Copyright © 1999 Adina
All Rights Reserved

This story is intended for a more mature audience. If it were a movie, it would be rated R for mature themes and somewhat explicit violent situations. Please do not read this if you feel you may be the least bit offended.

The inmate was led into a small, white room, divided in half by a clear sheet of thick, near indestructible glass. There was a table on each side of the glass, with a large, picture size 'mirror' covering the entire wall in the empty side of it. The inmate called himself Orion, the press had started that, though his given name was Alex, referring to the star constellation of the hunter. He considered himself a hunter, after reading what everyone thought of him. Looking around the room, he waited for the Doctor to enter, to interview him. He sat in the lone chair on his designated side of the room, where the security guards removed his shackles and left him alone, locked in the room.

Adina preferred to be called by her formal name, Dr. Jameson. She only allowed her closest friends to call her by her first name, loving to make the people around her respect her by calling her Doctor. She'd gone to college for twelve years to become a criminal psychologist, a rarity in the field, being female. As she was directed to the room where she was to interview the killer known as Orion, she could feel her pulse quicken. She'd never done something like this before, it was her first big assignment. She'd been unable to sleep because of her eagerness for the next day to come. Orion vaguely fit any characteristics she was used to seeing in killers; had a 'perfect' childhood, loving parents, plenty of friends, money, barely any stress. The only profile he fit was that he did what he'd done for fun. As she finally entered the room and saw him, she noted he wasn't ugly, unlike most of the people she'd been stuck with.

Orion was around 5'9", with honey colored skin. He had a very carefully sculpted goatee, and tousled, but yet styled hair. In Adina's experience in prisons, she'd never stumbled upon an inmate who took such good care of himself. Orion stared at her petite body, she reminded him of his victims. Adina was 5'3", with dark hair that flowed to the small of her back. She wore a maroon business suit, with a short skirt, accenting her shapely legs. The suit had a vee shaped neck, which allowed him to see a small bit of her cleavage, something he hadn't gazed at in reality for years. Adina smiled and sat down, feeling comfortable with the thick glass pane in front of her. She felt a bit chilled when Orion placed his hands on the table and stared bluntly at her breasts, licking his lips. He then slowly moved his eyes to hers and smiled, raising an eyebrow.

"I haven't seen a piece of meat like you in five years, Miss Jameson. It's so very, very nice to meet you," he said, once again looking down to her breasts. She squirmed a little under his gaze, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"That's Doctor Jameson, Mr. McLean," she stated, raising her own eyebrow in return.

"I see I bring out your rebellious nature, my lady," he retorted, as he sat back in his chair and began to twirl his thumbs.

Adina let out a loud sigh. She never got used to being stared at by criminals, though it always seemed to happen. Reaching for her handbag, she pulled a small black tape recorder and placed it on the table.

"Let's get this started Orion, or may I call you Alex?" she said as she turned the power on the recorder and began the recording process.

"You can call me whatever you want," he responded, smiling. Adina ignored his flirtations and went on with her job.

"Basically, Alex, I'm here to find out why you killed ten people in two years. I've done a little research and found," she began, but Alex raised an arm, gesturing for her to stop.

"I've been asked this shit before, Doctor, I know what you're leading to. 'You were never abused, you had a wonderful childhood,' all that jazz. Well let me tell you something; I may have been 'perfect,' as you put it, but I wasn't normal. Not abnormal in a psychotic, deranged way. I never mutilated things or, molested children, or started fires, any of that shit, I was just abnormal. Always knowing when things were going to happen. Being able to tell people when, and how, they were going to die, describing it in detail. They put me in a hospital when I was twelve, after telling my grandfather he was going to die within five minutes from a heart attack. It happened of course, people thought I was 'too young to see things like that' and they sent me to therapy. I then told the therapist she'd die in a car accident that same day. She did. I never told anyone about it. Finally it came down to seeing people being killed. I only saw it when I was near the person. It drove me to the point of where I killed my friends, people who I didn't see dying until they were old. I was sick of not doing anything about what would happen, and where's the fun in letting them live?" Alex said, finishing and answering Adina's first question. In all her research, she hadn't found anything about this man being as smart as he was. Alex smiled, knowing he'd proven himself to be more than just the average criminal by the look in her eyes.

"How did you feel when you killed them, Alex? Did it turn you on?" She asked, leaning forward in her chair, using her false anger to get him to speak and answer truthfully.

"So it comes down to classification. Let me make this simple for you, Doctor. Yes, I'm a lusty killer. I love to end something early. Doesn't it feel good, to finish a project early? I took it in as projects, I knew the deadline, and I pushed myself, and others, to beat the deadline. Deadline, that was an unintentional pun, by the way. In your research, did you find pictures of my priceless projects? They all looked like you," he said, looking her deep in the eyes and feeling excitement throughout his entire frame when he saw her mouth slacken. Obviously she hadn't noticed the category she was in. "Oh enough of me acting tough, you're here to find out exactly what I did. Shall I start?" Alex finished, relaxing even further into his chair, nodding when she told him yes, she was ready.

"Seven years ago, my first victim, my prize. She was your double, Adina, it makes me smile to think she might actually still be alive. The girl was around your age, late twenties, very smart. I was good friends with her, we attended high school and some college together, until I dropped my freshman year. We even dated for a while. While we were together, I fell in love, wanting to spend the rest of my life with that beautiful young lady. Finally, one night, I knew she would grow old with another man. It broke my heart, and I left her shortly after. It was then that I fantasized about her dying earlier than what I'd seen. It was harmless at first, just a dream. But then it became a reality. Though I don't remember performing the crime, it's obvious that I must have done it. Evidence was everywhere around her house, and the murder took place exactly as I envisioned it," Alex began, his mind wandering back to the one who looked exactly like the Doctor across the room.

"How did she die?" Adina asked, intrigued. Classic, she thought, the killer not remembering the crime.

"Oh, horribly, like all my projects. You want details?" he asked, enjoying the fact that she did. "I broke into her house around eleven at night, though why I broke in, having the key and all, I can't tell you; like I said, I don't remember actually doing it. As I was saying, I broke into her house, and I found her where she usually was around this time of night, on any Friday, on her couch enjoying her favorite television show. I snuck up behind her, and I covered her mouth and nose with my hands until she passed out. It was then that I dragged her into her bedroom, securing her tightly to the bed. I tortured her for hours, Doctor, but I'd prepared for that. Luckily, her neighbors wouldn't have called the police for anything, even if they witnessed someone she was with beating her to death. I'd brought nothing but duct tape, the lady was a culinary artist and had plenty of sweet, torturous items within a few feet, in her kitchen," Alex continued, but Adina imagined it as he spoke, how she'd write it in her book:

The girl, five feet, three inches in height, long dark hair, lounged on her couch watching her favorite show. The perpetrator, known as Orion, entered her house forcefully, came behind the unsuspecting victim and cut off her air until she fainted. Orion dragged her into the bedroom, taping her arms to the headboard of the bed and securing her legs tightly together, at last covering her mouth with a smaller piece of tape. Orion exited the bedroom, hearing her awake shortly after, once he'd entered the kitchen to sort out the items he would use to skillfully torture his victim. Among others, Orion grabbed the entire knife block from her counter, which was quite large, considering her interest in the culinary arts. Also, he grabbed dish soap, and a salt shaker. Quickly he exited back into the bedroom, where the young lady saw him enter and began to squirm. He sat next to her on the bed and placed the knifes, salt and soap on the bedtable, less than an arm's reach away. She looked to him, wide eyed, and screamed for mercy. It affected him enough to get him started, where he grabbed a very small, sharp, curved knife from the bottom row of knives. He used this to cut her pajamas off, along with her navy blue sports bra, her navy blue panties. She was completely naked, Orion was completely ready. Placing the knife back in the block, he grabbed the dish soap and poured it onto her body, using his large hands to spread a thin coat over every part of her writhing frame, with the exception of her face.

Placing the soap back on the bed table, he grabbed yet another small knife, with around a four inch blade, very sharp. With this he made large incisions, starting at her elbow, down and across her armpit, down to her waist. The tape on her mouth caused her screams to quiet, though not by much. He did this to both arms, and grabbed the salt, shaking it over the wounds and rubbing it, along with the soap, into the incisions. For the next three hours, Orion continued this process, slicing the skin all over her body. She was completely soaked in blood and her white sheets had turned a dark crimson. She was still quite alive, however, Orion was enjoying this completely. It was then that he stabbed the girl upwards of around forty times. She died after around the tenth stab, but he continued, unable to stop himself. Finally, he couldn't find very many places on her body that hadn't been gruesomely ripped open. He arose from his spot on the bed, took all the knives he had used and exited the house.

"The strange thing, doctor, is that I never once found the bloody clothes anywhere. That first night, I wasn't even sure if it had been me. I know it must have been, hell every damn time I killed someone I never found any of my clothes that I was supposed to be wearing. It's kind of strange, but I must have done it. People say they saw someone my height and all entering the house. And hell, if they found enough evidence to convict me, I must have done it. Doctor, I could give you detail on every beautiful woman I killed, but, I must say I did it the same each time. Another strange thing is I had keys to their houses but I broke in each time. What was I thinking? You know, they all looked strikingly like you, though, madam. The weird thing right now is I see you dying with me," he said, looking off into the distance. This final comment confused the Doctor. This man was here for at least another twenty years and she would never see him again. She shrugged and pressed stop on the player, leaning forward in her chair once she had put everything away and was ready to leave.

"Am I young? Or old?" she asked, genuinely interested. Alex seemed to snap out of some kind of daze, he looked at her, a confused look in his eyes.

"I'm here for life, but I see us old," he said, soon re-entering his dazed state. Adina stood and shot a glance to the large mirror on the side of the room, where security had witnessed the entire interview. As the guards entered and led her out, she couldn't help but stare at that man, Alex. There was something about this everyone had missed, and she knew it.

Alex was led out of the small white room and back to his cell. He always dreaded telling his tale to someone. It always made him think of the strangeness of everything and why the hell he was in prison. He'd once fantasized about killing someone here, they weren't killed, but every cut he got in his fantasy was on his body afterwards, though he'd never left his locked cell, he couldn't have, it was locked. He sat on his small, dirty cot and looked at the few pictures they allowed him to have on his wall, one of his first victim, who he still loved, oh yes, he did. He looked then to a picture of him with his family and friends. He placed his head in his hands and cried.

Adina entered the criminal library and picked out every manila folder she could find on Orion. It had been a week since that damn interview and she couldn't get him out of her mind. Everyday, she listened to the interview again and wondered if something had been missed. Every victim had been a very close friend of his; a majority of his friends were female. He visited them often, often helping them clean the house, or even to cook for their company. Every time, though, he broke into their houses. She kept recalling agreeing with him at the oddity of him breaking in each time, though he had the keys or ability to simply knock on the door. On her way to the front desk, she stopped and picked up a notebook.

"I need to take these home, I'll need them for a while, Carol," she said to the librarian. Carol nodded and Adina left, a very strange feeling overcoming her. Entering her house, she picked up the phone and called her boss. "John, I know this sounds strange, but I'm not going to write that book on Orion just yet. I know I only minored in criminal investigation but I have an eerie feeling about all of this," she said to him, as she walked into her den and placed the folders on her desk.

"You're not the only one with the 'he's innocent' theory, Adina, that was in the trial everywhere," John said, trying to suppress a laugh.

"I'm a psychologist with a very tuned sixth sense, John, when I get a feeling I get a feeling. Give me some time on this," she retorted, knowing he was mocking her.

"Fine, Adina, you can try. Look through it all, the evidence gives it away, He had to have done it," John said, before he finally hung up.

Rolling her eyes, Adina sat at her desk and began to fumble through pages and pages of evidence. Everything was horribly strange, the main part of the case they held against him were fingerprints and hair, even small drops of blood found in the kitchens of two of the homes. At one point, the report stated:

"Though blood stains in the kitchen were upwards of a year or two old, it was obviously a warning sign of the criminal's violent nature," which was a fist full of bullshit, if anyone were to have asked Adina.

Adina still remembered being around sixteen years old, hearing about these murders on the news. Until these reports, and her own interview, she'd always thought they should fry this guy, almost regretted Minnesota not having the death penalty. Her opinion had changed the second she'd left that room. She continued to read through the reports for another five hours, taking extensive notes, until she fell asleep right there at her desk, pen in hand. She awoke with a start, three hours later, when her phone rang.

"Hello?" she answered groggily, rubbing her eyes and lighting a cigarette.

"So did you have fun talking to that Orion guy?" her friend, Tiffani, asked.

"You know, Tiffani, this sounds strange but I don't think he did any of this," she said, waiting for Tiff to laugh at her.

"Really? How come?" her friend asked. Adina and Tiffani had been friends since Adina was sixteen years old, though Tiffani was six years older. They usually had the same opinions on everything, so Adina invited her over.

"I don't want to be the only one thinking this, come over, and I'll tell you all about it," Adina said, before she said goodbye and hung up the phone. Tiff arrived only a few minutes, living only a few miles away.

Adina played the entire interview, and let Tiff read through the notes she'd taken in response to all the evidence.

"They seriously used two year old blood to help convict this guy?" Tiff asked, unable to drop that thought throughout her prodding though Adina's notes.

"Yeah, isn't that weird?" Adina said, thinking once again about Alex's final comments. "According to these reports, they found the bloody clothes in a trash can outside his house, but he swears he never found them or anything, and Tiff, I've had enough experience where telling if someone's lying is like smelling a fart in a car," Adina said, explaining her feelings. Tiff thought for a moment. She was a prosecution lawyer, she knew that if a Defense had a case like this Alex guy, she would have given up on trying to convict him.

"Has he even tried to appeal, Dina?" Tiffani asked, stopping her thoughts momentarily.

"No, he said right there, on my tape, that he thinks if there was enough evidence to convict him he must have simply not remembered doing anything. But it's strange, I mean, killers can be stupid, but this guy isn't. It's not so hard to tell that if he was going to kill someone he knew, he'd just knock on the door, hell even the dumbest criminal would do that," Adina said, slightly in awe at the little theories her brain was working up. Tiff nodded in agreement, which surprised Adina. Finally, she couldn't fight the urge any longer. "I need to talk to him again," Adina said, looking down at the ground, waiting for Tiff to discourage her.

"I'm coming with," Tiff said, once again surprising Adina. Adina nodded and they stood up, with Adina grabbing her purse.

"I'm going to call the prison," Adina said, as she picked up the phone and did so. Soon after, Tiffani and Adina were on their way to see Alex McLean.

Word had gotten around the prison about Alex's breakdown not a week ago, and ever since, he couldn't stay out of fights. Two inmates were holding him against a wall, a third about to pummel his head with a lunch tray, when a guard approached. "You have a visitor Alex," the guard stated. He pulled his baton from his belt and began to smack it repeatedly into his hand, staring grimly at the two men who were pinning Alex to the wall. They let him go and Alex stepped forward, following the guard to the visitors area. Alex immediately looked down when he saw Adina and another small woman enter the other side of the area, he didn't want the people around him to know how happy he was. He sat down and picked up the phone, and Adina did the same. "You have twenty minutes, McLean," the guard said, as he left the two alone.

"You didn't do it, did you?" Adina asked, completely serious. Alex's jaw went slack and his eyes wandered, not wanting to admit what he truly thought to her. "Honestly? I don't think I did, but the evidence," he began, stopping himself when he saw Adina's hand tighten on the small, black notebook she had with her. "Is bullshit," she interrupted, looking to Tiffani.

"Look doctor, all my friends who look like you get killed, don't try to," he said, once again stopping himself. "I got into this business because I'm sick of the American justice system, Alex, and let me say this is a prime example of why," she said, as she opened her notebook and began to recite things such as how they used two year old blood to convict him, and all sorts of things that would have been there simply because he visited the house. Alex looked down and nodded somberly.

"Alex, I'm a prosecutor and let me tell you, if I would have been trying your case I would have given up," Tiffani interjected, soon after introducing herself. Alex said nothing, taking it in that he had two people there who'd actually believe him. He was shocked, to say the least. He was startled when the guard from before approached.

"Time's up McLean, let's go," he said, grabbing him by the arm and jerking him to his feet. Alex smiled and went with willingly, as usual.

"Sir, I need to talk to you when you get back," Adina said to the guard, before he left the room. He nodded and led Alex back to his cell, returning to the visitor area not five minutes later. "I'm that man's psychologist, sir, and I need to keep in contact with him. How can I do that?" she asked, as she showed him her state ID, which showed her position. The guard nodded and returned it to her, after inspecting it carefully.

"That guy's a monster, ma'am, be careful. You can contact him once a week, no more, at this number. Otherwise, write here," he said, handing her the standard "Prisoner Contact Information Card". She rolled her eyes, annoyed that her position never got her any further than that. Tiffani and Adina left the prison shortly afterwards, returning to Adina's home. They sat in silence for a few minutes, as Adina lit another cigarette, enjoying it. "You know, our theory was used in his trial, even if we appeal it won't do anything," Adina finally said, looking to Tiff for her opinion.

"Have you done any research to see if people who fit his victims' descriptions have been killed since he was jailed?" Tiff asked in return. Adina hadn't thought of that, though she had come across it in her previous research she'd done before interviewing Alex.

"One more of his friends was killed while he was in jail, but police thought it was simply a coincidence," Adina said, rolling her eyes, remembering that she'd thought the same at first, also.

"Nothing after that, huh?" Tiff asked, knowing already that the answer was yes as Adina nodded. "I need to make a phone call, Dina," Tiff suddenly said, as she stood and entered Adina's den, closing the door behind her. Tiffani dialed the number she had kept with her for years. A man's voice answered; she was happy his number hadn't changed. "She knows," Tiffani said into the phone, hanging it up soon after. Tiffani exited the den and smiled to her friend, as she sat back down next to her. Adina looked to her, wondering why she hadn't taken long. "They weren't home," Tiff said, trying to pass it off.

As Adina presented all the evidence she'd attained in the past six months, John's eyes lit up. No one had been able to come up with so strong of a case to get this man out of jail.

"You should have been a lawyer, Doctor," John said, as he shook her hand. She smiled, proud of everything she had come up with. As the appeal trial approached, Adina became excited when she found she was to testify in court. She'd always wanted to do that, be presented as a 'specialist' and have everyone listening to her, really listening. When the trial ended, Alex had a week left in prison.

Adina watched her show peacefully, knowing another good friend, Amy, was in the other room, holding back her excitement that today was Alex's last night in prison. Lately, Adina had been scared that with her bringing this into the public facade, and with Alex worrying she might get hurt because of her description, she wouldn't stay alone in her house. She'd begged Tiff to come over, but she said she had plans with a friend she hadn't seen in a long time. "You wanna do him," Adina said, joking to Tiff as she went off about how she missed her old friend Tony.

"I do not! I just found his phone number, I haven't seen him in like twelve years," she said, laughing. Adina couldn't stop laughing at the joke she'd made and finally let Tiff go, resorting to Amy for company.

"Amy, I need you tonight, I need you right now," Adina joked again, referring to one of Amy's favorite songs.

"You want me over there? Why?" Amy asked, giggling a little at Adina's horrible pun.

"I have my reasons," Adina said, explaining why she didn't want to be alone. Amy suggested she call the police, but Adina told her that would be silly, it was mostly paranoia anyway. "Besides, if anyone tries to break in, I have a pretty good, silent, alarm system," Adina said, trying to hide her worry.

Tiffani arrived at Tony's house, only a few blocks from where Adina lived, alone. She smiled when she saw him, tall, dark, handsome, that's how she always described him, he was dark, very dark. "It's been too long, Anthony," Tiff said, sighing. Tony approached her and smiled, raising an eyebrow.

"I just saw you yesterday," he said, wondering how that could possibly be too long.

"You really are his double, aren't you?" Tiff asked, as she ran her finger along his thinly goateed cheek.

"Unfortunately," he uttered, as he slowly leaned forward and kissed Tiffani, feeling her melt in his embrace. "You're coming with me tonight," Tony said, as he finally pulled away from her.

"No, I can't, she's my friend Tony," She replied, looking down nervously.

"Don't let me down here, Tiffani," Tony snapped, as he grabbed her by the shoulders. Quietly she nodded as they left, arriving at Adina's house only moments later. "Did you bring that key?" Tony asked, as they approached the back door. Nodding, Tiffani used a spare key, which Adina had given her a year ago, to silently open the door. "Go wait in her room," Tony whispered, as he approached the sound of a loud television.

As Adina watched TV, she checked her pocket, making sure the remote for the security system was still there. She'd never been more paranoid than she was tonight, swearing she'd heard the back door opening. She put in her favorite movie, The Fifth Element, trying to calm her mind down. As usual, Adina became extremely immersed in the movie, quoting every line and yelling at every single villain whenever they did something bad. She was startled when she felt a hand cover her mouth, hearing a deep laugh. Suddenly a man, who was the mirror image of Alex, crawled over the back of the couch, planting himself next to her. Quickly, he grabbed her hands, holding her completely helpless. The man next to her smiled, and looked her over carefully.

"I told her I'd talk to you, so here I am, talk, talk TALK!" He said, gradually raising his voice to a yell. Adina flinched, unable to move because of the man's grasp, as well as her own fear. "My brother. . .loves you so much," he started, as he slowly brought his mouth near to her ear. "He would love, to do this," he went on, licking her face, moving his hand from her wrists, over her thigh, roughly over her groin, "right now. Oh, but he can't, and never will," he whispered, his voice tickling her ear drum. "Oh no, they're going to hurt him, Adina. Looks like two people are going to the hospital, I wonder if you'll BOTH be in bodybags?" he said, as he slipped his hand from between her legs, moving it to cover her nose. Already a lost cause, the remote for the security system in her house fell from her pocket, as she slipped into unconsciousness.

Alex awoke with a start, seeing shadows struggling in a house. He looked around his cell, trying to calm himself. His heart raced even faster when he glanced at a picture of Kelly, the girl who he had thought, for five years, he'd killed. He screamed out to the guards when he finally realized what connection the picture had to his dream. "Someone get the police," he said breathlessly, trying to keep himself from going insane.

"Something wrong, Alex? Scared you're gonna kill someone again? Poor Kelly, I bet that soap hurt," The guard said, not taking any of the trials seriously. Alex was a monster, he thought, no way in hell was that bastard innocent.

"Fuck you," Alex growled, a protective instinct coming over him at the mere mention of her name.

"Cell Nine!" The guard quickly yelled out, smiling when he heard the magnetic lock coming undone as he watched the cell gate open noisily. The guard, along with another, entered the cell, poking Alex's cellmate with his baton, waking him up. "Orion here is talking about your mom, Harvey," the guard said, pulling a blatant lie from the air to piss off the large, violent man. Alex stood up and backed into the far corner of the cell. Normally he would have run out of there, seeing it open, the guards being vulnerable, not fast enough to catch him. However, he had only tonight left in this hole and he didn't want to risk his freedom being taken away. The guards and his cell mate approached him, and he closed his eyes the second he saw the guard raise his baton, bringing it down hard on Alex's head. Immediately he slouched to the ground and covered his head in defense, not making a single sound as they mercilessly beat him, knocking him finally unconscious. The larger of the two guards suddenly pulled a stun gun from his pocket, shocking Alex violently back into consciousness.

"You're not supposed," Alex began, stopping when the guard moved the weapon just below his chin.

"Not supposed to what, killer?" he accused, laughing as he and the other guard exited the cell, leaving Alex alone and helpless with his malevolent cell mate.

Adina awoke with her hands taped to the bed, her legs; one crossed over the other, tightly secured, a small adhesive strip covering her mouth. Trying to scream, she heard footsteps approaching, seeing the man once again. She screamed again, for Amy, who wore headphones, blocking out any sound. The man held her knife block in one hand, a bottle of soap and a salt shaker in the other.

Alex looked to the cell opening and saw the guards who had attacked him standing outside, watching and laughing at what was going on. He dreaded, knew, what Harvey was going to do, had wanted to do, for five years. Alex curled into the corner as far as he could, Harvey reached forward and grabbed him by the collar of his orange jumpsuit and picked him up, throwing him onto the bed, on his face. Harvey grabbed Alex's wrists and held them tightly at the middle of his back, as he grabbed a hold of the bottom half of Alex's jumpsuit, tugging it so the snaps fastening the two halves came undone. Harvey's hands moved below Alex's; tearing the remainder of his jumpsuit, revealing Alex's large dragon tattoo; he moved his hands, exploring the toned, smooth skin of his prey, a twisted smile slowly emerging on his chiseled, dirty face. Alex finally lost all composure and screamed as Harvey finally reached his goal. Tears flowed from Alex's eyes as he was violently raped for what felt like years; it certainly wasn't his first time, but it had never been this terrible.

"Off my bed, bitch," Harvey yelled, as he hoisted Alex by his arms, dropping him on his face to the floor, where he lay dazed and weak. The guards entered, patting Harvey on the back and laughing as one of them pulled what remained of his jumpsuit over his hips, giving up and leaving him naked when they found the bottoms were completely torn. Slowly they lifted him; face down, from under his arms, all but dragging him; humiliating him, his bruised body exposed for any inmate to see as he was taken to the infirmary. As they carried him to his destination, blood dripped from his broken nose, smeared by his feet, which dragged noisily behind him.

Adina screamed again when the man sat next to her, pulling on her arms to test her bonds. He noisily ripped her flannel pajamas from her helpless body, watching her nipples harden from the cool air in the room. Silence overcame her as he poured blue dish soap over her entire body, spreading it thickly over her; reaching over, once finished, grabbing a small knife from the knife block. Amy, please wake up, she thought over and over. Her silence was shattered utterly as the man sliced into the flesh below her elbow, cutting all the way down to her waist.

Adina let out pained and horrible gasps as he mixed salt and soap into her wound, she then watched in horror as Tiffani, her best friend for years, appeared and sat on her other side. Tiffani looked down and shook her head. Tony reached forward, grabbing Tiffani by the collar and bringing her in close.

"She's going to put us in jail, now do your part this time," he said, watching her think it over. He handed her a small paring knife, and she hesitantly sliced Adina's other arm herself. Adina screamed and screamed, crying uncontrollably when the pair laughed viciously, continuously adding more and more cuts to Adina's fragile and small body. She heard knocking at the door, a woman's voice yelling, asking her if she was alright. The door was locked. I'm imagining things, Adina thought, not knowing what she heard was real. It was Amy at the door, trying to get in, hearing Adina's screams. Finally, she realized she was getting nowhere, and called the police. Adina's whole body felt as though it was on fire, when she finally noticed the sounds of sirens outside, seeing flashing lights through the lids of her eyes, hearing more harsh banging on the door.

Tony looked up towards the door, knowing who was behind it. "Get out of here Tiffani," he said, standing and pushing her towards the only other exit from the first story room, the open window. Calmly, he replaced the knife into the block and placed his hands on the bed, strangely accepting his arrest. Adina finally opened her eyes when she felt smooth latex gloves on her wrists and ankles, carefully peeling the tape back from her skin.

"Don't let me die," she said faintly, before she finally passed out again from sheer exhaustion and intense pain.

Alex awoke the next day, confused as to how he had arrived at the hospital. "How did I get here," he asked, straining to make his voice audible. Slowly, feeling came back to his body; soreness in every joint and muscle bringing him quickly into reality. He saw the intravenous fluid needle bulging from his hand, bandages covering his wrist; some kind of bandage on his nose.

"You were brought here from prison Mister McLean," the nurse began, reading his name slowly from his chart. "Here this whole time I thought you were guilty, until that girl, the one who helped you get an appeal, ended up here, she was almost killed last night, everyone on the news says this guy who did it is your brother or something? He looks just like you." she finished, her tone of voice soothing him slightly as his heart pulsed with anger over Adina being in the hospital, this man supposedly being his. . . brother?

"But who, where is she, I have to see her," Alex mumbled, sitting up in his hard bed, despite how much it hurt him; her statement still disturbing him deeply.

"You need to rest sir, you were hurt pretty bad last night," the nurse responded, ignoring his questions; trying her hardest to push him back onto the bed.

"Tell me where she is, you can't stop me," he replied, knowing she could only try to keep him here, not force him. Already, he was on his feet, surprising his want to scream out at the riot of pain coursing through his body.

"She's in intensive care, third floor," the nurse replied, defeated. She watched him as he slowly made his way; rolling the stand for his Saline IV beside him, using it for support. When he finally found Adina's room, he entered without a moment's hesitation. Approaching Adina's side, Alex looked down, having it finally proven that he'd never done anything wrong. He looked over, noting a young woman, who sat by Adina's side, softly crying. He approached her and offered to take her place, she obliged happily, introducing herself as Amy, a longtime friend.

"You get some rest," he told her, as he sat by Adina, holding her hand in his, though it caused a great deal of pain to his fractured wrist.

Alex smiled when Adina opened her eyes, squinting them and finally recognizing him, looking deep into his own. She began to cry, so happy to see him in a setting that was white, but not prison. She'd never told anyone, never admitted to herself, until now, that she'd inadvertently fallen in love with this man. Alex had loved her from the first time he'd laid eyes upon her, he'd loved her when he saw them together, in the far distant future.

"Who did this to you," Alex asked, knowing Adina had awoken fully; wanting to know.

"He said. . . he said he was your Brother?" Adina responded, still a little groggy, remembering what Tony had said to her. She had just noticed, with worry, his bandaged and bruised face, his broken wrist. Alex nodded and held back from crying; at his sibling's betrayal, the sibling he never knew existed.

"I have a. . ." he finally said, his voice trailing off. Now two people had said this; 'I don't have a brother,' he kept thinking, complete disbelief overshadowing his worry.

"He looked just like you, he must have. . .you don't know?" Adina asked, shocked.

Alex just shook his head, still holding back the tears which threatened constantly. Trying to push it from his mind: his confusion, disbelief; he looked over to Amy, who was curled up in a chair in the far corner of the room, sleeping.

"Amy, she's awake," he said to her, startling her into consciousness. Amy beamed and stood, rushing to Adina's other side, grabbing her other hand. Alex sighed, looking out the window at the wet, moonlit street outside, breathing in the antibiotic hospital smell. The trio remained silent, taking in all the changes in their life. Alex knew his visions of he and Adina would never be interfered with.