The Nightmare Effect

Chapter Three

        About two weeks after Jane's death is when I eventually found Becca. She lived fairly close to Jane, so it wasn't too hard to find her. In all honesty, I had no idea why I wanted to find her, other than the fact about Jane. I don't feel that close to Jane, a shared night doesn't mean very much when you didn't know the person's name until the next morning. Shit, she probably didn't know mine either. Well, I guess we're both just as terrible as the next. I hadn't slept for at least a day before meeting Becca. My God, I didn't even know what to say to her when she answered the door. What am I supposed to say? "Hey, what does a straight woman and your ex have in common? Apparently, they both like cock!" I'm an asshole, but I'm not a bastard.

        I went into the apartment building at around noon. It was a Sunday, so I figured she'd be home. I took a look at the registry for the building, looking for her apartment. A quick look and I got my answer. "Rebecca Waters, floor 2, apartment 13A," I whispered to myself. Went up the stairs and found the door. I still had the photograph in my pocket, ready to give it to her to show that I knew what happened and who she is. Three knocks on the door and there she was.

        "Hello," she said to me.

        "Hi, my name is Edgar," I leaned in closely to the door, "I knew Jane." Her eyes were wide with surprise.

        "Oh, well, then please, come in," she invited me in. 

        I entered the apartment. It was small, but nothing out of the ordinary. I took a seat at the small kitchen table.

        "Coffee?" she offered.

        "No, thank you. A glass of orange juice would be good," I responded back. It was beginning to rain. She gave me my glass and she sat down opposite of me. We sipped our drinks before I tried to make small talk.

        "So, were you and Jane?...," I make a connecting symbol with my hands.

        "We were... at one time, or another," her eyes began to peer to the window nearby.

        "What happened?"

        "It's a long story... you wouldn't want to hear it."

        "If it means anything, I'm an insomniac. If your story puts me to sleep, you'd be doing me a favor." She chuckled when I answered. Her chuckle was kind of cute, in a way.

        "I... met Jane just out of college. Never really "rebelled" against my parents, so Jane was my way of doing it. I thought that both of us could be something great..., but she just threw me to the curb when the drinking got out of hand. Some days we'd fight and other days we couldn't get out of bed with our clothes on...," she laughed when she saw how closely I was paying attention, "after a few years, we just grew apart. She met up with a bad crowd and they forced her to get rid of me, since I was trying to help her..."

        "Did you not like it when she brought home guys from bars?" God damn it, my big fucking mouth strikes again. Why the hell did I say that? She didn't mention it and now she's going to find it suspicious and then my ass is as good as dead.

        "Wait, how did you know she picked up guys?" Rebecca asked.

        Well, there went the sane portion of the conversation. "I was one of them. I was the last one, actually."

        She stood up. "You were the guy she fucked that night?! How did you find me?!"

        I reached into my pocket and hit the speed dial for the police. I just had to buy myself some time. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." She suddenly lunged at me, catching me off guard. She got up against the wall, pulling out the same knife that she used to stab Jane with. Regaining my strength, I stopped her hand before she tried to stab me. We struggled a little longer, until I had a good grip. "Sorry about this." I threw her head into the nearest window, causing it to break and knocking her out. Two officers suddenly busted open the door, guns pointed. I put my hands up and got on my knees. Wet, arrested, and my back killing me, the real tragedy here is this: I never did finish that glass of orange juice.