“This is over, Meera.”

Silence.

“Can you hear me? It’s over.”

Meera lay flat on her bed, replaying the few moments that had turned her world upside down. Her head hurt; she hasn’t been able to get much sleep in the last couple of days.

“What you thinking?” Zack interrupted.

She didn’t answer. Her chest tightens when her mind longers on the events that happened almost a month ago. Better to leave things as they are. But it wasn’t that easy, there is too much to hold on to, too much to let go.

“You want to talk about it?” Zack broke in.

“No.”

“Did she call?”

Zack got no answer, but he understood her thoughts. “It’s alright, we’ll figure something out.”

Meera took in those words. ‘Figuring out’ was the overarching theme of her life, it seemed like. From the day she moved out of her parents’, her city, she’d been walking through these realms that expanded according to the instances in her life, and her truth that felt like a stab each time she was confronted.

“What do you think about Nyra?” Zack began when he noticed her spacing out of her reality.

“What?” Meera glared at him.

“You went out with her.”

“Zack…”

“Just saying, she’s a doctor; might be good for your heart.” He grinned while heading for the door. “I’ll see you soon. Don’t go into hiding.”

“I will. You are invading it.”

He rolled his eyes and walked out.

She met Nyra soon after her breakup; Zack had set them up. It was there she mentioned that she was a pathologist. Meera was taken aback at this, but the rest of the conversation had turned out pretty interesting. They were supposed to meet for dinner at her house today, and she thought it would be a good distraction.

By the time she reached Nyra’s, it was getting dark. Nyra poured them some wine, and sat down next to Meera. She was beautiful, Meera thought.

“How are you?” Nyra asked.

“I am okay,” Meera sipped on her wine. “How’s your work going?”

Nyra gave out a little laugh. “Well, that’s where my food comes from, so can’t complain.”

Meera’s mouth curved into a smile, but quickly disappeared. She found her charming and strangely, comforting. She didn’t ask much about her life, which was exactly what Meera wanted.

“Would you like to stay over?” Nyra asked her when they were almost done with dinner.

She felt a paranoia kicking in. It is true she did enjoy her company, but she wasn’t sure if it would be right to stay over. Thankfully, before she could refuse, Nyra’s phone rang. There was a quick exchange of words, and she looked back at Meera apologetically. “I’m sorry I have to leave now. There’s an emergency.”

“It’s okay. I’ll go back home.”

“No, umm,” Nyra thought for a while. “Why don’t you stay here? It won’t be much long.”

Meera stood surprised at this proposition. “No, it’s okay, really. I’ll just go home and sleep. We can meet later.”

Nyra didn’t say anything further. She watched as Meera walked up to the door and waved at her.

On the way back, Meera stopped by at a pharmacy. She needed some sleeping pills to relax and easily doze off without any trouble. And she felt a guilt creeping up on her for turning down Nyra. Maybe she wanted company when she got back from the hospital.

She brushed her thoughts aside and turned the key to her door. All the lights were off, except for the ones in her bedroom. And from where she was standing, Meera could see someone lying in her bed.

At first, she thought it was Zack. But as she inched closer, she could make out from the light that it was a woman who appeared to be sleeping in her bed. Something told her to run, but upon further observation, she was hit by a sudden paleness. It made her freeze.

To her horror, the face of the woman was none other than her own. Meera placed her hand over her mouth to repress her gasp when she heard a noise from the kitchen. At once, she saw a silhouette move towards her bedroom with a knife in their hands. She wanted to scream, she wanted to push aside the figure and save her lookalike. But it was too late. The knife had been plunged in and blood sprouted everywhere. She felt her own blood go cold.

Meera sat up in her bed with a jerk and felt her heart beat rise to her ears. Sweat covered her forehead. There was a silence as good as the dead. She heaved. Another nightmare.

Just then, she heard a faint scuffle in the kitchen.