Alternative

| Chapter Sixteen

On the way home, I had my car connect to my phone to read all of Joe's messages. After what happened, I had no time to stop and read them myself.

"Elizabeth Kim doesn't go further back than 2016. I don't think it's her real name. She's like a ghost to the government before that."

The robotic voice sounds from my car's speaker as I pull my sedan into my driveway. I let the car run to listen to his next message, "I didn't think to look back farther than that, but when she signed her new contract, I realized that her signature is different. On each page. Like it isn't normal for her, you know?"

My hands wrap around my car keys as I stare at my house. At the dark windows. Joe's last message seeps into me. "I don't know why I feel like I know her from somewhere. Maybe she was at that park with you. Or at least, maybe she was watching you? I need to figure this out."

Pulling my keys free from the ignition, I pocket them and my phone, then walk up the driveway to my house. I'm ready to unlock my front door, but stop when it opens before I can. Emery is standing in the doorway. Her cheeks are red, wet. She looks so confused.

I bite the insides of my cheek as I look at her. "Em?"

"Something weird happened," she said quietly. She chews on her lip as she glances back inside, in our living room. "And it's still happening."

Without a second thought, I move forward and try to cup Em's face in my hands. Immediately, she pulls back and stares at my hands with wide eyes.

She grabs them, inspecting my fingers. "You're bleeding, Ray." Gently, she guides me inside and shuts the door. "What happened to your hands?"

"It's nothing," I say as she turns my hands over. "Really, Em, don't worry about it."

"But you're really bleeding." She looks at me. "Do I need to call someone? Do I—"

"Don't. It's not important." Pushing away her concern, I touch her shoulder with my uninjured hand. "What happened to you? What's weird?"

I swear if Elizabeth did something, I'll...

Emery's eyes search my face. I can see different emotions pass over them, expressions shifting from fearful, to sad, to confused. The way she bites her lips, it's as if she's trying to find the right words.

Rather than struggle to speak to me, she points inside our living room instead. I follow her finger over to the television that hangs on our wall. Videos play, but not regular videos.

They're memories. Copied, edited, memories.

My hands fall to my side as I step closer, right in front of the TV.

"They started playing on their own maybe an hour ago?" Emery moves beside me, her fingers twiddling nervously in front of her chest. "I thought the TV was being weird and glitching out because you know everything does that."

"Em?" I gulp, watching the images change. There's a beach, waves beating against the sand. A child hurries over and chases after a frisbee.

"Ray, I was going to call you so you can come to fix it, but then I realized I know a lot of these things. This isn't a show or a movie."

Shit, shit, shit.

Quickly, I turn around in search of the remote. I need to turn it off, stop the TV from playing any more files. Racking through my brain, I can't remember connecting the television to my computer; I would never do something so dumb.

So how are these playing? How is this happening right now?

"Like this one." Emery moves towards the screen and presses her fingers against the video that plays. When I look up, I see it's changed. Two women run through a park, laughing, holding each other. As the video is from the point of view of one of them, I can't see the face of the other. It's blank, fuzzy, broken.