I watch as Karim pokes the passed out clone of me with his shoe while I stand behind him clutching my phone tightly.

"She just appeared out of no where?" He asks me for the millionth time in over 20 minutes of his staring and poking.

Well am not crazy and she's here for real but that doesn't make me happy.

"Yes" I sigh. We had to do something. I was tired of repeating myself. I eye the floor. She is really getting paler every second with blood loss or worse.

"She is dying, Karim we have to do something." I look up at him. Pleading. I feel her dying.

"Am not letting you get near this thing at all." His tone leaves no room for discussion. Am frustrated.

"But she might have answers. We both know that. Please." His mouth is set in a tough line. So stubborn.

"Fine. At least can you get her off the floor? She's bleeding all over it." I look pointedly at now the blood bathed floor. It smells foul.

"And take her where?" He turns to me raising one his thick black eyebrows.
Focus.

"I don't know. Let me get a blanket to wrap her in while I think."
I throw my hands up I sigh heading into my bedroom. I check the closet open and get out a thin spare blanket. And on second thought a pair of black sweatpants, a purple over shirt and some white socks and sneakers then headed back to the bathroom.

"We take her to the toolshed outside, it will be safe for now. Carry her out while I clean out this mess and you get her comfortable in the shed, I'll be there in a few minutes."
I  squat down and wrap the blanket around the demon princess. Karim bends and carries her effortlessly and gently like she weighs a feather.

She whimpers but doesn't open her eyes. Karim looks at me. The he strides to the door.

"Finish up here so that your mom doesn't kill us please."
He wedges his foot in the door gap to open it wider to let his big frame through together with the girl's leaving me standing alone in a bloody foul smelling bathroom.

I quickly grab cleaning agents from the bottom cabinet, a small bucket and a sponge then start scrubbing not caring about my clothes. They are already ruined.

I notice my hands were shaking.
"Keep it together Alice." The tears stream down my face uncontrollably. I sniffle while I scrub vigorously.

I have a familiar tug in my chest. Worry.

I am worried about her. I have an urgency to get to her. Fast. This is so foolish. I am so confused. More tears slip out. I fling the sponge and it skids to the far side of the bathroom. Shivers rock my small frame as I cry uncontrollably.

"Why me? Why me? Why is all this happening to me?"
I cry out. When my life is suddenly normal. When I was starting to feel alive again.

"Don't I deserve happiness? Why me?" I whisper to myself. Why? That's all I could think of as I silently cried out.

I don't hear him come back but strong arms envelope me.
I lean into his embrace shuddering with spasms. I don't know for how long he holds me but I eventually stop crying and look at him.

"You must think am stupid." I sniffle.

He takes a deep breath.
"It's okay to let it out. None of this is something we can sanely handle."
He turns my face to look at him.

"Or expected. I'll be strong for both us and when your are weak, your business is my business remember?" He holds my face in both his palms grinning. I throw my hands around him hugging him fiercely.

"What did I do to deserve you Karim" How is he keeping it together?

"Hey now don't get all soft on me, we still have to finish scrubbing out this mess."
He gestures to my unfinished work.

He moves and picks up the sponge hands it back to me while he gets the mop. We work in silence as I collect my thoughts and get my bearings.

I know three things for sure, One, my life has taken such a drastic turn, it'll never be the same and I have a feeling am in for an unforgettable ride. Two, we have a barely alive girl bleeding out in the toolshed who is my look alike. And third, What am I? This just confirms am not human.

In a minimum of ten minutes we are done restoring my bathroom to it's former white glory.

"So what next?" Karim eyes me his hands on his hips panting a bit. His jeans are drenched at the cuffs and his red shirt has a wet patch at the front. He is....hot, I realize. He has always been.

"Hi, Thea." He snaps his fingers a bit catching my attention. "Earth to Thea" I blush furiously.

I walk to my bedroom wordlessly. I grab my bag pack and put in the clothes I have selected for the girl, throw in some money too upon second consideration. I turn around swiftly only to collide into a barrier. Hard. I stagger backwards and a hand shoots out and wraps around my waist to steady me. I look up to meet Karim's brown eyes evaluating me.

"Are you alright?"
That a stupid question, of course I am not alright. It isn't the time for him to know I had a slight crush on him. I steady myself and fling the bag in his open arms wordless and stomp away more angry at myself than ever.

"Wait what do I do with this?" Karim asks from behind me on the stairs.

"Go to the kitchen and fill it with supplies" I don't even turn around as I stomped to the front door.

I need air.

But before I could get out, Karim pulls me back gently his grip tight on my wrist.

"You absolutely cannot see her without me." He says gently but I sense the finality in his tone.

"Fine."
I need him to leave me, he is making my heart flutter. I blush. I blame the nerves and heightened situation.

He lets go of me and disappears into the kitchen after searching my eyes. I hear cabinets open and close while I tap my foot impatiently. And after five minutes he comes back with my bag over his shoulder. He holds my hand and together we step into the cool night.

The stars are bright tonight and I would appreciate their beauty if I didn't have a dying girl in my home. The calm peaceful night is a direct contrast to my inner turmoil and the situation am in. We walk slowly to the toolshed. It feels like a death march. I dread what's waiting for me in there.

But when I see the light on, my sense of urgency and fear for her overwhelm me, am agitated.

I step inside. I see Karim had cleared tools off the table, put on a camping mattresses from our pile of camping gear in one corner and lay the girl there still covered her in the thin blanket I had draped over her before he carried her out.

I immediately feel the pull towards her that I don't tell Karim. He'll just keep her further from me. He lets go of my hand as I move to her. She is paler, almost porcelain and her lips are a worrying shade of white blue. I need to do something.

"Karim, there is a first aid kit in my bathroom, left cabinet above the sink please fetch it, warm some water and also some towels from the kitchen." My voice sounds grave and mechanical even to me.

"Thea....." He whispers to me a hint of worry in his voice.

"This is not the time. Am a red Cross member and I trained a few years in Prospect Heights."
I turn to face him. "I can't let her die." I let out a pained whisper.

"I can't leave you alone with her."
He argues though he knows it's already a lost cause.

"Look at her, what can she possibly do to me? She is harmless now, if we argue more, it slims our chances of saving her."
I counter looking directly into his brown eyes. "please" 

He nods and he turns to leave pausing a bit like he wanted to say something but he just goes outside. A draft of cold air follows him.

I pull the door in after him. I sigh.

"Now, let's get down to business."
I grab a pair of scissors from dad's work table and turn back to the girl.

I start cutting into the tough leather like jacket she is wearing taking extra care not to nip her.

By the time I am done, my hands are blistering. That's some tough material. I discard the ripped jacket on the floor and smile. She has a little pony princess t-shirt beneath. It is ironically funny. But it is also shredded on the left side and drenched in blood like the jacket.

I start cutting it open too but pause.

"Am sorry to undress you but I have to do this for your sake." The pale figure on the table is oblivious. Then proceed to cut her t-shirt open revealing a pale white torso and blood stained soft pink bra and gashes? Black blood oozing from them. The skin around them a sickening shade of black purple.

I gasp and took a step back involuntarily my instincts taking over.

There are deep gashes running from her  underarm to her waist. I take a stop closer, they look like deep claw marks. I fit my fingers above the gashes that surely look like something had clawed through her side.

I squint as I press them slowly oozing more foul blood and pluck out something black from her second gash. I examine it closely under the light. A broken nail? Or claw.

I throw it away and  automatically putting my hands on my mouth to silence my silent screams. Who would do this to her? Or what? I look at the girl's face getting paler every second. She is dying. I brush a raven strand from her perspiring forehead. She could pass for snow white sleeping this peacefully that is if snow white had creepy eyes and was bleeding out with claws in her wounds.

Stitches.

A suddenly strong urge to protect her washes over me. I want her to wake up. To see her black eyes looking and me and her small smile, just like in my dreams.

I touch her gashes and strongly will them to go away. I want her better. 

Then my hands blaze.

Ropes of pure golden light shoot from my finger tips and when they touch her wounds, they sizzle up and start closing. The skin immediately losing the black purple hue turning pale white like the rest of her.

Am not sure if I should scream or be fascinated but I just gape while I looking at the energy seeping through my fingers, my vision started to fog. The girl stirs and moans opening her eyes momentarily before they close again.

I withdraw my fingers doubling over my face covered in sweat. What was that? How did I do that?

I stand up weakly and lean against the table and stare at the girl. Her wounds are all covered up and her cheeks have a rosy tinge. Her lips are a pale pink.

I have healed her. Somehow. I stare at my palm as if its some foreign thing a faint golden color runs in my fingers. The door opens abruptly and Karim steps through manning a bucket with steam coming out of it and some towels with a first aid kit under his left armpit. I fold my hands behind my back as he walks over.

"What happened? You look pale and drained. I mean your always pale but you have blue bags under your eyes, what happened?"
He  touches my cheek gently to examine me more. Curse his sharp eyes.

"Nothing, am just tired." I swat his arm away and pick up the bucket he just put down.

Karim stops as he eyes the topless girl. He smiles sheepishly. I forgot to cover her. I blush.

"I guess I'll wait outside." He goes out.

"So much for the I won't leave you alone with her." I grumble as I carry the water bucket with a small smile.

I start washing off the caked blood with a towel gently. After she is pristine clean I pull the purple over shirt out of my bag and wrestled her into it leaving her bra on.

I puff and breathe heavily black spots dancing in my eyes. My legs buckle and I knock the bucket over as I fall. Someone lifts me to my feet slowly. I look at Karim, he is looking as pale as dark skinned boys get.

He is worried. 

"You are going to bed. You have done enough here." He looks...pissed. Why is he pissed?

A rustle behind me halts our potential argument and we both turn to stare at the sitting girl.

I feel Karim freeze as he takes a sharp breath. Of course, her eyes, her black eyes I was used to but he wasn't. He moves so fast getting in front of me that I am confused as he places an arm to shield me.

From her?

He assumes a protective stance never breaking eye contact with the girl holding the scissors I had just used.

"Speak your name demon before I send you back to the pits of hell where you belong scum" I am immobile and speechless watching the scene unfolding in front of me. In another time I would have found this excessively funny. But this looks like a blood bath scene. Murderous intent emitted from him in waves. I shrank further.

The black eyes glare at him or so that's what she looks like she was doing. She looks at Karim like he is an utterly ridiculous annoyance she could kill in a minute. Her eyes settle on me. But after a minute she opens her mouth.

"My name is Artemis Amana Hathaway." It takes me a minute to notice she's speaking to me rather than Karim. Her pitch black eyes look directly into my grey eyes as she says this.

I feel my blood run ice cold.