My other half part 2

Suddenly my phone rings, I take it out of my pocket and answer it, "Hello?"

"Hey, it’s me, Ethan!"

"Oh! Hey Ethan!"

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m... I’m fine.”

"I just wanted to ask you where you are right now?"

"I am inside the-"

He doesn't let me finish, "Can you come to the garden in front the school building?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Ok, I'll be waiting for you. Bye..."

"Goodbye."

I put my phone down, and then I just freshen up a little bit. I know that I should be concerned about Nora now but I don’t think that she will do anything stupid so quickly. When I get out of the washroom I find the school almost deserted, which means that most of the students went home by now. I notice Britney in the hallway with some of her friends but I don’t see Nora anywhere. Maybe she went back home... Let’s hope so! Britney gives me a cold look. I go on without bothering to say anything, as long as Britney is with her friends she is safe.

I see Ethan from far away. He has a flower in his hands. He is standing with his back against a tree with one of his knees folded, he’s leaning slightly and he’s looking at the ground. His backpack is one the ground beside him against the tree. I call his name while I walk up to him,”Hey! Ethan?” He looks up and his face lights up seeing me, he smiles at me. I smile back at him too.

We’ve been talking for about half an hour. We have been talking about random things. It’s been a while, I look at my watch, "Ethan, it’s getting late, I should probably go now.”

He looks at the sky, the sun is almost about to set, "Yeah, I think maybe you should.” He looks at me again, “Can I walk you home again?”

Me:”Yeah, sure! I left my bag inside my locker. I’ll just go get it.”

“Ok, I’ll wait right here.”

I run back inside the building. While I was walking, I see Britney again, by the stairs. This time there is nobody around her but I still don’t see Nora anywhere near. Britney doesn’t notice me this time. I go on without talking to her. Just when I take my bag out of my locker, I hear a scream. I quickly close the locker and put my bag around my shoulders and run towards the spot where the scream came from, it came from the stairs where I saw Britney a minute ago. Nora didn’t hurt her already, did she?

By the time I reach the stairs the Janitor and Mrs. Verne-our principal-is already there. And by their feet, Britney is lying on the floor in an unnatural way, she seems unconscious. I also see Ethan running towards us but I don’t see Nora, she obviously isn’t here."

What happened?!”, I ask.

Mrs. Verne:”We don’t know.”

The janitor:”She fell.”

Anyone who was still in the school quickly comes here.

Ethan:”She looks like she fainted, should we take her to the hospital?”

Mrs. Verne:”I think we should.”

Mrs. Verne quickly calls for an ambulance that takes her to the hospital, and then she calls Britney’s parents and informs them about their daughter. Ethan takes me home. The door was locked so I unlock with my key and Ethan leaves after I unlock it.

As soon as I am inside I run straight to our room. Just as I thought, Nora is there. She is always in our room. I slam the door close and start yelling at Nora, “Why did you push her off the stairs!”

Nora yells back at me:”Because she was bothering us, okay!!? I did it for you! Just try to understand!”

“Well I didn’t want you to do it! You shouldn’t have!!It’s wrong!”

“It’s not wrong! Anyone who messes with us, should be taught a lesson!”

“No! They shouldn’t be-” I sigh and sit on the edge of the bed, “Please Nora, stop doing this to people.”

She doesn’t answer, she folds her hands and looks away.

Me:”Nora look at me.” She doesn’t. I get up and grab her shoulders, "LOOK AT ME NORA!”

Nora frees herself from my hands, "Just leave me alone!” She rushes out of the room. She murmurs while she leaves, “You do something for someone and this is what you get!”

I sit down again to cool my head. I hear a car honking, it’s dad’s car! I go to the window and I look down. I see Ian, mom and dad get out of the car. They weren’t home? I go downstairs, they are just coming inside.

Mom:”Oh, Nina, your home.”

Nina:”Yeah...Where were you guys?”

Mom:”We just went to the mall to see a movie, you know, just as a family.”

“Well, you guys didn’t..Tell me about it.”

“Well, we thought the movie would be over by the time your home.”

“But, you said ‘As a family’, I’m family too. You guys didn’t even tell me about it.”

Dad:”We just didn’t think that you’d be interested.”

Me:”You guys didn’t even ask me.”

Ian:”Just let it go Nina. It wasn’t your type of movie.”

Me:”Do you guys even know what my type is?”

I leave the room without letting them answering. This isn’t the first time they went outside and did something fun ‘As a family’ without even telling me about it. Even though I am pretty sure that the movie sucked. But sometimes I feel like I don’t exist to them, and it’s the same with Nora. They weren’t even gonna buy her a bed! Then I suggested them to buy us a twin bed.

Our parents have always been more fond of Ian. They have always loved him more and they’ve been always so very proud of him. They have always been there for him. They never missed any of his nerdy competitions. But when it came to our soccer game or softball game, they were never there. And it was so important for them to be there! They neglected both me and Nora, actually they neglected Nora more! That’s why Nora and I are so close to each other. And we both feel mistreated by our parents. We are very dependent on each other. We were each others only friend…

Suddenly there’s a knock on the door that distracts my thoughts. Mom: “Nina, open the door!”

I open the goddamn door against my will. Mom: “Nina, what happened out there?”

I stay silent.

Mom: “I don’t want you doing something like that ever again. At least not while Ian’s here. He is only here for two weeks. How do you think that it makes him feel when you behave like that?”

Me: “Do you think that I care?”

This really makes mom angry. Mom: “Listen up young lady, I want you to behave. Do you understand? Don’t you think that it’s hard enough for me already!?”

She starts to leave. And while she is going I hear her say, “Such a spoiled brat.”

I slam the door hard again, making a lot of noise. Boy, I hope that this door won’t break down one day! But hearing the noise, mom comes back and starts yelling.

Mom: “Nina O’Connell! Open this right now door! Ugh! I can’t take it anymore. You are grounded for the rest of the month!! And that is final!!!” Then she leaves. After a couple of minutes there’s another knock on the door. This one is Nora.

She says, “Do you know how many times I have wanted to PUNISH her? Will you open the door please?”

Well it is also partially her room... I open it and I find her standing in front of the door.

Nora: “Does my sister need hug?”

Me: “No, just because I am angry with mom it doesn’t mean that I am not angry with you.”

Suddenly out of nowhere, Ian appears.

Ian: “Who are you talking to?”

Me: “Are you blind? Can’t you see?”

Ian: “Whatever, I always knew there was something wrong with you.”

Then he just goes to his room.

Nora: “Don’t mind him, he is crazy.”

Me: “Do I ever?”

But why did he ask who I was talking to. Didn’t he see Nora? No, that can’t be. She was right in front of him. Is something wrong with him?

The next day everybody at school is talking about Britney’s accident. She is still at the hospital, unconscious. I am worried about Nora, what if they find out that Nora pushed her down the stairs. What will happen to her? It will be awful! She might be suspended at the very least! But Nora doesn’t seem worried at all. She is completely normal. Nobody knows about what actually happened, for now.

But what will happen when Britney comes out of her coma? Did she see Nora pushing her? And what if Britney is seriously injured? What if she never wakes up and stays in the coma forever!!? It may save Nora but... I can’t think about these things anymore, I need something to take my mind of these things and make me less worried. Nora comes to me when I am taking books out of my locker for the next class.

Nora: “It was a good PUNISHMENT, huh?”

I CAN’T BELIEVE HER! Britney is at the hospital, in a coma! And she is here laughing about it! I look at her, she has a big smile on her face. I feel like something just exploded in my head.

I act serious, “Don’t you ever talk to me, Nora.”

I close my locker and start walking.

She follows me, “Wait, wait, wait! What’s wrong?!”

I stop and look at her, “WHAT’S WRONG! I think you know exactly what’s wrong! Now stop following me.”

I didn’t shout. I just talked to her in a normal, yet a serious voice. But Nora is stunned by this. I start walking. Nora just stands there, surprised by my behavior.

The next night, everything is silent. Nobody is awake but me. Even Nora is asleep beside me. And I am just lying on the bed, thinking, about everything. I can’t sleep. Not when all this is going on. Did Nora have to push Britney from the stairs?!

Suddenly a rock flies into my room, through the open window. It falls right on the floor, on the space between the bed and the window. There is a piece of paper folded all around it. I get up and pick it up. I unfold it and there was a little writing inside, it was a little difficult to read because it was dark but I manage to read it.

“Nina, plz come to the window if you read it.

If you're not Nina, plz tell her!”

There’s no name on it. Who wrote it? I quickly go over to the window and I look down to see who it is. I find Ethan looking up at my window from our lawn. What is he doing here?! He calls out my in a low voice, but not so low that I won’t hear it.

Ethan: “Nina!” He waves at me.

Me: “What are you doing?!”

He doesn’t answer me. Ethan: “Nina, come down.”

I can’t go down the stairs and just open the door and come outside!

Me: “I can’t!”

Ethan thinks for a moment and then he speaks, “Can you climb that tree?”

He points to the tree not far away from my window.

Me: “Are you crazy!”

Ethan: “Please, Nina! You don’t have to climb the tree, just come down in some way.”

There is no other way then climbing that tree. Mom locks all the doors at night and she keeps the keys to herself. And I want to go to Ethan, it’s better than lying on the bed and waiting for the night to end while hearing Nora snore!

I look around, I can walk over the roof in front of the window and climbing a tree is no problem for me. Ethan calls me again, “Come on Nina, hurry!”

I step out through the window and then I walk over the roof. I stick close to the wall. I don’t know why I am doing this, but for some reason, I really want to. I start to climb down the tree. Everything was going ok, but at the very end of it I slip and I start to fall. I thought I was gonna fall on the ground and injure myself but I fall right in Ethan’s arms. He caught me! That was a big accident avoided!

Me: “Thanks.”

Ethan: “No problem.”

He puts me down. My heart is racing like a race car and I am also blushing like hell! And I have no shoes!! But then I notice, nor does Ethan!

Ethan: “Are you ok?”

Nina: “Yeah, I am fine.”

I take some time to breathe, I really thought that I was gonna get hurt. But thanks to Ethan I didn’t. After I am normal again I turn to Ethan, “What are you doing at this time of the night!? Do you what time it is!?-“

Ethan: “Yeah, It’s 1:30.”

I roll my eyeballs, “Stop trying to be funny.”

Ethan: “Hey, I just saved your life.”

“Yeah... Alright. But what is it?”

“I just wanted to see you.”

“Now you’re trying to be romantic.”

“No, seriously I can’t sleep. Then I remembered that I told you that I will make it up to you. After I remembered that, I had to see you. Tell me, why are you still awake?”

He is trying to get some romantic excuse out of me by this one. But I won’t say anything like that. I lie, “Who told you I was awake!?”

Ethan is surprised, “Then how did you notice the rock?”

“IT HIT ME YOU IDIOT!!”

This time, I was a little loud. Mrs. Campbell, from the house across the street hears it, she is a light sleeper. She turns the lights on and shouts, “Who is screaming like that!?” She was about to look through the window, Ethan grabs my hand and starts running.

Ethan: “Come on, run! You don’t wanna get caught do you!?”

We are both start to run. And none of us are wearing any shoes! Mrs. Campbell looks through the window, “Who’s making all that noise! I will complain to your parents!”

But we are far out of the sight by then and thanks to goodness and everything else, nobody hears her. After a while she gives up and goes back to sleep. But we don’t stop, we keep running. Moving away from our house. Moving away as far as possible.

We run for a long time. By the time we stop we are far away from all of the houses, we are near the forest, by the side of the lake. We didn’t need to come this far but Ethan wouldn’t stop. So we have ended up here. There is an old abandoned observatory here. We can see it from where we are right now. We are both very tired from all the running. Our hearts are racing, we can’t even stand anymore. After a while we return to normal after taking some rest. Ethan looks at me, “Did the rock really hit you?”

Me: “No, but does it matter right now? We gotta go back.”

I was about to get up but Ethan stops me, “I don’t think I can walk anymore.”

I realize that he is telling the truth, “Yeah, your right. Me neither.”

I sit down again.

Ethan: “Do you think that old lady saw us?”

Me: “Mrs. Campbell? No, I don’t think so. She can barely see someone a feet ahead of her without her glasses. And I don’t think that I saw her wearing any.”

Ethan: “Well, our parents are gonna kill us anyway if they find out.”

Me: “That’s why I think that we should get going.”

Ethan: “Nah, this is exciting.”

Me: “Exciting! Let’s see how exciting it would be when they really find out.”

Ethan smiles, gosh! How can somebody have such a beautiful smile!! Ethan: “Do you know why I came to you tonight?”

Me: “How the hell am I supposed to know? But you said something about ‘Making it up to me’…?”

He doesn’t answer. Instead, he leans over towards me, slowly. He gently strokes my cheeks. I freeze! Is he really gonna... He comes even closer to me. So close that I can feel his breath on my lips! He holds me and he slowly puts his lips on my lips. He kisses me. My first kiss! I never knew what to do but that doesn’t turn out to be problem. When we stop he doesn’t move away, instead, he looks into my eyes. He slowly whispers to me, “I know we have just started dating but... I think I am falling in love with you!”

A boy will tell you anything to get into your pants. An age old quote. But do I care? No. Because even if he is lying, it doesn’t matter. I want this...! I kiss him again. And this time, we don’t stop.

I wake up while it’s still dark. I find myself in his arms. Yes, it happened. And it was magical! The most memorable night of my life. It was perfect! I can’t stop thinking about it. I never knew how to kiss but I knew how to do it! And now that I have done it, I would never regret it. Even if I end up pregnant with Ethan wanting nothing to do with the baby or me and my parents pressuring me to get married, I don’t care! For all I know, all that matters is that I got to spend this night with him. And now I have to go back, to my home. Back to where I am grounded for the month.

At least it would be an interesting story to tell Nora. But I won’t go into details, I just want to excite her. I look at Ethan, sleeping like a baby. He looks so cute when he is asleep. I think about waking him up, but I can’t! I can’t wake him up when he is asleep! So, I just get up and get dressed.

When I was about to leave I think about waking him up again. But looking at him lying on the ground, perfectly still and perfectly… Heart stopping, breath taking! How can a guy be so good looking?! I can’t wake him up! I leave; I have to go home before the sun comes up.

I make it home when the sun is just about to rise. I climb that dreaded tree again, the one that I fell from and landed on… Ethan’s arms... That reminds me of ‘The moment’ again. I blush, thank goodness that there is nobody here to see that.

This time I climb the tree safely. Then I walk on the roof and get into my bedroom through the window again. There I find Nora sleeping silently on the bed. She isn’t snoring anymore, huh! She has her back towards the window. I crawl into the bed and I lean over her.

Me: “Wake up sleepyhead, I got news that I can’t wait to tell you.”

She wakes up, but not completely. She stays half asleep and half awake. She turns sideways towards me. She speaks in a sleepy voice, “Where...(Yawn) Have you been?”

Me: “You realized that I was gone?!”

She opens her eyes half way through, “I realized that my side pillow was gone... Where were you?”

I put my head on my pillow and I lay on my side. I don’t speak but I smile. This makes her realize that something is up. She now opens her eyes all the way, “Ok, what happened?”

I feel a little shy, I keep smiling. And there is only one word that comes out of my mouth, “Ethan.”

Her eyes pop out in surprise, she wakes up completely.

Nora: “Oh my gosh! Please don’t tell me that you’re saying what I’m thinking!”

Me: “That depends on what you’re thinking.”

She leans closer to me, “Don’t tell me that you just had SEX with Ethan Ericson, the star of your heart!!”

My smile gets bigger and I nod, “Yes I did!”

She hits me with a pillow, “You bitch!”

I take the pillow form her hands, I am laughing.

Nora lays down again, “Tell me everything!”

Me: “I’m not gonna tell you everything-“

“Ok then, where?!”

“By the forest, by the side of the lake.”

“The forest with the old abandoned observatory?”

“Yes.”

“How!?”

“What do you mean, how?”

“like how did it start, what move did he used? Or what kind of move you used?!”

“It just happened! No moves!” I hug the pillow and I lay on my stomach. Looking at Nora’s excited eyes, I continue, “He kissed me and told me that he is falling in love with me… And then, it just happened!”

“How did you know what to do?”

“I already knew what to do.”

“YOU KNEW! And you never told me!!?”

“You never asked! Anyways, next?”

“When did you get out of here?!”

“At night, around 1:30. When you were fast asleep…Snoring!”

“I don’t snore!”

“Oh yeah! Well then next time I’ll record it.”

“Whatever! How did you get out?”

“I was having trouble sleeping, then suddenly Ethan threw a rock into our room. He asked me to come down. I climbed the tree and fell, but he caught me. Then Mrs. Campbell almost caught us, so we ran. We stopped when we reached the forest. And there, it just… Happened! But I already told you that, anymore questions?”

“Yeah!”

“Then save them for later, I need to sleep.” I

bury my face into the pillow.

Nora: “But I can’t wait!! I need to know everything!”

Me: “Just let me sleep!!”

She sighs and tries to go back to sleep again, but she can’t sleep! She is too excited to fall asleep. But I fall asleep quickly. I was exhausted. But it seems like I woke up as soon as fell asleep. Because the alarm woke me up. WE HAVE SCHOOL TODAY!

Ugh! I feel so sleepy! I feel like I’m gonna fall asleep every time I close my eyes! I put my head on the table and I close my eyes just for a second. It’s lunch time now. I haven’t got a single chance to talk to Ethan a single time today. While I’m snoozing on the table Nora is eating my lunch. Today is cupcake day and she has already finished hers and now she is eating mine. I think that I might have actually fallen asleep but Ethan comes over. He sits in front of me.

Ethan: “You left without even telling me.”

I open my eyes and lift my head, “I had to go home…”

I Ethan: “You could’ve at least waked me up. I had to go home too.”

I put my head on my arms while looking at him, “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t. You were sleeping so cutely I couldn’t have waked you up…!”

Nora is having a hard time containing herself now.

Ethan: “It’s alright.” Ethan seems a little shy now, “You know, I had a wonderful time last night.”

I smile, “Yeah, me too.”

“Maybe we should go out on a date again, tonight? I mean, I know it’s on a short notice but… Will you come?”

“Yeah sure! I can never say no to you.”

“I know this amazing diner, sells the best fries. You wanna go there, say… 7?”

“I would love to!”

“Great! It’s a date! I’ll pick you up.”

I was so glad that we were going on another date. He was taking this seriously. He didn’t just sleep with me the other night to get laid, he really likes me! I was really really really really happy!!!

But then something ruined my moment of joy. Two girls were passing by our table. I hear one of them say, “Have you heard? Britney came out of her coma this morning.”

The other one: “Yes I have.”

They walk past us. Oh no! Generally I would’ve been happy to hear that, but for Nora’s sake, I’m worried. What if Britney knows who pushed her?! She will tell everyone and Nora will be in a lot of trouble. And it’s all because of me! I could’ve stopped this from happening, but I didn’t!

I turn my head to look at Nora, but she is not there anymore! When did she leave? I hear Ethan talk, “Did you hear what they were saying? Britney’s conscious again. That’s a great news, right?”

I look at Ethan. He has heard that too.

Me: “Yeah.” To others, yes. To us? I don’t know.

I try to find Nora all day long but I don’t find her. I look everywhere. But she is not anywhere! I look out for her all day at school. But I don’t see her. Where the fuck has she disappeared!!? Seriously, where is she!! Finally I see her on my way to home. She was walking slowly, apart from everything else. I run to her.

Me: “WHERE WERE YOU?!!” I shout at her, she is shocked by the sudden noise. I continue, “I’ve been looking everywhere for you! All day long!! What are you!!? INVISIBLE!!! Where d-”

She laughs lightly and stops me, “Stop evil woman, stop! What’s the matter? Why were you looking for me?”

I take a deep breath and I calm down. Then I look her in the eye, “Britney has come out of her coma.”

Nora slams the door behind her, but I stop it before it closes. I quickly get inside and close the door behind me. Nora is talking right from the moment she has entered the room, “Britney is not supposed to be conscious; she is not even supposed to be alive! She is supposed to be dead!!”

Me: “Apparently that’s not my problem! Because you had to push her down the stairs and send her in a coma, you psycho!!”

“Oh come on! I did it for you!”

“Stop saying that!”

Nora didn’t talk for a moment after I told her the news about Britney. Then she grabbed my arm and said, “Not here, let’s go home.” Then we quickly walked to our house, but we didn’t stop when we got inside. We kept on walking fast towards our room. It’s the only place where we can get some privacy, but someone can still hear us if they stand just outside the door.

I continue: “You used me as an excuse. In reality, you just want to kill people!”

Nora sits down on the edge of the bed with her arms folded while I stand close to the door.

Nora: “Are we really gonna fight about that now?! We have a problem here!!”

“Well, you should’ve thought about that before.”

“I thought she was going to die!”

“And that’s a good thing?!”

We finally stop shouting at each other for a second after I say that.

Nora says in a normal voice, “I just can’t stand seeing anybody hurt us.” Her eyes are now watered, “I just can’t stand it when somebody hurts us, when somebody bothers us. When somebody does, I just have to stop them. I can’t think of anything else, I just have to… I just have to stop them.”

I also suddenly calm down, “But why?”

Nora looks down at her feet. I go sit down beside her. I put my arm around her, “Nora you’re my sister. And I’ll always be there for you. I’ll always try my best to help you when you’re in trouble.” I put my other arm around her too and I put my head on her shoulder, “Like I always have.”

A tear climbs down her cheek and falls on her hand.

I continue, “But Nora, when you do something like this… I can’t help you. There is no way in which I can do something for you! So promise me, this is the last time. You’ll never ever do something like this ever again?” She stays silent, sobbing. I lift my head from her shoulder and look at her, “Promise me.” She doesn’t say anything but she nods. And now she buries her head on my shoulder and she hugs me and she keeps on crying. I hug her even tightly.

But there was something that Nina didn’t know. What she didn’t know was that her brother was standing right outside that door, silently listening to every word they just said. And planning to reveal the two sisters secret to the world.

I look back before I leave the room, “Ok, Nora. I’m leaving.”

Nora nods without a sound. I sigh and leave. She has been like this, still, since she has stopped crying. She didn’t even come down for dinner. She seems like she is thinking something. But she isn’t telling me anything. I’m worried. And it shows, because when I come outside of the house Ethan asks me if something is wrong. I deny it but he knows that something is bothering me. But he doesn’t ask me about it anymore.

I am going on my 3rd date with him. It’s 7 o’clock and we are going to that diner he talked about, the one with the fries. Usually when I am with Ethan, everything turns perfect. It seems like nothing is wrong in the world and everything is just right. I forget all my worries, he takes all my problems away. And for a time, I can feel all the happiness that’s there in the world. I feel like I am happiest person in the world. All my sadness, all my sorrows, all my pain and all my anger… Everything is gone!

But right now, I am not feeling anything like that. Instead I feel like after I’ve went away from Nora, my worries have increased! I feel like she is gonna do something stupid again. Much more stupid then the time she pushed Britney off the stairs. The whole time during our date I stay detached. Ethan notices that and at a point he finally calls off our date!

Ethan: “Nina, I know that something is bothering you. And I know that you don’t want to tell me. But if something is bothering you, I think you should go home now. Because you look really worried. Let me take you home.”

Me: “No, Ethan. I am fine!”

“You don’t look like you’re fine. Come on, let’s get you home.”

He brings me back to my house instantly.

When I enter the house I see Ian before anyone. There is something about him that looks odd right now. He looks suspicious.

Me: “Something wrong?”

Ian: “You tell me.”

I am confused. Me: “What do you mean?”

Ian comes closer to me, “I know you pushed that girl down the stairs.”

He knows!

Everyone has heard about Britney’s accident, Ian has too. But he must’ve over heard us when we were talking earlier. But apparently he has me confused with Nora.

I freak out, “Look, you can’t tell anyone, okay? And it’s not me, it’s Nora. But Nora will be big trouble if you tell anyone, please try to understand, REALLY BIG TROUBLE!”

“Nora doesn’t exist, fantasy princess. She is not real, you’re the one who pushed that girl down the stairs!”

But I don’t hear what he was saying. I have been trying to figure out what Nora was thinking. I have been trying to think what Nora might have been thinking, what I will do if I us Nora.

So far, I was having no luck. But suddenly, when Ian was talking, It hits me! I know Nora, and I know what she wants to do in this situation. She wants to kill Britney, for good. And for real this time…!!! As soon as I realize this I panic. Ignorant of what Ian just said, I start looking for Nora.

Me: “Oh god! Where is Nora right now!!?”

Ian: “Haven’t you heard what I just said? Nora-”

I lose control, I shout louder than I ever have before, “Where is she just tell me!!”

Ian becomes scared seeing me like this. He stutters, “I… I… I don’t know.”

Me: “Well look for her!! Right now! IT’S A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH!!”

But Ian doesn’t even moving a muscle. He is frightened of me right now. If you look closely you’ll notice that he is actually shaking.

I say again, “Come on! GO! Look for her! HURRY!!”

This time he reacts, he leaves the room to look for Nora. I run upstairs. To our room first, she always there. I open the door and look at our room for the fraction of a second then I was about to leave but I stop. I quickly go over to the window and I look through it. Just as thought, Nora has just climbed down the tree and and now she is going towards the side walk.

I shout to her, “Nora, wait!”

She hears me and she stops. She looks up at me. But that’s only for a second. She starts walking again.

I shout again, “NO! Nora, wait!”

She doesn’t listen. I quickly run down the stairs as fast as I can and I get out of the house as soon as possible. I manage to come down in time, Nora is still there.

Me: “Nora please, listen to me!”

I run to her. Just before I reach her, she turns around. I notice that she is crying again, “What is there to listen?!”

“Nora what were you about to do?!”

“I was going to get rid of Britney, forever!”

“No Nora you can’t do that! And even if you do, it won’t solve anything!”

“Yes, it will! Britney will never bother you ever again, and nor will I!”

I am puzzled, “What do you mean, ‘nor will you’?”

“I am running away Nina. I’ll get rid of Britney and then I’ll go away forever from all of your lives.”

“No you can’t!”

“Why not!? Nobody likes me, nobody wants me! Nobody cares about me! I am better gone.”

“It’s not true Nina, I care about you!”

“Then why did you yell at me after all this happened!?!”

“Because what you did was wrong!!”

Nina doesn’t reply this time. I pause for a second then I continue, “The way you hurt people… It’s wrong Nina! You don’t push someone off the stairs every time they do something annoying. It’s not right. Not only because people get hurt, because you… Get in trouble too… And I don’t want you getting into any kind of trouble. And that’s because I care about you.” Nina was looking at the ground while I was talking. She looks at me when I say the last part.

Me: “You’re my sister Nina. I really do care about you. And you’re the only person who cares about me, who understands me. You’re my only real friend.” I take in a deep breath, “Nina? If you go away, I will be alone. There will be no one else who will understand me, care about me… Lift up my mood when I’m sad!”

“Except for Ethan.”

I smile, “Yes, but that’s different. He’s not you.”

I hold my hand towards her, “Nina let’s go back inside.”

Nina looks at my hand, then she looks at my face again. She hesitates, but she lifts her hand slowly and places it on mine. I take her inside. That was a big disaster avoided!...

When we go inside we find Ian talking to someone on the phone. He was constantly moving and shouting, he seemed worried. He doesn’t notice us when we come inside.

Ian: “Nina has gone completely crazy! She Is talking about Nora again. And you know the girl who had an accident a couple of days ago… The girl who fell from the stairs…?”

He stops for a moment while the person on the other side of the phone says something.

Ian: “Yes, yes! Britney! Nina pushed her down from the stairs.”

“ No! NO! I am not joking. It was her. Look I don’t know what to do. Nina has lost her mind!”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll wait. But please come home soon.”

“Yes, come right now. Bye.”

He disconnects the call.

Me: “Who was that? And what are you talking about?!” I

an finally notices us. He gets scared to death when he sees us, he backs away from us. I pretend that I didn’t notice that, “Why are you saying that I’ve lost my mind?”

“Nina, I have called mom and dad. I have explained everything to them. They will be here any second now and and we’ll… Uh… Treat you for your problem! Alright?” He is really scared.

Me: “Ian how many times do I have to tell you that it wasn’t me who tried to hurt Britney!”

I walk towards him a little, but he backs up when I do.

Ian: “I know what you’re gonna say, you’re gonna say that it was Nora, right?”

Me: “Yes it was her!” I feel like saying ‘Duh!’ too in the sentence, I’ve told him that already!

I continue: “But you can’t tell anyone, she will be in a big mess!”

Ian: “Look, Nina. Nora doesn’t exist. She is just a projection of your mind-”

Me: “Ian, are you crazy! What are you saying, Nora is your sister. She isn’t a projection of my mind! In fact, she is right behind-” I looked behind and I was about to point at Nora, but to my surprise; nobody was there.

That’s odd, she was here a second ago…

Me: “-Where’s Nora?” I can’t let her get out of my sight, who knows what she might do.

I start looking for her in other rooms, “Nora! Nora where are you!!” I look for her in the living room, the kitchen… I swipe the whole first story, I can’t find her anywhere! Where is she! Suddenly I hear Ian screaming in pain. I quickly go to him as fast as possible. I see a knife, stuck in his thigh. Nora must’ve attacked him with a knife!

Me: “Oh my gosh! Ian!! Are you alright?!!”

I go closer to him but as soon as I do, he starts screaming, “Get away from me!!! JUST GET AWAY FROM ME!!! Don’t come any closer!!!!”

I take some steps backwards, “Ian I am sorry, I should’ve stopped Nora, I-”

Right then, someone rings the doorbell. For some reason, I don’t open it. I look through the window, Mrs. Verne! With Britney’s parents behind her. Britney must’ve told everyone who pushed her. Or why else will they be here!? But I can’t open the door. I run upstairs without answering the door. Ian can take care of himself, even with a knife cut into his thigh. But Britney can’t save herself from Nora. I know what Nora wants to do right now. She wants to kill Britney, erase evidence. But she is already too late. And what she is about to do will get her in more trouble.

As soon as I reach my room I run to the window. Just as I thought, after hitting Ian she came upstairs and climbed down the tree. The only reason Mrs. Verne or Britney’s parents didn’t notice her was because she was moving while she was in the shadows. And coming down without making any noise wasn’t a big deal. I think quickly, I was the only person who can stop her. She will only listen to me. I have to climb down too. I slowly step out through the window, without making a noise. But I have to hurry, Nora is getting away. And I can’t let that happened. I can’t let her put another person’s life in danger again.

It takes me some time to get down without making any noise. Nora is a long way away by the time I come down without letting anyone notice me. I have to hurry up! I stay in the shadows like Nora so nobody can see me. And I also walk very carefully so nobody would hear me. As soon as I am as far away and at a safe distance so Mrs. Verne or Britney’s parents can’t see me, I start running. I can’t see Nora anymore. She must be really far away by now. I really have to hurry up!

I start to run even faster. I could’ve just told Mrs. Verne when they came to our house. But they wouldn’t have been able to do anything. Nora never listens to anyone but me. And I am sure that Nora wouldn’t hurt me, I know her. I can talk her out of this. If I told anyone else, she would’ve hurt them. Just like she hurt Ian… I hope he is okay...

I run as fast as I can to reach the hospital in time to stop Nora. By the time I am there, I am exhausted! But I can’t stop. When I reach the hospital I start looking for Nora. She isn’t anywhere where I can see her. She must’ve found Britney by now. I go towards the receptionist. She was looking through some files. I act normal.

“Excuse me, do you know which room Britney Delfino is in?”, I ask her.

“Please wait, I’ll check.” She finds the room number quickly, “Here it is, room number 307, 3rd floor. Visiting hour will be over soon so you might wanna hurry.”

“Thank you, thank you very much.”

I leave quickly and I try to catch the elevator. But I miss it, so I take the stairs. Which takes more time, but I try to go to Britney’s room as fast as I can. When I reach the third floor I find it deserted. There is nobody on that floor, not a single person. This must’ve have made it easier for Nora to pass by unnoticed. I find room no.307 easily. Looks like I am just in time. Nora is in the room, Britney is asleep. She is wearing an oxygen mask and Nora is reaching for it. Oh no! She will remove the mask and Britney will die!

Me: “Nora, wait!”

Nora stops and looks at me, “Well, well, well! Look who’s here!” She acts dramatically.

“Nora, take this seriously will you!”

I walk towards the space between Nora and Britney and stand there so she won’t be able to reach her.

Me: “Have you lost your mind!”

Nora: “I’m a psycho, remember?!”

Apparently Nora’s in a mood to joke.

Me: “Nora, let’s just go home, ok?”

“No!” She takes a step back, “I am not going home again!”

“Why?”

“You have to ask! Just think about all the things I did, nobody will ever forgive me! And I don’t even want to be forgiven! Britney’s death will end all this once and for all and then you’ll never see me again.”

I am so angry at Nora right now I actually feel like saying, Fine then! Go to hell! And never come back! I don’t wanna see your fucking rotten face ever again!… But I don’t. Instead I keep on trying to convince her to come home.

I grab her shoulders “Nora, don’t be stupid ok. If you kill her, the police will be after you. Even if you run away, they will find you. If you stay… I can convince them that it all was just a mistake. I… I will tell them that you didn’t push Britney on purpose and it was an accident. But after that, you freaked out. And that’s why all this happened. You come home with me, everything will be back to nor-"

Nora takes my hands off her shoulders and throws them in the air.

Nora: “I don’t want everything to be back to normal, Nina. This is what I want! I want to kill her, it’ll give me peace!”

“YOU WANT PEACE!” I finally lose my nerves, “I’LL GIVE YOU PEACE! LET’S SEE HOW MUCH PEACE YOU WILL GET WHEN THE POLICE ARRESTS YOU FOR MURDERING HER! WHEN YOU”LL SEE HER PARENT’S CRYING IN FUNERAL! WHEN YOU-”

I suddenly hear someone saying, “There! She’s there, in that room!”

We hear some footsteps coming towards us. Nora gasps, “Oh shit!” Then she runs out of the room.

Me: “NO! Nora!”

I follow her out of the room and run after her. I can’t let her get away, she might come back and try to kill Britney again. Whoever were coming after us notice us, “Look! She is over there!”

Nora can’t possibly outrun all of us. I turn a corner, following Nora. YES! She is cornered. There is nowhere else to go!

Nora: “No way this can’t be happening…!!”

Me: “Apparently, this is happening.”

I feel sorry for her, but this is the right thing to do. Helping her may put other people’s lives in danger. I look at her, she looks like she is about to cry. She is panicking. No matter how much it hurts me to see her like this, there is nothing that I can do. She brought this upon herself by herself. She should’ve thought about the consequences of her actions before she did them. Now she will suffer, and there is nothing that I can do.

… To save my sister…

My heart suddenly gets filled with sorrow, and emptiness. Psycho killer or not, she was always there for me. My only friend, my twin sister. The one who helped me get through dark times… After this, I may never see her again. For a second, I think about helping her escape.

But just then the people who were after her reaches us. It seems like it took them forever to do so. I hear Britney’s dad’s voice, “Don’t let her get away.!”

But I am not listening to them. Because I am puzzled by one thing, if Nora is about to get caught, and there is no way that she can escape… Why is she smiling? All the anxiety, all the fear is erased from her face. Instead, there is a smile full of mystery in the corner of lips.

I hear my dad’s voice, “NINA!”

I turn around to look at him. He is here too? I also see mom.

Me: “Dad?”

Someone suddenly grabs me from the behind. I can’t see the person’s face. And then all of a sudden I feel a needle in my neck. I am being injected!!! After the person injects me he lets me go. Everything in front of me starts to seem blurry. I start to fall, but someone catches me before I do. The last thing I see before I faint, is Nora’s smiling face…

I find myself standing in the middle of a field. The field is covered with yellow flowers. It’s sunny and cloudless day. I can hear someone laughing. I turn around. I see two little girls playing. They are running around in the field. One of them has red hair and the other one has brown. I can’t see their faces. The one with the red hair comes closer to me while she was running. She stops and looks at me. IT’S ME! When I was 6 years old!

She talks to me, “Hi! My name is Nina. What’s yours?”

“My name is Nina too!”, I answer.

The sun is on her face. She talks to me again, “What are you doing here?”

“I don’t know.”

“Please don’t stay here, if my sister sees you, she’ll be very mad.”

I sit down on the ground, “Where is your sister.”

She points to the girl with the brown hair. She wasn’t running anymore. Instead, she was picking flowers.

I shout to her, “Nora!”

She looks at me and I smile and wave. But just then the ‘younger me’ screams at me loudly, “No! What have you done!! She is going to be very very angry!”

She starts to run away. I understand that she was telling the truth as soon as I look back at Nora again. She was turning into a giant tornado! I suddenly hear someone calling my name, “NINA!”

I look behind the tornado, it was Ethan. He shouts again, “Run Nina, run!”

The tornado starts moving towards him. I scream, “Ethan, move!” But it was too late, the tornado reaches him before he can move. I scream and reach out to him, “No! ETHAN!!”

I suddenly wake up.

part 3