I woke up in the middle of the night and somebody was in my room, I screamed in fear and threw my pillow at who ever it was. The stranger ducked and ran out. Apparently who ever it was didn't want to hurt me, but what was this person after? I didn't sleep much at all the rest of the night.
The following morning, I took a shower, got dressed, then called up Alice. She seemed happy to hear from me.
"Hello, Alice?"
"This is Alice. Who is this?" she replied. My heart sank slightly. Did she already forget me?
"It's Emi," I said.
"Oh, hi! Sorry, I didn't reckognize your voice at first."
"It's okay," I felt better, "So did you want to visit my friend with me today? I'm leaving soon."
"Oh, sure, when and where should I meet you?"
I thought for a moment, then told her I'd meet her at her house and to be ready. She agreed, then we hung up. I donned my hat and went out the door to meet up with Alice.
Along the way, I bumped into some girl wearing a cloak. She gasped.
"I'm so sorry," I said sincerely, "My mind isn't with me this morning."
The girl nodded and went along her way, smiling, "Emi is forgiven."
That little incident creeped me out slightly. That is, until shortly after, when I realized what she said, then I was horrified. She knew my name and her grammar resembled Zukin's. Her voice wasn't Zukin's but it still scared me. My heart was racing and I ran the rest of the way to Alice's house.
I got there and Alice was waiting outside, she ran to me, smling, "Emi is here! Alice is a happy girl now!" She giggled.
My face went pale, because she talked similar to how Zukin did alot. Normally I probably wouldn't have noticed, but due to the incident with the cloaked girl, I did. I held my head and dropped to my knees.
"Emi! Are you alright?!" Alice ran to me, she sounded very worried. I caught a glimpse of her face and I think she was almost crying. This girl had a very kind heart. She is not Zukin, she is Alice, I reminded myself.
"I'm fine," I said, forcing a smile, "Bad memories. That's all."
"Did I trigger them somehow? I'm so sorry if I did!"
"Only slightly, it was mostly some girl I met on my way here."
"Would you tell me on the way to the hospital?" She sounded concerned and very sorry.
I nodded and we set off for the hospital. Along the way I explained everything that had happened with Zukin. The stalking, Akira's coma, Rage in the hospital, Yuni attacked, my hat stolen, the tree, the hospital room. Everything Zukin did to me, I told Alice about. Then I told her about the girl I met on the way to her house. As I talked, Alice listened intently and only interupted to ask about something she didn't understand completely, which wasn't often. I finally finished telling her everything and we were almost to the hospital.
"Emi, I'm so sorry. Nobody should have had to go through what you did. Im surprised, but glad, that you're still sane," Alice said, with a slight smile. She always seemed to try and stay smiling.
"Thanks. Yeah, I know," I smiled at her to show my appreciation, "Hey look we're here!"
We had indeed reached the hospital. We started up the path when the same cloaked girl jumped out in front of us, and pulled down her hood. I went pale instantly, I wanted to scream but my voice failed me. My heart was racing and pounding against my chest. Alice didn't really know, but she looked at my expression and knew. That girl, was Zukin.