difficult the movement was for her , like she was lifting weights that were at the very edge of her weight range . He also noted the crinkling noise that came from her shoulder this time . Gently , he touched her wrist .
To Grey ’ s surprise , Tabitha ’ s arm and hand felt like paper in his . He gasped , sure he was hallucinating . But — no , it really was like paper . Weak , easily manipulated and probably just as easily damaged . Every time one of his fingers moved over her skin , it produced a slithering noise like newspaper . Crackle , slither , snap . It was creepy to hear coming from a human body .
That crinkling noise wasn ’ t her pillow , Grey thought , horrified . It was her body . Holy shit , her whole body is like this . I ’ ve never even heard of anything like this , not even in a horror novel . How is that even possible ?
He placed her hand gingerly on the comforter , afraid that just letting go would cause her skin to tear and — what ? Bleed ? Fall off ? Leave a huge , open wound on her hand ? God , he didn ’ t even want to think about it . Instead , he gestured for Lita and Knives to come closer and examine Tabitha ’ s arm as well , cautioning them to be careful . Their mouths became ovals of shock as they realized how fragile her skin was .
“ How long have you been like this ?” Lita asked Tabitha .
“ My whole life ,” she answered . “ My skin tears easily and when it does , I bleed a lot . If I bleed , my skin has a hard time healing up . I barely leave this room because of it . I also must be careful not to get wet , or my skin falls apart . Daddy says when I was little , when I still had diapers , every time I peed or cried — well , you get the idea . I hate bath time . It ’ s always me and Daddy trying to keep me clean without killing me .”
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