Tuesday came and went like any other day. You'd think that I went around crying and foretelling to everyone at work about my tragic incident, and the loss of my dear roommate? Well I didn't.
Supernatural things like that wasn't so easy to say out loud. If one was not careful, the psychiatric home would become theirs more instant than they could imagine, and what good would that for me?
Time was rather fast. I paid less attention to the annoying customers that stopped by, that my boss would have noticed. For my own good, he was absent that day. Other coworkers did ask if I was alright.
Well, was I alright?
Soon, night time came, and I was home. Back to the place that didn't feel like home anymore. I'd lost whatever comfort I used to enjoy. Now my home was a house of horror. What bothered me the most was not how alone I now felt without my roommate. Rather, it was about my evil twin. I'd try to tell myself that it had just been a nightmare. But as my eyes glanced past what used to be a house for Sam triple zero eight, the somber thought soon transformed to reality. My roommate had been murdered by my evil twin.
Lord gracious. I was running demented.
****
Day time was the only moment worth waiting for. You feel refreshed, well braced and full of life. The only thing that got me excited for the night was because you had that special hour for relaxing. It always seemed to keep my sanity in check.
Sleep.
That night, I would not be getting any. My eyes would be wide opened. The only way evil me could get to me, was through my sleep. On my phone, the time was only past seven.
Only eleven hours and about thirty minutes left. True, others would had put on them their armour of bravery and fought whatever demon that stood in their way.
Fun fact: I wasn't one of those people.
I was a simple coward. Coward Elmer Bernstein. The time on my phone went by pretty fast. It was seven thirty already, and after two hours, it was seven thirty seven.
Great!
He was probably laughing at me already, watching me wallowing in my misery. My house used to be quiet on all occasions; Christmas, thanksgiving, mother's day, father's day, new year, another mother's day, every other something's day, another mother's day and two other mother's day(there are so many celebration of mother's day these days). All of those occasions and you wouldn't even hear the tiniest utter of noise. At least it used to be quiet because I and all my previous Sams used to very private about our lives. But now, it was dead silent, as a grave yard used to be. It was a graveyard, harboring the body of a dead partner.
The lights I had carefully turned on suddenly went off. It rarely happened. I hated the dark as much as I hated humans—no. I hated the dark more.
As I became lost in my thoughts, my eyes caught an image of a shadow just at the doorstep. Goosebumps formed all over my body as darkness gathered in my eyes, and filled it. This deep sense of uneasiness held me rigid as my mind searched far beyond it's capability, what was truly happening in my life. The figure was standing there, waiting.
I was frowning with worry, my heart, hampering in my own chest when the shadowed silhouette ran off and before my eyes, disappeared. That was probably the exact time to run out and scream for help.
I had unleashed a demon and it was lurking around my own house, ready to kill me as it did my roommate.
But I laid still on the bed, waiting for another strange phenomenal to occur. Time was wicked and partly evil. That, I knew for sure. After what had seemed like ten hours, not even twenty minutes had passed.
My eyes were heavy already and as time plotted against me, his fellow brethren, sleep joined in as well.
I was no weakling. A novel I read had mentioned that sleep and time and other forces as such, had all been ruled and controlled by powerful deities. One could even call them gods. But we were in charge. I owned my body and mind, so there was no way I would give in so easily. So what if I didn't sleep for that night? I wouldn't die. I was no weakling at all.
I would like to tell you that I wore my garment of courage and bravery, and didn't sleep.
I would like to tell you so.
****
It was as if the unknown that was in charge of my hellish nightmare had really studied me so carefully. Evil, if you asked me.
I was back to my torture, and what made it worst, was that the whole scene I'd experienced the night before, happened all over again. She was there, my Rainha. And my 'evil' me. They were hugging again, even more passionate than the night before. "My Rainha," I wished my voice was louder. Just enough for her to hear me. To see me.
The intense red eyes of my evil self glanced at me, and my heart seized for a minute. I was standing behind, watching them both in my front as they shared a happy reunion. His face was facing me, while my Rainha turned her back at me. His gaze rose up and ominous looking eyes fixed at mine. I thought I'd lost it when I saw him starting to smile. It was a strange feeling, watching yourself smile to you, while you somehow managed a straight face.
Then the scene changed. I was in the midst of several hundreds of people. Like a concert.
There was a well lit stage, and a wide number of audience cheering and screaming wildly. I wondered what was truly happening, until I realized I was up on the stage. The only noise that filled my ears and soon began to irritate me, was the vociferous screams of the audience. They weren't listening to any song, or watching anything amusing. I was the only one up on the stage.
What was so amusing to them? I didn't know.
Then I saw her. My wife, walking right towards me. Unfortunately, I was robbed off the opportunity to figure out what was indeed happening, because the scene before me changed again.
Now I was at work. It was closing hour already and I was excited to leave. It was like I was watching a movie at first, then, I suddenly became the lead role in the movie, acting towards all of my actions like I was indeed following a script.
There was a glass sliding door that guarded the entrance of the Cafe, and I was making my way out when this strange woman stopped me. She was dark skinned, bald and was...naked. Completely naked with nothing on, I was tempted to survey my eyes on more parts of her body than her extremely huge feet and smooth skin. It was hard to miss, as I could immediately tell from the first glance something was off about her. I had to fight the desirous will to take my eyes off her huge protruding breasts lustfully glaring at me. Or was I the one lustfully staring?
"Mr Bernstein," she said, and I sluggishly brought my gaze towards her face. I was embarrassed, but she was most definitely a goddess. A beautiful sexy one at that. "You have crossed your boundaries." She said, her tone cold and irritated. When I stared closely, I noticed two large horns slightly peeping from her head.
"Uh," I thought of the next smart thing to say, commanding my eyes from indeed crossing my boundaries. "I, I am," I was saying when my eyes found it's way back to her bare body. "Uh, sorry..." My voice faltered but my eyes still maintained a focused direction. What was that strange feeling?
"No. Not the staring part." She frowned, noticing I was still surveying her nakedness.
"Huh?" I heard her clearly, just not enough to understand where she was heading to. "What did I do?" I was never like that to women ... Vulnerable. Not even at the nude of my wife. And Lord knows she is beautiful.
"What exactly are you doing here?" She asked, eyes studying me like I was a difficult calculus problem.
I frowned, "here? I work here."
"No, you do not. Not at this hour, you don't."
"But-"
"Leave. And never return." She ordered, and I wished I knew exactly what she was talking about.
"How do you mean-"
"This discussion is over. Show your face here again, and I'll be sure to serve you well." She said, clearly making her point that she was angry. "Your punishment meal."
And with that, the scene changed yet again. My mind was still trying to uncover the strangeness I'd just encountered when he appeared directly opposite me. He was on a deep sunglass now, and his hair had been styled to look even more attractive than before. He was exactly what a handsome 'me' would had looked like.
"Hello," he smiled, a simple and harmless one I presumed. The corners of his lips slightly curved upward, giving birth to a crinkled dimples that glorified his handsome face more.
"Why have you taken my Rainha from me!" I was angry, and at the same time, terrified. Standing face to face was not as scaring as you would have imagined. At least when they were not attacking, I suppose. "Why did you kill my roommate?"
"Oh dear," he groaned, as if disgusted by my voice. We sounded almost the same, except he added a bit of rogue muffled to a low tone. It did fit him, making him sound and look cool. Or, as the kids said these days, 'chill'. "I, I'm nothing but a mere reflection of you. Deep down, you can be me. You're always me."
I was enraged, furious as he spoke. I didn't even know why. He was calm and even spoke nicely. I had invoked him in the first place. It was my fault Sam triple zero eight had lost his life. My foolishness had caused it. "I am not you. I would never have killed my only roommate."
"Perhaps you wouldn't. Listen to me," my eyes carefully observed as his hands stretched forward and rested on my shoulders. I was still so furious, but I couldn't show it. Or rather, I wouldn't. The whole vicinity turned to darkness. It was the type that blinded your eyes, leaving you with nothing to see. Close your eyes tight in a silent room, and imagine the endless blackout you'd see. Now, put yourself inside your vision. Then maybe, you should be able to imagine at least ten percent of what I saw. The dark was not a place one should ever be in. It brought an excruciating headache and a numbness to all the bones in my body.
"Stop." I couldn't even hear the sound of my own voice, but I knew I'd uttered something. It was too painful to bear, "please. Please, stop!"
I wanted him to stop, to take away all of the afflicting agony. But he told me to listen. He was speaking to me. It was painful and terrifying, but I could hear him now. I could hear everything loud and clear.
For a brief summary; he was going to kill me, my family, and until he does so, he would never leave me be. I'd unleashed terror into my own life, as well as my family's.
I opened my eyes back to reality. My alarm was crying already, announcing it was now time for work. I'd slept for what seemed like twenty minutes, and now it was morning already.
"What have I done?" That was the only question that repeatedly popped up in my head. "What have I done?"
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