Alan sat in bed stunned. Sitting no more than 15 feet in front of him was the woman who occupied his previous dream. ‘Why was she here? How did she know where I lived? Where did she go to last night?’ All these thoughts were spinning in his head as he was trying to make sense of this whole situation. He finally decided to break the silence.

“Are you Jenny?” he asked cautiously.

“You really do remember me!” Her eyes lit up with excitement. Alan imagined that if she had a tail it would be beating against the chair right now. Almost lost in her image Alan willed himself back to reality. He took a deep breath and pressed her for an answer.

“Please answer my question.” His voice tore her away from her internal celebration. Her smile dimmed and her eyes gained an aura of seriousness.

“Yes…and no.” she answered with her head facing downwards. “Yes I am the one who you met at the restaurant, however ‘Jenny’ is a persona which I created to meet you.” He knew it was too good to be true. How could he fool himself into thinking that she was so conveniently perfect? He finished mentally kicking himself and realized this woman was a stranger sitting across from him. Alan unconsciously retreated a few inches on his bed; she noticed this and frowned slightly.

“Who are you and what do you want?” He asked this with a serious tone which caused her frown to deepen.

“My name is Tia. I saw the picture on the news and needed to confirm whether you remembered me or not.” Hearing this Alan began to panic. He recalled yesterday’s events and realized the situation he was in. He was left at a crime scene involving a notorious serial killer and this “Tia” tracked him down after she disappeared. He was a loose end!

“W-Were you involved in that murder last night?” He had to ask, none of this was making sense. She doesn’t fit the profile of the Collector at all but everything about this situation screams that she is the murderer. She lured him to dinner, got him drunk, took him home, and then drugged him?! ‘The guy at the police station told me that I might have never woken up!’ Alan felt like he was about to hyperventilate. Sweat formed on his brow and he leaned slightly to the side on his bed in case he needed to run.

Time ticked by for what seemed like ages before Tia opened her mouth to answer

“Alan I want you to take a deep breath and please calm down. I am the one responsible for the body upstairs but me killing that thing is in no way murder.” Her way of speaking was obviously meant to calm him down but it was in no way effective. ‘Killing that thing?! People are just things to her?!’ Alan wondered how far off in judgement he was that he actually believed her to be perfect for him. Adrenaline was beginning to course through him as he managed one foot off the bed. He asked the next question as calmly as he could.

“Are you here to kill me?” His eyes stared at her with resolution. She stood up shocked, grimacing at the obvious flinch made by Alan.

“Of course not! Alan please let me explain, you weren’t supposed to remember me!” Tia began to frantically try to remedy the situation until he finally snapped.

“I wasn’t supposed to remember?!? Is that why you drugged me?! Now standing, Alan screamed at her.

“No that’s not wha-“ Before she could even finish Alan retorted.

“Enough! I don’t want to hear any more of your bullshit Jenny!” the disgust in his words did not go unnoticed by Tia. He walked past her towards the door to his apartment.

“If you aren’t going to kill me then go. I have been lied to, manhandled, and talked down to for the past 30 hours and I won’t take it any longer.” He reached for the knob and held the door open. Shock and grief were painted on her face as they stood there in silence. Tia opened her mouth and then closed it as her lip quivered slightly. She walked past him into the hallway and stopped. Alan slowly closed the door before stopping it slightly ajar.

“Was there anything you didn’t lie about?” he asked languidly. Without turning around she forced herself to answer.

“Jenny was indeed a lie but our conversations held truth. That was me, that…was Tia.” Before he could push the door open further she was gone. Alan stuck his head out into the hallway and Tia was nowhere to be seen. He closed his door and retuned to bed even though he knew sleep wouldn’t come easy.

. . . .

Alan woke at 10 am and proceeded to spend the next three hours explaining his situation to people on the phone. Several calls and too many text messages later Alan was crashed on his kitchen table. He was currently on break from school and had nothing to do until he had to meet up with Matt later tonight. He was Alan’s only real friend left in town Matt had pestered him to meet in person until he finally gave up. Lifting his head he noticed the card from the FBI agent. ‘Should I really call? There’s no way they will believe that a girl in her mid 20s is the Collector.‘ He thought long and hard about the previous night and still felt confused. Before Tia disappeared he felt like he was talking to Jenny again. Even when she showed up in his room she had the same carefree and giddy personality. How could the same girl consider people things and that killing them does not qualify as murder? After weighing his options he picked up the card and called. A short conversation later and he had a meeting with Agent Correa at the coffee shop down the block in 30 minutes.

As he was walking to the coffee shop Alan could not help but keep looking over his shoulders. This was a route which he walked nearly every day but now it just seemed different. Corners and alleyways looked as though they could hide some potential danger. He looked at the rooftops and imagined that someone could watch him from places. He felt stares from people he passed as though he had something on his face. As he was looking at his reflection in a storefront fruitlessly he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Mr. Messer”

“Ahh!” he screamed as he fell on his ass. He looked up to see Agent Correa with an unphased expression on her face.

“You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that, what are you a ghost?” he said as he stood up and brushed off his pants.

“Mr. Messer, I walked up to you in heels and you were staring into a reflection. Are you on drugs?” Alan couldn’t tell if she was joking. “Let’s get moving Mr. Messer, unfortunately I can’t be away for long.” When she turned to walk away he thought he caught a brief smirk on that face of stone. Maybe she wasn’t as cold as he thought.

After explaining the event of last night Correa sat in thought for a few moments.

“So you are saying that you are positive that this ‘Tia’ was the same girl and, she actually confessed to the murder, and then left?” Her questioning glare made Alan feel like she didn’t have much faith in his story.

“There is no doubt in my mind that she was the same. I don’t understand the situation either but that’s what happened.” Correa’s face was unchanged and he thought to himself that she was gaining faith in her drug theory. She stood up and put some money on the table.

“I appreciate your assistance in this investigation Mr. Messer, I’ll make sure to give your information to my superior.” Before she could walk away Alan reached out and grabbed her wrist.

“Please listen to me, Tia did say that but she doesn’t fit your description for the Collector. I know this sounds insane but after talking to her again she doesn’t seem like a bad person. Correa shook his hand away before giving him one last warning.

“I would advise you Mr. Messer to not mix lust with your judge of character. The girl admitted to murder, even if she is innocent we will arrest her for that alone. Have a good day and call if you have information or you will be also be arrested as an accomplice. She spared him no second glance and left the coffee shop.

Alan left shortly after, mostly to avoid the stares caused by Correa’s tirade. His trip home was again accompanied by paranoia. He felt stupid for thinking it but it felt like he was being watched. His steps grew quicker before he ended in a jog up to his front door. After quickly moving inside and locking his two locks there was nothing left to do instead wait until it was time to go meet Matt.