Them and Us

 There was an odd sensation about the air; something about it was unusual. It was as if someone had sucked out all the oxygen and replaced it with a poison, though not just any poison. It had a seductive quality about it. Like that one drink after you've been six years sober, that boyfriend that grips his hand so tight around your neck, but it somehow makes you want to stay more. That kind of sweet; the disguise of poison. Of course, this was nothing out of the ordinary. At least, not for her as this had been her life for many years. Ever since she had found out the secret, the one that others could only ever guess at. She had taken part in a clinical trial, some sort of new drug. It made her feel better and allowed her to see the world as it really was, not as she had always believed it to be.

 
Her train of thought was abruptly stopped when a man spoke up, the only man she had ever really loved. "We should get going. It's dark and they could find us."

She knew what he was saying was true, she knew they had to leave and yet, her longing to stay was settling in. It was dangerous and the man must have noticed because he gave her that look. The one that she couldn't ever resist.

"Babe, maybe it's time to take another pill. How long has it been?" His voice was so soothing, it was if he had all the answers to every question.

She thought about it for a moment. It had been awhile since she had taken a pill and the fake vision of the world seemed like it was creeping back. "You're right, I need to take another. Thank you, Nick."

As soon as she took it, the effects began to immediately kick in. This was how the world was meant to be seen. The government stopped the trials when they realized that after we knew the truth; they couldn't control us anymore. That was how she met Nick. He was a high rank official but different; not like the others. He cared more about people seeing the truth rather than covering it up. Hmm, tall, dark, and handsome. Every women's dream. She let her thoughts slide into lust; the graze of his fingers, the soft stroke of every brush.

She let her surroundings engulf her completely; it was just all so mystical. The atmosphere was almost dark yet the scenery that filled it was beyond belief. Every single leaf glistened, water droplets were floating upwards all around, and all the colors were so vivid it was almost maddening. What was left of buildings from before were all but gone now. You could see spirits, and if you were lucky enough to find a mirror, you would see the alternate dimensions. She always carried a mirror.

There were some things that didn't really add up. How can cars still exist in a place like this? With all the buildings basically destroyed, where are the catchers based at? It was just her and Nick left, she was sure of it. Them and the catchers. Her family had all fallen mercy to the ways of the old world. Or, maybe it was this new world. She wasn't entirely sure about a lot of things, but Nick was; and that's all that mattered.

She started to follow Nick out of the abandoned building they had occupied for the past few days. They never stayed anywhere longer than that. She always tried to take in the scenery but for some reason, even while in the house, she couldn't see it. They were always just blank walls, blank tiles; just blank. The only thing she could really take in, remember even was the outside, and after exiting the door, they were there.

The grass was knee high and glowing, there were fireflies all around and no matter the time, they always exuded an intense baby blue light. All this was so usual that sometimes it would get blurry, like she was holding out her hand and it was just barely out of reach, out of sight. It had been explained to her that the senses that awaken with the pill were always trying to go back to lying dormant. Apparently, this was how we all saw the world at one point, at least until the government decided we needed to see it only how they wanted us to. Who knows why they wanted a select few to get to experience life as it really was meant to be?

All that thinking had to wait, even though it was hard to focus as they had some where they needed to be. Nick and her finally made it into the car. It looked so out of place in this world, so dingy and void of color. That's all she could really use to describe it. All the things from the old world were hard to remember, even when looking directly at them.

She looked over at Nick, who was driving. She saw him reach into his bag and grab the liquid he had made from the pill. He injected it. From the moment he pierced his golden-brown skin, she could feel it too. She didn't like it; the pill was good as is. There was no point in injecting it; but they were connected and whatever he did or felt, so did she.

He glanced over in her direction, obviously thinking about something very seriously. Maybe he was contemplating if he should say it or even how to.

"Sarah, you know they're out there, looking for us. I found someone who can help us. We should be there soon," Nick said it so soothingly.

It was sweet, so sweet that he cared. That he even bothered to notice, to notice that she hated living on the run. She had listened to him explain a million times why it wasn't a good idea to stay put; and still, she always needed reminding.

They had been driving for at least an hour when the car pulled into what used to be a parking lot and stopped. Nick looked over at Sarah.

"I'll be right back sweetie," and with that he exited the car and headed towards a guy that was dressed all in black.

She watched him, took in every step, every movement. The other man was too far away to make out any specific details. He looked to be human though and that was always a good thing. The ones that we've started to call Nats, couldn't be so easily trusted. The Nats look like something from another world; and they are. They ran this real world but complied with our government after they brutally killed more than half of them for resisting.

There was a lake not too far from them. She could make out the water and even now, she was taken back by its appearance. When she first stepped into this world, all the water was crystal clear with never seen creatures swimming around. Now, it was still clear but there was a tinge to it. It looked red, almost blood red. She had asked Nick about the change and he said it was because of the stress our government was putting on the world. Made sense.

Suddenly, she was out of the car and standing right behind Nick. Shivers went down her spine and her skin began to tingle. Sarah didn't hate much about this world but traveling like this; she did. She couldn't tell if Nick knew he was behind her though and she couldn't make out any of the words that were being exchanged. Something was wrong though. The unknown man seemed frantic and she tried to make him out; but even though she was closer, she couldn't. What she saw next frightened her.

Nick seemed to be in a rage. She had only ever seen him like this a few times and Sarah knew what was going to happen next, she braced for it. He pulled out his gun and shot at the mysterious man. Somehow, the gun disappeared from his hands and reappeared in hers after the shots were fired. She could feel the panic rising, not just any panic. It was so strong it could've been a heart attack.

"Nick, what the fuck? What did you just do? Why did you do it?" As Sarah said this he jumped around, noticing her there for the first time.

"He was working for the Nats. Why are you even questioning me? Don't you know everything that I do, I do only if it needs to be done?" He was so defensive it hurt her essence.
"You're... you're, right. You're right Nick." She wanted to say more but that barely could escape her mouth.

"Come on, let's go," he ordered.

She followed him back to the car and they sped off. Nick kept looking all around him, like we were being watched by everyone and everything. Sarah didn't bother to look; she knew most beings could hide if they wanted and she didn't have the ear. Nick did though. He could always tell if there was something, somewhere, after us.

"Look, the Nats were probably notified. They're on our trail but don't worry," Nick said with a wink and bit too much confidence.

Just as she was starting to drift back into ease, an intense siren sounded. It filled the car and it felt like every cell in her body was exploding. She screamed as loud as she could, almost as an attempt to drown out the siren. Nick still looked as calm as ever, almost even excited. She couldn't comprehend it, but it didn't matter, not at this moment. In the rearview mirror, she could see three floating cars with no wheels. It was them, the Nats. These ones all looked the same. Pure white silky skin with black veins that ran throughout their whole body. They had no eyes and no ears but had a human like outline.

Nick handed her a gun and told her to shoot.

"I have no idea how to shoot a gun!"

"Of course you do!"

"The fuck I do?"

Sarah didn't have a clue what Nick was talking about, but she could try it. She rolled down her window and started shooting. The Nats wouldn't fight back, not while traveling. They only ever did if they could get you out of things from the world before. After a few shots, she got lucky and managed to hit one of the drivers in the head. The car swerved and the two behind that one came to an abrupt stop as Nick and Sarah just increased in speed.

"Nice shot babe," Nick said with intense giddiness. "I think we're going to lose them."

"It was me being lucky, that's all. You know I can't shoot a gun."

He looked confused and for the first time, a little sad. She waited what felt like an hour for him to say something.

                 "Yes you can. When are you going to remember? When are you going to finally realize what's going on?" He asked with such yearning it made her heart hurt.

                 "What do you mean Nick?" Sarah again waited for a response, but she knew this time there wouldn't be one. "Onto our next safe house then?"

                 Nick simply nodded and with that, Sarah felt the weight of an adrenaline crash, she tried to fight it. She had to stay awake with him, to be with him but it became too strong to fight and she passed out.

                 "Baby, we're here," Nick said sweetly. He was good at that; waking her up to that feeling, the feeling of love.

                 She looked up at the house. This was secluded and plain, just like all the ones before it. She let out a sigh and went ahead of Nick into the house. He came in with some wood and went to go get some fire going. Sarah didn't know why Nick bothered to do this, she couldn't feel cold or hot. Temperature ceased to exist in this new world. When she had asked him about this, he remarked that it was for her. He couldn't feel temperature, but she could; just didn't know it.

                 Apparently, there was some sort of vaccine the government gave out to the higher-ranking soldiers. It made it easier for their bodies to adjust to the real world. The testing stopped before it got to the phase where the participants got the vaccine as well. It didn't explain why she couldn't feel hot or cold, or why she hadn't been sick once here. Even though Nick always seemed so worried Sarah would fall victim to something at any given second. A lot of things didn't make too much sense but our brains were so conditioned to be used to what they wanted us to see, it'll take some time to understand.

                 Sarah looked throughout the house until she found what she assumed was a couch to sit down on. She needed a minute just to think. A minute; what a funny word. Anything that could be used to describe the passage of time seemed alien to her now. Every moment she tried to savior, every memory, the time would sink through her hands; as heavy as the ocean but somehow as light as the air they inhaled. Still, she tried her best to keep her thoughts organized. Sometimes she still felt sane.

                 She reached into her bag to grab her handheld mirror. As soon as she gazed upon the glass, the reflection it showed back was astounding. At first, it was just her. Smooth caramel skin, long blonde hair, deep green eyes, and not looking a day over twenty-six. She then saw her sister behind her. Sarah knew not to look behind herself by now; these people weren't here. Not in this plane of existence anyway. The mirror went blank, erasing the world as she knew it. There were Nats playing in a field, obviously before this land started to become corrupted. What it showed next was horrifying. There were people, human beings, burning. Just burning with their eyes melted out of their sockets, and their mouths wide open in horror. Sarah started to freak out, then she saw Nick behind her as the mirror went back to normal.

                 "Babe, you have to be careful about that mirror. Maybe I shouldn't have found it for you." His voice started to trail off.

                 "No, I, um, I'm sorry. I should know not to get too caught up in,"

                 "It doesn't matter. We have to talk about something." Nick said as he cut her off and dismissed her words.

                 Sarah knew what he wanted to talk about, and she wanted no part in it. Nick started speaking, but she didn't need to listen. She had heard it a thousand times before. He wanted us to go to the Nats ourselves, but not just any Nat. The one who he said held most of the power; Anneeta. She's the one who's in charge, he says. The one who can most likely turn you, confuse you into believing what they want; to see the fake world once again. Sarah didn't really know why she didn't like this plan, she just didn't. It was risky but risk always excited her so that wasn't the issue. It was just a feeling.

                 "Nick, I know, I've heard this all before but I... I just feel unsure about it still."
He seemed like he was suppressing anger that had been building up, like a bomb trying to explode but it was being held back by a mechanical error. "I have something new to tell you."

                 "What's that Nick?"

                 "All of these safe houses we've been going to, they all have secret passageways and a getaway car in them. We haven't been as safe as I've led you to believe. I'm sorry but I just needed you calm. I've tried to shield you from a lot I've had to do."

                 Sarah didn't know what to say for a moment, too scared to ask but she needed to know. She nodded her head at Nick for him to continue.

                 "Look I can't really explain it. So, I'll show it to you instead." As he said this, he took out a headband from his bag. "Put this on."

                 She hesitantly did as she was asked. The world started to get sucked away until everything that was around her was black. She tried calling for Nick, but no sounds escaped from her mouth. She couldn't move. It was just a vast pit of nothing, or so she thought. The blackness transformed into a landscape of the new world. It was Nick. He was doing horrible, awful things. They were going by so fast it was hard to keep up. Him beating people up, stealing things, even murdering some. Not just Nats either, but real human beings. How could she not have noticed this? She was always right there, right by his side and still, this somehow slipped from her grasp. Then a realization came to her, the realization that in every occurrence they were around someone or something else; she was never able to see much of the other being. She couldn't hear the words spoken. She then began to slip back into reality, as Nick removed the headband.

                 She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "Why did you show me this," she asked. "What are you trying to get me to see?"

                 Nick took a second. His eyes were tracing her, analyzing every aspect. "The reason you can't hear them speak, the reason you can't recall these events as you just witnessed... Is because I've been shielding you from it. They want you. You're their primary target."
Sarah shook her head, "this doesn't make sense!"

                 "You know we're the only ones left. They tried to get me to go back, to kill you myself, but I couldn't. Let me show you what you need to see."

                 She didn't want to, she just wanted out. She stood up and started to run but Nick was so fast, he got to her before she even made it a foot from where she was. It was almost as if she was paralyzed. She kept shaking her head, but he wouldn't let go. He forced the headband on her once again.

                 She didn't know how or even remember what she saw, but she finally understood. He was right all along, the only way to stop this was to kill Anneeta. Though she had to be the one to do it. Not like all the times he had killed to protect her. This time Sarah had to be the one to kill. It was her turn to save them both. How could she have been so naïve? It's either be killed or be a killer. Her connection with Nick was so strong, it was almost as if they were one soul split in two. That's why this world always teleported her towards him if they got too far away.

                 "Sarah, do you understand now," Nick asked as he removed the headband once more.

                 "Yes, yes I do Nick."

                 He nodded and handed her a piece of paper. It was a map of this new world with a specific location circled. "That's where you'll find Anneeta."

                 "I understand that I'm the one who has to do this, but won't you be coming with?"

                 "I would love to darling, but they're almost here now."

                 Sarah looked around and began to panic once more. "Who's almost here? How do you even know and why can't we just leave now together?"

                 "I can be here as a distraction, there's no other way. You won't be able to find me; they'll make sure of that. I will find you again though. Once this is all over"

                 He held her close to him, kissing her head; stroking her arm. "Be strong," he said.
Just like that, white fire began to erupt all around them. Hail was hitting the roof and it sounded as though they were as big as golf balls. The fire wasn't spreading fast, it was as if they wanted to catch us alive.

                 "Run, you know the way out. GO!" Nick screamed as he pushed her away and ran towards the door.

                 For a second, Sarah stood still. How could she go at this alone? She had to though, it was the only way. So, she began to run. She went down the stairs into the basement. Through the wall is what she had seen. It seemed impossible but so many things did in this world. She just continued to run straight, straight into the wall. Everything became black and the sounds of the fire and hail drifted into the background. After about ten minutes of running, she started to see light. It seemed she was in a tunnel and when she emerged out of it, saw the car Nick had spoken about. It looked the same as the last. She got in and looked down at her bag. Luckily, she always had it tied around her waist; otherwise she would've lost it a thousand times by now. Sarah reached in and grabbed the map. Nick had slipped it in there, as she knew he would. A series of thoughts came crushing down on her, all of them full of doubt. She wouldn't listen to them. She would drive to the location and wait until it was darkest out to attack. There was no full plan, but it was the only plan they had.

                 The drive was taking a lot longer than she had anticipated. When was the last time she ate? Or used the bathroom? Sarah couldn't remember, she didn't really care. She still had two bottles of pills on her and that was more than enough to keep going.

                 She could see the house now. It stood atop a mountain, overlooking everything around it. She was to drive only halfway up then walk the rest of the way. Any further than that and they might notice her. Hell, they might anyway.

                 As the halfway mark was approaching, she slowed the car and looked around. There seemed to be a trail. Was it a trail? Everything seemed to be going fuzzy. The car was fully stopped now, and Sarah was frantically grabbing another pill to take. She knew what this was, it was the fake world making its way back. The extra pill didn't seem to be doing anything. Did they have defenses up that made the pill less effective? That's when she remembered Nick injecting it. She never thought she'd do that but before now, she never saw a reason to. She looked around, hoping that Nick had put what she needed in this car. It didn't take long before she saw it and she cautiously shot up. Just like that, everything was clear again and there it was, the path.

                 She headed up it as her mind began to race once again. What was she supposed to do when she got there? Nick always said that Anneeta didn't have any security guards; that's just how smug she was. Sarah still had a gun, which was odd. She didn't remember ever keeping it. She thought she had given it back. Or maybe they both had guns? Her thoughts and memories were making less and less sense the further up the mountain she got. Maybe it was again just another defense mechanism.

                 Sarah decided to sit down and shoot up two more times. She couldn't let them trick her, not now. Not when she's this close. She took this time to take in her scenery, thinking it just may calm her. The trees were all so big and full of life, so much so that you could literally see them breathing. What little sky you could see through the trees was painted a nice plush pink. There were animals around, this worlds version of them. Snakes with legs, turtles that walked fast, almost everything backwards or inside out. Sarah couldn't find the right words to describe them.

                 She began the trail again, accelerating her pace. The atmosphere was almost at its darkest. Sarah kept getting the sensation of familiarity, like she had been here before. She knew that was impossible, but it was almost as if memories were flooding into her brain. Though they didn't fit into this new world.

                 She stopped dead in her tracks. Standing only about ten feet from her was a Nat. This one was pure white with pink veins. They hardly had anything to make them stand apart but, there was something different. Sarah could make out expressions on this Nats face. To her surprise, it seemed happy. It then ran at her and she drew out her gun. The Nat stopped in its tracks and slowly put its hands up. It looked scared. Sarah didn't understand; they were in neutral territory. Why wasn't she getting attacked? Nat's have powers. Maybe this was some sort of trick. After all that is what they're best at. Sarah went towards the Nat. She had to kill it. She raised to gun and put her finger on the trigger, but it looked so scared. She couldn't do it. She panicked and took off running, occasionally looking back. She saw the Nat fall to the ground and it appeared to be beckoning for her to come back. She couldn't think about that now; she was almost there.

                 She couldn't believe it. This house actually had style. It was three stories high, painted in a warm golden color, with a gate surrounding a big front yard and you could just make out the backyard from this position. She headed inside, stupidly enough through the front door. The pill was making her judgement off and for the first time in a long time; making her feel high.
She started to take in the inside of the house but before she could get a good look, she saw her; Anneeta. There was no way she could be mistaken. She was colored blood red with long silver hair and full-blown facial features.

                 Sarah pulled out her gun, but everything suddenly froze. She saw herself outside of her body. Everything seemed to speed up but in a backwards motion. She started seeing memories of the world before. Of her sister. Her sister was a nurse who never hurt a soul. It pained Sarah deeply to even think about her, much less watch a memory. She cleared her mind, screamed, and just like that she was back in her frozen state.

                 Had she been frozen by Anneeta? If that were the case, why is she frozen too? Before she could answer her own question, time rapidly unfroze like skipping forward in a video, because no longer was there just Anneeta. There was also a normal dog and a man, a man who was blurry. They were both freaking out but not attacking, just anxiously pacing in place, looking at her.

                 She was starting to feel confused and just as a panic attack set in, a thin wisp appeared and it took the form of a person, it took the form of Nick.

                 "Don't worry babe, I'm not dead. I'm just here to help."

                 "Nick, I'm so confused. Everything seems off, what's going on?" She asked, the gun still firmly aimed at Anneeta and the other Nat.

                 "It's all part of the trick. Don't fall for it."

                 "But... but I just don't know Nick."

                 "There's no time to question it now," he said firmly.

                 Sarah inspected her targets closer. The didn't just seem panicked now, they also seemed confused. "Can you not see him? I thought Nats had more power than us," she yelled at them. It seemed as if they were trying to communicate with her, but Sarah couldn't understand a word.

                 "No time for talk, do it Sarah, DO IT!" Nick was started to get aggressive in tone.

                 "Nick, help me! I don't know what I'm doing."

                 "You stupid bitch, you ungrateful dumb bitch." Nick's voice was getting deeper, almost demonic. He had only talked to her like that during the trial. He had o, in order to fit in with the others. Why is he doing it again now? Why is he saying what he is?

                 "Nick what the fuck? I love you, why are you saying this shit to me?"

                 He looked at her with such distain and disgust before saying, "You weren't who I thought you were. You weren't the chosen one, I guess. I gave you more credit than you deserved."

                 Just like that, he disappeared. Sarah started to frantically look around, now more unsure of what to do than ever.

                 "Nick? Nick? NICK!"

                 Everything was swirling and falling out of place. She went to squeeze the trigger, but her hands felt like three hundred-pound weights. So, she started to scream and just run all over. She went up to Anneeta and tried to chock her. Sarah's failing strength didn't allow for that either and the man grabbed her white Anneeta ran off.

                 "Where are you going? Come back, you bitch!" Sarah screamed in a whisper.

                 Anneeta came back with a syringe in hand. She went to inject it into Sarah but stopped.
"This will make you feel better." Anneeta said.

                 Sarah was absolutely dumbfounded. She had heard a Nat speak. That voice... It sounded so familiar. Sarah stopped fighting and after Anneeta put the syringe in, everything went dark.

                 When she woke up, she found her hands and feet were strapped down in a hospital bed, though she was anywhere but. Instead, it was just a basement. It looked bright and happy as if it didn't know that it was supposed to be a basement. The walls were colored baby blue and there were flowers everywhere. Something felt wrong, she wasn't feeling very well.

                 The drug. It had almost all but worn off. Was this her end? She heard footsteps, high heels clicking down the stairs, so she tried to pretend to still be asleep.

                 "I heard you stirring. I know you're awake. You've been asleep for a couple days, I had to keep you sedated."

                 Sarah's eyes shot open. She recognized that voice, it was her sisters'. Anny.

                 "This isn't real! It can't be, you're dead. This is just some kind of government trick to cover up the real world. I know what's going on. What have you done with Nick?"

                 Anny's face grew big with concern; she pursed her lips. "Sarah, there is no Nick. There never was. Nor was there any government trial. I haven't seen you in six years. All this time, everything you've done... You stole from people, you've even murdered a few! My own sister..." She started to sob.

                 This was exactly what Nick told her they would do. Imitate someone close to you and feed you one lie after another, until your stomach was so full of them you couldn't tell the difference.

                 "You're lying! You aren't my sister."

                 "Yes, I am. I'm going to nurse you through the withdraw and back to health. Within time, you can wonder this house but that's it. You're wanted by the police and I'll be damned if I let my sister go to prison." With that she headed back up the stairs, ignoring the insulting screams from Sarah.

                 The next few days and weeks were a blur. It was constant throwing up and shaking. She had started to remember things. Things like the first time she decided to get high. She knew people got addicted; but she never would. That's what she had told herself. There was no Nick. Every time she imagined him doing something; it was really her. All the stealing, beating, and killing. All of it. Just to get high. The drugs made her think it was what gave her love, when it really did the opposite.

                 Of course, this was with the help of Anny. Sarah still wasn't sure at times if this wasn't just a trick. It felt too real to be, of course what she saw when she was high also felt real. It was too hard to know for sure.

                 After about two months, Sarah was free to roam around the house. It felt lonely, without Nick there. It turned out the other man is Anny's husband, Mark. She wanted to ask them if they had had any kids, but she knew that topic was sensitive for Anny. She had a son, James, who had died at the age of 8 from a particularly harsh form of pneumonia.

                 "What's going through your head, butternut?"

                 Sarah's thoughts were interrupted by her sister who had come into her room, unannounced. Some things never change at least.

                 "Oh, nothing really," Sarah lied.

                 "Hmm, well it's getting late. I love you, goodnight."

                 "Love you too, night."

                 Sarah was starting to feel really tired and decided sleep wouldn't be such a bad idea. She was too much in her head at this point anyway. It wouldn't be long until everything made sense, it all had to eventually. She had to remind herself of this. So, she turned off the lights and shut out the world.

                 She woke up in what must've been sometime late afternoon. She headed downstairs to the dining room, to be surprised to see there were four plate settings.

                 "Who's joining us?" Sarah asked. "I thought no one could see me."

                 Anny's face filled with joy. "Oh, you'll love this. James is coming home from college for the week. He isn't coming until tonight, but I want everything to be perfect."

                 "Um, Anny... James died when he was eight."

                 Anny stopped in her tracks, her face rapidly looked up.

                 "What are you talking about?" Anny asked in a peculiar monotone way.

                 "Nothing. I get things mixed up still. I'm sorry. I'll be sure to be down for dinner okay?"

                 Anny nodded, and Sarah headed back up to her bedroom. She didn't understand. James death was before the drugs and she knew it wasn't imagined. She went to lookout her window and that's when she noticed it. The windows were boarded up. Had they been like this the entire time?

                 Sarah started wondering throughout the house. This was the one they had grown up in, so she knew it well. There were things that didn't add up. Some of the rooms were in different places, or there were rooms where there shouldn't be. The walls were also different, but that could have easily been changed in the time Sarah had been away. The rest though, what was going on?

                 She turned down a hallway that she didn't remember and noticed Anny was there, just standing still. She had her back turned away from Sarah.

                 "Anny, what are you doing?"

                 She turned around to look at Sarah. "Oh, nothing. Just thinking about what to add next. We love renovation!"

                 "Oh I see." It was starting to make sense again. Maybe that's all it was. They had the house remodeled.

                 "Yep, yep. But you shouldn't be here, why don't you head back to your room and come down when I call for you?"

                 "Yeah... sure."

                 Sarah made her way back towards her room. She didn't plan on staying there long, however. She was going to go down that hallway. Too many things were off. She would just have to give it some time. Maybe an hour.

                 It was about the time Sarah took her nap so no one should expect her to be up out of bed. She swiftly and silently made her way back to that hallways. There were many doors but a voice in her head told her to just continue walking straight. She had reached the end of the hallway where there was one door, different than the others. It was colored red. She entered.
What she saw shocked her. It was a surveillance room. There were multiple cameras in every single area in the house. Some of the cameras looked like they belonged to different houses. She couldn't be sure. Sarah was just about to investigate further when a voice rang out behind her.

                 "What are you doing in here madam?"

                 Sarah swirled around and saw Mark. She was at a loss for words.

                 "What are you doing in here madam?" He asked again.

                 "What is this? Why are their cameras everywhere?"

                 He grinned as he said, "Well we can't just have a recovering junkie wonder about the house without supervision, now can we?"

                 Sarah didn't know what to say, besides, "No you're right. I understand."
"Good. Now go back to your room, dinner will be ready soon."

                 Once Sarah was back in her room, her mind began to race. It's like there were two sets of memories from two completely different lives in the same body. There was everything with Nick, and everything she had been told by this new Anny. The harder she thought, the more she realized all the memories seemed real, even if that couldn't be possible. She was so confused.
She sat down on her bed and noticed the colorful swirls dancing around her. It had been a minute since she had seen that. Wait.... What? That was something that only existed in her make-believe world, the reality where she was high. Yet, she hadn't taken anything since she had arrived here. None of this was making sense. None of it at all. If she could just take a pill, maybe things would become clear.

                 Her bag. She knew they didn't throw it away and maybe it still had some pills in it. All she would need was one. Just one and everything would make sense. She started tearing through her room looking for the bag. She had a faint memory of coming in with it. She searched until the room became an unbearable mess to no avail.

                 She sat on her desk chair when she felt something around her waist. It was her bag. How could that be? She ignored the questions as she searched the inside. Somehow there were no pills but there was the mirror.

                 Sarah was holding the mirror, her hands shaking; too afraid to turn it over to see the reflection. She knew she had to though. She slowly turned the mirror over and what she saw terrified her. She was unrecognizable. There were so many wrinkles, and her teeth were stained yellow with holes in some of them. She was startled.

                 "Sarah, be careful with that." Anny said cautiously.

                 "No, I don't know what the fuck is going on."

                 "Let me help you. I've always helped you. Just don't look at the mirror."

                 "Stop, shut up."

                 Sarah reverted her attention to the mirror. She saw herself then the mirror started to shimmer. It was working! She saw Nick! And she saw Anny, they were side by side. They both looked sinister and then a flame engulfed them as something beyond evil was shown in the mirror. It was the devil himself. Sarah let out a gasp and dropped the mirror. The glass shattered, lying in a million little pieces on the floor. She would never know what was real and what wasn't. Her life was like the glass; shattered.