More Than One: A Novel (31 page)

Chapter Twenty Six

Bonus Alternate Ending

He grabbed my hand and led me back to the car. He came around, got in on his side and before he turned the car on, he looked at me. The look actually scared me; it was very sinister. All the excitement was drained from the air and was replaced with one of melancholy.

He finally started the car and turned the opposite direction from where we came from. I figured he knew a short cut since he knew the town so well; so I didn’t question it. We went further out and the lights started to disappear behind us. The area started to look old, ancient, and rundown. I gazed out the window and we were closing in on a heavily wooded area. The amazement I felt was now replaced with an eerie feeling in the bottom of my stomach.

              “Where are we?” I asked.

              He didn't answer. He just kept looking forward, his face expressionless.

              “Michael, where are we going?” I asked again.

              “Just relax Jamie. I'm taking you to another one of my favorite spots. It’s on the way,” he said with a smirk.

              I leaned back in my seat and held myself. Something was wrong. I started to regret coming out with him tonight. This trip wasn't worth the feeling I had swimming around in my stomach. I sat in silence as we took turn after turn down some old, dusty road. Finally, we came to a stop in front of a worn out looking building. It was in the middle of a clearing with withered up trees in the distance. This looked like a scene from a horror movie and I didn't want to be here.

              “Why are we stopping here?” I said shaking.

              “Like I said, this is my favorite spot,” he said opening his door. “Get out of the car.”

              “I don't want to. Can you please take me back to Ash's place?”

              “Can you please take me back to Ash's place,” he said in a whiny voice, mimicking me. “Get out of the car,” he yelled.

              I jumped and unlocked my seat belt. He was waiting for me to open the door. He just turned into some monster right in front of me. I thought I was seeing another side of him that was nice and sweet, instead it was a front for the bully he really was. I wondered what he was going to do to me. I opened the door and slowly got out of the car.

              He came around, grabbed my arm, and pulled me toward the abandoned building. I wanted to cry. I thought my nightmares were over and now it was starting again with the man I thought loved me.

              He was hurting my arm as he gripped it tighter and tighter. I looked around to scope out my surrounding. There was nothing here, no houses, stores, anything. If I screamed, no one would hear me. We got to the door of the building, and he knocked twice. I wondered who was in there waiting on us.

              The door finally opened, but there was no one there. He pulled me through and pushed me to the ground. I looked around at what seemed like some old factory. There was rusted machinery in the corner and an assembly line in the middle of the place. There were stairs that led to an upstairs office; I could see the window that was covered over by sheets.

              Michael was standing over me with his arms folded across his chest. He didn't even look like the guy he was in Georgia or the one that just showed me around town. He looked like some old man with serious psychological issues. I tried to stand up, but he took his foot and pushed me back down.

              “Michael, why are you doing this to me? What have I ever done to you?” I asked with tears streaming down my face.

              “It's not what you did to me, it's what you, your family, and your friend’s family did to her,” he said pointing in the direction of the door.

              I gasped as Elizabeth came into full view. She was standing there with a maniacal look on her face. I scrabbled backwards as she walked forward to stand over me. I knew this was going to be the end. My dream was actually coming true. I couldn't believe this was happening.

              “I don't understand. What did I do to you?” I said, crying harder.

              “Year after year I had to sit in that room, being held hostage. Day after day, they poked and prodded me with needles trying to find a cure for their precious Ash. No one cared about how I felt, what was going on in my life, they just used me,” she said.

              “Why didn't you just run away? Why didn't you just leave and not let them do that to you?” I asked.

              “Because, I knew I would die without the cure. I had to stay until they came up with a way for me to live.”

              “But what does that have to do with me? You're cured now, you can go live a normal life,” I said scooting back some more.

              She smiled and tilted her head to the side.

              “There is no way they are going to let me go. They just said that to make poor little Jamie feel better, but you know as well as I do that they can't afford to let me leave. They want to keep me here so they can continue to study me. This was never about me, it was about Ash and his well being,” she said.

              I knew she was right. I already had a feeling that Dr. Dean wasn't going to let go of her so easily. What if something else came up and Ash was in danger of dying again? They wouldn't have any way of knowing if she wasn't around.

              I looked at Michael who was still standing guard with his arms crossed.

              “Michael, where do you fit in all of this? I thought you loved me.”

              His head flung back and he let out a loud laugh. He laughed so hard, tears came out of his eyes.

              “I never loved you. That was all apart of my baby's brilliant plan,” he said moving close to her. “She can see what you see, remember? She knew you would figure things out and want to come here for yourself. But I had to ensure that you would want to come out with me tonight. I said whatever I thought would make you feel comfortable with me.”

              “And you were the best. She fell for it,” Elizabeth said kissing him.

              Was his real name Issac? He had to be the person Abigail was referring to. What I didn't understand is, if he was helping her all along, why didn't I dream about him? There was a lot that I didn't see, but I should have seen this coming.

              I wanted to throw up. I closed my eyes, trying to figure out a way out of here. I left my phone in the car, so I couldn't call anyone. There was nowhere to run and even if I did make a break for it, I wouldn't know where to go.

              “Please let me go back home. I didn't mean for any of this to happen to you and I'm truly sorry. Please let me go home,” I begged.

              “You can't go back home. I need you,” she said smiling.

              “You need me? What do you need me for?” I asked confused.

              They started laughing again.

              “You are going to give me a better life. A life with all the friends and family I never had,” she said. “You're going to give me your life.”

              The realization hit me like a bolt of lightening. She was going to kill me and take over my life. Now it was starting to make sense to me. Everything she had done, led me here, right to the place where I was about to die.

              “But Dr. Dean said he was going to let you go when he knew you were better. He promised he would,” I said weakly.

              “Dr. Dean is a liar. What kind of man keeps a person locked up for years just to do research on them? I thought they were doing something great, something that was going to change lives, but I find out that they were using her as a lab rat. No one should ever have to endure that,” Michael said with anger in his eyes. “We know he won't let her leave, so we are taking matters in our own hands.”

              “You don't have to do this,” I begged.

              “Yes, I do. I want your life. I've dreamed of it all of my life and now I want to live it. I want everything you have and more.”

              “But you can just leave and I won't say a thing. I promise,” I said.

              “We can't trust that, sorry,” Elizabeth said. “Besides, if I just upped and left, they would search for me, but with you gone and me impersonating you, they will never find me.”

              She pulled out the knife that I remembered from all of my nightmares. She played with it by twirling it around in her fingers. She then started throwing it back and forth to each hand as she walked closer to me. There was nothing I could do.

              I closed my eyes and my life was actually flashing through my head. My childhood with my parents, high school and all of my friends, college. It was about to be over now. I would never get married and have children. I wouldn't be able to watch my parents get older. This was the end.

              I could feel her breath on my face as she hovered over me. I wanted to fight her, but I knew it wouldn't help. Michael was there and he wouldn't allow me to leave this building alive.

              “Thanks for coming to visit. It was nice of you to bring my family,” she said.

              I opened my eyes and looked into hers. They weren't brown anymore; she put hazel contacts in. It was like I was looking in a mirror. I cried harder. She looked exactly like me now. And since she dreamed of my life, she knew me inside out. She knew my thoughts and action. No one would ever know I was gone.

              I closed my eyes again and waited. I pictured the ocean to subside my fear. The waves were crashing as I lie there in the sand. Even these thoughts couldn't put my mind at ease. I felt the blade on my neck. It was cold as ice. She was playing with me, while I whimpered for someone to save me. No one was coming.

              “Good bye, Jamie Whitlock,” she said.

              That's when it happened. The knife came down on my throat in a swift motion and I felt the end approaching. I reached for my throat, trying to hold the blood in, but it kept gushing out. The pain was crippling me as I fell deeper into darkness. I pictured everyone I wasn't going to see again and my heart was struck with a severe pain. I slowly fell to the floor and decided it was time I let go. I breathed my last breath and then I was gone.

Chapter Twenty Seven

I've walked into this house many times before, but this time it felt different. The house even smelled different, it was almost sweet. I smiled as I silently closed the door behind me and went up to my room. I got to the top of the stairs and looked to my left then my right. I couldn't remember which way I needed to go. I shrugged my shoulders and took a right.

              I opened the door, walked in, and found the bed. There was someone else here though. I froze trying to see if this person was going to wake up. I heard a light snore, so I scooted to the edge of the bed. Before I could get up, the person turned over and grabbed my arm.

              “Jamie,” he said.

              “Yeah, hey. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you,” I said.

              He reached over and turned on the lamp that was on his side of the bed. When he turned back to look at me, he had a confused look on his face. I wondered if he knew I wasn't really Jamie.

              “What are you doing in here, you scared me,” he said.

              “I, uh, I couldn't sleep and I was hoping you were still up. I just wanted to lie down with you because you make me feel so safe,” I said, proud of myself for perfecting this role of Jamie's I had to play.

              He smiled and pulled me closer to him. I laid down on his chest and smiled to myself. This was going to be easier than I thought. He rubbed my head and it felt good to be apart of a different world, one where I was accepted and loved unconditionally. I now knew what it meant to be a human being.

              Ash went back to sleep. As soon as I knew he wasn't going to wake back up, I sneaked out of his bed and out of the room. I found the room Jamie once stayed in. I went in, shut the door, and laid down on the bed. I wanted to let the reality soak in for a minute.

              After I let my imagination run wild with the life that lie ahead of me, I got up and went through her suitcase. I pulled out everything in it; taking in the textures and the feel of the fabrics. I tried on every outfit and modeled for myself. I pranced around the room like a little schoolgirl. My senses felt brand new and my emotions took a turn for the better.

              When I got done with my private fashion show, I took the contacts out of my eyes and threw on one of Jamie's newly bought satin pajamas and laid down. I smiled as I rubbed the pillows and the comforter on the bed; it was nice, way better than the prison I had come from. Anything would be better than being locked up like a criminal.

              I had to clear my head and try to remember the task at hand. Morning would be here soon and I needed to make sure I had everyone's name together and all of Jamie's mannerisms down to a tee. I couldn't ruin this. It would be the ultimate escape plan. The plan that took me many years to put into place. The wait was worth it because I wouldn't have pulled it off without Michael.

              It was so convenient for him to show up here when he did. It was like someone above was watching out for me, lining things up so that I would prevail in my mission to free myself from my captors. Abigail would hate herself if she knew that the person she recommended to the doctors, turned against them and was now on my side. And why wouldn't he be? Why wasn't she? She watched me suffer all these years and said nothing. It hurt me to my core.

              For a long time, my emotions played tug-a-war with me. I felt like I owed her something for being somewhat of a mother to me, but in the long run, I thought about what being a mother really entailed. She was really lousy at the job when you really got down to it. I had to drown out the love I had for her and replace it with hatred just to see the big picture. I could have made them think that I was sane a long time ago, but it was hard to maintain it at the time. But as the years went by, I learned to control my anger to a certain extent and that is when my plan was set in motion.

              Michael played a big role. Once I found out that the doctors were sending him to babysit Ash, I knew how it would all work out. He saw the vision, as well. He knew what I was thinking even before I said anything; it was like our minds were one. He even added to my devious plot, making the suggestion that he would make her fall in love with him so she would trust him enough to follow wherever he would lead. I was skeptical at first, but I gave in knowing it would benefit me down the line.

              Everything worked out so perfectly, even I was amazed that we pulled it off. Now, I was going to enjoy the life I was destined for. I felt bad that Jamie had to pay with her life, especially since she didn't have a part in me being held here, but it was the only way I could get away from here without them tracking me down. I couldn't dwell on that anymore anyway, she was gone. There was no way to change that. I just had to ensure she didn't die in vain.

              “I'm Jamie Whitlock... I am Jamie Whitlock,” I practiced over and over. “My father's name is Martin Whitlock. My mother's name is Patricia Whitlock. I have no siblings. My best friends are Ashton Dean and Rachel Phillips. I call them Ash and Rach. I go to college with them in Atlanta, Georgia.”

              I smirked to myself. I had this in the bag. There was no way no one would believe I was anyone other than Jamie.

              “I am Jamie Whitlock. I am finally Jamie Whitlock,” I said again. “I have a new name and a new life, a better life. Finally!”

              I laid down to go to sleep, pleased with myself. I had taken notes and mimicked her whenever I was alone, this would be a piece of cake. She was already a part of me and I used to be a big part of her.

              I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep thinking about what tomorrow was going to bring. It was going to be a new day for me and I was going to embrace it to the fullest.

              I woke up the next morning and took a deep breath. I went to the mirror and played with the curls in my hair. I smiled at the image in the mirror. I didn't know how I was going to balance out my mood, I was too happy.

              I immediately put my contacts in. I didn't want anyone to show up unexpected and catch me without them. It took me forever to decide what outfit I was going to wear. I've never had a variety like this. My old closet consisted of the same kind of jeans and t-shirts.

              After I put my clothes on, I played with my curls again. I put it up in a ponytail and then took it back down. There was so many styles I wanted to try, but that would have to wait. I would have plenty of time to change up my appearance when I made it back home. I put some makeup on and was heading out the door when the purse that once belonged to Jamie, vibrated. I fished around in the purse and found her phone. It was Michael.

              “Good morning, Michael,” I said.

              “Hey Liz, how did you sleep?” he asked.

              “That's Jamie now and I slept wonderfully.”

              “Oh, I'm sorry Jamie,” he said laughing, “can I see you today before you leave?”

              “You sure can. How long before you join me in Georgia?”

              “A month or so. I just want to make sure everything is okay here and that they don't suspect me or you before I leave town for good.”

              “Sounds good,” I said looking in the mirror again. “Well, I am heading downstairs, come over as soon as you can.”

              “I'm leaving my place now babe. See you soon,” he said.

              I hung up the phone and threw it back in the purse. I checked myself once more before leaving the room.

              “I am Jamie Whitlock.”

              I stopped at the top of the stairs and took a deep breath. I prepared myself for the conversations that I was going to have and recited the names in my head. I started walking down the stairs slowly and with each step, I said Jamie's name. I made it to the bottom of the stairs and looked around. I heard talking coming from the kitchen, so I headed that way. I was anxious to try my skills out on someone else other than the half sleep Ash.

              I approached the entryway of the kitchen and everyone turned around. I smiled and tried to take in everyone's expression. Things seemed to be at ease, and it helped me keep my calm mood.

              “Good morning everyone,” I said.

              “Morning baby,” my mom said. “I hope you packed everything last night. We are going to have to get going soon.”

              “Yes, I remembered. I am so ready to go.”

              Mrs. Dean was sitting at the counter and she hadn't said anything yet. She eyed me, but she didn't look suspicious. I went and sat down next to my new mom and grabbed some food off of her plate. I ignored Ash's mothers glare and stuck some food in my mouth before the doctor's came running out of the laboratory.

              I was almost scared to look any of them in the eyes. I couldn't know for sure if they would notice there was a change. They were standing at the door discussing what I already knew. Elizabeth was missing.

              “Honey, what is wrong,” Mrs. Dean finally said.

              “Elizabeth is gone. She left a letter saying she was running away from here and she asks that we don't try to find her. She goes on to say that she wants to live her life like Ash was able to. She doesn't feel like it is fair she has to stay here,” Dr. Dean said.

              By this time, everyone was standing up. I was smiling to myself because I actually pulled this off. No one suspected that I, Elizabeth, was sitting right here with them. The feeling had me tingling all over. I wanted to call Michael, but I knew it had to wait. I needed things to die down here before he came into the picture and messed things up.

              “So, what are you going to do?” I asked.

              “Well, we have to find her,” Dr. Dean said. “I know that would be against her wishes, but she is not stable. She needs to go through some more sessions with Abigail before we can know for sure she will be able to handle the outside world. I really feel bad for her, but this is the only way we can ensure hers and everyone else safety.”

              I wanted to dig deeper into the conversation and ask if he was ever going to let me out, but I knew that would raise some eyebrows and some questions. In the end, it really didn't matter, because I was leaving today either way.

              “Well, she couldn't have gotten that far if she left last night,” my dad said. “I wish we could stay and help with the search, but we really need to get back and Jamie has school.”

              “Yes, of course. I understand. I can't thank you enough for all the help you have already given me,” Dr. Dean said shaking my new dad's hand. “I hope the next visit won't be too far in between.”

              “I promise it won't,” he said.

              Ash came downstairs with his bags. He sat everything down by the stairs and came over.

              “What's going on with everyone?” he said looking around.

              “Elizabeth is missing,” I said.

              “What? When?” he asked coming over to stand next to me. I could tell how much he cared for Jamie. He was always running to her rescue. Now I would be the one he would be concerned about.

              “Last night apparently. She left a note,” I replied.

              Dr. Dean filled Ash in on what happened and the plans to find her. He grabbed my hand and squeezed while his father talked to him. I snuggled in next to him and took in his smell. I was smiling without even noticing. He finally turned to me and I tried to tone down my happiness.

              He pulled me to the family room and looked at me with concern. I didn't know where it was coming from. I tried to make my face reflect his since I knew he was worried about me for some reason. He stood in front of me holding both of my hands, like we were standing in front of a preacher about to get married.

              “Are you okay?” he asked.

              “Yeah, sure. Why wouldn't I be?” I said perplexed.

              “You just found out that Elizabeth is missing and that doesn't scare you at all? I mean, you were afraid to sleep in our house when you thought she was going to come after you. Now, she is gone, no one knows where she is. That doesn't bother you?”

              I forgot how I was supposed to act. I started getting angry with myself for messing this up so soon.

              “Of course it bothers me, but I know you will protect me. Won't you?” I said.

              He stepped back and looked at me. I wondered if he was buying this at all.

              “Yeah, you know I will protect you, but you do remember your last dream? The dream where she carved
next
in your dead corpse?” he said.

              “I know, but I am so tired of being scared and depressed about everything that has happened. We are finally going home today and I just want to stay in my happy mood. I no longer want her interfering in my life. I won't let her do that to me again. Besides, I don't think she will bother me. She is gone and I doubt if anyone will find her.”