"Oof!" Zoe had been trying to text on her cell phone and walk at the same time. A fatal combination ... for Gladys Brewer.
"I'm sorry," said Gladys with a quiet, sweet voice that wouldn't remain that way for long. She hadn't been hurt by the impact at all ... or so she thought. CTS had planted a dark seed into her brain, and its tendrils were spreading, one cell at a time.
Zoe snarled. "Watch where you're going!"
"I ... will." Gladys' timid voice was barely audible. An even softer voice whispered in her mind, The hell I will! It grew louder with each step she took away from Zoe and toward her house. The regret on her face gradually became anger while her clothes darkened and her skin bleached.
She grabbed the knob of her front door with a new intensity and flung it open. Once she was inside, she slammed it shut behind her.
"Gladys?" asked her mother. "Is that you?"
