Audrey walks into the apartment, her arms laden with grocery bags. She places them on the counter as Emily comes out of her room.

“Hey!” Audrey greets when she sees her roommate. “I couldn’t remember which kind of gatorade you said you wanted so I just went for classic fruit punch. I hope that’s okay.”

“Yeah. Yeah, no that’s fine.”

Emily hasn’t seen her roommate since last night; Audrey was gone when she woke up this morning. She’s not sure if that’s for the best or not.

She eyes her roommate warily as she unpacks the bags. Normally she would have jumped in to help but she just can’t bring herself to. It doesn’t go unnoticed.

“Is everything okay?” Audrey laughs but it’s shaky and a little nervous.

“Did you know you talked in your sleep last night?”

“Yeah, I told you I was a sleep talker when we moved in together. You said it was fine.” She shrugs. “What’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is what you said.” Emily pushes off the wall she was leaning on and walks over to stand across from Audrey on the opposite side of the counter.

Audrey stops unpacking the groceries and looks at her confused. “Ohhh kay, what did I say?”

“Does ‘The Patchwork Man’ mean anything to you?” Emily watches her roommate’s face closely.

Audrey’s brows furrow. “No… should it?”

“I don’t know, you tell me. You’re the one that mentioned him in your sleep last night.”

“Okay,” Audrey laughs again and it’s shaky. “Well I can’t exactly control it and I don’t always know what I’ve said in the morning.” She starts unloading the groceries again, desperate for a distraction. “I’m sorry if it kept you up last night.”

“No it’s not that. Your sleep talking doesn’t really bother me.”

Audrey stops and turns to face Emily. “Then what is it?”

“It’s what you said.” Emily talks slowly.

“So what did I say?”

Emily doesn’t say anything. Her mouth is twisted into a grimace and her eyes scan the apartment, looking at anything but Audrey.

“What?” Audrey breaks the silence. She can’t take it. “What is it? You’re kinda freaking me out here.” She shifts her weight anxiously between her feet. She grips the counter top in front of her as she waits for Emily to say her peace.

“You said he was coming.” Emily’s arms circle around her abdomen, she holds herself tight. She can still hear the panic in Audrey’s voice, can still see the pain on her face as she thrashed in her bed before going still. Audrey fell silent afterwards but Emily wasn’t able to sleep for the rest of the night.

“What?” Audrey releases her grip on the counter and her eyebrows furrow. All the energy she had left her body.

“The Patchwork Man.” Emily talks slowly and gently. She’s afraid she’ll set Audrey off; afraid anything she says might unveil some kind of memory for Audrey and then they’ll both learn something they’d rather not. “You said that he was coming back for you.”

“Coming back?”

Emily nods.

Audrey huffs. “What’s that supposed mean?”

“I don’t know.” Emily shrugs. “Audrey, is something going on? Who’s the Patchwork Man?”

“I don’t know.” Audrey’s stare is wide and vacant. She’s wracking her brain for any memory of what she said last night, for any memory of the Parchwork Man, but she’s coming up empty. She doesn’t remember a single thing.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Emily’s panic starts to rise. She’s not sure what she was expecting, for Audrey to say he’s just some boogeyman and it’s nothing to worry about, for Audrey to tell her who the Parchwork Man is and why she was so afraid. Somehow having no answer is worse.

“I mean, I don’t know!” Audrey begins unpacking the last of the groceries from the bag on the counter.

“Don’t know— Audrey you were terrified!” She walks around the counter but stays out of the kitchen.

Audrey is zipping back and forth from the counter to the fridge and pantry. Emily wants to get her attention but she doesn’t want to be in her way either. Something’s not right. Audrey’s acting too scared to not know what Emily’s talking about.

“You kept saying things like, ‘No not again! Please not again!’” Emily stares at her roommate in disbelief. “Trust me, you knew!”

“Yeah well not anymore.”

Emily opens her mouth to say something but Audrey cuts her off.

“I don’t think I can be here right now.” Audrey grabs her purse off the counter. She walks towards the entrance of their apartment, Emily follows.

“Can’t— Audrey where are you going?”

“Out.” Audrey opens the door. “I can’t be here.” She steps out the door and closes in behind her. The sound echoes through their apartment.

“Audrey!” Emily races to the door and pulls it open. She scans the hall for Audrey, but she’s already gone.