I landed at the bottom of the stairs in a self made dog pile consisting of my own arms and legs. I unwound from my position quickly and took a ninja stance. Considering I had one good foot I was pretty proud of my ability to bounce and have cat like reflexes. I picked up my pan.

The noises in the back room silenced and I forced myself to be calm and keep breathing. I could hear metal scratching against metal and it sent a cold crawling up my spine. I did not want to go further. But not doing what I should based on fear was how I got to be me. A YouTube star wanna be without so much as a camera because this jerk made me break mine.

I felt a slow smoldering anger building up within my chest.  I tried envisioning it as a flame and letting the recent events fuel it to raise it to inferno level. This man, this thing! He had hurt my family, broken my belief in safety. He ruined my movie, made me get surgery, and now it was time.

I burst in the door and saw him straddling Becky/Debbie (ok, I know her name is Becky but Becky/Debbie works for me). Her eyes were enlarged and her mouth pursed together like she was about to whistle. She was white, but as a nurse I'm pretty sure that's normal. I mean, they're always inside and hospitals have horrible lighting.

He didn't even turn my way. He was so focused on her. His hands were on both sides of her face and I saw a trickle of blood run from her nose. It was like a scene from a SciFi movie. I imagined him using some kind of power to blow up her brain. For a moment I just watched, grotesquely drawn to see what was going to happen.

When I saw a glistening tear slide down her cheek I knew I had to act. I put both hands around the panhandle and cocked my arms back like a pro baseball batter. It was time to hit it out of the park and end this nightmare once and for all. I steadied my feet, widening my stance and swung for the blurry spot.

There was a hollow sickening thump like a watermelon being dropped on the driveway and pain shot up my arms from the hands into my underarms. I felt a shift in the air like that moment on a plane before your ears pop. That intense pressure where you wonder if your body can handle it or your about to explode into a pile of goop and send people screaming.

The next thing I know Becky is slapping me in the face. My reflexes kick in and I slap her back before I realize what I'm doing.  I snap my head back to where she was on the counter where my mom folded laundry and it's empty. The rage explodes and I scream and start flailing my fists again and again hitting the o Ju target in my vicinity, Becky.

"Lemon, it's ok, you're ok. Lemon come on love, breathe, relax, breathe."

She grabs me in a firm hug and holds me. Something I have always hated, the smothering feeling of being held down I struggle until I just can't hold myself anymore and begin to shake and relax. Becky smells like disinfectant and coffee. Her hair is over processed and it tickles my neck. I think about asking her if she uses heat treatments and it makes me laugh. I'm still here, still worried about people looking good so I'm still me.

"Did I kill him?" I ask through a bout of snotty giggles.

She strokes my arms like a mom drying off her kid after being in the pool. "You stopped him, thank you Lemon. That was brave."

I feel myself tense up. "Stopping doesn't mean killing. Did I kill him?" 

Becky looks away and I feel my fury flame doused like a campfire hosed down. "You can't kill him Lemon. No one can kill him. I tried. For years. While everyone I loved ended up dead, and my sister ended up insane and in an institution."

I looked straight in her eyes. "Your wrong. Everything can be stopped. And I'm going to do it. Tell me your story Becky. All of it. But first. Coffee. I need coffee. And my pan."

Becky helps me up the stairs and I make coffee. The world out my kitchen window is the same. Birds, squirrels, people mowing their lawns before the sun goes down. It's all still happening just like a normal day. But nothing is normal.

The coffee pot signaling it's done brings me out of my thoughts. Ashley uses her key and finds her way to the kitchen. Her face a pink glow and her neck red from obvious close encounters with a certain lifesaving hottie.

I sit across from Becky and Ashley joins us. Each of us watching the steam dance above the cups and fade into the air. Becky grabs my hand and I squeeze hers back.

"Ashley, Becky has a story to tell. And I don't want to hear it, but I need to. We are about to enter the Twilight Zone of terror I think. So let's hear from you first. Start us off with some juicy tidbits of hotness."

We all relax and giggle and Ashley gives us a play by play of her first trip to first base with Kobe. He's a student, going into med school and working as an EMT for the experience. He lives on campus, and asked Ashley to go out on Saturday night. She beams like Miss America after the tiara is placed on her head and we clink out cups to cheer her happiness.

Becky shakes her head as if we're both insane. But teens are complex characters. We know we don't get a ton of big moments in life that sparkle, and we have to bask in them when they come.

"Ok Becky, I'm ready. Lay it on me and don't sugarcoat it, I need facts. Together we're going to kill this thing. And take back our lives."

Becky nods and gulps the last of her coffee. Her hands begin rolling the paper napkin into tiny balls which she lines up on the table. "It all started on the night I died..."

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Well that was an interesting way to begin Becky. What the heck?!? Lemon seems to be confident she can kill Slendy. What do you think? Is Becky right? Is he invincible.