“Hey, babe,” I say, placing the brown grocery bag on the table and flipping on a light switch. “What are you doing in the dark?” I chuckle, walking to where she stands in the corner of the room, her back to me.

I touch her shoulder and give her a soft kiss on the back of her head. “I got the cookies you wanted. With the chocolate chips and-“ I stop, staring at her back.

“Kiara?” I question, quietly. She’s shaking all over, her hair a matted mess and her breaths coming out rapid and choppy. My brows furrow, concern overtaking me.

I hesitantly place my hand on her arm, turning her around the face me.

“Kiara, what’s wrong?”

Then I freeze. My very heart stops beating. I gape at her, taking it all in, unable to do anything but stare.

She stares back up at me with dark, bloodshot eyes. Her hands and lip tremble. My eyes dart from the bundle of blankets at her feet to the dark red liquid coating her hands, smeared across her face, splattered on her clothes.

“Jase, I…I-“ Her voice, so familiar, is soft, caring. Such a stark contrast from the woman I am staring at now. She reaches a hand out towards me, the blood dripping and splattering on the floor.

Then I notice. It’s everywhere. It’s painted on the wood under me. It’s a mess of handprints and smudges on the wall. And it’s coating the blankets by her feet.

I take a step back, blinking rapidly. My chest heaves with each breath, a strangled cry fighting its way up my throat.

“Kiara, what..what did you…” I can’t think. I can’t see. I cant even understand what I’m looking at.

“Jase,” she whispers, her voice now quivering. “I-I had to. He…he told me to. He made me do it. He said, he said it would save me!”

I look back at her, but it’s not Kiara I see. It’s not the woman I laughed with while baking cookies. It’s not the woman who’s lips I grazed each night. It’s not the woman who would text me good morning as soon as my alarm went off.

It’s a shell of a human. And she’s a stranger.

I swallow hard, fighting down the bile rising to my throat.

“Kiara,” I say, slowly. “Who? Who made you do what?”

“He did!” She cries, running a blood smeared hand over her face, the liquid dripping down her chin. “The man, he-he was in black. He had no face. Jase, I needed to. To-to save you!”

“Save me?!” I shriek back, stepping farther away from her. She reaches both red-coated hands up, inching closer to me. “Save me from what?!”

“I-I saved you…I saved you from..from…” her eyes flick down to the floor, roaming the sea of red we stand in. She finally looks back up at me with those crazed, unfamiliar eyes. The eyes of a stranger. “I don’t know,” she says quietly.

I tear my eyes from her, looking at anything but her. Anything but the monster in front of me. I look back down at the lump of cloth I’m slowly inching away from.

“What did you do?” I bark out, a wave of hysteria racking my body in rapid, deep breaths. I feel the sting of tears blurring my vision.

“I had to stop him. I had to…to- to end him.” She staggers towards me and I throw myself backwards, slamming against the front door.

“Don’t,” I breathe out. “Don’t come closer.”

“Jase!” She wails, tears mixing with the blood running down her face. “Jase, you have to understand! I saved you, Jase, I saved you!” She wraps her hands around me and it’s nothing like the woman I knew. Nothing like the nights we spent in each others arms.

“Get away from me!” I shriek, throwing her off me, the blood from her body smearing onto mine. I turn my back to her, my fingers trembling, fumbling to unlock the door.

“No, Jase!” she hollers, grabbing me again. She pulls me backwards with strength I had never felt in Kiara. But this is not Kiara.

I claw the door, fighting my way out of the beast’s grip.

“Help!” I scream, banging against the wood. I feel the blood, sticky and cold, running down my elbow. “Help!”

“Jase! It’s me! Don’t run away, it’s me!” She grabs the back of my head, forcing my eyes to face hers. No, no it’s not her. This is not Kiara. This is a monster.

“Kia-“ I swallow down the name I’m about to cry out. The name that’s so familiar on my lips. “Get away from me, monsyer.”