The Stewardess gives Daniella Spencer a big bright smile in an effort to camouflage her slightly confused facial expression.

Not wanting to attract any unnecessary attention, Lexi whispers the date in Daniella's ears and winks at her. Lexi pats on her shoulder. "We don't want to attract any unnecessary attention. We have enough nervous flyers on this flight." She smiles and winks at her.

"Thank you so much. So I'm on Flight 77X." Daniella re-confirms with her.

"Yes, Flight 77X. We've been flying for the past four hours and will be landing in an hour. I'll tell you what, let me give you something to drink. The Stewardess reassures Daniella then proceeds towards the flight attendants' work station.

A few minutes later, She comes back with a tray of drinks and snacks, earning a heart sign from Daniella Spencer. She can't help but dwell on these little extra things that sometimes make traveling memorable. Lexi's gracious help and caring attention were just what Daniella needed at this moment in time...

Pretty soon, the captain's voice comes in the inflight intercom announcing the approaching descent with local time and temperature at the destination airport, and the few minutes left until Flight 77X arrival. It is soon followed by an announcement from the flight attendant.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as we start our descent, please make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position. Make sure your seat belt is securely fastened and all carry-on luggage is stowed underneath the seat in front of you or in the overhead bins. Thank you."

A few more minutes later, another announcement is made by a flight attendant.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have just been cleared to land at the airport. Please make sure one last time that your seat belt is securely fastened. The flight attendants are currently passing around the cabin to make a final compliance check and pick up any remaining cups and glasses. Thank you."

Daniella opens her phone, hearts the last message she received from Luca, and quickly puts it back in her pocket as she spots her new best friend/stewardess Lexi approaching her seat area. Lexi smiles at Daniella's reaction and collects the empty cups and tray from her.

"Five hours went by so fast! Glad to be finally home Daniella?"

"You have no idea! this has been quite an eventful trip and I can't wait to put it all behind me..."

"I'm sure everything will be just fine... It's been a pleasure having you onboard" Lexi smiles back at her and proceeds to the next passenger.

Flight 77X has now landed and everyone exits in an orderly and timely fashion.

Daniella happily walks through her respective terminal and notices no Luca at all.

Daniella

just landed babe 😊

She looks around the terminal. She even swings by Starbucks and looks inside in case he lost track of time in there. she can't help but notice her familiar actions. But unfortunately for her, there is no sign of him there.

"Luca where are you?" Daniella asks herself. She shakes her head as her usual internal monologue starts once again.

"Is he lost? Is he late? Is he dead? Where could he be and why is he not here? ... Luca, you better have a good excuse for making me wait..."

Slightly nervous and irritated once again, Daniella pulls out her phone, opens her messages, and frantically texts Luca yet again.

Daniella

babe where are you?

15 minutes goes by. Even more irritated, she pulls out her phone once again.

Daniella

babe, seriously where are you? still waiting at the airport! You're late, once again!

One hour goes by for Daniella, who is still waiting. As she walks around the airport, she checks out all of the duty-free shops, eats shrimp pasta at one of the airport restaurants, drinks an expensive cup of black Italian coffee, she texts Luca again.

Daniella

you said you were coming! wya?

can't wait anymore... taking an Uber home!

Luca

Here!

Daniella looks up and glances around but doesn't see Luca. 

Daniella

lol, where are you?

Luca

i'm staring at you!

Daniella

no, a girl is looking at me weird

"I know right! Welcome home roomie!" A brunette runs over to Daniella and screeches as she gives her a tight hug.

"I'm sorry... who are you? And why are you hugging me?"

"You're kidding, right?"

"No. I don't kid. Like ever."

The brunette sees Daniella's skeptical expression and internalizes it.

"Oh. You're like serious-serious."

"Yeah. Who the f**k are you?"

"I'm Luca. Your roommate? We've been living together for like the past two years?"

Daniella skeptically nods. "I've been living with a Luca for the past two years, except that he's blonde, male, and my boyfriend. Good try though."

Daniella tries to walk away from "Luca", but she blocks her way.

"Hey. Is this some kind of sick joke?"

"I thought we already established that I don't joke. I literally can't. I'm bad at coming up with jokes."

"But I'm telling you the truth."

Daniella stares at her blankly. "Oh yeah? Prove it."

"Luca" lets out a frustrated sigh and pulls out her phone. She shows Daniella their message history, specifically:

Daniella

just landed babe 😊

babe where are you?

babe, seriously where are you? still waiting at the airport! You're late, once again!

you said you were coming! wya?

can't wait anymore... taking an Uber home!

Luca

Here!

Daniella

lol, where are you?

Luca

i'm staring at you!

Daniella

no, a girl is looking at me weird

Daniella asks if she can scroll up through the messages. "Luca" nods. Daniella scrolls through earlier texts and continues reading.

Luca

all set? got everything? your boarding pass? your chargers? your socks?

Daniella

yep! all set!

Luca

taking off?

Daniella

yep!

Luca

see you soon! see you at the airport in 5 hours! love you!

"We keep saying babe... but like a bunch of friends call each other that... I guess she's telling the truth? No, it can't be... this is too far fetched. Then again... if Luca became a dog... " Daniella thinks.

"I am so sorry," says Daniella out loud. I kind like hit my head during the flight and then had this supermassive nightmare sequence so I'm just feeling a little -

"-Jumpy?" asks Luca. "Like you're not sure if you woke up or if you're still dreaming... kind of like at the end of Inception?"

Daniella nods. "Yeah. Exactly that."

Luca chuckles. "I guess we'll have to keep you awake for the rest of the day then? Just to be on the safe side?"

"I suppose so."

"Here, let me grab your stuff." Luca offers as she grabs her luggage and carry-on. She starts to head towards the exit. Daniella looks at her strangely. Luca, sensing that Daniella isn't following, looks back at her and smiles like a Barbie doll. It's an uncomfortably perfect pearly white smile.

"Come on, silly!"

Daniella snapping at her zone out laughs it off and slowly follows her from behind.

"She walks and behaves like the other Luca... but she isn't.... there's something about her that is innately off... The dog felt like Luca... but this? This isn't her... Let's see what happens next. Also, this feels very familiar." she wonders to herself as they get to the car.

"Go sit in the front, I'll load your stuff up," instructs Luca as she unlocks the car and begins to place Daniella's belongings in the car.

As Daniella sits in the front seat of the car, she begins to feel her eyes flutter. "OH NO. NOT THIS AGAIN." she exclaims to herself as she reaches for the glove compartment, where she is confident she left a bottle of breath mints for occasions where she had to remain awake while driving. She shoves about five of them into her mouth. The strong minty sensations take over her mouth, which makes her eyes tear up. She pants like a dog to relieve herself of the feeling, but her inhaling just makes it worse.

"Why the f**k did I do that?" Daniella asks herself as her decision continues to backfire in her mouth.

Luca enters the car and notices Daniella panting with her tongue out.

"You okay?" she asks Daniella.

Daniella begins to nod.

"You sure about that?"

Daniella shakes her head.

Luca reaches for her water bottle, which is sitting in the cupholder next to her. "Want some water?" Daniella stares at the bottle and hesitates to make a decision.

"I know I live with her in this reality, but like is she a sane roommate? Or like is she going to kidnap me... or poison me?" Daniella thinks as she stares at the bottle.

"I didn't spike the water, Daniella. And it's not vodka. It's just regular plain mineral water. Take the bottle." insists Luca, who gives the bottle to Daniella.

"Let's hope dying triggers another loop in the same way sleeping and getting knocked out does." Daniella silently prays. She drinks from the bottle... and it's just regular mineral water.

"Feel better?" asks Luca.

Daniella nods with water in her mouth. She swallows it.

"What happened?" Luca asks again.

"I swallowed a bunch of mints." answers Daniella.

"Why would you do that?"

"To stay awake."

"Oh. I suppose that's an unorthodox way to go about it."

Daniella is taken aback by the last sentence, specifically Luca's vocabulary. Luca, in Daniella's memory, is a very smart and educated person, but he never uses words like 'unorthodox'.

"My Luca would say something like 'oh that's weird', or 'that's super random', or 'that's just straight up chaotic. why would you do that Dani? The vernacular is off.... who is this person?" Daniella thinks to herself.

Luca starts the car and drives off. As an awkward silence ensues between the two, Daniella observes Luca's driving skills.

"This particular Luca is an enthusiastic driver. By that, I mean that her driving style reminds me of a teenager excitedly driving responsibly for the first time. My Luca, or the Luca I'm used to, is a deadpan driver. He drives for the sake of driving. This Luca is too gas pedal-happy. Maybe she's a fan of Mario Kart and The Fast and The Furious... who knows..." continues Daniella's internal monologue.

Luca's throat-clearing interrupts Daniella's thoughts. The latter turns to the former and they politely smile at one another.

"So..." starts Luca. "Tell me about this weird dream that has you all shooketh."

"Okay..." responds Daniella. The last time Daniella was honest with a Luca, he laughed at her. How honest should she be this time around?"

"I don't know... I just keep thinking I'm awake and then I'm not." Daniella decides to leave it at that for now.

"That's it? That's the dream?"

"Well no, not really."

"Go on."

"I keep trying to find you... you're a man in that dream. And then chaos ensues. One minute you're a man, the next minute you're a dog, or I'm with this other man, or I have to deal with Santa Claus' brother calling Santa a creep -"

"-Santa is a creep."

"What? You too? Is there some conspiracy theory that I missed the memo on?'

"No! No! Not at all. It's just that... I personally think that Santa is a creep... Maybe I repeated that too many times in my sleep and it sunk into your subconscious."

"That sounds really chaotic, and really messed up... Are you okay?." asks Daniella. Luca pauses and then continues talking.

"ANYWAYS, back to you. You said I was a man in your dream? Wait, is that the boyfriend you were referring to back at the airport?"

"Yeah...?"

"Wait, was I hot?"

"You were blonde."

"Ohhh. I always did imagine myself as a blonde man. Go on."

Daniella is about to open her mouth, but then Luca gets overly excited.

"WAIT!" she exclaims. "Who's the other man? Is he blonde too?"

"I think so? Like a dirty blonde?"

"That's sexy."

"He was really sexy. And so sweet too."

"What about me?"

"You were too! But like in a different way."

"How so?"

Daniella pauses and thinks. She knows the exact vibe male Luca gives off, but she's unable to properly articulate or describe the feeling. "I don't know..." starts Daniella. "It's hard to say. Hmmm... I'd say like... basic... but like in a cool way? Like you wear Adidas and you pride yourself on that. You're affectionate, but like with a lot of masculine energy, I guess... I don't know. It's hard to say."

Luca nods slowly. "So like between that guy... me... and the other sexy guy, who would you pick?"

"Geez, you make it seem like I'm in some kind of love triangle."

"Sounds like one to me."

"Yeah but this isn't a YA novel... or a NA novel for that matter!"

"Dude. Daniella. Babe. I know that. But like.. what if they were standing in front of you right now and you HAD to pick one of them? And you can't say both because we both know you don't have the emotional capacity for polyamorous relationships."

Daniella thinks for a moment and then opens her mouth. "I mean... in that specific scenario of the dream, I did meet the male version of you first.... and we were like college sweethearts and everything and it looks like we were together before I met the other guy so like... you I guess?"

"Are you sure? Like sure-sure? Or are you saying that because it's me?"

"No... it's just a loyalty thing I guess. I'm not gonna ditch the first person I met just because I met another guy."

"Even if the other guy was better?"

"I make it a point not to abandon things... or people just because. I'd be behaving like a kid ditching a newly bought doll for the first action figure I see," concludes Daniella. As the words leave her mouth, something feels off in the air.

Luca chuckles after Daniella finishes her sentence. "So for the last time, I need you to give me a clear yes or no.

"Yes! I'd pick the male Luca."

"So you made your choice then."

"What?"

"You're picking Luca over your husband then?"

"My.... what?" Daniella stares at her with a weird expression on her face. Luca raises her eyebrow at her.

"You're still obsessing over THAT guy? Is it not obvious what's going on? Have you not figured it out yet? Did you not take a hard look in the mirror? Oh wait, we both know how that worked out."

Daniella continues to look at her weirdly. Luca stares at her blankly and rolls her eyes.

Luca begins to stretch her neck. With seconds her skin proceeds to shed itself and peel off of her skin. The process is slow and creepy, but oddly satisfying at the same time. If only it wasn't happening in person. If it wasn't it would not as horrifying as it is at the moment.

"WHAT. THE. F**K?! GET ME OUT OF THIS F**KING CAR!"

Once the skin sheds off of her, whatever is underneath removes any skin that has laid itself on top of her. The being unveils herself. It is none other than Destiny the Child herself.

"Miss me?" she asks, forming the creepiest smile of all time. It's straight and fangy, like a nightmarish Cheshire Cat straight from the bowels of hell itself.

With her mouth agape, Daniella applies force into her vocal cords but nothing comes out. She literally vibrates with fear. After a few seconds, the delayed scream bursts out of her mouth. It is piercingly sonic.

As Daniella vocalizes her horror, Destiny stares at her with a deadpan face.

Once Daniella ceases her screaming, Destiny rolls her eyes and asks "Do you still want to get out of the car?"

Daniella, horrified into a silence, stares blankly at Destiny, who unlocks the door. Daniella, who was leaning on the door, immediately opens the door. Gravity, unfortunately, has frowned upon her position and yanks her into the ground like a rag doll.

Pretending to be shocked, Destiny leans over to inspect the scene of the accident. Daniella is out cold on the pavement. Destiny lets out a sigh of relief.

Daniella Spencer is not moving, and she is definitively not conscious.

"Dumb**s." concludes Destiny as she closes the door and drives off like the cold-hearted emotional gangster she is.

To be continued... 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Enjoy, Vote, Comment, Share, Follow, and Stay Tuned! Love hearing from you! Please comment!