"After she left, I started hearing this voice inside my head, doctor! W-what should I do?!"

Samantha hummed as she wrote down keywords out of her patient's story. She then placed the pen down and looked at him.

"Last time you were here, Mr. Rito, you were talking about your friend, Bryan, who lives under your bed, do you remember?" The young boy nodded cautiously.

"And then there's your girlfriend, Dessa, who lives inside the mirror of your room."

He nodded again.

"And then the mysterious tall man who suddenly shows up anytime and anywhere?"

He looks at her unsteadily, eyes shifting from one place to another.

Samantha respired shortly and looked at the boy's mother who's staring at her son in mixed emotions.

This is the first time she came with him and she obviously couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I've ran lots of test on your son, Mrs. Lopez, and the result shows that he is suffering from Schizophrenia. It's a chronic and severe mental disorder that affects the way a person thinks, manage emotions, making decisions and even perceives reality."

Mrs. Lopez's eyes wobbled. "S-so those friends he was talking about are just his delusions?" Her voice cracked and Samantha had to nod.

Biting her lips, Mrs. Lopez looked down in frustration. "H-his father actually suffered the same illness which caused his d-death."

Samatha pressed her lips together. She had already anticipated the revelation. Chances of getting schizophrenia is genetics.

Though the exact causes are unknown, research shows that combination of genetics, physical, psychological and environmental factors can make a person more likely develop the condition.

In Rito's case, his girlfriend breaking up with him, triggered a psychotic episode inside his mind and created Dessa as her replacement, to save himself from the pain he's suffering.

He has been secretly consulting Samantha regarding his condition and has mentioned the abuse his late father has done which is also a factor of his developed illness.

Samantha prescribed him antipsychotic drugs used to manage psychosis, principally schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and handed it to Mrs. Lopez.

She and Rito stood up, ready to leave and as usual, Samantha did the same to lead them outside.

"Thank you, doc," Mrs. Lopez smiled faintly.

"Not a problem. Just don't forget to take him back here after two weeks, okay?"

"Yes, doctor," she looked at Rito who was only staring down the floor the whole time.

"Thank, Dr. Andersen now, Rito," she whispered, but Rito only mumbled things and started to act scared.

"Stop the mumbling, Rito. You know how I hate the mumbling," Mrs. Lopez had to prod him on the waist to snap him back into reality.

Samantha gasped when he suddenly looked at her, grabbing both of my arms. She winced in pain when his nails dug through her flesh.

"He's here!!" He shouted. "HE FOLLOWED ME HERE!"

"RITO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! LET DOCTOR GO, THIS INSTANT!"

Mrs. Lopez tried pulling her son away from Samantha but he had his grasp on her arms quite tight that all she could do is step back to avoid inflicting more damage on her and called for help instead.

Rito kept shaking Samantha who did her best to stay calm.

"He's here, doctor! He's here! He's here?"

Samantha did her best to plaster a smile to calm her patient. "It's okay, Rito. Calm down. No one's here. No one's gonna hurt you."

His eyes showed remorse with a glint of fright. "H-He's not here to for me, doctor," he muttered. "He's here for you."

For a moment, Samantha felt as if a bucket of freezing water has been poured on her.

"That tall mysterious man Rito has been mentioning can't be the same creature," she thought, knees trembling in fear.

The moment Rito has been taken away from from her, she felt like all of her energy were drained empty and she fell down the ground, shaking.

Cold sweat started forming on her forehead.

"N-No! It can't be him. H-he can't be back, not just yet," she stuttered, bitting her nails in frustration.

She shut her eyes closed when a horrifying lullaby resounded inside her mind once again.

"Tili-tili bom, ty slyshish', kyo-to ryadom? Pritailsya za uglom, I pronzayet vzglyadom."

"Tili-tili bom. Can you hear him closing in? Lurking around the corner, Staring at you."

"Tili-tili bom, Vse skroyet noch' nemaya. Za toboy kradetsya on. I vot-vot poymayet"

"Tili-tili bom, the silent night hides everything. Sneaks up behind you. He is going to get you."

Her eyes snapped wide open when someone placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Babe! Hey, babe! Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!"

She looked up and saw Scott. Kaiser is behind him and was who helped taking Rito away from her.

"Did he hurt you?!"

Scott took Samantha's white coat off and his face crimsoned in rage when he saw scrapes on her arms out of Rito's sharp nails.

It sported a number of dark bruises that showed through the thin fabric of her long sleeve. Samantha swilled and covered the marks.

"I'm fine. This is quite normal for me. I-I'm used to it," she said, trying to sound normal.

She even tried standing up but her knees are too weak, so she almost fell back down luckily, Scott caught her on time before she could hurt herself even more.

"Let's get you treated."

"No, I told you I'm fine."

Samantha said in a slightly overloud and flat voice and stood back up on her own. Scott was left confused on the floor and gave her a skeptic look, but she didn't falter her gaze before looking away.

"I suppose the boy's grip didn't affect your brain, yes?" He asked in a slightly playful manner until Samantha rolled her eyes.

"Let me ask you," he muttered before standing back up.

She sensed him taking few steps closer to her and winced when he held the same spots Rito grasped a while ago and forced her to turn to look at him.

"What the fuck is going on with you?!" He groaned.

Samantha kept a straight face. "Can you please just understand me?!"

"Am I not?! I've been understanding you from the very beginning, but this is not just it!"

"Listen here, buddy!" She placed a hand on top of Scott's. "I warned you from the very start that our relationship would reach up this point and you clearly said you'd be completely fine about it, now you're complaining?! You were the one who got yourself inside this trouble."

Scott could only bite his lower lip as he couldn't argue with Samantha.

"All I'm asking is for you to open up, so I could understand, Sam," his voice went softer and softer each word. "That's all, but all you do is push me--all of us away. You're being unreasonable and unrealistic. Your lies, your secrets. I tried understanding all of them, but why the hell are you making things so hard for me?!"

Samantha felt my heart skipped a beat.

"Your lies, your secrets. I tried understanding all of them," those words resounded in her mind with random scenes from her memories.

"Weren't these supposed to be my lines as well?!" She thought to herself.

This is the first time Scott raised his voice at her; the first time she's seen him mad.

"T-then maybe you didn't understand me at all."

"Really?!" He snorted. "I promised that no matter what I'd understand you, but why? Why can't you do the same for me? Shouldn't it be us understanding each other?"

"Yeah, it should, if only we could. It's just that our relationship now lives in lies. Understanding is for what exactly?" She bit her lip and drew a sobbing breath. "I-if you only love me because you expect something in return, then maybe you don't really love me at all!"

Lips parted, Scott stared at her in disbelief. His shoulders dropped and slowly looked down. Samantha then felt his grip slowly loosen down until he completely removed his hands off her.

"Maybe you're right," he raised his head and a faint smile curved on his lips. "Maybe I don't."

His words felt like a sharp knife stabbed in her chest that she'd regretted what she said.

"W-We really need to talk," her voice sounded weak and gravely. "But not now. Not here."

Scott shook his head. "No. If you need things to be cleared, now's the right time, Sam."

She stood for a moment, all stunned by Scott's sudden change of character. She's fully aware that she had already pushed him far enough this time and all she could do is wonder where he's gone at.

She turned around to open the drawer behind her. Inside is a homeopathic herb cream to prevent and reduce inflammation on her bruises.

She turned back to find him already standing in front of her. He was the one who took the bottle out and placed it on the table beside him. He carefully rolled Samantha's sleeves up, so he could apply the cream carefully.

"I vot-vot poymayet."

"He is going to get you."

She squeezed her eyes in exasperation when that song echoed in her mind again as vivid scenes from the past keeps flashing one after another. She opened her eyes to find Scott staring at her as he was carefully applying cream on her arm.

"Talk," he sternly said the moment he closed the lid.

Samantha frowned but then shrugged and drew a deep breath.

"I-I was thinking about us," she began, he remained silent, curious of what she's gonna say next.

"And the more I do, I feel like you and me, together, is unfair to the both of us."

Scott's well-shaped lips thinned into grimness and she had to looked away.

"I'm sorry, Scott. Y-you know how much I love you and it breaks me to tell you this but--"

"Then don't!" He snapped. She looked at him, meeting his brown, clear-as-the-desert eyes, and as empty.

"You think I haven't thought about this?!" He asked.

"Have you?" She asked back, copying his low tone.

"Yes! But the truth is..." he paused. He seems to be trying to read what his girlfriend is having in mind, but she showed no reaction.

His lips thinned once again and uttered a sigh.

"No matter how hard it is for me, you're still the one I want to be with for the rest of my life. Every single time, all I can think about is our future together, about what's it gonna be like once I got all of this uncertainty out of my head: why you have to lie? Why you have to hide your past? You know how much I love you. I just don't understand why you can't bring yourself to trust me!"

Sheen tears started dimming Samantha's eyes. She doesn't seem to understand if what she's feeling is pain, disgust, remorse, or simply mixed!

"LIES! Indeed. How can we both such bad liars?!" She mentally asked herself.

"The more I think about it, the more I realize that the reason you were hiding a lot from me is because you don't see our future the way I see it."

Twinge of emotions assailed her as she tried to hide the misting tears in her eyes.

"I actually want to tell you everything, Scott! I wanted to set myself free from all of my secrets which were slowly killing me, but I can't! I can't let you know. Even you're a lying, cheating bastard, I still can't let you get hurt."

Her lips trembled. She wasn't able to hold herself back and broke into tears.

"I'm so sorry, Scott, b-but this isn't working anymore--for us! I-I think we don't quite measure up to the individuals we both needed and I just can't take the feeling of being a disappointment to any of you and to myself anymore."

"No, babe! That's not what I'm trying to say."

Scott was about to come near her but she signaled him not to. Never in her entire life did she imagine something like this would come but seems like things are better off the way she chose them to be.

"I know this is tough, b-but if we stay together," she sobbed, voice cracking. "We'll just keep on hurting each other over and over again."

"No, Sam! I love you and I won't do anything that could hurt you."

"But you did," Samantha whispered, clutching at her injured arms. "Yes, I already know about her."

Scott stopped as his eyes wobbled in realization.

"Y-you..."

* * *

Samantha turned back when she heard Scott's phone vibrating above their bedside table from a call coming from an unknown number.

"Babe! Someone's calling!" She called but the shower's too loud, Scott might not able to hear her, so she took the phone herself.

"It might be important," she thought and swiped right to answer the call.

She was about to say hello when a woman's voice stopped her.

"We have to talk in person, Scott. I can't keep our baby a secret anymore!"

She felt her throat dried as her hand slowly held the phone down. The woman kept on talking, but Samantha could no longer understand a word she's saying.

* * *

"Why didn't you tell me?" He couldn't keep the pain from his voice.

"I was waiting for you to tell me yourself. The baby's on its second month and we've been together more than that."

Scott stared at her for couple of seconds and then looked down when he realized he could no longer hide his lies from her anymore.

"I am Karma, no need for you to curse me," he muttered and looked back at her in a very different aura.

"I didn't know she's pregnant and was about to give birth. If you can't forgive me then it's fine. I won't mind if you'll hire someone to kill me or so, just don't let me get my revenge."

Samantha was taken aback by his words, realizing she haven't even really known this man after all.

"I don't want to say something that could hurt you that's why I didn't tell you just yet."

Samantha snorted. "And you really have the audacity to say that? Might be earlier or now, I'd still get hurt, so why prolong my pain?!"

"Why still argue with that? You're breaking up with me, aren't you? Then consider everything done."

Samantha was left with no words. She only stared at the man she thought she no longer know and her heart sank when he walked out without saying anything, leaving her holding her chest in throbbing pain.

She couldn't seem to process everything that just happened.

The tears she was holding a while ago finally fell down and broke into a loud, agonizing cry.

"What did I even do to deserve all of these?"

She covered her mouth with both hands to not let any sobs escape and slowly curled beside her table to comfort herself until, Stella, one of her co-psychiatrists stepped in.

She must have heard the two of them bawling a while ago, so she came to check. Stella offered to handle everything and let her go home which she did.

She walked aimlessly along hallway, eyes pinned on the floor. Felt like gravity doubled its gravitational pull and she was having a hard time walking herself towards the elevator. Her right hand raised on its own and pressed the basement floor button.

She was just staring into nothingness. She felt like her heart's gonna burst out any minute and what's worse is she has no one else to talk to.

She thought Kathleen might still be mad at her. Knowing her best friend, she's not gonna make the first move for them to be okay.

She can't tell Kim much either. They're friends but not that kind of friends. She looked at her phone and felt the pain just tripled when she saw Scott's photo on her lock screen.

This was taken on their first date in Paris. Behind him was the Eiffel tower and he doesn't have any idea that she took it. He'll probably gonna take it down since he looks extremely ridiculous with his tongue sticking out.

"You're really stupid!" She whined.

"Men are stupid, babe," Scott chuckled.

Samantha bated her eyes and looked beside her when she felt someone tapping her shoulder. It's her senior psychiatrist, Takumi Takahashi. He was looking at her phone, so she immediately hid it in her pocket.

"Oh, hey!" She tried flashing a smile but he only looked more worried.

"The elevator is out of order," he said pointing the UNDER MAINTAINANCE sign posted just below the buttons.

"Oh!"

"Are you okay? Your eyes look really swollen."

"Ahh I-I'm just not feeling really well, so have to go home early, sir."

"Do you want me to drive you home? You're really pale. You might pass out along the way," he asked, forehead creasing.

"No! It's fine."

"Hmm... if you say so. Anyway, do you still remember Janina Gomez, one of the three missing patients?"

Samantha's eyes widened for a split second before looking at him.

"Ah, yeah. Why?"

"Her body has already been found last night, stuffed in a cemented barrel."

Her brows raised. "W-where did they find her?"

"Under the bridge leading to the south. She's been stabbed in the heart until she died and then the criminal stuffed her in that barrel and throw it in the river in attempt to hide its crime."

"T-that's cruel."

"Truly, and.. " Takumi paused. "Even if you want it or not, I'm really gonna drive you home. You might get into an accident in your condition, you looked paler."

Samantha was about to answer when she spotted something standing at the end of the hallway behind Takumi.

She froze.

"Sam?! Hey! You really don't look fine. Let me just..."

"NO!" She cut him. "I'll be fine!"

She immediately turned against her heel and ran as fast as she could to the next elevator. She pressed the basement floor button and immediately entered when it opened.

She knew very well that he's found his way back again. Fingers running through her hair, she delighted by the adrenaline rush of fear which made her senses more alive and made seconds feel like hours.

"SAM!! Hold on!!"

Takumi is almost shouting, trying to enter but she blocked him.

"Stay away from me!"

"But..."

"Please!"

He fell short with words when tears started misting Samantha's eyes. He'd only looked at her until the door completely closed.

The moment she reached the basement floor, she immediately sprinted towards her car, but not long enough, she stopped when she saw Kathleen standing beside it.

"Shane--"

"Why are you here?!" Samantha exclaimed, wiping sweats off her temples.

She watched Kathleen's lips thin into a cruel line and remembered that the both of them are not in good terms yet.

"Really now?" Kathleen said, almost grinning in sarcasm. "I am here to apologize and you do this?"

Now that Samantha has been forced to rethink what got between the two of them, she had found herself entirely guilty.

"I'm sorry," she said. "But, please, just this once, I really have to go. I promise, we'll talk later."

"Go to where?" Kathleen scowled horribly.

"Y-You don't have to know, not just yet."

Samantha continued walking towards her car but Kathleen blocked her way in.

"Kaiser told me about what happened between you and Scott, so have the rights to know where you are going," she groaned. "You're freakin' stupid sometimes and I won't let you do anything crazy, not without me."

It was inefficiently long conversation that Samantha started to feel tingles through her spines--a familiar sensation she'd felt when her sister, Agatha, disappeared.

"J-Just let me go, Kath!"

"NO! You're not going anywhere!"

"Come with me, child! Come... come... come!"

Samantha gasped when she heard the voice approaching in a fast pace.

"LISTEN TO ME!" Her voice rose. "ALL OF YOU WILL IF YOU WON'T STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!"

Samantha mustered all her strength to push Kathleen out of the way that she almost fell, but she was quick to get in the car first the moment Samantha had it opened.

She even slid herself beside the driver's seat.

"If you're leaving, you're taking me with you!" Kathleen did not wish to have an argument with Samantha.

She had done her best to suppress her impulsive character just for them to be okay, but Samantha isn't amused.

She held her head in rage. "WHY. ARE YOU NOT. LISTENING TO ME?!"

Samantha's anger was so fierce that Kathleen felt extremely uneasy when she entered the car.

The moment she closed the door, their voices rose to a shriek when a mysterious creature suddenly landed on top of the car.

Seems like long, sharp nails kept scratching the roof which will definitely tear it to pieces if they won't do anything.

Fortunately, Samantha has kept her sane and gathered up the courage to turn the engine on and sped away, leaving the unknown creature behind.

"Put your seatbelt on!" She yelled as she buckled herself.

She looked back in horror as its long, sharpened hair, surrounded its body in motions.

"W-What... on earth was that?!" Kathleen kept choking in her words. She hadn't seen the creature as the only person who could is Samantha alone.

"I told you to let me go, but you won't listen. Now look what you got yourself into!"

"L-let you go to where?!"

"Somewhere! Somewhere away from everybody--I don't know."

"S-Shane, I don't understand. Can you please talk a little c-clear?" Kathleen said between short breaths which is worrying Samantha.

She has been clinging on the seatbelt but has not put it on.

Samantha looked back at the road. She doesn't really have any idea where they were heading. She just has to get her away from there, from her, as much as possible.

When she has made sure the creature ain't following them, she turned to look at Kathleen.

"Kath, listen! I promise, I'll explain everything. But as of the moment, I need to drop you somewhere safe."

"I-I want an explanation right now, Shane, or I'd go crazy!" Kathleen argued, looking unsteadily on the road.

Samantha doesn't know what to say anymore. She knows for a fact that Kathleen won't let her go this time and the moment that she will, it might be too late.

"Kath, I just need you to understand that now's not the right time," she tried to talk calmly but her best friend's no longer in the right shape to go in a smooth sailing.

"No, I don't understand, because I can't! You've been pushing all of us away. Even Scott, your boyfriend. He loved you, Shane!"

Samantha bit her lower lip, tears started forming in the corners of her eyes.

"N-no, he didn't. He never did!" She muttered. "He's not the man I thought I knew, Kath. He's just in love with the idea of being in love."

Kathleen's eyes shifted to the crying face of her best friend.

"What a-are you talking about?"

Samantha sighed. "He's been seeing his ex-girlfriend behind my back for quite some time now," she cried.

"I made myself look stupid as I am certain he'd leave once he knew that I am already aware of what's happening."

Samantha swiftly wiped the creeping tears away. "I thought he'd feel sorry for me for what he did, but no. He even tried to shift the blame on me," her tongue folded on top of her mouth to stop herself from breaking into a loud cry.

"All of them knew: Kim, Junel, and Kaiser, but none of them said a thing. I have been fooled."

Kathleen could only watch her best friend succumb in pain. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I... I just can't acknowledge the fact that everyone I care for always ends up leaving me. I know he's a jerk and I won't mind making myself look stupid by staying with him after everything, but I don't have a choice. If I stay, he'll get hurt."

Samantha's voice cracked and tears started streaming down her cheeks.

She glanced at Kathleen who looks bewildered and she cannot blame her for that.

The next thing happened so fast, none of them was able to see it coming. The only thing they heard is the screeching wheels followed by loud crashes of metals.

Everything went black, however, despite being semi-unconscious, Samantha still felt the twinging pain on her stomach which forced her to open her eyes and focused her vision.

She looked down to see a piece of broken glass pierced in the right side of her abdomen.

Sprays of blood spattered up the orange ceiling of the wrecked car, feathering down from a thick red stream to a delicate pattern of crimson drops on the stirring wheel.

"Ughhh!"

She could only groan in stinging pain as she tried pulling out the shard. It's a lot bigger than she thought and blood came gushing out the moment she have it removed.

Samantha knew it's a horrible idea, but she do not considered having that thing inside her as well when she come face to face with the creature.

The car was in place, but all the windshields were shattered and everything's a mess as the turned upside-down and rolled for couple of times before it reached the position.

Samantha realized her wheels might have exploded and she knew who exactly did it.

Gasping, she turned towards Kathleen who's unconscious. She was just thankful she already had her seatbelt on, but the cut on her forehead is still worrying her.

It might not look deep, but it would still put her life in danger as blood kept on oozing out. Her hands were shaking as she reach to check her best friend's pulse and sighed in relief.

"Child..."

Samantha winced in sharp horror that started her heart thudding in her chest, trapping her breaths between her throat.

She bit her lip as she slowly pierced her eyes on the creature who was motionlessly standing before them.

"Fuck you!" Samantha groaned when a similar scene flashed into her mind--her parents' deaths.

She squeezed her eyes when she remembered everything and the situation she is in now is just the same as before.

She has no choice but to face him now before he could lay a hand on any of her friends. She could hear her own heartbeat and adrenaline singing in her ears as she looked at Kathleen for the last time.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered through soft sobs. "I'm sorry you have to go through this because of me. Please take care of him for me, o-okay?"

She winced in pain. "I-I love him so much--very much. But you have to remember this, I love you more than anyone else."

Samantha drew a deep and slowly removed her seatbelt, careful enough not to inflict more damage on her wound.

Limping, she slowly opened the door and stepped outside. She could feel her wound opening the moment she stood straight, but she didn't bother covering it up.

"If this monster would only take me," she thought. "I'd just rather die right now due to extreme blood loss."

The monster inclined its head and its features shifted with the movement as if it had no skull beneath the black miasma covering its skin, leaving dark marks on the road where there's nothing but sugarcanes planted on both sides.

The creature was tall with its hair moving into different directions. Its face is all black.

Only its red, glowing eyes can be seen, piercing through her soul and all more hideous for a plain sight.

Samantha breathes shallowly through her mouth when the monstrous figure stood in front of her.

"Should I take him now?" The voice echoed into a deep, husky tone.

The hole of its faded mouth didn't adapt the constant motion to utter the words.

"No," Samantha smiled faintly. "You're taking no one."

"He hurt you," its eyes glowed in different shades of red, pulling its fading lips into a sinister smile.

His sharp teeth showed. "I can easily kill them for you. Everyone who hurt and betrayed you and you will have your freedom."

"Don't make me laugh," Samantha winced. "You've taken a lot from me already but you're still here."

The monster went silent and its smile widened into a grin. "I can sense the hatred in your heart. You want them dead!!"

It bent over which brought them almost nose to nose. Samantha remained feisty, staring at its red, scalding eyes.

"Aren't you afraid, child?"

Everything was filled with horrifying sound of screams and darkness. A smirk crept on Samantha's lips as dark miasma brushed against her sole.

"Not at all."