Disclaimer: Still not mine. Thanks for rubbing it in.

A/N: I've been holding off on posting this chapter for quite a while, as Chapter 5 is being painfully difficult to write, so I wanted to give myself as much time as possible. However, I think enough time has passed to warrant Chapter 3 for you guys. Also: A sincere thank you to GhostWolf7 for her help in working out a particularly difficult bit of this chapter. It may never have gotten finished otherwise.

Chapter Three: Truth

The moment the words are out of my mouth, the look he's giving me changes completely. At long last, he appears interested. I can see I've at least got my metaphorical foot in the door, and I feel some measure of relief.

"Come on," he says finally, motioning with one hand for me to follow him into the building.

In minutes I'm sitting before Carl, Perri, and Jain, unable to shake the uneasy feeling that I'm on trial. Kolchak starts to introduce the others when I interrupt. "I know," I say.

"Okay," replies Carl with a shrug. "So, who are you, exactly?"

"My name is Leah Simmons," I tell him. "I'm eighteen years old and I'm from Keyser, West Virginia."

"And yet you don't exist." The statement is full of incredulity, like he's playing along with some game he doesn't really understand.

"Right. Where I'm from, you don't either."

They stare at me. "Wait, what?" Jain manages, puzzled.

"We're not talking West Virginia, here, are we?" Perri's tone makes it clear the words aren't really a question.

I shake my head. "What would you say if I told you you were all on TV?"

There is a long pause. "That's…crazy," Kolchak offers finally.

"No crazier than hellfire, and you were all ready to believe that one," I respond, amazing myself with my bravado.

His eyes widen, then narrow as he scowls only partly in jest. Jain gives me a tentative smile, still looking astonished, and Perri smirks.

"She's right, you know."

"Yeah, yeah." He rolls his eyes and his gaze comes to rest on me. "But, seriously, this is ridiculous."

"I can prove it," I insist. "Ask me something."

Kolchak shakes his head. "Tell me something."

And so I do. After a second of thought, I start at the beginning. "That's Perri Reed and Jain McManus," I say. "You met them your first day here, when you stole her story. The one about Emily Gale. You thought maybe she was murdered by the same thing that killed your wife, but she wasn't – it was the dog…things. Your wife, her name was Irene. She died – " I think about it, "oh, a year and a half ago, or so. A monster did it, but lots of people think it was you."

I pause. Carl appears unconvinced, I notice upon glancing at him. "But I could look all that up, couldn't I?"

He nods. "What else?"

"You…um…," I hesitate, finally repeating, "Ask me something. I don't want to tell something I shouldn't."

Kolchak looks at me, his expression calculating, but he says only, "Koreatown. What happened?"

I recount as much as I can remember of the events, being sure to include details that I know would have remained out of the papers. As I speak, I watch their faces. Perri's eyes widen at my mention of the bracelet; Jain, meanwhile, looks awestruck when I relate his experience not only fully, but accurately. Kolchak is merely passive, unreadable.

The story comes to a close, and I make eye contact with each of them earnestly. "I haven't exactly had much of a chance to read the papers here, but that can't all have been in there. If I'm lying," I say, "tell me how I could have known that."

There is silence for several long seconds.

Then Carl, looking at the other two but speaking to me, finally admits, "You couldn't. It's just not possible."

The words elicit nods of agreement from Perri and Jain, and I can't help but smile, happy and thankful that I'm not alone in this world anymore.

My grin widens as I hear Jain say unsurely, "So, this TV show…is it good?"

"'Was'," I'm forced to correct him. "It was, but it…well, it got cancelled. Apparently, the network…um…doesn't like monsters."

"What?" he says in disbelief. "Come on. No one likes monsters – "

I don't hear the end of his sentence. I'm simply laughing too hard.