A cool hand gently running across Jason’s forehead woke him from sleep. Jason groaned and groggily opened his eyes. Red hair. Jason’s eyes flew open as memories of the past few days rushed back into his waking mind. Kylee’s hand retracted from his head and Jason heard a sharp intake of breath.

“Oh!” Kylee yelped. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to wake you. I made some breakfast and I thought that I would see if you were awake yet and I found you still sleeping and-”

“It’s okay.” Jason shook his head to clear some of the morning cobwebs still sticking in his mental gears.

He reached over to his phone and checked the time. A minute to go before his morning alarm would ring. Jason got the distinct feeling that Kylee had been sitting on the edge of his bed for quite a while. There was a slight blush visible on the detective’s freckled face, her green eyes a mixture of concern for Jason and embarrassment from being caught.

“You could stay home from school for a while. If I call the school and explain what happened it would be excused.” She ran a hand over Jason’s head. “You’re dealing with so much right now. Let me take care of you until this all blows over.”

Jason felt his own cheeks redden at the loving attention Kylee was showering him with. It was, admittedly, a tempting offer. Jason would like nothing better than to skip school. The boring classes, the constant balancing act he was forced into by Courtney and Jessica, and the exhausting homework. Jason could smell a wonderful meal wafting up the stairs. It would be easy to stay home, sleep all day, and let himself indulge in Kylee’s kindness. Unfortunately for him, Jason had tasks to attend to. Kirsten promised to return the hard drive today, which meant Jason had to go today without fail.It was also unclear how the girls would respond to Jason suddenly disappearing from school. Jason turned off his phone’s alarm and got out of bed.

“Thanks for the offer Kylee.” Jason stretched and spoke to the red haired detective. “But I’d rather keep myself busy than stay home and get sick with worry.”

A despondent Kylee nodded and walked out of his bedroom door.

“Come get some food when you’re ready then.” She smiled sadly.

Jason waited until Kylee descended the stairs before shutting the door to his room and changing for the day. When Jason came down a few minutes later, the table was filled with freshly made waffles, orange juice, freshly cut fruit, and muffins. Jason had to blink a few times to be sure his eyes weren’t tricking him on how much food was on the table.

“I, uh, I’m not used to cooking for two people.” Kylee said bashfully. “Come, sit down.”

She pulled Jason into a chair and began to dish him up an extremely large plate of food. Kylee barely touched her own plate, electing to watch Jason eat instead, a happy smile spread across her face. Though Jason was still trying to convince himself that Kylee wasn’t doing this because of his ability, that lie was growing increasingly difficult to ignore as time wore on. They chatted about his favorite types of food and Kylee took a few notes as she made a meal plan. As Jason left to head to the train station, Kylee gave him a long hug and told him to call her should anything happen. Jason agreed and left for school. Jason ran into Hayden on the train station platform, the blond boy giving him a friendly clap on the shoulder.

“Kirsten get back to you yet on that hard drive?” He asked.

Jason shook his head. “No. She said she’d have it today.”

Hayden looked pleased but frowned when he noticed a worried glint in Jason’s eyes.

“You doing okay?” Hayden asked.

The train pulled into the station and the two friends took their usual place in the last train car.

“Not really.” Jason sighed.

He explained to Hayden everything that had happened yesterday, including the disappearance of his aunt.

“And you’re still going to school?” Hayden gagged. “You should really stay home, man. I can get the hard drive and any homework out to you no problem.”

Jason grimaced. He had similar thoughts earlier but was sticking with his decision.

“I don’t want to take any chances. Besides, we don’t know how Courtney, Kirsten, nor Jessica would react if I was suddenly holed up at home. Besides, I don’t want to be left alone with the thought of Adaline coming to get me. I’d go crazy.” Jason shuddered.

Hayden paused for a few moments before he turned to face Jason directly.

“I realize this is probably painful for you, but what actually happened in middle school?” Hayden asked with polite but firm determination. “Who is Adaline?”

Jason’s gaze dropped down to the train floor. It wasn’t a question he liked to think about, but considering Hayden was helping him out with all of this crazy business, he deserved the truth.

“After Jess moved away, I was in a bad place.” Jason began his story. “She was really the only person I had become good friends with and suddenly I was alone again. I didn’t take it well.”

Jason’s eyes grew distant as he thought back to his dark state of being.

“I grew desperate, and I clung to anything I could to try and fill the gap Jessica’s absence had left beside me. That’s when the twins came along.” Jason shook his head sadly. “They were just being nice to me. I think their parents asked them to after seeing how pathetic I looked getting dropped off at school. They started sitting next to me during lunch, even though they probably didn’t want to. I wanted their attention so desperately.” Jason let out a humorless chuckle. “And then, one day, I started getting it. All of it. Adaline and her sister Mary started seeking me out outside of lunch. They’d sit next to me, talk to me, walk home with me. All on their own accord. No one was twisting their arm anymore. For the first time in a while, I felt like I had found another friend.”

Hayden frowned. “Is that when it got… bad?”

Jason nodded. “The sisters grew increasingly possessive over me. It was like we had traded places and they were desperately craving my attention like I had craved theirs. I relished it, at first, but they started getting mean. They started bullying anyone who ever got close to me, talked to me, or even looked my way. While I had been grateful for their friendship at first, I started to feel even more isolated from the rest of my grade than I had before.”

Jason’s voice grew quiet. “They said they loved me. They told me that I would be with them forever and ever and I would never have to be alone. I got scared, I may have been messed up in the head but this isn’t what I wanted. I started to avoid them whenever possible. I faked being sick for almost two weeks just so I wouldn’t have to see them…”

He trailed off, the echoes of his fear resounding on the walls of his mind as images forced their way to the surface. Hayden’s face had lost a bit of its color.

“So why did they turn on each other?” He asked. “I mean, they were sisters right? It sounds like they were in this together from the start.”

Jason took a deep breath before continuing. “When I started pushing myself away from them, they got angry. They started to blame each other for driving me away from them. They argued, fought, and… eventually…”

Jason didn’t need to finish, Hayden’s ashen face said that he already knew the ending.

Hayden cleared his throat. “So, now she’s on the loose?”

Jason nodded. “From what Kylee has told me, Adaline’s obsession with me has twisted into an almost rabid hatred. The nurses reported that Adaline was convinced that she had to remove my heart followed by her own in order for us to be happy together. She both loves me and hates me beyond what we can imagine.”

Jason shot Hayden an extremely serious look. “She’s insane, and if she gets anywhere near here we both might be in serious danger.”

“Because I’m your friend?” Hayden’s eyebrows both lifted.

Jason nodded. “I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to put some distance between us. I’d be happy just knowing you’d be safer.”

Hayden laughed. “Nice try, even if your ex-girlfriend sounds super scary, you won’t get rid of me that easily.”

His laugh died and Jason watched him glance nervously around the train.

“Though I suppose we should try and be careful from now on eh?”

Jason nodded, relieved that Hayden was still on his side.

“Yeah. We will.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adaline shut the truck door and pulled the brim of the ballcap low over her eyes. She was careful to park in an area that had plenty of avenues of escape and no security cameras facing the parking lot. Despite her precautions, it most likely wouldn’t take long for the police to find the stolen car.

It doesn’t matter if they find it now anyway. She thought to herself as she tossed the keys into a storm drain.

Adaline looked up at the city in front of her. Jason was here. All that was left was for her to find him.

JTNestman

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