"Eva, you're staying at my place." Eva heard. She caught herself in a daze and found herself just outside of the hospital. Kiersten saw Eva's confused expression and asked, "Oh, are you okay? Should we go back? I mean, there's no shame in needing a little more time to recover." Eva snapped out of it and shook her head. "Oh, no. I'm fine! Just felt a little strange there for a second, but I'll be good!" "Heh, if you say so!" Kiersten said as they continued walking to the parking lot. "Thank you so much Kiersten for letting me stay! You're a real friend." Eva said gratefully. "Don't mention it! That's what friends are for!" Kiersten smiled. "Only now, you're practically sisters!" Lisa added.
They found Kiersten's mother next to her car. "Eva, I'm so glad you're okay!" She said as she gave Eva a big hug. "Thank you, Ms. Mei! And I don't know how to thank you for taking me in." Eva said. "Think nothing of it! Now, I know you need to be with your friends at a time like this so we've invited Lisa to spend the night tonight. Unless, you'd rather be alone for a while." "No, you're right. I'd rather be with my friends right now." Eva said quietly. Mei smiled, then said, "Very well. Let's get going then." As they all got in the car and headed to Kiersten's house, Eva became lost in thought. "That daze was so weird. I hope I really am well enough to leave the hospital…" Eva shook it off to join the conversation. "We're all terribly sorry for your loss, Eva." Mei said sadly. "Yeah, I mean, one drive like this is all it took." Kiersten added. "What do you mean?" Eva asked. "You know, the car accident." Kiersten said. Eva grew wide-eyed. "Yes, it's a good thing you had your safety belt on. Otherwise you wouldn't have made it either." Lisa added. "Wait, they died in a plane crash! I was the only survivor, remember?" Eva said, almost frantically. They just looked at each other. "Eva. They died in a car accident. Your whole family took the van to go to the islands to celebrate your brother's wedding." Kiersten said. "Yeah, and a drunk driver slammed into you guys out of nowhere! You're lucky you survived." Lisa added. "The Doctor did say you got hit in the head pretty hard, so you might have side effects. Like false memories." Kiersten said solemnly. Eva felt certain she was right; but gave them the benefit of the doubt. "Wait, did Leo come with us? Is he okay?!" Eva asked. "Huh? Who's Leo?" Kiersten asked. Everyone in the car looked confused. Eva fell silent. As she became lost in thought again, she convinced herself that they were right and that she was suffering from head trauma. "So, how long is it gonna take for my head trauma to heal?" Eva asked. "Oh, in about a few weeks!" Kiersten said optimistically. "Phew, that's a relief! I'm all confused right now…" Eva said rubbing her forehead. "No worries, we understand, Eva." Lisa said. When they got home, Eva made it a point to thank Kiersten's Father, Bao, as well. "It is no problem at all. You are most welcome here." Bao said as he pulled her in for a hug.
It got late, and the girls got dressed in their PJ's to binge watch their favorite show. As they sat around the TV eating popcorn, Eva asked, "So, can you guys tell me my life's story?" "What do you mean?" Lisa asked. "To be honest, it feels like I forgot everything. That I'm living in a different reality, even." Eva said. "That's okay, we'll tell you everything!" Kiersten said. She began with all of the members of her family, how they lived in Spain and how they moved to the States. They talked a lot about school and all of their adventures in it. "Everything seems exactly how I remember it; the only difference is that there's no mention of Leo whatsoever. Could he—have been nothing more than an imaginary friend this whole time? Have I gone mad?" Eva thought to herself as they continued talking about Eva's life's story. Eva was about to mention her memories of Leo; but then vowed to never bring him up again. She had enough feeling like she was in the matrix and simply decided to believe every word that they told her. "So, any questions?" Kiersten asked. "No, not at all. Thanks for catching me up to speed!" Eva smiled. And with that, they turned off the TV and went to bed.
After summer vacation was over, it was time to go back to school. As Kiersten got dressed, Eva woke up with a migraine. "You're stupid. You're worthless. Stupid. Worthless." Eva heard. "Ugh, why the rudeness all of a sudden? Going back to school can't be all that bad…" Eva grumbled. "Huh? I didn't say anything." Kiersten said as she continued to pull her hair back in a ponytail. "Wha-? Oh, never mind. I just…got a terrible headache." Eva said. "That's okay. Just get yourself some pain killers before we go to school. You don't wanna be groggy on your first day back!" Kiersten said cheerfully as she headed out of their room. Eva was terribly frightened, but convinced herself that she still had some head trauma. "It's been weeks and I haven't recovered. Better go to the Doctor tomorrow…" Eva said as she got dressed for school. As they got off the bus, Eva felt like she could hear the thoughts of everyone around her. "Look at that ugly girl." "She's a nobody." "I'm surprised Kiersten even hangs out with her; I bet she does it out of pity." It looked from Eva's point of view that everyone was staring at her. "Uh, Kiersten? Why is everyone staring?" Eva asked. "What do you mean? Nobody's staring. Now let's get to class!" Kiersten said nonchalantly.
Eva was disturbed. The voices intensified and grew louder until she couldn't take it anymore. When she and Kiersten went their separate ways, Eva rushed off to the bathroom. She locked herself in a stall and began to hyperventilate. Suddenly, all the whispering voices stopped and she only heard one single voice. "I am God." The voice said bluntly. "You must kill Kiersten for her crimes." "What?! What crimes? I-I don't even believe that you're God, so…" "You don't believe that I'm God? Then, why don't you test me?" The voice asked darkly. "F-fine. Make some creature come out of the toilet." Eva said hysterically. Suddenly, Eva jumped as snakes began to slither out of the toilet. She wept. "Kiersten is a rebel. So, the only way to save her from hell is to send her back to me." "No!" Eva screamed. The voice then stopped. And she didn't hear voices for the rest of the day.
As Kiersten and Eva took the bus home, she took a good look at Eva. "Are you alright? You look a little pale." Eva desperately wanted to tell Kiersten everything, but couldn't get the words out of her mouth. So she told her she was coming down with something. "Don't worry! With some nice hot soup and bed rest, you'll recover in no time!" Kiersten said. When they got home, Eva went straight to bed and Mei took tender care of her.
As night fell, Eva woke up to the sound of Kiersten playing video games. She felt very disorientated and suddenly, the voices came back, and with a vengeance. "Kill her. Save her soul." The voices whispered. Eva felt almost possessed as she tip toed past Kiersten and into the kitchen. She grabbed a knife, and her hands began to tremble. "Do it! Do it now!" The voices demanded. Eva wept silently as she went back to her room. As she headed there, she wanted to stop but felt like she couldn't. "What's going on? Why can't I stop?" She thought. As she stood at the door of the room, she tried with all her might to resist. Then the voice asked, "What? Would you rather her go to hell and suffer forever?" "N-no…of course not…" Eva replied emotionlessly. She crept up on Kiersten. She raised her knife and trembled violently; trying to resist once more, but alas, the words escaped her mouth: "Kiersten." When Kiersten turned around, Eva grabbed her and slit her throat. Eva watched in horror as Kiersten collapsed; and let out a blood curling scream. Bao and Mei rushed into the room moments later to find a motionless Kiersten lying on the floor and a sobbing Eva. There was blood everywhere. They screamed. Then they yelled at Eva, "W-what have you done?! How could you?!" The ambulance rushed over minutes later. Kiersten was pronounced dead at the scene. And Eva was rushed to the hospital.