Sasha
I woke up to silence.
Not the good kind. Not the peaceful kind. The kind that comes before something bad. The kind that makes your skin prickle and your hand reach for your knife before your eyes are even open.
The fire had died. Embers glowed red in the dark. The cave was empty.
I sat up. Looked around.
Gone. All of them. Marcus. The crying girl. The boy who prayed. All the others who'd been huddled against the walls, scared of the dark, scared of the Stalkers, scared of Riley.
They'd left. Slipped out while we were sleeping. Didn't wake us. Didn't say goodbye. Just... vanished into the night.
Cowards.
I should have been surprised. I wasn't. I'd seen it coming for days. The way they looked at Riley. The way they flinched when she walked by. The way they whispered when they thought she couldn't hear.
Monster.
Freak.
One of them.
They were scared of her. More scared of her than they were of Allen. More scared of her than they were of the Stalkers.
So they ran.
Fine. Let them run. Let them try to survive on their own. They wouldn't last a week.
I stood up. Brushed the dirt off my pants. Picked up my bow.
Riley was sitting at the entrance of the cave.
She hadn't moved. Maybe she'd been there all night. Maybe she'd watched them go. Maybe she didn't care.
Her back was to me. Her shoulders were straight. Her bow was in her lap. The Stalkers were out there—I could see them in the trees. Watching. Waiting. Like they were guarding her.
I walked over. Sat down beside her. Not close. Just... there.
She didn't look at me.
"They're gone," I said.
"I know."
"You knew they were going to leave."
"Yes."
"And you didn't stop them."
She turned her head. Looked at me. Her eyes were the same. Cold. Empty. But something was different. Something I couldn't name.
"Why would I stop them?" she said. "They were dead weight. Scared. Useless. They would have gotten someone killed."
"They were scared of you."
"I know."
"Doesn't that bother you?"
She looked back at the trees. At the Stalkers.
"No."
I believed her. That was the thing. She wasn't pretending. She wasn putting on a brave face. She genuinely didn't care that everyone had abandoned her.
Everyone except me.
We sat in silence. The sun was starting to come up. Pink light bleeding through the trees. The Stalkers shifted. Moved deeper into the shadows.
"Why didn't you leave?" Riley asked.
"I thought about it."
"And?"
"And I didn't."
"Why?"
I looked at her. Really looked. At the dark circles under her eyes. At the blood on her shirt. At the way her hands never stopped moving—fidgeting, touching her knife, touching her bow, touching her wristband.
"Because you're not a monster," I said. "Not yet. And I don't think you want to be."
She was quiet for a long time.
Then she said something that made my blood cold.
"You're not talking to Riley."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"Riley. You're not talking to her. She's... not here right now."
Her voice was different. Softer. Less sharp. The words came out slower. Like she was choosing each one carefully.
"Then who am I talking to?" I asked.
She turned to face me. Her eyes were the same color. Same shape. Same everything. But something behind them had shifted. Like someone else was looking out.
"My name is Hannah."
───
I didn't move.
Didn't speak. Didn't breathe.
Hannah. Not Riley. Hannah.
"I don't understand," I said.
"I know." She looked down at her hands. Turned them over. Like she was seeing them for the first time. "Most people don't."
"Riley said—"
"Riley isn't here. She's... asleep. Or hiding. I don't know. We don't always know what the other is doing."
She looked up at me. Her eyes were wet. Not crying. Just... wet. Like there were tears behind them that couldn't fall.
"You're different," I said.
"I know."
"You're not cold."
"No."
"You're not... empty."
She shook her head. "No. That's her. That's Riley. That's who she had to become to survive."
"And who are you?"
She was quiet for a moment. Then she pulled her knees up to her chest. Wrapped her arms around them. Made herself small.
"I'm the one who felt everything," she said. "The foster homes. The screaming. The hands. I felt all of it. And I couldn't take it. So I... made her. Someone who could take it. Someone who didn't feel."
"You made her?"
"I didn't mean to. It just... happened. One day I was there, and then I wasn't. And she was. And she handled everything I couldn't."
She paused. Looked out at the trees.
"This is only the second time I've talked to anyone. The first time was with Helena. Our adoptive mother. I came out for a few minutes. Told her I was still here. That Riley wasn't the only one."
"What did she say?"
"She cried." Hannah's voice cracked. "She held me and she cried and she said she was sorry. Sorry she didn't know. Sorry she couldn't help. Sorry that we had to go through all of that."
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
"Helena was the first person who ever said sorry. The first person who acted like any of it mattered."
───
I didn't know what to say.
I'd heard of this. Split personalities. Different people living in the same body. I'd seen movies. Read articles. But I'd never met anyone who actually had it.
"Is it... real?" I asked. Stupid question. But I didn't know what else to say.
"It's real," Hannah said. "We're both real. Riley and me. We share this body. This life. These memories. But we're different. We think different. We feel different."
"How different?"
"Riley doesn't feel anything. That's not an act. That's not her being tough. She genuinely doesn't feel. Not fear. Not sadness. Not love. The experiments... they didn't make her that way. She was already that way. She's been that way since she was six years old."
Hannah hugged her knees tighter.
"I feel everything. Every foster home. Every door that closed. Every person who left. I remember all of it. I feel all of it. That's why I couldn't stay. Because feeling all of that... it would have killed me."
"So you let Riley take over."
"I didn't let her. She just... came. And when she came, I went away. Somewhere inside. Somewhere quiet."
"And now?"
"Now I don't know." She looked at me. Her eyes were red. "The experiments did something. To both of us. The walls between us... they're breaking down. I can feel her more. She can feel me. It's like we're... merging. Or fighting. I don't know which."
"Is that bad?"
"I don't know."
───
We sat in silence.
The sun was higher now. The light was gold. The Stalkers had moved deeper into the trees. I could still see them. Shapes in the shadows. Watching.
"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.
"Because you stayed."
"What?"
"Everyone else left. Everyone else was scared. But you stayed." She looked at me. Her eyes were different from Riley's. Softer. More human. "I needed you to know. I needed someone to know. That Riley isn't the only one. That I'm still here. That I'm still me."
"You're both you," I said.
She shook her head. "No. We're separate. We always have been. But maybe... maybe that's changing. Maybe the Project is making us into something new. Something that's both of us. Or neither of us."
"Is that what you want?"
"I don't know what I want." She wiped her eyes again. "I don't know anything anymore."
───
I reached over. Took her hand.
She flinched. Just for a second. Then she relaxed. Let me hold it.
"I'm not going anywhere," I said. "I don't care if you're Riley or Hannah or both or neither. I'm staying."
"Why?"
"Because someone should."
She stared at me. Her lip trembled. For a second, I thought she was going to cry. But she didn't. She just squeezed my hand and looked away.
"Riley doesn't trust you," she said.
"I know."
"She doesn't trust anyone."
"I know."
"But I do." Hannah's voice was quiet. Almost a whisper. "Riley doesn't know I'm talking to you. She doesn't know I'm here. When she wakes up, she won't remember any of this."
"Then I'll tell her."
"She won't believe you."
"Then I'll tell her again. And again. Until she does."
Hannah looked at me. For the first time, she smiled. It was small. Fragile. Like it might break.
"You're weird," she said.
"I know."
"I like that."
───
The sun was fully up now.
The forest was waking up. Birds. Bugs. The rustle of leaves in the wind. Normal sounds. Almost peaceful.
Hannah let go of my hand. Stood up. Brushed off her pants.
"She's coming back," she said.
"Riley?"
"Yes. I can feel her. She's waking up."
She looked at me. Her eyes were changing. The softness was fading. The coldness was coming back. Like watching a door close.
"Thank you," she said. "For listening. For staying. For not running."
"Thank you for telling me."
She nodded. Then her face shifted. Her eyes hardened. Her shoulders straightened. Her mouth flattened into that thin line I knew so well.
Riley was back.
───
She blinked. Looked around. Saw the empty cave. The dead fire. The morning light.
"What happened?" she asked. Her voice was sharp again. Cold.
"Everyone left," I said.
"I know that. I mean..." She touched her face. Her hair. Like she was checking if everything was still there. "Something happened. I lost time. I was sitting here, and then I wasn't."
"You don't remember?"
"Remember what?"
I looked at her. At Riley. The one who didn't feel. The one who killed without blinking. The one who everyone was scared of.
"Nothing," I said. "You just... spaced out for a minute."
She stared at me. Her eyes narrowed. She knew I was lying. But she didn't push.
"We need to move," she said. "Allen knows we're here. The others will talk. He'll come looking."
"Or he'll wait. Let the Stalkers do his work for him."
"The Stalkers aren't going to hurt us."
"I know. But he doesn't know that."
She picked up her bow. Checked her arrows. Counted them. Thirteen. Still thirteen.
"Let's go," she said.
She walked out of the cave. Didn't look back. Didn't check if I was following.
I followed anyway.
Because someone should.
───
We walked for hours.
Riley didn't talk. She never talked much. But today was different. Today she was... restless. Looking over her shoulder. Touching her face. Her hair. Like she was looking for something that wasn't there.
"You okay?" I asked.
"Fine."
"You keep touching your face."
She stopped. Dropped her hand.
"I had a dream," she said. "Or something. I don't know. It felt real. Like someone was inside my head. Talking to me."
"What did they say?"
"I don't remember." She started walking again. Faster. "It doesn't matter. It was just a dream."
I didn't say anything.
But I remembered. Hannah's voice. Soft. Scared. Thanking me for staying.
I needed someone to know.
I knew now. And I wasn't going to forget.
───
The Stalkers followed.
Not close. Not like before. They kept their distance. Stayed in the shadows. But they were there. I could feel them watching.
Riley didn't seem to notice. Or she didn't care. She just walked. Her bow in her hand. Her eyes on the trail ahead.
"Riley."
She didn't respond.
"Riley, stop."
She stopped. Turned. Her eyes were cold. Empty.
"What?"
"I'm not scared of you."
She stared at me. Her face didn't change.
"Everyone else is," I said. "Marcus. The others. They left because they were scared. But I'm not."
"You should be."
"Maybe. But I'm not."
I walked up to her. Stopped inches from her face. Looked her in the eyes.
"I don't know what's going on inside your head. I don't know why you lost time. I don't know who you are when you're not... you." I paused. "But I know you're not a monster. Not completely. And I'm going to keep reminding you until you believe it."
She didn't move. Didn't blink.
"You're wasting your time," she said.
"Maybe. But it's my time to waste."
I turned. Kept walking.
After a moment, I heard her footsteps behind me.
Following.
Like always.