Eva returned to find Natasha had cried herself to sleep. She set the tea down on the nightstand and stood watching her friend, concern and suspicion battling in her mind. She quietly pulled out her phone and scrolled through her photo gallery to a picture she'd taken from her window last night—Natasha climbing onto Sam's bike around 7 PM. She'd taken it intending to tease her friend, never imagining it might become evidence.
"Evidence?" Eva thought to herself. "What am I thinking? This is my best friend we are talking about. There is no way that she is to blame."
She looked back at Natasha's sleeping form. Eva sighed, tucking her phone away. Tomorrow they would go to the police, and hopefully, the truth would come out. Whatever that truth might be.
Night fell, and the hostel grew quiet. Eva had insisted on sleeping in Natasha's room, setting up a makeshift bed on the floor. She lay awake, looking at her friend's grief-stricken face, listening to her choppy breathing. Eva could see that Natasha was having a disturbed sleep.
"No! Not her… Please.." Natasha moaned in her sleep.
"She is having a nightmare." Sighed Eva.
She extended her hand and started patting Natasha's shoulder to help her settle back into sleep.
As she watched, something changed in Natasha's face as she slept. The grief-stricken expression faded away, and was replaced by a strange calmness. Satisfied that Natasha had gone back to sleep, Eva got up and went to the side table to get a drink of water.
A floorboard creaked. Eva turned to see Natasha sitting upright in bed, perfectly still, her back eerily straight.
"Natasha?" Eva whispered. "Are you okay?"
Natasha's head turned slowly to face Eva, but in the dim moonlight filtering through the curtains, her eyes seemed different… darker, emptier.
"She's asleep," Natasha's voice replied, but it sounded wrong somehow… deeper, more controlled. "But I'm wide awake."
A chill running down Eva's spine. "What are you talking about?"
"I liked you, Eva." Natasha said "You were a good friend to Natasha."
" But unfortunately… for you, you've been asking a lot of questions," Natasha said, sliding off the bed with an unnaturally fluid movement. "Poking and prodding. Making her doubt herself."
Eva scrambled backwards, suddenly aware that something was very, very wrong. "Natasha, you're scaring me."
"Good," Natasha smiled, but it wasn't her smile. "You should be scared. You're too clever for your own good."
"What's happening right now?" Eva asked, backing toward the door.
"Natasha doesn't remember what happened last night," the voice from Natasha's body explained calmly. "I made sure of that. She doesn't need to carry that burden."
"Who are you?" Eva whispered, her hand finding the doorknob behind her.
"I'm her protector," Natasha's body said, stepping closer. "I keep her safe from men like Sam, who take women to deserted places in the middle of the night."
Eva's eyes widened with understanding. "You killed Sam!"
"I did what was necessary," Natasha nodded. "Just like I'm going to do what's necessary now."
"Natasha, if you're in there," Eva pleaded, "please stop this. We can get you help."
"She can't hear you," the voice said, almost kindly. "I've made sure she's sleeping peacefully. She won't remember this either. In the morning, she'll be devastated to discover that her dear friend Eva tragically took her own life out of guilt."
"Guilt?" Eva echoed, turning the doorknob slowly behind her.
"Yes," Natasha's face twisted into a cruel smile. "You see, you were the one who killed Sam. You were jealous that Natasha had found someone. You followed them to Sunset Point and pushed Sam off the cliff. When Natasha found out, you couldn't live with the shame."
The doorknob wouldn't turn. It was locked.
"I locked the door," Natasha's body explained, gesturing to the key now dangling from her finger. "I didn't want any interruptions."
"Please," Eva begged, tears streaming down her face. "Natasha, I know you're in there. This isn't you!"
"You're right," the voice agreed. "It's not her. It's me. And I'll always protect her, even from well-meaning friends who know too much."
Natasha's body moved with frightening speed, closing the distance between them in an instant. One hand clamped over Eva's mouth while the other produced a small blade that glinted in the moonlight.
"Shh," the voice hushed soothingly. "It will be over quickly. And Natasha will never have to know what either of us did."
The last thing Eva saw was Natasha's familiar face, twisted into an expression of cold determination that held no trace of her friend.
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Morning sunlight streamed through the curtains, waking Natasha from a deep, dreamless sleep. She blinked, momentarily disoriented to find herself in her own bed. Hadn't Eva stayed over last night? She did say that she would stay the night. Had Natasha fallen asleep before Eva returned?
She sat up, looking around the empty room. The makeshift bed on the floor was gone, the blankets neatly folded and stacked on her desk chair. There was an untouched cup of tea still on the nightstand. So, Eva had come in last night. Did she go back when she noticed that Natasha had fallen asleep? Or did Eva wake up and leave early?
The events of yesterday came crashing back…Sam's death, the news report, her shock and grief. Natasha remembered that they were supposed to go to the police together today.
Natasha reached for her phone to call Eva, but before she could dial, a knock came at her door.
"Natasha?" It was Mrs. Sharma's voice, unusually gentle. "Are you awake, dear? There's been a terrible incident. It's about your friend Eva."
"What… What happened?" Natasha asked, scared of the answer that was to come.
"We found her in her bathroom this morning. She had slit her wrists." Mrs. Sharma slowly explained. "We rushed her to the hospital… but it was too late."
Natasha's eyes widened in shock and somewhere in the darkest corner of her mind, a voice began to laugh.