Friday, June 24, 2011

Chapter 22

I quickly made it home, I wasn't quite sure how my friends would treat my grandparents.   They're not exactly nursing home material if you catch my drift.
Well, when I got there, I quickly found my grandparents on the love seat, and my friends were no where in sight.  It's almost like they're scared of old people!  Most likely they let them in (it's not like they have a key to our house), and 'convieniently had to leave'. 
"Hey, sorry if it took me a while.  I'm here now!  How are you guys?"
"I'm not sure.  We'll be good once we determine that you're good, Alex.  What's up with Marina?  You havin lady troubles?"
I hesitated.  I suppose that is what it is in a way, but really it's much more than that.
"Um-it's hard to explain.  I know where she lives, I think it would be best if we'd survey this at her place."
I know that sounded really weird and kinda creepy.  What kind of a guy brings their grandparents to any woman's house?  None that I know of.  But I can't exactly tell them the truth, that she is a sick vampire that changes into this beautiful girl and makes me fall for her, but only when I see her.  Yeah, they're gonna believe that.
They both looked confused, but I think they went with it because they trust me. "Okay, if that's what it takes, Alex.  We both want to help you, however it takes."
I am just a lucky guy that I wasn't being asked twenty questions!"

Then I heard the doorbell ring. "It's okay, I get it.  You guys can stay here."
But they followed after me.

I opened the door and a very strange looking man comes walking inside without an invitation.  He was dressed for a wedding, and a very formal weird wedding at that.  No one wears top hats or bow ties anymore.
But my grandparents' eyes expanded twenty fold.
"You're here!  What seems to be the problem, Wizard?"
Oh my good golly llama.  My grandparents know this guy?

"Hello, nice to see you again Grace and Joel.  But, I suppose that I shouldn't be so glad.  As you two know, I only come when there's trouble.  But you don't know me.  Hello Alex Evans, grandson of Grace and Joel, I am The Wizard.  I help people when in need under extreme circumstances.  Unfortuanatly, I've had to help your family all too often in my history."
I looked over questioningly at my grandparents, and grandpa just mouthed to me 'later'.
"We have to get over to 'Marina's' house immediatly.  I am sorry that I haven't come earlier, but I always have a very full schedule.  Now-we better get moving.  People's lives are on the line."
My mind was racing. 
Who is this strange man, and how does he know that 'Marina' isn't what she appears to be?  How does he know who I am?  What about my grandparents?  What could he have possibly done for them?
My thoughts were forced to stop, because we had to get in the car.  The conversation was non-existent.  It was too weird!

Soon enough we arrived at her place.  Now that I am not alone and it's not night, I contemplated her house.  She is clearly a dangerous woman-I mean, she is a vampire.  But what kind of a cold hearted soul has a house like this?  I guess it's not sunshine and flowers, but certainly a person like her would live in some sort of a dungeon mansion or something.  But, one thing was for sure, she is smart.  She could seduce me, and she has kept whatever it is under wraps that the...Wizard is talking about. And living in such a house if you're a wanted person (well, at least she should be) is smart.  She hides behind a normal house.  Well, I guess it's really not that normal.  Its roof and whole structure isn't really that of a normal house, but at least it didn't look like it belonged to a person like 'Marina'.
The Wizard looks over at us all, "I'll handle this.  Wait outside until I give you a signel."
We all gladly obeyed.

He went inside and she was just standing there as if she was expecting us.  She is exactly the kind of vampire that one would think of.  I can't even imagine her powers.  Because really, she must be telepathic or something to know that we were coming.  It was clear that she knew we were coming.
He went up to her and gave her this icy stare.  She frowned at him and went in to slap him.  But The Wizard was faster.  Once he looked away from her, her hand fell instantly down to her sides, and she did nothing.  The Wizard did something to her.  What that is, I have really no clue.
"You all may come in. Alex-what is it that you need to be here for?"
"Wh-what?  I don't know, I thought it was to take care of Marina."
I guess I really didn't know why I had to be here.  She is creepy and she tries to seduce me when I'm alone in a public place.  That's actually been a while.  Lately I've always been with someone.  But other than her being creepy and trying to make me fall for her, she hasn't done anything.
"Come on Alex, this isn't only about her."

I stared at her.  What was her real name?  Why did she even do this to me?  Why me?  Why ME?  It was strange how beautiful she was, and terrifying at the same time.
I wasn't scared of her lunging at me, because she seemed frozen in place.  She was just staring into the distance with a slightly mean expression.  But there was no way that she was moving.
And then I realized I zoned out.
"Wh-what?"
"Alex, focus.  Open up your mind."
Then I knew exactly what he was talking about.  I heard a little ringing in the back of my mind just like I remember hearing in my dreams.  I laughed to myself.
It can't be.
But I tuned in to that corner of my mind anyway.
Alex, go to the basement. NOW!
I was thinking something in my head, but it was the strangest thing.  I knew I didn't just think that!  I don't know how I could know that, because I'm always thinking random things in my head just like everyone else, but I did know.  But I knew that I could listen to the voice in my head.  I walked, trying to find a way down.  I looked over at everyone-The Wizard nodded.  So I knew that I could do what I was doing.  This Wizard guy knows too much.  He's giving me the creeps.

It wasn't too hard to see a way down.  Then I heard the voice again.
'Don't just go down to the basement.  You have to go two floors down!'
I quickly agreed.  I heard footsteps behind me and I saw that my grandparents were coming.  I could tell that The Wizard was already preoccupied with what's-her-name.  He was clearly making her not do anything, and she couldn't help it.
So I went to the elevator, and down all of us went.

What I saw before me was a scene out of a dream.  But I knew that I wasn't dreaming, I didn't feel my dream's aura.  Rachelle has taught me well.
I saw a broken toilet and dozens of empty toilet paper and its scraps with puddles under it all.  To the left of that was a crappy bed and pattern, and some really old paintings.
But then the being that I didn't want to believe was real started to walk toward me.

My grandma fainted.  Aparently the scene before her was too impossible, too weird, for her old, old heart.
My grandpa hung over her and tried to wake her up.  He put her head in his lap.  They were out of the way, though that is put cold heartedly, I know, but I had to be strong for grandma.  I am not going to faint, because that's kinda part of my history.

"Alex!  Took you long enough.  I told you I was real!"
Holy llama mama with pizza and sauce. Yes, the scene before me was so strange that my mind was making me think weird things. This is really real.  I know it is, this isn't a dream-yet it's still just as impossible.
"Alex, why do you look at me like that?  You should've expected it.  I warned you in your dreams!  Rachelle is real too, and she didn't seem like as much of a surprise as you!"
"Um-who what...when...how...?"
"Alex, chill.  I am your clone.  When you were born, Leonora-yeah that's the lady that claims that she's Leonora-took you and made me.  She put you back in bed before your parents had any clue!  I've been a prisoner here all of my life.  I am as close to you as possible.  You know that clones, supposedly, only have the same DNA as their doner?"
I just had the strength to nod.
"Yeah, well, all of my life, I have listened to your thoughts, and since we're almost the same, it's almost as if I've lived it.  I'm you, Alex.  I feel the same way as you do in everything.  The only reason I'm not as shocked as you is because I am in tune with you.  I've had the time to learn to read your thoughts, just since I have the memory that I am a clone and that you were out there-an exact copy of me, or more precisely, me to you."
I was able to spit out a question. "But how were you able to contact me in dreams?"
"Well, I can read your thoughts and we have the ability to speak through them just like in dreams.  But we'll 'talk' about that later.  My theory is that since we have the same genetic makeup, and as long as we sleep at the same time-I can come into your dreams.  We're so alike that our brain waves are almost in tune.  A lot of the times I'm just the observer in your dreams.  But when you became interested in dreams, so did I, so I was able to teach myself to appear in them.  I am you in your dreams, you are me."
I was starting to feel a little faint, but I stood my ground.  That won't happen again.
"But Rachelle-"
"Surely you know by now that you and Rachelle have SO much in common.  It's the same as with us-you have such a similar brain wavelength that your dreams are able to coincide.  It's a miracle, really."

Then a girl got up.  I was astounded to see who that girl was.
"Hey Alex, it's been a long time.  I was brought here by Leonora some months ago."
My mouth fell open.  But Marina is Leonora...
"You see, Alex, for some reason Leonora became interested in you being intersted in me, so she brought me here and prisoned me up with Alex here.  When we met, she looked me up and down surveying my whole body.  I thought she was a lesbian, but really she was copying me.  Somehow, she was able to pose as me.  She has incredible powers, Alex.  I don't know her motives.  After all, we have been here prisoned.  She is a smart woman.  It has been impossible for us to escape.  Behind these walls and floors is pure concrete all around.  Being two floors underground, it's pretty much impossible for us to leave.  That elevator only comes down twice a day to give us food.  And it's specifically programmed to only go down, unless Leonora programs it otherwise."
I look wide-eyed at her. That doesn't mean that we're stuck down here, right?
She could tell that I was worried, "oh, but don't worry, we'll be able to leave soon enough."
She looked at Alex with big eyes.
"With Leonora being how she is right now, she can't stop the elevator from letting us go up."
Then Alex looks at me. "Alex, I think that Leonora wanted Marina and I to be in a relationship for some reason.  She put down a double bed down here and prisoned us together.  It was hard at first, trust me, but when you only have one person to talk to, things happen if you know what I mean."
Oh my llama...my clone is in a relationship with Marina!
'Yup, that's right Alex.  We have been going out for a while now.  You wouldn't believe what we've done down here...we've been half insane.  It's so nice that you guys have finally arrived to save us!'
"Let's get going-I can't wait to see the sunshine."

We made it upstairs, and Leonora was still giving that blank eyed mean stare into space.
"Ah, so I see you have all figured it out.  Glad to see that everything is working out!  Let's get out of here."
Then I speak up, "But what about Leonora..."
"I can't do anything to her, Alex.  It's not in my power."
My shoulders slumped.  I really wanted him to kill her-why wouldn't he be able to?  He has some power, so couldn't he kill her instantly?  But I figured he must have a reason for not doing so.  He has his reasons, and he knows so much.  I can't even begin to imagine his immense knowledge.
"You guys can go now.  I will not be leaving with you."
We all go without asking him anything.  What a strange, strange man.

We all go outside, other me and Marina in front.
"So, where do you and Alex plan on going?"
You wouldn't be able to imagine how weird it was to see me.  It wasn't a reflection, but exactly me.  Nothing like my clone looked any different.  It gave me chills every time I glanced at him, just knowing that he was there.
Marina spoke for them both, "Oh, we'll go to my friends' house temporarily.  We'll figure something out later."
And then we left, parting ways.  I was parting ways with my clone!  My clone.

When we arrived home, my grandparents could finally explain this to me.  I was glad that they didn't overly mention our previous scene because I just wanted to hear what they had to say!
"I'm sorry that we didn't tell you earlier.  You wouldn't have believed us if we told you!  But now, I'm sure that you will."
Grandma told me this long story of how she was born in another universe, and came back to this universe only as a coincidence because she fell for my grandpa.  He was there to learn a lesson-that he shouldn't be a lady's man anymore.  And, it worked and by chance she arrived back.  The Wizard was the one that set all of this up.  Then they mentioned how they and my uncle Otto were turned into kids at heart by Leonora, and were later saved by The Wizard.  That is when my mother fell for my dad-when uncle Otto was a 'kid'!
Then my grandpa spoke up, "and we're in the nursing home not because of any brain scan...we told someone once our situation with all of this stuff because we thought that she would listen.  We were drunk at the time, not thinking clearly.  She turned us in...long story short, we're in the nursing home because they think we're insane."
It all makes sense now!!

My brain was still processing the information, when I felt a tingle in the back of my mind.  I focused on the tingle in the back of my mind.
'I'm sorry that it had to be this way, Alex.  I didn't mean to scare you like that!  I tried to warn you in your dreams, but I knew it would be futile because I am you, and I knew you wouldn't believe me.  But I did it anyways!  But I'm sort of glad that Leonora did that to you.  Otherwise, I would still be a prisoner. You there?'
Yeah, I'm there.  I wish I could know how it's possible...
'I know, Alex it's all very strange.  Leonora is a very smart woman.  I don't know how she does it, but there it is!'
What are you going to do now that you're free?
'Well, I figured I could talk to your uncle Otto to get a little money, and I know that you'll be okay with that.  Marina and I will have to go somewhere-hide, we can't let Leonora find us.  There is no way that we are going back there again!'
I hear ya.
'By the way, call me Xander.  It would be weird for you to call me Alex...But I want you to know that I will always keep mental contact with you.  We won't ever be able to be seen together, people could think that we're criminals cleverly disguised or something.  Who knows what people would think.'

I tried to process the information of the day.  It was quite challenging-it was almost as if I read a book.  It didn't feel like it really happened.  Only through time will I be able to truly accept this...

2 comments:

  1. Hi, My friend is a Lucid dreamer. She needs help trying to control it. The websites we go on are confusing. Can you give my friend help? Please? Call me Tess and my friend Katie

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  2. Tess here! Umm so if you could help... please maybe wright a note at the top of your next story. Katie really wants to learn. I found your story and told katie about it. She wants to figure this all out. After all, she is like Alex

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