The steady beep, beep, beep of the hospital machine harassed my ears. As every second ticked by, my anxiety increased knowing the beeping would continue to slow. If the machine slowed to a stop, flatlined, that would mean my body gave up. There was no turning back from that.

Standing in a shroud of blackness made me realize how alone I truly was. Not only was I alone now but had been for years. For so long, fans had been my only friends and family. Now Nolan and time threatened to trap me in this space without ever getting to say goodbye to Mom. I wondered how she was dealing with her only daughter holding onto life in a hospital bed. Did she know Nolan was the reason I wouldn't be able to make amends, speak to her, or ever again feel her embrace?

Mom didn't agree with my career, my love life, or many of my life choices, but suddenly I wish to hear it from her in person. Would I die without every telling her she had been right about Nolan, and I should've listened?

I couldn't stay in my thoughts for long. As much as I wanted to focus on Mom, my attention went to the spotlight ahead that highlighted me and Nolan in the dimly lit bedroom adjacent to the pristine photography studio.

I moved closer, taking in the scene.

There was no doubt Nolan was an attractive man. I was sure his sharp jawline was one of the reasons I couldn't resist him for so long. I watched as he removed his tailored dark blue blazer and tossed it on the edge of the bed. He fingered the cuff of his long-sleeved white button-down shirt. "What a day, yeah?" He sighed and gestured to the other Rhea who wore dark circles around her eyes like accessories. "Come, you sexy vixen." He crooked a finger and showcased his deep cheek dimples with a smile.

She moved toward his arms without question, like a magnet to iron. "We haven't had a chance to really talk about last night."

I thought back to what she was referring to. The wine bottle. She was talking about her witnessing me knock the bottle onto the floor.

"That's because there's nothing to talk about." His aroused, bedroom eyes looked more like Rhea's tired stare. I questioned if he had ever really been in the mood for sex at all or was only trying to smooth things over with her. "You had a good time, didn't you?"

"Honestly, it's all a bit of a blur." Her facial expression told of her confusion. "But that wine—"

"It was too close to the edge. Nothing else." His fingertips traced her jaw. "You're too sexy to worry about shattered wine bottles." His lips grazed hers, and although she didn't close her eyes like he did, she didn't acknowledge my presence. I was well hidden in the dark mist, glaring at his disgusting response.

When he broke the kiss and slid his palms down the sides of her body. She didn't seem to find comfort in his touch. I hadn't realized that my body language spoke volumes. Did he ignore the signs or truly didn't see it? If memory served me right, I had constantly been on edge during the time and sex was the last thing on my mind. She went on, "We never talked about what happened before the wine. You hurt me, Nolan."

I nodded, agreeing even though she couldn't see. That phone to the gut, his harsh and dismissive words... Yes, he hurt me, but that was nothing compared to what he would eventually do.

"Hurting you was a mistake I made up for by making you scream my name in pleasure."

I scoffed when she did. "Are you serious?"

"Rhea Patel ..." he rubbed his nose, annoyed.

"Nolan Hudson," she glared.

"We're better now," he said. "Why rewind time just to relive the pain? Let's move on, yeah?"

Move on is what I wished to do, but now in this state, I had no choice. I had to relive the pain, and I hoped the purpose was to somehow change it.

He lifted his phone. "I'm gonna respond to some emails and then climb into bed to get some shuteye before dinner. How does that sound?"

When that Rhea left him alone in the room, I expected the scene to fade away or the lights to go out and envelope me in darkness like before, but that didn't happen.

Instead, I watched as Nolan sat in the edge of the bed. I glanced around, waiting to see why the scene remained.

He lifted his phone and lowered it before even looking at it. Confused, I moved closer, trying to decipher what was happening and why he stared ahead at nothing.

When I turned to follow his line of sight, I saw what had grabbed his attention.

There, in the corner of the room, hovered the gaunt and ghastly version of Nolan. His limbs dangled at his sides, allowing the red liquid to glisten on his forearms. His head dipped to the side and forward, giving off dead and disturbed energy.

I nearly gasped at the sight but stifled it. My eyes widened at the realization that Nolan watched his dreary ghost, and his ghostly counterpart stared back.

Neither took notice of me. I was sure the hovering figure knew I was there but chose not to interact since finding a new interest. He floated toward Nolan and Nolan responded by laying back on his elbows on the mattress to put space between them.

"I'm tired." Nolan closed his eyes and sat forward before rubbing his temples. "I must've caught whatever bug Rhea has."

The bloodied apparition shook his head, getting Nolan's attention again. He didn't even move his mouth to talk as if he knew talking was pointless and Nolan wouldn't be able to hear him. He pointed a bony finger, aiming at the phone in Nolan's grip.

Nolan frowned but glanced at the phone.

Curiously, I focused on what was onscreen. A notification of Rhea going live on UpTube lit up his screen on cue.

"Huh? What is this? What the hell is she doing?" Nolan shook his head but clicked on the banner. It took him to the live stream of the other Rhea talking to our community of followers. I took note of his username, and realized it was a totally different user and account.

Had he always been following me from different secretive accounts?

I didn't move or make a peep as I wanted to stay in the shadows and out of sight as possible. But watching his reaction, the distain and anger bubbling to the surface to twist his face in disgust worried me.

I knew exactly what would happen next. He would confront Rhea and it will lead the most gruesome fight we ever had. But what I didn't expect was to see Nolan's facial features match his ghostly counterpart. The look in the ghastly figure's hollow eyes sent an icy chill down my spine, especially when he motioned to Nolan by swiping his thumb across his neck from one ear to the other.

I gasped and looked around for the other Rhea. This was my chance to warn her. I had to persuade her to leave the building as soon as possible. But I didn't know where to start or how to find her. I turned to run through the darkness, searching for another pinprick of light but only pitch black surrounded me.

Frustrated I called out. "Rhea? You need to run. Run, Rhea. If you can hear me, run!" But still, nothing happened or changed.

My hearted pounded, but the distant, faint sound of familiar beeps slowed. It didn't match my heartbeat at all, it matched hers. The Rhea still in the present reality, who was still fighting for her life.

I had to do something. I ran as fast as my legs would carry and only stopped several minutes later when my legs refused to go on. Feeling defeated, I collapsed to the ground. This time, the cold of the tile floor chilled my skin. Were the tiles from the studio floor?

With that thought, the light switched on, blinding me even though I put my hand up to shield it. The surreal environment felt more like a dream than reality, but the cold and solitude hit me like a truck anchoring me in the truth.

The sound of my voice perked my ears, and the sound became clearer along with my vision. The voice came from her, the other Rhea sitting at the small desk in the corner of the large white room. The flash mount umbrellas were still in position before the backdrop feet from the desk. A few empty clothes racks stood in the middle of the room.

I got up to move closer to the desk. The open laptop was the only thing between me and Rhea. Her eyes landed on me, but she continued to speak to her audience through the camera. "I've been so stressed lately that I swear I'm seeing things that would make me seem crazy if I didn't think others didn't see them too."

She had been more on target than she knew with that statement. She wasn't the only one seeing things, unfortunately Nolan would never admit that.

Her eyes scanned my dark teal SSL athletic leggings and matching tank top. I realized the only thing that differentiated us was our hairstyles, her sloppy ponytail kept the strands from obstructing her face. My hair framed my head with floating red locks, not doing much to disguise the numb gaping wound at the side of my head.

Her eyes on me, she continued to speak to her followers. "I don't know what I should do, but I know I need things to change."

Anticipation caused my fingers to tap, tap, tap my thigh as my mind raced with possibilities. Then I caught her fingertips as they rhythmically tapped the desk. They mimicked mine, stopping when mine did.

We tilted our heads at the same time in confusion, and we refused to take our eyes from one another.

"I'll talk to you all about it more later. For now, I have to let you go." She ended the stream and our eyes stayed glued. "Who are you?"

I had her undivided attention and this time she didn't seem frightened of me. This was my chance. I took my cue from the ghostly Nolan and used body language to convey my message. I was more than sure speaking would be to no avail.

The popular pest control ad repeated on the bottom banner of her computer screen, but she was too focused on me to see it. My eyes widened as I lifted an arm to point to the computer. "You need to get out of here," I said, even if she couldn't hear me.

She pressed her forefinger to her chest, trying to guess what I was communicating but she missed the mark. Then her gaze dropped to the computer screen before her. The same ad continued to play. Although the sound had been muted, the words "Run don't walk" stood out.

I saw the moment her heart sank. She turned paler than the room's walls and her arms dropped to her sides.

"Are you trying to tell me something?" Her chest rose and fell rapidly, fear registered in her big brown eyes. "Is this a warning?"

My jaw dropped and I pointed to the sight behind her, but it was already too late.

"What is going on with you?" Nolan's words came out in a hushed growl. Directly over his shoulder hovered his dingy, emaciated, and silent ghost. "First, you wreck both of our careers on UpTube Live, and now you're talking to a wall?"

I let out a discouraged scream, but the lights went out leaving me in utter darkness. 

~~~

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