September 22, 2312. 2:34 a.m.

"Alice...., Alice....., Alice"

Alice was hearing a voice, but this time it was not just in her head she could hear it physically.

"Stop, I don't want to hear you" said Alice.

"But I'm a part of you rAlice both of us are one" said the voice.

"Lies"

"The time has come Alice the contract has already been made"

Alice got up from her bed, took her headphone and holographic tablet resting on her desk, then increased the volume to the full before placing it on her ears.

"Alice, this kind of tricks no longer work you have to accept me, we are one"

"I am not like you"

"Don't you want to protect Brian anymore ?"

"You know what will happen to him if the contract is not completed"

"It's just lies"

"It's up to you whether you want him to live or not, there's not much time left Alice"

Since Alicia's reappearance, Alice had been doing everything to ignore her presence, for her, Alicia was her imaginary childhood friend and that reality was hard to break. How could she accept her reappearance without it being considered a mental disorder. Alicia had decided to impose herself and this time Alice had no intention of letting her do. She was completely ignoring all Alicia's attempts to contact, but she was so persistent that she had become the little voice in that head who kept repeating that the time was approaching. After the incident at the museum Alice understood that her efforts were in vain, they had been chosen and nothing could have prevented the formation of the contract.

Alice looked at the tablet in her hands 2:45, 'there's only 5 minutes left' she thought to herself. A feeling of moisture caressing her face ran down her cheek, tears, always tears 'she said that with her I would no longer cry' Alice thought. On the screen in her hands was displayed 'always with me, always with you' by Joe Satriani, she always had that fascination for the 20th and 21st century's stuffs, but at that moment no notes could penetrate her thoughts.

2:56, Alice was resigning herself to her fate 'it's time for me to stop running' she said to herself. She sat down on her bed and pronounced the name she had tried to erase from her memory since her parents' death.

"Alicia...., ek aanvaar jou"

By the time the words left her mouth, her room, which was already in the dark, became even darker. But despite the complete obscurity that covered her space she was in, she was able to see around her. A shape was slowly appearing before her eyes, Alice could hear her heart beats vibrating like a drum. A face appeared before her and it was as if all the air of her lungs had suddenly been removed, the same intense look, the same golden eyes were fixated on hers.

Alice hesitated, but it was already too late to change her mind. She took Alicia's hand and it felt like touching a person coming out of the pool, cold and wet. The feeling of humidity increased and Alice fixed her hand with intensity and noticed that Alicia's hand was disintegrating before her eyes, Panicked, she let her hand fall, out of fear 'don't be afraid' she heard 'don't move'.

The viscous liquid that Alicia had become flowed towards her, reached her feet and rose up her legs. The liquid spread over her body covering every part before reaching her neck. Panic took hold of her again when it continued to spread and covered her hair, only her nose, mouth and eyes had been left uncovered.

'It's going to hurt a little bit' Alicia said.

'but you have to endure until the end' and then the liquid covered her face.

A few seconds passed before Alice noticed that she could no longer breathe the liquid had covered her entirely, anguish and doubt was spreading through her mind and at the same time an acute pain struck her. Alice felt something opening, she soon realized that it was the pores of her skin that were distending. The pain she felt multiplied as her pores opened up. The viscous fluid gradually penetrated into her body and the pain increases further. Alice cried out in pain, but no sounds could escape from her mouth, which at the same time filled with viscous liquid, that was also penetrating through her nose and ears. She used her hands to try to remove it from her but to no avail, while she thought she was crying, she felt the liquid repelling her tears by forcing itself through her eyes.

A heavy noise was heard as if something extremely heavy had fallen on a wooden surface, the black curtain that covered her room had disappeared, Alice could see the light coming from the hallway under her door and the bottom of her bed, but she still, could not hear her screams.

An eternity seemed to have passed before the liquid was fully absorbed 'it's over Alice, now rest well, I'll take care of the rest'.

Exhaustion took hold of her and darkness invaded her, but this time it was her body doing, She said to herself 'it's finally over'.