Alternative

| Chapter Twenty

Elizabeth turns and leaves me where I stand. As she moves through my house, I can tell she's in search of my laptop and paired Alt-life equipment. She's humming, almost excited.

I watch her, trying to figure out what's happening, but none of it makes sense. She continues to tell me that I know, that I should have figured it out already, but nothing clicks. She reminds me of the doctors who told me to stop pretending, to just know; I can't know what I don't understand.

I've never met her before, never in my life. And her state of mind terrifies me.

The second she walks upstairs, out of ear's length, I dart over to Emery and Joe.

"Babe," I whisper, touching Emery's face. She's hot, sweating. I check for blood and when I find none, a small sense of relief comes over me.

I turn towards Joe next. Immediately, I see the blood on the side of his head. The wound is open, wet, and continues to drip on his shoulder. I bite the insides of my cheek to keep my fear in check.

"Hey, Joe, hey. Look at me."

Nothing. Silence from both of them.

I slide my hands down Emery's legs as I crumble in front of her. Tears stream down from my eyes as I take in a shaky breath. Gripping the sides of her jogging pants, I shake my head. "Em, I need to know you're okay," I whisper against her knees. "I know... I know this is my fault. I fucked up. Fucked up bad. But I swear to you, I promise you, I've only ever done everything for you."

I look up and watch her breathe. Her chest rises and falls softly. "I love you, Em," I whisper.

Feet move overhead, moving along the halls above me. I glance up at the ceiling, listening to Elizabeth's movements. Her hums echo, calm and collected. It feels as if she knows where she's going.

"She said the cops are coming." I glance over at Joe. "Cyber police are probably coming, too. If I can't stop her, they can."

With a hard breath, I push myself up to stand. "I will."

I turn. The path to the kitchen is close by and I know, all I need to do is run over towards the drawers and grab a knife. I can use it as my defense, hurt her, disarm her every threat. It will only take one swap, one stab, and I can save the people closest to me.

Yet, the second I move one leg, I hear Elizabeth's feet rush back down the stairs. Looking up in her direction, I see my laptop and bag in her hands.

"I think I got everything," she says, a smile on her face. The ruined mascara has dried on her cheeks and cracks when her lips lift. I cringe as she approaches me. "I have the spheres on, they seem to be working. But these things?" She pushes my tools towards me. "This is your job."

"Yeah, r-right," I stammer and take my laptop bag from her as she hands it to me. I pause for a moment, looking around the living room, at Em and Joe, before I place the bag on the end table and pull my laptop from inside of it. Opening it is the most difficult thing I've ever had to do.

"Perfect." Elizabeth takes the second bag and places it in front of the TV. Reaching inside, she pulls out the contents. There are cables, old tools; one of the wires is attached to the Alt-life monitor I rarely use. Paired with that are old PC cables, which she connects to the HDMI ports along the side of the TV screen.

Once done, seemingly all set up, she turns to smile at me. Again. "I think this will be better, you know? All on the big screen, not your laptop."

See this on a big screen? My insides clench as I struggle to stand and hold my laptop. Trembling fingers tap the keys, starting up my Alt-life program. While I try to do this, Elizabeth stands and makes sure both of the spheres are secured on the sides of her temple. Her eager eyes look at me as she waits for my programs to begin.

I tap a finger on my laptop's space bar. Window one opens, registering her info at the of it.

"Elizabeth Kim, age twenty-three."

"Are you ready, Ray?" she asks.

I don't look at her. I wait and watch the second window appear beneath the first, connecting to her data and the mem-waves the spheres are attempting to retrieve.

"Client has selected Summer, 2011," my computer reads. "Prepping for memory upload."

"You're going to love it, I promise." Excitement leaves her with a burst of loud giggles.

My finger hand shifts to the side, my finger taps the enter key next. The simple commands bring up the third and final window. The Alt-life assistant gives me red signals, warnings, dangers.

"Client Elizabeth Kim's heart rate is high, numbers over normal percentile. Abort upload?"

When I lift my head to tell her the warnings picked up on my program, I see she's moved. She's right next to Joe, slowly running her fingers through his hair. Each pass through leaves her nails wet with his blood.

Before I can tell her to stop, she sighs, coos, and settles her hand on his chest. She traces his blood over his white tee as he breathes. Small circles, small dots.

Clenching my jaw, I feel sick. "Who are you?" I try to sound stern, but every part of me is emotionally weak. "Why are you—"

Elizabeth's head sharply turns towards my direction and she stares at me with wide eyes. "Just watch. It's starting, isn't it?"

The sound of my gulping swallow echoes. I haven't pressed enter yet.

"Start it," she says as her lips lift into another smile, but one that is darker, sinister. I can see the anger in her eyes. "Start it and look at the TV screen, Ray."

As she moves around Joe's chair, I do as she says.

My thumb taps the enter screen. I turn my body just enough to look directly at the videos that appear with so much clarity it's unreal. A memory from eight years ago should be fuzzy, pieces missing. But Elizabeth's is clearer than the bright, summer's day she reveals to me.

Beside me, Em groans in her seat but doesn't wake. I want to look at her but Elizabeth's movements scare me. I'm stuck in place.

"Look here." Elizabeth moves towards the screen and pokes at the moving pictures. I can see someone a few feet ahead of the memory's point of view. Giggles and laughter echo in the air. It's obvious someone is running after someone else. "Just pay attention."

I do it because what other choice do I have? I can drop everything and run for a weapon, but if I leave Joe and Em with her, what will happen? Will she hurt them? I can't risk it.

"See, see!" Elizabeth covers her mouth as she squeals. "Right here!"

My eyes are stuck to the screen as the person being chased becomes clearer. It's a young woman, a teen even, with short hair braided at the sides. She's laughing happily and wraps her arms around herself to protect herself. From Elizabeth's point of view, I see her hands reach out and grab the teen. She holds her close.

The sound of their giggles merge and become one, almost exquisitely, but I cannot see that beauty. I only see the images of a deranged mind.

"And now." Elizabeth jumps, holding the spheres close to her temples, as the girl who is grabbed turns, revealing her face.

The laptop in my hands slips off my fingers and falls. I hear parts of it crack near my feet. "The fuck..."

Elizabeth turns and looks at me. "Do you see?" she asks, eyes wide and glowing blue as the video continues to play. "Do you see now?"

The teen on the screen... is me.

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