Matt

I knew Jill didn't like me from the start. Every time she looked at me, her eyes told me she'd rather blow my head to smithereens than spend time getting to know me. But I felt I was safe from her when Alice was near, like a guardian angel.

I stood in the bathroom, leaning against the door for a moment. I needed a shower, to rid myself of the layers of blood that caked itself on me. Removing the scraps from my lower half, I stepped into the shower and turned the spout on full blast.

The hot water was so soothing as it touched my bare skin. All of my aches and pains seemed to be washed away as the water cleared the blood from my body. I watched as the tainted liquid swirled around the drain, slowly escaping into the sewers. I was hypnotized to say the least.

Something about the swirling vortex of blood and water triggered a memory… Something I'd rather have been forgotten.

XX

Slowly my gunfire came to a halt and I stepped forward to examine my work. Somehow I got a sick sense of satisfaction when I saw the twisted, steaming corpses of my enemy all lying strewn across the cold cement and tile floor… Surrounded by pools of their own blood.

XX

I let out a yelp and jumped away, my back connected with the wall and stopped me from going any further. I was lost! Where was I? What just happened? The water rolled off my quivering body. A quick glance around told me I was safely in the shower. I shook my head and used my hands to wipe the water from my eyes as if it were going to wash away the pictures.

Calming my breath, I finished cleaning up. Had I already cleaned myself? Was I washing a second or third time? When I turned off the water and stepped from the shower, I could hear voices outside the door. Two women. Someone I knew?

I glanced at the mirror and gasped. My right eye was glossed over, head shaved, and I had a terrible scar down my face. I had obviously been wounded from something, the way my body was wracked with rapidly scaring wounds. I watched as one of the wounds bubbled and the scar tissue quickly moved across it to seal it away.

"Matt? Jill brought you some clothes and bandages… Are you aright?" one voice asked through the door.

"F-fine…" I continued to stare, fascinated with the shifting wounds.

When I heard a light tapping on the door, it snapped me back to reality and I opened the door a crack. With a smile of gratitude, I took the clothing and bandages from the blonde. Once the door was closed, I began to dress. Black slacks, a white muscle shirt, and a long-sleeved blue button up shirt. Strange… Hadn't I worn something similar to this before?

As I looked at myself in the mirror, I listened to the mumbling voices just outside the room. A flash of light made me blink and shake my head free from the spots. The bathroom light flickered and suddenly all went dark.

"Kill…" A low menacing voice rang out through the bathroom. Ragged beastly rasps echoed off from unseen walls. I knew this voice, this breathing. It was Nemesis… It was me. An I felt the need to finish what I'd started.

"STARS"

In the mirror I saw a monster. Lipless mouth curled up in a sadistic smile. One eye was covered with flesh, staples held two halves of my head together, Tentacles were spouting from the shoulders and neck. "Kill her."

Her… I thought. My primary target…Alice…

I blinked and snapped back to reality. The lights in the bathroom were still on and I was still in front of the mirror. An evil grin spread across my face as I tilted my head down mischievously. I'd have to dispose of Alice and the others… But my body was weakened and incapable of coming into hand-to-hand combat.

Tonight… While they sleep.

With that last thought, and another grin toward the mirror, I left the bathroom.