More Than One: A Novel (9 page)

              When I hit the bottom of the stairs, my mom was there in the front room waiting to greet me.

              “Hey honey, how did you sleep?” she asked.

              “Okay,” I replied.

              “Good. Are you hungry? Heidi cooked you a big breakfast.”

              “Yeah, I'm starved. Where's your husband?” I said with a slight smile. I know my mom hates it when I say that.

              “Don't start this morning. You know your father really loves you. I don't understand why you give him such a hard time.”

              “I'm just kidding,” I said walking toward the kitchen. “I'm gonna get something to eat.”

              “Okay dear.”

              My father must have left early, obviously avoiding the talk he promised we would have. I couldn't think of anything else, I needed to know what was going on.

              My mind kept wandering. I picked up a plate and started packing it with everything. What had my parents so jittery that my mom was on the edge and my father ducking and dodging me?

              What if I was dying? Nah, that couldn't be it. I was in the best shape of my life. I always ate right and exercised, and I don't smoke or drink. That couldn't be it. I still couldn't put my finger on it though. I was hoping my father would clear that up for me real soon.

              After breakfast, I went upstairs, took a shower and got dressed for the day. When I made it back downstairs, I noticed my mom had disappeared somewhere and I still hadn't seen my father.

              I walked to the lab to see if he was there. I knocked on the door and waited for what seemed like forever. I leaned my head against the door to listen for some movement, instead I heard a female crying. Then another door shut.

              Who the hell was that? It didn't sound like mom, but it was definitely a girl. I wondered what my father had going on in there. I knocked again. This time he answered.

              “Good morning son,” he said blocking the door.

              I tried to look around him, but the door was cracked and he was shielding the space with his body.

              “Was there a girl in there crying?” I asked.

              “I don't know what you're talking about. There is no one in here but me,” he responded with an uneasy tone in his voice.

              “I thought I heard someone crying. Are you sure there's no one else in there?”

              “Yes, I'm sure. Is there anything you need son?”

              “I need to talk to you. Can we talk now?”

              “Uh, sure,” he said looking behind him, “give me a minute in here to get things straightened up and I'll meet you in the main house. Wait for me there.”

              I wanted to bust through the door and see what was going on. I knew I wasn't hearing things. Someone else was in there and he was standing here lying to my face about it. I didn't know where I was anymore. This has turned into the house of horrors, filled with lies, secrets, and deceit.

              “Okay, I'll wait, but we are gonna talk, right?”

              “We
are
going to talk, I promise,” he said.

              I let it go and walked back to the main house. When I got to the living room, I yelled for my mom.

              “Yes dear,” she said coming around the corner from the library.

              “What's going on in the lab? I heard a girl crying in there.”

              “What are you talking about? No one is in there other than your dad. I just talked to him not too long ago.”

              “This is crazy! You guys must think I was born yesterday. Someone needs to tell me something right now.”

              I heard the door shut around the corner and my mom jumped. She seemed just as uneasy as my father was.

              “Son, have a seat,” my father said as he came to stand in front of me.

              I looked back and forth between him and my mom. I wanted to lash out, but I knew it wouldn’t do any good. I just needed to calm down and listen to what they had to say. At least they were about to talk to me.

I took a seat on the sofa and my parents sat across from me near the fireplace. Once again, there was silence, just as it had been since yesterday.

My father cleared his throat and grabbed my mom’s hand. She looked at him, nodded and then they both turned to me.

“Well, I know you have a lot of questions about why we’re acting different. There is a simple explanation, but I wanted to do the examination first just to know for sure before I alarmed you,” he said.

“I don’t understand. Why do I need an examination before you can tell me what’s going on?”

“Well, dear,” my mom chimed in, “we just want to make sure everything is fine with you before we burden you with something that might be unnecessary.”

“Okay, but that still doesn’t answer my question. Can you just spit it out please? I’m a grown man. Whatever it is, I can handle it.”

Silence again.

“Okay… there is no easy way to say this… so I’m just going to come right out and say it.” He paused. “We have been doing research and we have reason to believe that your health might start declining within the next year or so,” my father said. “But like I said I want to run some test on you because it might be nothing. I don’t know for sure right now.”

I leaned back in my seat and took a deep breath. This can’t be right, can it? My father was staring at me, searching. No one said anything for a couple of minutes.

“So, you’re saying what, that I might die soon?” I asked.

“No, no that’s not what we’re saying. But I do want to be on the safe side and take the necessary precautions. Once I get your test results back, we’ll have a better idea of what we’re dealing with and how to fix the problem,” he said.

“Problem? I need you to be more specific. Like what
are
we dealing with? My health is going to decline, but I’m not going to die. How do you even know about this? What else are you not telling me?”

“Son, let me just do the exam and go from there. You might not have anything to worry about.”

I couldn’t grasp what he was telling me. My health will start fading. I’m about to die, I just know it. This was not fair.

I looked up at my parents and my mom was crying now. My father was comforting her. The room started to spin. My father told me years ago that I didn’t have anything to worry about. Now, I don’t know how long I have to live. I know that’s what they are not telling me. I guess I understand though. It has to be hard to have to tell your kid they are dying.

My mom got up and came to sit next to me. She hugged me so tight and I returned the hug in the same manner. My father finally made his way over and sat on the other side. He wrapped his arms around both of us and we stayed there for over an hour.

When we finally got all the tears and hugs out of the way, my father asked me if I was ready to take the exam. I didn’t know how to answer the question. On one hand, he was asking a very simple question and yet, on the other hand he was asking me if I was ready to hear my fate.

My mom was still sobbing, with blood-shot, red eyes. She stared at me without blinking, like she was trying to remember every line in my face, like I could be gone in any second. I had to resist the urge to cry again. I then glanced at my father. He wasn’t crying, but I could see the pain written all over his face. I knew I had to get away from here or I was going to lose it. I stood up and turned to leave.

“Son,” my father said, “I promise you, we will figure this out. I won’t rest until I make sure you’re one hundred percent again. I need you to trust me though.”

“I trust you. This is the one time I’m glad I have a genius for a father,” I said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood before I retreated to my room.

Chapter Nine

Jamie

I sat in my dorm room, posted up on my bed like a statue. The trip to Kansas didn’t relieve me at all. It just made matters worse. I felt like I had stepped into another dimension, where everything was backwards and anything goes. My emotions were on a roller coaster ride.

“Hey Jay, I’m going to hang out with Derrick. I’ll be back later. Are you going to be okay?” Rach asked.

I looked up from my daze and stared at her. What did she just say? I didn’t even know how long she had been talking to me.

“Jamie, are you going to be okay? I’ll only be gone for a couple of hours.”

“Oh, yeah I’m fine. Go ahead, have fun,” I said trying to get my thoughts together.

“Are you sure? Because I can stay here tonight, it’s no problem. You’ve been acting strange since we got home from your parents. Did something happen?”

“No, everything is okay. Please go have fun. Tell Derrick I said
hi
please.”

She eyed me suspiciously. I turned my head and pretended like I was looking for something. Her glare was driving me crazy.

“Rach, I promise I’m fine. Now get out of here, you’re getting on my nerves crowding my space,” I said. “Seriously, go have a life, I will be okay.”

“Alright, but if you need me, just call.”

I nodded and then waved so she would go. I can’t keep having my friend feeling like she needed to babysit me. She finally grabbed her things and headed for the door.

As the door closed, I felt emptiness creep up inside me. All my thoughts were scattered. My heart was racing and I couldn’t calm it down.

Before we left my parent’s house, I found a folder that has led me to believe that either I’ve been cloned or I am the clone. But there is no reasoning behind any of what I saw. Clones don’t exist. They can’t, it’s just not plausible.

I remembered hearing something about the cloning of a sheep some years back, but that was an animal. They couldn’t have possibly come that far in science to be able to clone humans.

And what was the file doing in my dad’s file cabinet? What was my name doing on it?

This was too bizarre, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was all connected to my dreams. I still couldn’t put it all together, but I knew once I did, it would all fit and make perfect sense.

I felt sick to my stomach. What if my dad really did figure out how to clone humans? Wouldn’t he tell me about it?

The file said the experiment had failed, so where did he go wrong? Why didn’t I know about this? This was too much to take in. It was making me dizzy. I needed to lie down, but I knew it wouldn’t stop and I would be up analyzing and obsessing.

I went to the bathroom and looked in our medicine cabinet for anything to help me sleep. I didn’t want to think about this anymore.

I found some sleep aide and grabbed a glass, filled it with water and took two pills. After, I washed my face and went to bed.

I grabbed my journal and skimmed through. Scientist, doctors, hospital rooms… Why was I having these dreams? Even if I was cloned, I wouldn’t be having some kind of psychic connection to it, would I?

I was still scanning pages when my eyes started getting heavy. The medicine must be kicking in. I laid down on the bed with the journal tight in my hand. I shut my eyes and tried to think about something else.

I let my mind wander to the place that always gave me peace, the ocean. I was on the beach watching the waves. Finally, I decided to just dive right in. I went down further trying to reach the ocean’s floor.

Suddenly, I was taken out of my serene thoughts and plunged into a very dark scene. I knew I had to be dreaming for real.

I opened my eyes and I was in the room with the flashing red light in the corner. I climbed on the bed and reached for the camera. I pushed it to the side so the focus would be on the opposite wall.

I went to the closet and grabbed a pair of jeans and some shoes. After I got dressed, I found a screwdriver that was lodged behind the dresser.

I went to the door and started unscrewing the handle. When it came off, I jiggled the door and it popped open. I found a jacket that was on the edge of the bed, put it on, and silently left the room.

I was walking through what seemed like some kind of laboratory. Equipment was everywhere, so I had to watch my step to insure I didn’t hit anything.

Once I made it outside, I stood there smiling, amused with how easy this was for me. No regrets, void of any positive emotions at this point. I belted out a laugh and took off running.

I ran as fast as I could down the dimly lit street. I was tiring out faster than usual, but I was so angry that it kept me going.

I slowed down when I got closer to the park and heard a dog barking. I looked around waiting for the owner of the dog to come into my view. I finally stopped and sat down on a bench.

Moments later, a woman came around the corner jogging, obviously trying to catch up with her pet. She slowed down while the dog urinated on a nearby tree.

She is going to get what she deserves. No one should be out this late, especially with a serial killer on the loose.

The dog started sniffing around and then we locked eyes. It started barking as it ran toward me. I wasn’t frightened. I just stood up and position myself for whatever impact was going to happen.

I flashed a wide grin as the dog approached me and lunged. Once it was close enough, I took the handle of the screwdriver and smacked down on his muzzle as hard as I could. The dog collapsed whimpering.

In the background, I could hear the woman shouting and yelling something I couldn’t understand. I looked around and there was no one in sight. I reached in my back pocket and put my hands around my pocketknife. I was traveling light these days.

The woman finally made it to where the dog lay on its side, panting.

“What the hell did you do that for?” she yelled. She had an accent. I couldn’t tell where she was from though. “He’s just a dog you stupid bitch.”

I was beaming while getting closer to her. She was tending to her dog and didn’t realize I was standing over her at that point.

“Are you okay Maddox? Let me get you home baby.” She was cooing at the dog, trying to pick him up.

I brandished the knife and before she could turn around, I put my hand on her forehead and snapped her head back. She tried to wrestle with me, but I was stronger. I wasn’t going to let her get away that easily.

The dog looked up and started to whimper again. The girl was still struggling, begging for her life. I winked at the dog and said, “Say goodbye Maddox.” I pulled on her head so she could look me in my eyes. When she was fully aware of her fate, I brought the knife down on her neck, swiftly pushing down hard and pulling from left to right. Her body fell to the ground.

She started kicking around, gasping for air, and then the spasm slowed until it stopped. Her eyes were wide and lifeless. The dog finally got up and walked to his owner. He shied away from me before he knelt down in front of the woman and licked her cheek.

I turned and walked away. I made my way across the street before a car came around the corner onto the main street directly in front of the park. The dog started barking again, so I ducked behind a house that was nearby.

Once I made it to the backyard, my chest started to hurt. Pain shot through every inch of my body and I collapsed on the ground writhing in pain.

“Jamie, Jamie, get up. Please wake up,” Rach was saying gripping my wrist.

I was kicking and screaming. My body felt like someone was shocking me. “It hurts,” I yelled. “Please, make it stop.”

“Jay, get up.” Rach was still screaming.

I finally opened my eyes and realized I was fighting her. She was crying and trying to pin me down.

“Dammit Jamie, what were you dreaming about?”

I looked around the room. I was back in my dorm and Rach was here with me. My body didn’t hurt anymore, but I was tense all over. I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

Rach was still waiting on an answer. I didn’t know what to say at that point. It was just a dream, but it felt so real.

“Jamie, say something.”

“Um, I had another nightmare,” I said.

“I know that, but what was it about? I’m surprised no one is banging on the door from all the screaming and kicking you just did.”

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened.”

I was still looking around. I’m here, in my dorm room. I felt like I was still somehow in the dream. I couldn’t wrap my head around much.

“Was there another victim in your dream?”

“Yes, there was another murder; a woman who was jogging in the park with her dog.”

“Oh no,” Rach gasped. “What happened, I mean, well you know what I mean.”

I did a full recount of the dream I just had to Rach. Her eyes were wide the whole time. Maybe I shouldn’t have went into such detail while I was explaining this to her, but I couldn’t help it. Once I started talking about it, I needed to get everything that happened out in the open.

I looked around my bed for my journal and found it on the nightstand. I grabbed a pen and started writing. I didn’t want to miss any details of the nightmare.

There was something different about this particular dream. I still didn’t know where I was, but I saw the room I was breaking out of and the surrounding area. I recognized the room that I escaped from. It was the same room from my earlier dreams. This was the first time I saw outside of the room, other than just the hospital space.

The whole time I was writing and thinking, Rach sat silently on her bed. I looked up, face apologetic. I know this has to be taking a toll on her. I hadn’t considered her feelings.

I put my journal down and walked over to sit next to her. Her eyes were still wide and blank as she stared into space.

“Rach, I’m so sorry. I’m being selfish telling you about my dreams. I’ve been caught up with so much, I haven’t considered how you felt,” I said.

“Jay, you’re the one having the dreams. I should be apologizing to you. I really don’t know how I can help you and I feel bad that I can’t,” she replied.

“Listen, this is not your fault and you’ve helped more than you know. Don’t feel bad, you have no reason to.”

“Is there something you’re not telling me? Ever since we got back from Kansas, you have been more distant than usual.”

I scooted further back on her bed and leaned against the wall, with my legs crossed.

“Nothing happened. I’m just trying to process and deal with everything the best way I know how.”

“I guess I understand,” she said.

I couldn’t help but let my mind wander back to the dream during this moment of silence. The thing that kept coming back to my attention was the pain I felt at the end of the dream.

I wondered what would have happened if Rach didn’t wake me up. The pain that shot through my chest felt like a heart attack. It crippled me and I couldn’t breathe.

I glanced over to the clock and noticed it was late. I decided I needed to get some sleep so I could get up early. I have to do some research.

Rach was still leaning against the wall. Her head was bobbing back and forth as she went in and out of consciousness. I moved out of the way and helped her lie down on her pillow. I covered her up with one of the throws we had and turned off her lamp.

I put my journal back in my nightstand and turned out the rest of the lights. I wasn’t even afraid to go back to sleep. I knew I was going to figure this out somehow.

The next morning I woke up sore, but I put that aside and rushed to get dressed. I was being extra quiet. I didn’t want to wake Rach up. She needed all the rest she could get. I told myself that after this was all over, I was going to treat her to some kind of awesome vacation.

After I got dressed, I grabbed my books and headed for the door. I had class in about an hour and a half and I didn’t want to be late. I told my dad I was going to do better and I wanted to make good on my promise.

I made it to the library, walked to the counter and asked the guy where I could find books and articles on clones.

I sat down and spread the books out across the table. I grabbed the thickest one first. I flipped through the pages and most of it was about the sheep that was cloned named Dolly. I continued to look through the book and saw entries about a guy who claims he has a clone somewhere hidden from the public eye. According to him, the clone was born without any defects and is still living like a normal human.

I grabbed another book and then another, until I was done skimming through all the pages. All of them, with the exception of two, said that every attempt had failed due to some kind of defect. Even if the clone had made it through the birthing process, it died some time later. There wasn't any solid record of a clone living past a year or so.

I left the library feeling empty. I made it to the parking lot to get in my car, when I saw the black S.U.V. I stopped in my tracks and watched as it pulled up next to my car. The engine shut off and I felt giddy all over. I knew it was my mystery guy from the Junction. He got out of the truck and grinned. I wanted to melt all over again. He walked up to me and I looked up to meet his gaze.