White. Endless white. The kind of white that pressed against your eyes from all directions, that had no edges, no depth, no escape.
Maya stood in the void, alone.
No. Not alone.
Across from her, another figure sat cross-legged on the nothingness, looking profoundly annoyed. Same face. Same build. Same eyes—except those eyes held white dots where Maya's held blue.
The Omega.
Helena.
"Ugh," the Omega said. "You're here."
Maya blinked. "What?"
"You're here. In your head. In the white space." The Omega gestured vaguely at the infinite nothing around them. "Where I live. Permanently. Thanks for asking."
Maya stared at her. Her—the other her. The monster inside. The thing she'd feared for so long.
"Why am I here?"
The Omega's expression shifted from annoyance to something almost like exasperation. "You're in a coma, dipshit."
"A coma?"
"Your body healed. Your brain didn't wake up. So here you are. Floating in the void with me." The Omega spread her arms wide. "Welcome to my world. It sucks."
Maya absorbed this. A coma. She was in a coma. The creature—that terrible strand horror—had done something to her, and now she was trapped here, in her own mind, with her.
"How do I get out?"
"I don't know. Stop asking me. And stop looking at me like that." The Omega's voice sharpened. "I didn't trap you here. You did that all by yourself."
Maya's jaw tightened. "You were in control during the fight. You're the reason I'm—"
"Why do you hate me so much?"
The question cut through Maya's anger like a blade. She stared at the Omega—at Helena—seeing something she hadn't noticed before. The set of her shoulders. The way her hands were clenched. The hurt in those white-dot eyes.
"Because you hurt my friends," Maya said quietly. "Is that enough?"
The Omega exploded.
"HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT?" Her voice rose, cracking with pain and anger and something that sounded terrifyingly like fear. "Do you remember that parasite they planted inside you? That thing—that creature—you were supposed to be its host! But you ate it! You consumed it! And I got made!"
Tears streamed down her face—real tears, the first Maya had ever seen from her.
"I was made by YOU! I didn't ask to be made! I didn't ask to exist! I didn't even know what I was! I was alone, and I was scared, and I didn't know who those people were—they were just... there, and I thought they were going to hurt me, and I didn't want to die!"
Her voice broke.
"I tried to kill them because I was scared, okay? I was scared and alone and I didn't know what else to do!"
The white space trembled with the force of her words.
Maya stood frozen, watching this creature—this part of herself—fall apart in front of her.
The Omega's tears continued, silent now, streaming down her cheeks and disappearing into the void. When she spoke again, her voice was smaller, quieter.
"You think I wanted to be made? You think I wanted to spend all my time here, doing nothing, watching you live my life?" She wiped her face with the back of her hand. "I didn't ask for this any more than you did."
Maya didn't know what to say. Everything she'd believed, everything she'd held against this part of herself—it was all based on a lie. On not understanding.
"What... what even is this place?" she asked, trying to steer the conversation away from pain. "The white space?"
The Omega let out a wet laugh. ""It's your head. Our head. I see everything you see, hear everything you hear. I'm stuck here, but I'm always watching.It's your own head, dumbass. When you ate that thing, your brain split in two. Me and you." She gestured between them. "But you're always dominant. I can't control the body until you let me. So I just... sit here. Waiting."
Maya felt something shift inside her. Guilt. Understanding. The beginning of something that might have been acceptance.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly.
The Omega looked at her.
"I'm sorry for misunderstanding. For blaming you for everything." Maya met those white-dot eyes. "I didn't know."
The Omega studied her for a long moment. Then, slowly, she nodded.
"Apology accepted."
A pause.
"Good. Now get lost." The Omega's voice was gruff, but there was something softer underneath. "And tell the others to stop calling me 'the Omega.' Call me Helena."
Maya blinked. "What are you talking about?"
"Just go."
The white space dissolved.
---
Maya's eyes shot open.
Her breath caught in her lungs—a desperate gasp, as if she'd been holding it for days. She shot upright, her body moving before her mind could catch up, her heart pounding against her ribs.
"BITCH—"
She stopped.
Eva was beside her, lying on the ground, her hand wrapped loosely around Maya's. At Maya's outburst, she jerked awake, blinking, confused.
"No, no, no—" Maya grabbed her hand before Eva could let go. "I didn't mean you! I wasn't—I'm sorry, I didn't say it to you, I said it to—"
Eva's eyes widened. "Who?"
"Helena." Maya's voice was still breathless. "The other me. She said to call her Helena."
Eva stared at her for a long moment. Then, slowly, a smile spread across her face.
"Helena," she repeated. "Okay. I can do that."
Maya nodded, still catching her breath. "She's... not what I thought. She's scared. And alone. And she didn't ask for any of this."
Eva's expression softened. She squeezed Maya's hand.
"How are you feeling?"
Maya took a breath. Let it out. Looked at her friend—her best friend, who had sat by her side for days, holding her hand, waiting for her to come back.
"I'm fine, Evie." A smile touched her lips—small, real, warm. "I'm fine."
Eva's eyes glistened. She pulled Maya into a hug, tight and desperate and full of everything she hadn't been able to say.
Behind them, the forest breathed.
And somewhere in Maya's mind, Helena sat alone in the white space, a small smile on her face.
For the first time, she didn't feel quite so alone.