Chapter 3

Nadia was almost to Andrea's apartment when it started to pour rain. She stopped on the sidewalk and stared down at the gum and trash that littered the path in front of her; oblivious to the downpour. There are much easier ways to take a shower, you know. Aidan's sarcasm snapped Nadia back enough to realize the rain had nearly completely soaked through her clothes. A shiver ran down her spine but she didn't hurry along. Instead, she closed her eyes, and looked up at the smog-filled sky. The large drops hurt her eyeballs when they hit her lids but she still didn't move. You are such a freak, Aidan muttered inside her head; Nadia smiled. Back home at this time of year, she would be shaking relentlessly from the biting cold; but here the coolness of the rain was soothing. It made her feel grounded again and gave her something to hold onto to keep the panic at bay.

She jumped when her phone vibrated in her pocket. She stepped under a nearby awning and took the phone from her pocket; it was Andrea. Nadia debated whether to answer or not, until she saw what time it was and knew why she was calling. "Hey," she said into the phone.

"Where are you? Are you alright? I heard sirens and you weren't home yet, so I got worried," Andrea said, panicked.

"I'm fine. I got slowed down by the cops…um, I'm almost there. Give me two minutes," she didn't even let Andrea respond before she closed the phone. She glanced around one more time and then started running as fast as she could to the apartment.

Andrea must have been waiting at the door; because as soon as Nadia hit the stairs, the door opened. Andrea stared at her friend as she came to the top of the stairs, "What happened to you?"

"Caught in the rain," Nadia muttered as she pushed past her.

"It helps if you put the jacket on instead of carrying it over your arm," she closed the door while nodding at Nadia's jacket.

"That makes sense," she wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying or hearing. All she could do was think of the best way to get rid of the jacket for good. Aidan helped her out, a trash can and snap of the fingers, duh. "I really could do without the attitude," she noticed Andrea look at her and she realized she had said that comment out loud. Smooth...

"Well, excuse me…" Andrea snapped back.

"Not you," Nadia said apologetically. Who then? Aidan mocked.

"Who then?" Andrea looked at her like she had lost her mind. "Are you sure you're alright? You didn't bump your head or anything?"

"No. I'm fine, really…" the words didn't sound convincing and she knew it. Part of her wanted to tell her best friend all about the voice in her head; lord knows she's handled worse…she thought to herself.

Go ahead. Tell her all about how you have this evil twin in your head that wants to take over your body and use it to commit all its evil atrocities. Then you can tell her about the two men we just killed, Aidan mocked.

Nadia's shoulders slumped as she heard the obvious truth in Aidan's words. This time she really would think I'd lost my mind.

Of course she would probably just think that it was because of losing the love of your life Aidan said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Bite me. "I'm just really tired. I think I'm going to crash after I take a shower."

She started down the hall with long, fast strides but nearly fell on her face at Andrea's words. "Did you see what all the police were around for?"

Nadia steadied herself against the hallway wall, "Uh…I think some drug dealer died of an overdose or something…" She glanced back towards Andrea but didn't look anywhere but at her feet. "See you in the morning," now she practically ran to the spare bedroom.

Nadia was determined to stay focused enough to get herself clean before she let the panic take over. It wasn't until she was finished rinsing the conditioner out, that she completely lost control. She hurried out of the tub and squatted down beneath the falling water, fighting nausea and trying to let the heat calm her. Nothing was working. Water ran into her mouth as she struggled to take a decent breath. Get a grip, Aidan muttered.

Nadia sat with her hands wrapped around her knees until the water grew too cold to stand any longer. Her muscles were stiff from the held position and didn't want to cooperate long enough to get her out of the tub. She fought back the images of what had happened in the alley only an hour ago. Aidan, on the other hand, was focusing on them to relive every second. It was like trying to watch a tv show that keeps changing because your neighbor has the same remote. Only quick flashes made it to Nadia's brain. Please stop, she begged.

Why? You have to get used to it sometime—at that Aidan forcibly showed her the restrainer's face when she had pulled the knife through his throat. Her body couldn't take anymore and her legs gave out on her. She grabbed the counter for support but let herself drop to her knees and sat her forehead against the edge. She fought to catch her breath and Aidan didn't show her anything else. She rolled to her left and sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, and curled herself up as small as she could get. She let the silent tears fall until she could get her legs and arms to get her off the floor and into the bedroom. She threw on the first pajamas she found and crawled into bed where the pictures were more tolerable in the safety of nightmares.