Carla's Side - Cerebral Showdown

A room-shaking blast of thunder made her sit upright in bed. It'd been so strong she swore she felt the bed move slightly. Carla looked to the window, and saw that the rain had stopped. And more then that; all the lights were out. Odd, she hadn't remembered turning off the lamp before falling asleep.

Confused and still a little sleep-dazed, she reached over to her bedside table and fumbled for the lamp switch. Maybe there'd been a power surge? That usually made the circuit breaker blow, and Ben had to go and turn everything back on at the fuse box. Finding the switch, she flicked it once, but when no light came she hit it again. Nothing happened. It must have been a black out.

She swung her body off the bed and sat on its edge, rubbing her eyes. Damn, she had good food in the fridge too. She hoped this wouldn't last long. Carla glanced at her watch, trying to make it out in the muggy gloom. '12:03' she finally made out.

12:03, and Ben wasn't in bed beside her. She felt an icy chill go down her spine. Something had happened, she knew it. Something had gone terribly wrong. She had to get out of bed and call the police, get a search out for him. Maybe he'd just gotten too drunk and couldn't make it home. Maybe he was at a friend's house. Maybe his phone had gone flat. Maybe -

A flash of lightning illuminated the room, and Carla finally saw the figure standing in the door frame. She cried out and climbed back onto the bed, grabbing a pillow to hold in front of her protectively.

"Who's there?" she choked, peering over her down-filled barrier. The figure didn't move. Though it was dark again, she could see the person outlined quite clearly against the hallway. It was tall... lean... in fact it looked like a man. Carla felt a wave of relief wash over her, followed by a sudden embarrassment.

"Ben!" she called. "Ben, where have you been?" She threw the pillow to the side and moved to the end of the bed. "I've been worried."

The figure didn't answer, just continued to stand in the doorway. Carla felt her relieved smile begin to fade, and uncertainty started to fill her stomach again. Something was wrong. Why wasn't he moving? Or saying anything? Was he hurt? In the darkness of the hallway, she couldn't make out any features on his face at all.

"B-benny?" she said. "Come on, you're scaring me."

She saw the figure's head begin to tilt slowly to one side.

"...Ben?"

"You're a liar," the figure croaked. It was Ben's voice, but it sounded hoarse. Carla recoiled back up the bed at the sound of it.

"B-ben, I'm sorry!" she gasped. "Really, I -"

"You're a liar," he rasped again. He put out his hands towards her, and took one awkward, loping step. "I loved you. I trusted you."

"I'm sorry!" she screamed, feeling hot tears on her cheeks. "Please, stop!"

Ben took another step towards her. The weak light coming from the window was making his figure more defined, but she still couldn't see his face.

"You hurt me," he wheezed. "You hurt me so badly that I... that I had to hurt myself. Had to make your pain... go away."

"What??" she cried. "Ben, what do you mean? What did you -"

"Look what you made me do," he said, stepping closer to the window. He brought his hands up towards his face, and as if on cue, lightning flashed and filled the room with white. Carla screamed.

In the light from the window, only half of Ben's face was illuminated, but it was enough. All his skin was gone. Instead, there was only red, veiny meat and sinewy muscles. His skeletal, lipless teeth grinned at her, but worst of all were the eyes. There were no lids, so they bulged out of their sockets in a horrifying, bug-eyed manner. Carla couldn't move as she watched him run his hands down the bloody flesh of his cheeks.

"You made me do it," his voice croaked. "You made me eat my own face!"

-----

Carla sat bolt upright on the bed, gasping for breath. Her whole body was drenched in sweat. The room was still dark, but rain was once again pattering on the window. Putting a hand on her chest, she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to focus on calming down.

Another freak out? A dream? It couldn't have been... it was so real, just like the last one. Ben had really... been there, his face devoid of skin and expression. Except for that horrid, skeletal grin.

But what about now? Was this the real world? Or another dream? Cautiously, she opened one eye and peeked down at her wristwatch. '12.05' it read.

"God, no," she whimpered. Her heart pounding, she opened both eyes and looked to the doorway.

A dark figure stood in its frame.

"No!" she screamed. "Not again! Not again!" Terrified, she began to pull at the bed, trying to create a shield of pillows and blankets between her and the horror at the door. "Leave me alone!"

"Carla?" the figure said. It left the door and began to walk towards her.

"Stay back!" she screamed, throwing a pillow at it. "I don't want to see your face again!"

"Carla, what the hell?" The figure moved quickly and sat on the end of the bed. She heard a click, and suddenly Ben's concerned face was lit up. He was holding a flashlight under his chin.

"Carla, it's just me!" he said, confusion in his voice. "I thought you could have guessed that. Who else would it be?"

Carla refused to move from behind her blanket barricade for a few moments, then slowly lowered it so she could look at him clearly.

"B-ben? Is it you? The real you? You haven't... hurt... yourself this time?"

Ben moved the light away from his face and rested it on the bed. It shone most of its beam on the far wall, but there was enough light to see him clearly in.

"Yes, it's me. The power's out because of the storm, so I was trying to go about quietly with the flashlight. I'm not hurt though. What do you mean?"

Carla screwed up her face and put her hands over her eyes.

"I... I... I think I just had a bad dream," she answered. She pushed away the pillows and came down the bed towards him, carefully reaching out a shaky hand. He took it in his. His skin was warm.

"Why are you back so late?" she asked, not releasing the hand, but instead giving it a hard squeeze.

Ben looked slightly sheepish and turned his head so the light wasn't on his face.

"I was... out," he said. "I needed time to myself. I met some people who had experience in our kind of situation, and we got to talking. Time just slipped away. I'm sorry I didn't call."

Carla's tension began to ease, and she relaxed her grip on his hand. At least that was one question answered satisfactorily.

"I see," she sighed. "Well, I guess you probably have a lot to say. It's late; why don't you come to bed and we'll talk about it in the morning." She gave his hand an encouraging tug, but instead found he resisted her. She looked at him inquisitively.

"I'm not staying," he said bluntly. Carla squeezed his hand tightly again.

"What? Why?"

Almost irritably, he shook her off and put his hands in his lap.

"I'm not staying. I can't. The people I talked with... they agreed with you." He shook his head sadly. "They said that counselling rarely helps. It might prolong the relationship a little longer. Maybe as long as a year. But the problems are always there, and trust is never fully regained."

Carla felt her skin give way to a wave of chilled goosebumps under the cold layer of sweat. This was not what she'd hoped to achieve from her earlier outburst.

"Ben! That's not what I meant! I was just... angry. I wasn't thinking straight. You said there's a way, that we might be able to -"

Ben shook his head again.

"Even if we do get help, it won't be the same. Something has broken," he put his fist on his chest. "Something in here has broken. I can't... I won't be able to
feel the same way about you again, no matter how many problems we work through."

"Ben..." she choked, tears already flowing from her eyes. "But..."

"I'm going to go away for awhile," he said. His voice had taken on a flat, emotionless tone. It only made his statements more painful for her to hear. "I've arranged to live with my sister for awhile."

"How... how long is awhile?" she sobbed.

"However long it takes for us to decide what to do next," he answered.

Carla looked on the floor, and for the first time saw the already packed suitcase sitting near the door. He must have been using the flashlight to gather his stuff while she slept.

"You're leaving... right now?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes. I'm just taking a few necessities for now. A van will come by later this week to get the rest of my stuff."

"Were you even going to say goodbye?" she sniffed bitterly.

"... I was debating on how to do that when you woke up," he said softly. "Trust me: I wasn't going to just walk out of here. Not with the way you've been lately."

Carla fought off the almost overwhelming urge to throw her arms around him; it would have been a pointless gesture. Ben's mood at the moment suggested he wanted anything but affection from her. But inside, she couldn't help but notice something stirring.

Ben was taking charge. He was no longer pandering to her feelings or trying to come across as the nice guy. For once he was showing some frustration and feeling... and she couldn't help but feel attracted to him for it.

"Please, don't go," she said, wiping her face and moving closer to him on the bed. "Not tonight. Just stay with me a little longer."

Ben got up and moved to the doorway. He bent down and picked up the suitcase, his back towards her.

"I have to," he said coldly. "I have a cab waiting for me outside."

He began to disappear down the hallway, and Carla felt a sudden rise of panic in her throat. He was serious. He was really leaving her. Right now. Somehow the whole time they had been talking she hadn't believed he'd go, but he was walking towards the entrance as that moment.

Nothing was going right. She couldn't lose Ben; he was her rock in this world. He was the only thing she really cared about, and without him there was no telling what could happen to her state of mind. He couldn't leave. He had to stay.

"Ben!" she cried. "Ben, wait!"

She leapt off the bed and ran into the hallway. Ben was already at the front door.

"Ben, don't leave me! I need you!"

She ran down the hallway, but her foot caught on a small throw rug and she fell in a tangled heap on the floor. She could only lie there, sobbing and reaching towards Ben with one pleading hand.

"Please..." she whimpered.

Ben didn't turn to look at her. He stood in the entrance and stared into the blackness beyond.

"I'm sorry, Carla. I'll call you in a few days," he said. Then he stepped out of the apartment and closed the door behind him.

-----

Carla lay on the floor, crying and holding the rug close to her chest. Ben had gone. He'd finally found his strength and emotion... and had used it to rid himself of the source of his pain. Her. It had all gone horribly wrong, but then she was unsure of how she'd hoped it would turn out anyway.

Outside, there was a faint series of honks. Carla looked back at the bedroom from her spot on the hallway floor. Was that Ben's cab? Maybe she could scream at it to leave before he got out of the building; that way he'd be forced to come back.

Untangling the rug from her legs, she scrambled up and ran through the bedroom door. Rain still pounded against the window, but that was the least of her worries. Wind roared into the room as she slammed it open, and her nightwear was soaked almost instantly.

On the street below, a single car waited with its headlights on and engine running. Carla leaned out into the tempest, trying to see. It was dark, but even so she could still make out the pattern on the cab. She gasped in dismay.

Tiger stripes. The colours weren't visible, but she knew they were green and yellow. She couldn't mistake that familiar shaped body kit either.

'No,' she thought. 'Not that cab. Anything but that cab. It's not... it's not real!'

She wasn't sure why she felt that, she just did. The right side door was already open, and somebody was getting in. It was Ben. She was too late to stop him... but she was going to try.

"Beeeennn!" she screamed into the wind. "Beeenn. Don't go. Don't get in the cab. It's not safe!"

He didn't look up. The howling gale probably drowned out her voice. Instead, he entered the passenger's seat and closed the door. Carla could only stare despairingly down through the rain, powerless.

'Not that cab,' she thought. As she watched, the driver's side window rolled down, and a face poked out. If she hadn't spent all day being assaulted by the same relentless phantom, she might have been surprised. But she wasn't.

The big, manly chin was the main give away. Captain Nature leaned out of the cab, grinning up at her. With one hand, he gave a quick salute from the side of his head, and then disappeared back inside. The car was thrown quickly into gear, and Carla watched it speed down the street and away.

She slumped over the sill, feeling helpless and alone. She couldn't stop him. And now Captain Nature had taken Ben in his cab, taken him... where? A loud grumble of thunder made her jump in fright, and she quickly withdrew back inside and closed the window.

The bedroom carpet was soaked, and her night clothes were now causing savage chills to race through her body. Ben. What had she done? It had all gone so wrong. Sadly, she shuffled her way through the dark towards the bathroom, arms wrapped tightly across her chest. What was she going to do now?

Without Ben, Gorilla man could track her down at anytime. She had no one to protect her, or to tell her everything was going to be ok. As she dried her hair and clothes with a towel, there was a flash of light from outside, and she caught a glimpse of herself in the cabinet mirror.

Pale skin. Red eyes. Hair tangled like some crazed street derelict. In a word: pathetic. She was a hopeless specimen of human failure, the end result of a lifetime of co-dependency. She leaned close to the mirror and stared at her silhouette through narrow eyes.

"Well, what now?" she said bitterly. "You got yourself into this mess; what are you going to do about it?"

In answer to her question, there was a 'click' from the lounge room, and the familiar hiss of static. Carla felt her hands clench tightly, her mouth drawing into a thin line. Him. Even when the power was out, he found a way to torment her. Why? It was all his doing; this constant paranoia inside her head. She was going to end it, right now.

Leaving the bathroom, she crept down the darkened hallway towards the lounge. A white light was flickering through the doorway, and the hiss of static grew louder. It began to cause a pain above her right temple, boring into her skull, and she had to put a hand on it to try and relieve the building pressure.

As she neared the doorway, the static suddenly stopped, and the familiar tune of Captain Nature's many environment safety ads began to play. She recognised it as the 'hybrid car' promotion.

"Buying a hybrid car will not only cut down on your fuel costs, it can reduce harmful gas emissions by 75!" the TV blared. Carla entered the room and glared at the screen, watching the muscular figure zip about. He was in a green and yellow striped car that had a big grin on its fender. The other cars around it were panting and choking on clouds of black fumes.

"Help do your part in keeping our air clean," he beamed. Carla sat on the sofa and crossed her legs, waiting for the insufferable ad to finish. After this, she'd be happy if she never saw television again.

The green figure flew across the screen and landed on that oh-so-familiar pile of festering rubbish. Striking a manly pose, smiling that dazzling smile, he pointed a finger towards his devoted viewers and said the signing off words for all of his messages.

"And remember; rrrreeeeecycle!!" -Tant-dadda-dum-

Carla waited. As expected, the cartoon hero didn't disappear from the screen. He stood atop his pungent refuse, cape flapping in the breeze. How powerful he looked.

"We have to talk," Carla said bluntly. She wagged a finger between herself and the television. "Just you and me."

Captain Nature's otherwise unseeing gaze focused on her, and his broad grin grew wider.

"I thought you'd never ask," he beamed.

Carla closed her eyes and breathed slowly. What happened next could mean the difference between regaining the tenuous grip she had on her own mind, and losing it forever. She had to be strong. Had to be sure. And more importantly; not let a figment of her own imagination drive her further into madness. She could beat this thing. As Ben said, "there's always a way".

"Why are you here?" she asked, holding the cartoon in a steely gaze. "What did I do to make you..." she paused, unable to find the word to describe it. Was he real? Alive? Tangible in any way? In the end, she left it, because if her suspicions were correct he'd know what she meant without her saying it.

"Who are you?" she said coldly.

Captain Nature grinned. His muscles bulged effortlessly beneath the skin tight costume. His white, triangle eyes stared back at her from behind that black mask. He really did appear to enjoy her torment.

"Its really quite simple," he said finally. "When humans endure a certain level of stress - either due to a single, traumatic event, or over a prolonged period of time - things can... happen, in their minds. In your case, it could have happened further back then you are able to remember."

Carla tilted her head, her face contorted in angry confusion.

"What? What happened to me? I don't understand."

Captain Nature ignored her.

"When someone's mind reaches a point where it can no longer deal with the world around it, it has to find a way to escape. Sometimes it will break down completely, leaving the person in a gibbering mess. Sometimes it will merely go blank, and one might awaken several months later in a hospital, remembering nothing. But other times..." Captain Nature leant towards the screen, his white triangle eyes squinted. "Sometimes... it will fragment. The mind will wall up the unstable part of itself, effectively removing it from a person's psyche." He drew back again, putting a hand thoughtfully under that manly chin. "In theory, someone could live out the rest of their days quite happily without even realising how close they came to meltdown."

Carla continued to stare at the television. He was intentionally taking the long way around answering her question, drawing out her fears. It was a cruel and sadistic speech, but she allowed him to continue. She suspected he would ignore any further interruptions anyway.

"You came close to one such event." Captain Nature thrust an accusing finger towards her. "At some point, perhaps when you were a child, something damaged your 'sensitive mind', and it had to perform an emergency intervention in order to protect you. And so far, you've gone on with your life, none the wiser. Until..." His dazzling smile took on an evil, smirking quality. "Until now."

"Get to the point!" Carla screamed. She was sick of feeling toyed with. Especially by someone she had convinced herself didn't exist. Besides that, the pain behind her temple was getting unbearable. "What does it all mean?"

"You may have saved yourself from a complete breakdown, but your personality did not go unaffected," Captain Nature said, his voice tinged with a hint of malice. "All through your school years you had trouble interacting with people. Always finding faults with them, always unable to trust in their friendship. You couldn't even handle your own family; running away from home at sixteen. And then, you met Ben."

Carla's eyes almost instantly filled with tears, and pain tore into her chest. Ben. She'd adored him from the moment they'd met. And now...

Captain Nature seemed to see her sorrow and chuckled in his powerful, confident manner.

"Ben was your scapegoat. Your anchor. He helped you make decisions in life and gave you direction. He gave you the stability you felt you'd been missing for so long. When he was around, you had a way to keep that damaged fragment locked away in your mind and unable to cause harm... but it seems you didn't wish that to last."

Carla gulped, holding back the torrent of emotions that wanted to come pouring out of her. She was not going to let him have the satisfaction.

"Ben stopped actively guiding your life. Mentally, you began to lose your desire for him. You needed something else to look after you; a stronger, more dominant personality that could tell you how to live. And you sought that... through your sordid little 'affairs'."

"That's not true!" Carla cried. "None of it's true! I care for Ben very deeply; he's my best friend and my closest lover."

"But are you 'in' love with him?"

Carla paused.

"I... I..." she stuttered. The pain in her temple lanced through to the back of her eye, making her slam a fist against her forehead. "He always supported me in everything I did! I never doubted his love for me. Those affairs were just..."

"Out of your control?" Captain Nature asked inquisitively. "Sometimes the mind knows better then the heart when it comes to its own safety. Had you parted from Ben and found someone else, none of this may have ever happened. But as it was, you chose to stay with him. Tried to make it work and just bear the strange feelings and behaviours that were occurring more frequently."

"So what..." Carla sobbed. "So what if I did. I couldn't just leave him... it's been so long."

"You jeopardised your own sanity!" Captain Nature almost bellowed. "The guilt you felt from the betrayals, the constant fear of being caught; it all builds up. Your mind could not maintain the barrier between the fragments when you were always in such a state. Everything has been slowly falling apart, and if your mind hadn't acted once again, you might have broken down a lot sooner."

"What?" Carla choked. "What did I do?"

Captain Nature beamed, and stretched his arms out widely in a glorified hero's stance.

"You created me," he grinned. "I am your new scapegoat .On the brink of losing it all, you found a figure that could give you what you needed. Someone strong, someone confident, who could protect you and guide you and lead you. What better person to do that," he turned his face to the side and pumped his biceps in classic body builder style, "then a Super Hero!" -Tant-dadda-dum-

Carla gaped, open mouthed in disbelief. How was she supposed to take this? Her own mind was fighting her for dominance... over itself? The pain, now in both temples, throbbed and pulsed angrily. She was beginning to feel light and her thoughts becoming blurry.

"Why..." she mumbled. "How did it come to this?"

"That's no longer important," Captain Nature said gently. "I'm here now. Now you can be safe, and we can work on restoring your mind." His masked face suddenly changed, and for the first time he lost the dazzling smile and looked grim. It made a chill course down Carla's spine. "But to do that, there are many things that have to be... taken care of first."

Carla didn't like the new tone her imaginary companion had adopted. It scared her. She bit her lip tenuously.

"What... what things?" she asked, her voice wavering.

"We need to be rid of the source of your problems," Captain Nature answered. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. "The things that cause you the most anxiety, the objects of your stress: they must be removed from your life completely."

"And they are...?" Carla dared to ask.

"The first is your work. We can't have you worrying about such meaningless things. Icthyman can no longer hold power over you. The other..." His eyes bore into her, almost forcing her to remain locked in his unblinking gaze. "Is Ben."

Carla's blood froze.

"W-what? Why?"

"I put a lot of effort into making him leave; we don't need him coming back and endangering your sanity any further. He must be removed from the picture... permanently."

Anger flashed through Carla's mind in a surge of painful redness. It was him. He'd made Ben leave. She'd known it all along.

"Why??" she screamed, getting up off the sofa. "Why did you do it? Why have you ruined my life and my relationship?" She wiped some tears off her cheek and choked. "Why don't you go away... I don't need you."

"We've been through this: you do need me. Whether you choose to admit it or not, you wanted to be free of Ben, and I've just made that happen. I make the decisions you are too weak to make on your own, and that's the way it will be from now on." His narrowed eyes glared at her, his grim, thin-lipped smile bordered on a sneer. "Ben must not come back."

Carla's thoughts went back to the green and yellow striped cab she'd seen parked on the street below, just minutes earlier. Recalled the big chinned driver and his mocking salute. She stared daggers at the screen.

"What have you done?" she hissed. "Where have you taken him?"

The dazzling smile returned, but the narrowed eyes remained.

"I haven't done anything... yet. But that depends on how compliant you're going to be. If you attempt to contact him, or beg him to return... I may have to take matters to the next level."

Carla fell back onto the sofa, the pain in her temples making her grind her teeth in irritation. He was threatening her now? A cartoon? It was crazy.

"What can you do?" she said, not looking up at the TV. "You're not even real... just a hallucination, something my mind made up."

"I can do plenty," he growled, "if you force me too. I'm all you need now, and I will not just be 'sent away'."

Carla hung her head, defeated. It was hopeless. Whatever her sick, damaged mind had invented, it was too hard for her to overcome. She understood too little about how to deal with something like this. It was all a wicked turn of events.

Though Captain Nature claimed to be just a part of her conscious, there seemed to be no part of her in him. She sensed his malevolence and unpredictability. If she tried to get Ben back, she could just... feel... that something bad would happen.

As much as it would break her heart, she knew she had to stay away from him. For his own safety. But... that alone would be a problem.

As hurt as Ben was, she had no doubt he still loved her. If she told him to stay away, or didn't answer the phone at all, he would know something was wrong. And then there'd be no stopping him. He'd tear down walls to get back and help her, and that could be his end. She couldn't allow it.

Pain pounded against her skull, screaming at her to come up with a solution. She had to make sure he never came near her, that he'd forget all about her. There had to be a way, had to be something...

A great sadness washed over her as realisation dawned. There was a way to do it... but it would mean she'd have to be willing to give up everything. Carla sniffed and cradled her head in despair.

Could she do it? Was she strong enough? She had nothing much left in her life to look forward to anyway, and besides... it hadn't been the first time the idea had crossed her mind this month. Would anyone really care?

All her friends - her co-workers, what remained of her high school classes and half-hearted sporting teams - they were all superficial relationships. Sure, they might mourn her loss, but would any of them really care? She doubted it. And her family? Well, she'd lost contact with them almost four years ago now. They lived in a whole other city. To them, she was probably dead already.

Yes, she could do it, she resolved, feeling a thin knot of determination forming in her stomach. She would do it, if only to be free of the guilt, the torment and the pain. But also... for Ben.

Ben. She wished she could see him, just one last time. Tell her how sorry she really was and show him the appreciation he deserved. But it was too late now. Too late for a lot of things. She bit her lip and tightened her hands into fists. It had to be done.

"I can stop you," she said softly.

"What?" the hero smirked. "How do you propose to do that?"

Carla laughed softly and shook her head, feeling hot tears on her cheeks.

"It's really quite simple," she sighed. "You're a part of me. You'll be with me where ever I go, and influence all the things I do, whether I want you to or not. As long as I'm around, Ben and anyone else I care for could be in danger."

"It doesn't have to be that way. You'd find it a lot easier to work with me then against me."

Carla shook her head again and let out a single, choked sob.

"I won't let you control me. If it means choosing between that, and being a threat to the ones I love for the rest of my life..." she gave the screen an icy glare through her tears, "I'd rather not be living at all."

Captain Nature's smirk twitched for the briefest of instances, and then slowly began to fade. His masked eyes narrowed to thin slits.

"What... are you saying?"

Carla rested her forehead in the palm of one hand and gave a shrug.

"What does it matter to me anymore? You've taken away the only person that really cared for me. You're planning to take away everything important left in my life. You're holding my sanity for ransom from within my own head! I have nothing to live for. I have nothing left to lose. If I'm no longer part of this world, then neither are you... and I'm willing to make that happen if means Ben will be safe."

Captain Nature's mouth was curled in an angry snarl; his chin quivering with rage. The cool confidence that had been assaulting her for the past few days was all but gone. Now, she suspected she was seeing some of his true self.

"Now you listen to me, and listen very carefully," he growled. Outside the flat, the thunder seemed to respond, rumbling menacingly. "You cannot... you will not partake in such actions."

"What's the matter?" she sniffed bitterly, tilting her head and squinting back at him. "Scared?"

The cartoon Super Hero's mouth and cheeks began to twitch like a rabid dog. His green gloved fists clenched and unclenched.

"No!" he bawled. He pointed a mighty, shaking finger her way. "I will not permit you to do as you please! I am a part of you, I protect you, and I won't be locked away again. Things need to be done, are you are not strong enough to do them. We simply do not have time for this!"

Captain Nature made a motion with his hand, and the pain in Carla's head reached its climax. It speared through her mind, killing all thought in a blinding hot flash. She heard herself cry out, and then she was falling. Falling backwards, back down towards the lounge. And even after her body hit the soft cushions and bounced lightly, Carla herself kept falling.

The green clad hero's chuckle followed her as she spiralled into darkness, mingling with the stabs of pain.

'I've lost it,' she thought. 'It's over. I'm gone.'

She continued to fall, and everything grew silent...

-----

Breathe in, breathe out.

Waves, crashing on an ocean shore. Wind roaring across shale cliffs. To Carla's ears, each lungful of air sounded like a peaceful journey. She was still swimming in blackness, but it was starting to get lighter now. She kept moving, following the sounds of her breathing.

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

Even her heart beat sounded loud; tribal drums on a forgotten island. The powerful footsteps of a mighty beast. She pushed onwards, following the sound.

Ben.

A single, resounding word, echoing through the void. It gave her strength, but tore a painful hole in her chest at the same time. She had a purpose, a task that needed doing. She had to wake up.

Rising quickly now, she felt her body drawing closer. There was something else close by as well, something alien. It sounded like... hissing. This hiss of static. It grew harsher the closer she came to consciousness.

Him.

He wasn't going to stop her. She could feel him fighting her, trying to push her down into oblivion. She fought back, forcing herself to rise higher.

'I won't be stopped,' she screamed in her mind. 'You can't stop me. I'll wake up, I'll break free, I'll -"

-

One eye slowly opened, revealing blurry, out of focus images. The sounds of her breathing, and the rhythmic thumps of her heart still drowned out all else, but at least the static had gone. Groaning, she clenched her teeth and willed her arms to move.

Slowly, she sat up on the sofa and rubbed her eyes, trying to clear away the sleep. The pain in her head had gone.

Sniffing, she looked around the lounge room. The TV was silent; there was no sign of Captain Nature. She let out a sigh of relief. Had it all been a dream? Everything appeared normal. Except... except it was brighter now. Panic began to well up inside. It was morning! How long had she been out for? She rushed to the nearest window and looked outside.

The storm had not yet moved on, but the at least the rain had stopped. A strong wind was blowing assorted rubbish briskly down the street, and the whole city was cast in an eerie grey half-light. There was no telling what the time was.

Time. Work! She might be late. She looked at the watch on her wrist, and her heart almost immediately sunk.

'11:48'. She was more then late. She was fired. Carla moved away from the window and sat back down on the sofa. He'd done it, just like he said. He'd removed work and Icthyman from her life. She hadn't been strong enough to stop... whatever it was he'd done to make her pass out. She collapsed backwards onto the cushions, and almost immediately sat up again. There was something poking her in the back.

Fishing around behind her, Carla felt a small, square object, and carefully pulled it out. It was her phone. A quick shiver went through her fingers.

She hadn't brought it with her last night after she'd left the bedroom and come to face Captain Nature. It should have been sitting on her bedside table, next to the lamp. Why was it here? Nervously, she checked through the list of recent calls, and saw a row of new numbers. All had been made between seven and ten a.m. that morning.

"Damn him," she whispered, putting her hand over her mouth as she scanned down the list. If she'd been worried about upsetting friends last night when coming to her final decision, it appeared she didn't have to any longer. She recognised all of them; numbers for people ranging back as far as when she was nine years old. Numbers of past colleagues, numbers of high school companions. Everyone.

What had he done? Somehow, her sinister counterpart must have taken control last night. Used her - her voice and her body - and called nearly every person she'd ever considered a friend or acquaintance. What had he said to them? What had he done?

There was nothing in her memory to that could give her a clue, but she had a feeling she knew anyway. He'd already foreshadowed his plan last night.

Everything that could be viewed as a threat. Anything that could cause her stress or anxiety. If he had told the truth, they were all dangerous to her mental health. So they all had to go. He'd called everyone and made sure they'd never want anything to do with her again. Marie and Lisa were there. So was Icthyman. And right at the very bottom, the final call...

Gorilla man.

Carla bit her lip. Captain Nature had rung him too? She didn't dare imagine what had happened in that phone call, but a small part of her hoped that it had been resolved. The theft of a credit card and the wrath of its angry owner was the last thing she needed to worry about right now.

Still, one number was missing from that list. And that was Ben's. Why hadn't Captain Nature called him? She let the phone drop in her lap and squeezed her eyes shut. If he was a part of her mind, then he probably knew the same things she did. Perhaps, then, he knew that no amount of abuse would prevent Ben from returning to the flat, and so he'd decided to leave that call out all together.

'Well, that's one piece of good news,' she thought sourly.

Captain Nature had made good on his word. He was methodically taking control of her life, bit by bit. His hold over her must have grown considerably over the past few days if he was able to do things like this. Carla knew if she waited any longer, the chances of resisting him would be slim.

Ben. She had to do it for Ben. After this little charade, there really was nothing left for her in this world. As a final solution, her choice was looking more and more like the only way out with every passing minute. And now that she'd decided to go through with it, she felt oddly elated inside.

How often in the past had she thought about doing it? How many possibilities and methods had she devised in some of her darkest moments? They stretched back well into her teenage years, she knew that, but this was the first and only time she'd really determined to go through with it. So many questions she'd been scared to think about before.

Would it hurt? Would it be quick? And where would she go afterwards? Her family had been religious, but in truth she'd never really thought about it. She didn't believe in God, but an afterlife? That she wasn't sure about...

Her eyes darted cautiously towards the TV, almost expecting it to blink into life upon hearing her thoughts. But nothing happened. Carla continued to study it suspiciously.

Where had he gone? Did a mental hallucination need to sleep? Perhaps he'd used up his energy with last nights endeavours. Or perhaps she'd managed to drive him back when she'd returned from the darkness. Whatever the reason, for now her tormentor was gone, and she needed to make the most of what little time she had left. She had one final phone call to make.