ONE

I sat up in bed and watched the folded sheet of paper slide under my door.

Tiny footsteps faded into the distance, down my staircase.

Elise.

I shifted the curtain aside with my finger, and looked at the letter in the daylight.

She had pretty, feminine handwriting – round bubbly letters. The letter read:

“What happened last night? I don't know. You don't seem to want to talk today, or do anything except stay in there, by yourself.

“You're scared. Is it what we did last night? Are you afraid of what Julie might think about it? Or, are you worried about what will happen if you and Jimmy ever meet? Are you afraid of what he might do to me?

“You need to talk to me. If it's about last night: I'm sorry for making the move. I'm sorry for getting into bed with you. If it's about Jimmy, you must fill me in. We need to work on this together.

“You didn't want to kill his sister – that was just a nightmare. You can't expect to go through something like this without damage – I lost my voice. You lost your sleep.

“Tell me everything that you've got on your mind. Tell me about the nightmare. Tell me why something that would spook someone for a minute has had you spooked all day.

“Tell me if you want to share a bed again. Tell me if you think it's disrespectful to your wife.”

“Please just come down and say something; anything.”

It was unfair to leave her stewing in confusion, and thinking it was her fault.

TWO

She sat at the kitchen table, tapping the tip of the pencil on the notepad in front of her.

When she saw me, her head perked up. She looked at me with uncertainty.

“I don't think what we did last night was a mistake, if you don't.” I said.

She nodded her head in agreement.

I sat across from her, but sheepishly avoided eye contact. “I didn't want you to see me like that, last night. I'm so screwed up inside. Sometimes, I wake up thinking horrible things have happened. Sometimes I wake up thinking I've done horrible things.

“I'm not sure you'd stick around if I told you what was going on in my head. It's too morbid. If I ever told anybody, they'd institutionalize me. I don't want to worry you with it.”

I looked up at her.

She was staring straight at me, waiting for me to elaborate.

I sighed. “I've seen the devil in my dreams ever since Jimmy...I've gone so many nights without sleep. I've been so strung out, Elise. So jaded.

“He always wanted me to join him. He was obsessed with me. He wanted a partner in psychosis; a friend for life.

“I pulled away from him late in school, and ever since, he's been trying to destroy me.

“It's like some macabre game to see who, between us, is better, more worthy, and I can't opt out. I'm stuck here fighting – and only because I need to save you.”

She wrote on the notepad, in large letters, and then showed me: “The Dreams?”

“There are some things I need to work out, before I go into that. I promise you I'll share everything with you in time.”

Elise nodded, as if to tell me that was okay. She flipped the page over, and started writing, again.

My hands trembled underneath the table in – well out of Elise's sight.

She finished writing, reread it, and then passed it to me.

“You're the only reason I'm alive. You've gone out of your way to protect me. You've got my full respect; my full support. Once Jimmy's gone, we'll be happy, but until then, it's going to be hard for us. We're just going to have to make do with what we've got, and try to get through this.”

I looked up at her, and smiled. “I feel so much better.”

She mouthed: “Me too.”

THREE

“Open up!” Chris shouted. “Let me in. This is important.”

I unlocked the front door, twisted the knob, and it blew open on me.

Chris limped in, his face covered in sweat and dried blood – his dumb eyes alive for once, and full of panic. “They're coming for me. You gotta hide me.”

He was bruised and beaten, but by the looks of it, too drunk or full of adrenaline to feel the pain coursing through him.

“Did you kill her?”

“What!? No.”

Elise stood back at the doorway, watching her brother – disorientated and deranged. He limped around in a circle, his attention wavering between Elise and myself. “I need a place to hide, man.”

“Who is after you?”

“The police. She broke free and nearly killed me. When I came to, they were out the front. I jumped the back fence, and ran here as fast as I could.”

“If you run any longer they're just going to be harder on you.” I said.

“There's only one reason I came here.” Chris said.

“Why?”

“Because she told me where Jimmy was hiding.”

Sirens wailed outside, echoing through my street.

CONTINUE