The Intrusion

Forty-One

[?]

Footsteps.

"Andy?" Alice calls again.

"Alice?" I call back, for a second forgetting that I'm not Andy anymore. I come out of my—Andy's—kitchen and into the hallway.

"Jordan?" Alice says, surprise with just a hint of anger burning at the edge of her voice. "What are you doing here?" Then, she notices the cuts on my hand and arm, the blood-soaked paper towels. Her eyes light up in fear and shock. "Jordan, oh my God, are you all right? What happened? Where's Andy?"

"Andy is," I begin to say, but I don't know how to answer her question. "He's... Alice, I don't know how to explain this to you, but..."

"Explain what?" Alice interrupts me, terror rising as her voice cracks on the "ah" in "what".

"Alice, I'm Andy."

Her face curls in confusion.

"I don't know how to explain it to you, but I am Andy. Somehow, I've been switching places with Jordan in my sleep. Switching bodies, or I guess maybe minds, but..."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Alice cuts me off suddenly, trying to sound angry, but what really comes across more is horror and confusion. Her hands shake, and her entire body trembles. "Cut this shit. Where the fuck is my brother!?"

"Alice, I'm right here. It's me."

"No." Alice shakes her head in disbelief. "No, no, no. I don't know what game you are playing with me, but you better stop it right now and tell me where my brother is."

"Alice, it's me."

"Oh, fuck you!" Alice shouts at me. "Where is he?"

Tears pool in her eyes as she storms towards me, shoving me out of the way and rushing towards Andy's bedroom.

"Andy?" She pulls the door open.

She flips the light switch on, and then I hear a gasp, shrill and out of place, like a balloon popping during the moment of silence at a memorial service.

"Oh my GOD!" she shouts.

I rush into the room after her.

"Oh my GOD!" Her voice catches and stutters on every syllable as her eyes fix on the blood and the bright red marks from the strangulation still burning around his neck.

Alice rushes to the body. "Andy?" Tears run from her eyes as she checks for a non-existent pulse. "Andy!"

I just need to make her understand. Once she understands that that's not me, then she'll stop crying. She just needs to understand.

"Alice," I try to get her to listen.

She turns towards me, eyes raging like fire. "You bitch!" she shouts. "You crazy fucking bitch! You killed my brother! You're insane! You are literally insane!"

"No, Alice," I try to tell her, but she won't listen.

She dives at me, shrieking in a voice I have never heard before and grabbing me by the throat. She pushes me up against the mirror on the hallway wall.

"I'll kill you!" She presses her thumbs painfully into the soft part of my throat.

It feels like something's breaking. I try to suck in air, but I can't. Pain burns in my neck from the pressure of her hands, like shards of glass scraping along the inside of my trachea.

I grab Alice's wrists and try to pull her off of me, but it's no use. She won't let go. I don't want to hurt her, but I need to make her understand. I dig my nails in and draw blood. She grimaces, but she doesn't let go. She continues wailing curses at me and growling like our neighbor's dog Benny when he was dying of rabies and they had to lock him up in the laundry room. Bits of spit fly out of her mouth and spray into my face.