woods and back toward the city, and the closer I got, the heavier my chest became.
Every second gave me more time to think, and thinking was becoming unbearable because no matter how much I tried to avoid it, my mind kept returning to the same thing over and over again- Blood on my hands. Dead people. The possibility that I had truly become the thing I had spent so long fearing.
The smell of blood was gone after washing myself in the river, but I still felt filthy somehow.
The city felt tense the moment I entered it. Everywhere I looked people had formed groups outside shops, apartment buildings, sidewalks, talking amongst themselves in frightened.
I didn't need to hear every word to know what they were talking about. Whatever happened last night had spread through the city already.
I kept walking toward my apartment carefully, trying to act normal despite how violently my pulse kept rising with every step.
