FAR FROM ERIS • FreenBecky •

FORTY - SEVEN

-I hope you get your shirt back- said that tiny girl while glancing briefly at Freen, who was holding her breath. -Thank you, Freen, it's been nice talking to you.-

-Wait, what—

Freen shouted so loud that she felt her throat tear, and suddenly she was sitting on the bed in the dark, barely able to breathe. She was short of breath, her lungs seemed to have stopped, and nothing was coming in or out, and for a split second she was convinced she was going to die right then and there. But no, she didn't die. After a few seconds, the air began to enter and exit again, and Freen tried to breathe in slowly through her nose, trying to calm her body, which was on the verge of collapse. She continued to breathe in and out for a few minutes before managing to open her eyes. She looked at her phone; Becky had left less than an hour ago after messing up her sheets again, and although Freen had practically begged her to stay, the girl told her she didn't want to leave Patty alone because she had noticed something strange about her that night, but that she would make it up to her.

Becky.

Was Becky the girl from her dream? It was her, or at least it was her voice. And it was definitely her shirt -Did I have that shirt on the night of the bridge? The shirt Patty gave me?- Maybe she had shorter hair, and she was thinner. But how could it be her? Was her brain filling in memories with random images? It would make sense for anything Freen dreamed to feature Becky as the protagonist, but that didn't feel like a dream. It felt like that handful of images that Freen's brain had discarded six years ago and were now trying to piece together like a senseless puzzle. -But, how could Becky be the girl from the bridge? That's completely impossible, because she jumped. I'm completely sure of that. And no one could have survived that fall. What are you thinking, Freen? How can you even consider that? It's madness.-

She lay down again and turned until she reached the pillow where Becky had slept the night before. It still smelled like her, and that immediately calmed her. The effect was incredible; now she wished that Becky hadn't left, and that scared her. She didn't understand how she had become so attached in such a short time, how she had this need to be close to her and how when they were apart, the monsters seemed to come out from under her bed. She wanted to text her and tell her she needed her, but that monster had her pinned down, immobilized on that mattress that seemed four times larger now that she shared it with Becky. She felt her cheeks getting wet without realizing she was crying. And so, clutching that pillow, exhaustion finally overcame her.

Becky entered the bookstore hoping to find Freen there. She hadn't answered her messages that morning, and she hadn't gotten a response on the intercom of her apartment either. She was starting to worry, and that feeling settled even more when she entered the shop and discovered that Freen wasn't there either.

-Becky?- Irin's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

-Oh, hi Irin- she coughed, -How are you?-

-Fine...- she hesitated -and you?-

-Well, actually I'm looking for Freen, I can't find her- she said, feeling her stomach chill at saying those words out loud, -Have you seen her?-

-No, not since you both left last night after the reading session,- Irin replied-Have you been to her house?-

-Yes, but no one answers- Becky sighed. -It's strange. And her car isn't where she last parked it.-

-Well, Freen can be like this sometimes- Irin said, looking down.

-This? What do you mean?- Becky asked.

-Disappear- she sighed. -Sometimes Freen... is complicated. I wouldn't know how to explain it to you.-