"Where is the knife?" I asked quietly.
He didn't answer right away, as if he was considering whether to trust me.
"In my pocket," he finally muttered.
"Give it to me," I demanded.
Robert silently pulled out the knife and handed it to me. His hands were shaking slightly, and for a moment it seemed like he didn't want to let go, as if it was the only thing keeping him afloat.
I took the knife carefully, trying not to look at his face, but I felt his gaze burning into me. The blade folded with a soft click, and I put the knife in my pocket.
"Have you calmed down?" I asked, trying not to betray my concern in my voice.
"Stop it," he said hoarsely, turning away.
There was so much pain and weariness in that simple phrase that I felt sorry for him. Robert, always so strong and stubborn, now seemed almost broken.
"Robert," I said softly, taking a step towards him.
"Don't," he raised his hand, as if trying to shield himself. "Don't pretend that everything is okay."
"I'm not pretending," I answered honestly.
He turned to me and I saw a mixture of anger and despair in his eyes.
"Then tell me: why all this? Why are we here? Why are we trying to find answers when there are none?"
His words hit me harder than I expected. I wanted to respond, to say something reassuring, but I realized I couldn't. I didn't know why we were here, I didn't know how this would end.
"I just want you to be safe," I said quietly.
Robert jerked out of my grip, took a step back, and glared at me, full of fury and pain.
"Safe?" he whispered, his voice shaking with suppressed emotion. "We're lost, Anton. We're trapped, and no one's coming for us.
I was about to answer, but he continued, raising his voice as if he could no longer restrain himself:
"No one but your dead wife!" he cried out in disgust, his face twisted into a grimace of pain.
These words hit me like a slap in the face. Everything inside froze.
"Robert..." I began, but he didn't let me finish.
"What? Are you going to tell me I'm wrong?" he shouted, taking a step towards me. "You still keep her here, between us! This... this damn wife is you, it's your fault that she's still alive in your head!"
His voice was breaking, anger, hurt, and something akin to despair all mixed up in it. I stood there silently, trying to find words that would calm him down. But in that moment I knew: he wasn't just talking about her, he was talking about everything that had happened between us.
"It's not fair," I said finally, trying to keep my voice steady. "I'm here. With you. Isn't that enough?"
Robert grinned, but there was no joy in his grin.
"To say that you are here, Anton, does not mean to be here. You are always somewhere there, in the past. Your heart... it is still in her hands."
"That's not true," I objected, although inside I felt that he was partly right.
"Then prove it," he said quietly, looking straight into her eyes. "Prove that she is not between us."
I came closer to him without looking away.
"I've already chosen you, Robert," I said, and my voice sounded as if the words had been torn from the depths of my soul. "Not her. You."
His face softened, but his gaze remained heavy.
"Then let her go, Anton," he whispered. "For real."
The words hung in the air like lightning, tearing through the silence. We were standing face to face, on the brink of something momentous, something that would determine the entire future.
I stepped forward and hugged him, feeling his tense body gradually relax.
"You're right," I said. "She's the past. You're my present."
Robert didn't answer. We were kneeling, pressed close together, looking up at where a bluish line was sliding across the endless darkness of the sky. It moved slowly, as if on purpose, so that we could see it.
"The flight of your dead wife's petty soul," Robert whispered, his voice a mixture of bitterness and strange irony.
I flinched, but didn't respond. That line seemed to really drag the past down with it, all the memories I'd tried so desperately to let go of. Robert, always sharp-tongued, had simply voiced what hung between us.
"Do you think this is a sign?" he asked after a moment, his voice softer, almost thoughtful.
"I don't know," I answered honestly.
The bluish line gradually faded, dissolving into the sky's blackness. We were silent, unable to tear our eyes away, as if this was the last piece of the past, leaving forever.
"You loved her," Robert said without looking at me.
I turned to him, wanted to say something, but he raised his hand, silencing me.
"You loved her, and that's okay," he continued. "But she's not here anymore, Anton. And I am."
His words sounded simple, but they contained the whole meaning of our struggle. He pulled me to the present, to life, to myself.
"You're right," I said quietly.
Robert looked at me, his eyes glowing softly, reflecting the glimmer of a distant line that was disappearing over the horizon. And suddenly we both shouted in unison:
"Water! There is water!"
The glowing lights ahead suddenly became clear, revealing what had at first seemed like a mirage. Robert, ahead of me, rushed forward, his footsteps echoing in the silence around us. I ran after him.
We emerged from the shadow of the tall rock formation and found ourselves in front of a vast expanse of water surrounded by glowing boulders. The water shimmered softly, as if it were reflecting something unearthly.
Robert fell to his knees at the very shore, scooped up water with his palms and greedily drank it. I wanted to stop him, but it was too late. He drank, and then raised his head to me:
"She's real!"
I leaned forward carefully, letting the cold drops trickle down my fingers. It was indeed water - alive, cool, scaldingly refreshing. I brought it to my mouth and took a small sip. A long-awaited sense of relief spread through me.
"We're saved," Robert whispered, leaning back, his face relaxed for the first time in a long time.
I looked around. The strange glowing darkness was still there, but it seemed less threatening now.
"What do you think this place is?" I asked, taking another sip of water.
"I don't know," he replied, raising his eyes to the strange sky. "But as long as we're alive, it doesn't matter so much."
I sat down next to him, feeling my heart slow for the first time in a long time. We sat there in a strange silence, when suddenly I heard a faint thump. It was the sound of footsteps, faint, barely audible, but definitely real. Robert sat still for a moment, listening. His gaze was focused, like an animal that has caught the scent of prey.
"Did you hear?" he asked quietly, his voice tense as a string.
I nodded, not taking my eyes off the darkness that surrounded us. The footsteps continued, and gradually grew louder. Robert jumped up from his seat and wordlessly walked in the direction of the sound. I followed him without thinking. We ran, and his steps were three steps faster than mine. The noise grew louder, and I realized: we were not alone.
Suddenly the footsteps ahead stopped. Robert and I stopped. There was only our breathing and the rustle of our steps in the silence. A few seconds later they came again, hurried, as if someone was trying to escape from us.
"Catch up!" I shouted, but Robert was already ahead.
We raced down the narrow passage, and soon a pair of silhouettes appeared in front of us. Two people, running just like us. One was much taller than the other, and even though they were moving in the same direction, everything seemed strange. The tall man was pulling the shorter one, who was resisting. I slowed down, looking at them in confusion.
At that moment they turned around. My gaze slid over their faces, and my heart sank: it was us, Robert and I. Or rather, it was their reflections. The one below was my double, and the one who was pulling him was Robert. I froze, not knowing what to think. Robert, who was in front of me, obviously froze too, seeing his double.
"D-d-damn it!" his double screamed and ran away.
The real Robert immediately ran after him. I stood there, unable to believe what was happening. My double remained standing, and his gaze met mine. He took a step toward me, trying to catch my hand.
"What do you want?!" I recoiled, feeling anxiety creeping up on me.
He silently extended his hand, then said something sharply that I did not understand, and suddenly rushed towards Robert. The moment Robert was already a few steps further, the double rushed after him.
I stood there, completely dumbfounded. Not ten seconds had passed before I heard the sounds of a struggle. Muffled groans, heavy breathing, and a crash echoing off the walls. The whirlwind of sounds became unbearable, and suddenly I saw Robert. He was sitting by a yellowish, shimmering column, clutching his throat, his face contorted in pain. I quickly ran to him.
"Robert!" I sat down abruptly next to him.
He didn't answer, just choked, coughing, trying to speak, but only muffled sounds came out of his throat. I felt something cold touch my leg. A knife. It was lying on the floor, slightly pressed against the object I had accidentally touched. I bent down and picked it up. The tip was covered in something sticky, dark. I shuddered at what it could be.
Robert finally opened his eyes, his gaze clouded. He continued massaging his throat and, barely breathing, looked at me with such a pleading look in his eyes that I felt a cold fear.
"It's... it's him," he whispered, breathing out the words with difficulty. "He... He was me. And now he's going to... kill me."
I froze. Understanding washed over me like a wave. I looked at the knife in my hand. In that moment, everything around me became real, solid, and impossible. The one running away was not just my double. It was someone I could become.
I struggled to hold Robert, who began coughing again, but this time his breathing was ragged and his eyes were dull, like those of a man about to faint. He leaned heavily on me, barely able to stand, and I felt his body tremble.
"He... he was choking me..." he barely said, trying to catch his breath.
"What happened?" I asked, looking at him with concern. I knew his condition was getting worse, but I didn't know how serious it was.
"I didn't want to!" His voice was hoarse, but there was a sense of mad confusion in it. "I thought it was some kind of ghost, a trick... I just wanted to see it up close, to touch it..."
Robert coughed again, his chest shaking with the effort. I hurried to catch him as he suddenly stood up and hunched over, walking toward me. He continued to stare into space, his eyes unfocused.
He stood there for a long time, looking into my face with glassy eyes, as if trying to understand who I was, what was happening. Then, as if unable to bear the tension, he shouted:
"Who are you?! Who are you?!"
I grabbed his arm, trying to hold him back. At that moment, his muscles tensed and we found ourselves in a struggle. He tried to break free, and when that didn't work, he started biting. I pushed him away with force and hit him, he fell to his knees.
"Get a grip on yourself, you wimp, you weakling!!!" I shouted, feeling all my resolve melting under the influence of his despair.
I was still holding him, and his body gradually relaxed. He lowered his head, not meeting my gaze.
"Let's get out of here... let's run," he muttered, not looking at me, his voice was muffled and weak.
"We'll go now. Now! But hold on, Robert! Keep your head up!" I said, trying to speak calmly, although I myself understood that the situation was not so harmless. "Tell me how it was, but calmly, you understand?"
He took a deep breath, turning his head heavily towards me as if all his strength had disappeared.
"I ran after him, faster than he did, caught up with him here... grabbed him by the back of the shirt, and then he grabbed me by the throat. Started choking me and... and..."
"Next!" I raised my voice a little, feeling panic begin to fill me again.
"I hit…" Robert swallowed, his voice shaking with tension.
"With a knife?" I asked, not believing what I was hearing.
"Yes. He fell, then you ran up and picked him up..." Robert interrupted himself, looking at me with an expression as if he himself did not know what was happening. "You! You ran up, picked him up and went there." He pointed his hand to the side, into the shadow where we had just been standing. "And then... then you came again, but without him..."
I froze, not believing his words.
"It wasn't me, it was that..." I started, but I realized that now was not the time for explanations. "Get up! How are you feeling? Can you walk?"
Robert moved towards me, his movements uncertain.
"I can... Yes, I can," he said, despite the obvious tension in his voice.
He gasped for air, as if his whole body was gripped by some invisible pain.
"It's pressing..." he said quietly, clearly unable to hide his condition.
I immediately went over and examined his neck. Fingerprints were clearly visible on the skin, deep and painful. I looked at him and suddenly, as if in a nightmare, I thought: "Maybe this is a dream?" But as soon as this thought occurred to me, I realized - this is not a dream.
I wiped the blood off the knife and ran it across my thigh, pressing. The pain was sharp, and I immediately took the knife away. No, this was not a dream. This whole reality was cruel and incomprehensible.
"It's getting dark..." Robert said, barely audible.
I looked up and really saw how the fire above us was gradually fading, as if some mysterious lights were being drawn to the horizon. But it was strange - in the depths of the column near which we were standing, thickening honey lights were flickering. This glow, seething, but at the same time as if locked behind a glass shell, for some reason seemed to me to be a fire raging behind an invisible barrier.
"Let's go!" I called, feeling dizzy, as if a weight had been lifted from my feet. My legs felt unreliable, as if they had sunk into the ground. And suddenly I heard Robert's hoarse voice:
"I have no strength... Anton..." his words merged with the echo.
At that moment it became clear to me: we were on the edge. And we ran. The steps behind us grew faster. My ears were ringing, and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. Robert, clutching my hand tightly, turned around. I followed his example. In the darkness, dimly lit only by our bodies, I saw two people. Before I saw their faces, a terrible thought flashed through my mind: I realized that I would see ourselves.
"No, it can't be," I thought, but it was too late.
I saw my double, his face distorted and full of fear, rushing after Robert, and the real Robert, his face full of terror and determination, ran headlong away. It all happened with incredible speed. My head flashed by in a blinding flash.
"Stop! STOP!!!" I shouted, holding out my hand, trying to stop the double.
But he dodged, his body seemed to melt into the darkness, and he disappeared in the direction Robert had run. I froze, looking at the second man, the one who had been standing just like me at the beginning of this scene. I saw his hands shaking, his gaze full of confusion. At that moment, I realized: this is not just duplication. This is some kind of parallel reality, where we experience the same moments, but with a change of roles.
My thoughts sharpened, and I immediately remembered Robert. I rushed after him, not thinking what was happening, not feeling anything except the will to find him.
As I reached them, the image from my memory unfolded before me. Robert and his pursuer were lying at the foot of the column. They were locked in a grimace. My double was lying next to him, his face twisted in agony, blood soaking his shirt, slowly spreading across the floor. I ran, not thinking about what to do. Only one instinct guided me.
I lifted Robert like a feather, feeling his body hanging heavily. A sharp stab of pain shot through me as the blood continued to soak through his shirt and spill onto my hands. I held him close, as if to hold on to his life.
"Robert, hold on!" I shouted, but I didn't even know if I was talking to myself or to him.
He was unconscious, and his blood, hot and sticky, ran down my arms, burning my skin. I carried him as best I could, feeling his body lose more and more rigidity. With every step I felt like I was saving him, that if I could just reach safety, if I could just get him out of here, everything would be okay. I couldn't let him die. But my legs were giving way, and with every step I felt my strength draining away.
The tramp that had been behind me gradually disappeared. The silence was deafening. I ran on, but at some point my legs gave way. I couldn't move. Only with difficulty did I lower him, Robert's limp body, at the foot of the column. My strength was gone, but I still couldn't believe that all this was happening. I began to look around, but there was only darkness around.
Robert showed no signs of life. The blood had stopped flowing, but he wasn't breathing. I tore his shirt off, tearing it with my hands, trying to bandage it. My hands were shaking, not obeying me. The shirt didn't want to tear, and every moment seemed like an eternity. I knew that if I didn't bandage it, if I didn't stop his internal bleeding, his chances of survival would be minimal.
I felt the edge of the cloth and pulled the knot tight, but it was loose. Robert still hadn't moved. My heart was pounding and I felt the world around me blur.
I sat next to Robert, his body lying lifeless on the cold floor. He was silent, his eyes closed, and it seemed like the world around us had become just as dead. I pressed my face against his chest, hoping to hear any breathing. The silence was deafening. I listened, pressing my ear to his naked body, but nothing. No, there was no sign of life. I tried again, pressing my ear to his chest again, still nothing.
Panic slowly began to take hold of me. I picked him up, trying to bring some activity back into his body, shook him by the shoulders, but his head fell limply to the side. It was so scary - he didn't move, didn't react.
"Robert... Robert!" I barely managed to whisper, but the only answer was his stillness.
I lowered him back to the floor, cupping his temples in my hands. He was cold. Goddamn it, he was so cold. I felt the world around me shrink. My head, my thoughts... everything seemed to dissolve in this sensation.
I sat down next to him, resting my chin on my hands, desperately trying to keep my sanity. The glowing vault above us was fading. Its purple glow was barely noticeable, dim, like a dead star that no longer shines, but only gradually fades. The walls of the columns, everything around us, were slowly growing darker.
The world around me seemed to be absorbing this light, and I didn't know how long I sat there, not knowing what to do. But suddenly I heard a sound, even, monotonous. I couldn't understand what it was, I didn't pay attention to it, but it was insistent, like something inevitable that was approaching.
And then something cold touched my leg. I looked up, taken aback by the unexpectedness. Was it... water? Yes, water, slowly rising across the floor. It filled the hollows and moved forward, in a quiet but inexorable movement. I was completely stupefied, just watching this winding strip of water keep coming, it had already covered my legs. I felt it gradually flooding everything around me.
I wanted to lift Robert up to keep the water from drowning him, but I couldn't. I couldn't move. Something inside me froze, my whole body was paralyzed with fear and despair. The water was slowly creeping up on his body, and my hands couldn't do a single thing. I sat motionless, as if in a dream, consumed by an inexpressible horror.
Slowly swallowing the floor, the water reached his chest. I saw how the darkening light from the column became even dimmer, how everything around seemed to disappear in this gray, dead stream. I felt a growing heaviness in my chest. My heart was breaking again. An unbearable weight fell upon me, squeezing me with every second.
Suddenly, as if death itself had come for me, a black, icy whirlpool grabbed me. It tore me from my place, as if the earth itself was taking me, pulling me into the abyss. I tried to resist, but my strength left me. The waves of water swallowed everything. I sank into darkness, into emptiness. And everything disappeared.
I don't remember anything else.