How To Go Back in Time – II

And now, these next two chapters are later in Book One.

Irwin arrived at the hospital just as the sun was beginning to go under the mountains. Desert sunsets were always the most beautiful. Shades of purple and pink stretching over the horizon. It created a vibe.

The hospital was this big, mountainous building, that stretched twenty-four floors up into the air. Irwin didn’t quite know what such a big building was doing in a town of twenty-five thousand people. But he didn’t pay much attention to it, either.

He walked into the lobby and it was mostly empty. To his left was a built-in cafe, with a hospital worker standing there. Irwin ordered a coffee, and then went into the elevator. He sipped it in front of the camera as it stopped at multiple floors, and people filed in. And finally, he arrived at the twenty-second floor.

“Are you looking for someone?” A nurse said, watching him walk through the hallway.

“I’m a police officer, looking for Gretchen Carvallo.”

Her eyes went wide and she mumbled a single, “Oh…” She let out a nervous laugh and said, “Room F16. It’s that way.”

Irwin said goodbye, and filed down the hallway. He came to F16, and cracked the door. Gretchen laid on the hospital bed, covered in medical gear, staring up at the T.V. “Come in!” She coughed out.

“My name’s Irwin Sander—agent of the—“

“I know who you are. I remember.”

“Then may I ask you a few questions?”

“Classic FBI babble. Twenty or so minutes of prying, even after I’VE TOLD YOU I DON’T WANT TO TALK TO ANYONE!”

Irwin winced and stepped back. For the next five-minutes, his ears would ring. Irwin decided to double-down: “Why don’t you wanna talk to anyone, Gretchen? Why not?”

Gretchen picked up the remote and began absentmindedly flipping through the channels. “You wouldn’t get it.”

“Get what? Trust me, I’ve been through a lot. I’ve seen some things.”

“Things?”

“Things you wouldn’t believe.” Irwin added just another twinge of sincerity.
Gretchen sighed and put down the remote. She sat up. It had worked. “Who do you think you are?”

“…Irwin Sander.”

“Do you know what Rimbaud said? That whole, “I, Is another?”

“Wait, a-are you telling me there’s someone else inside me?”

“Something attacked me. It had yellow eyes.”

The yellow-eyes again. Irwin listened carefully. “I don’t remember much, but I smelled my own perfume. I’ll say nothing else.”

Irwin nodded slowly, and put the pen pad in his pocket. “Understood.”

* * *

Irwin got out of the hospital and it had suddenly turned night. There was nothing but eerie silence, and the faint chirp of crickets. Either the acoustics in that parking-lot were amazing, or something was forcing quiet.

Gretchen had been speaking without speaking the entire time, that he knew. Irwin didn’t want to admit it to himself. The idea was too off-base, unthinkable. But he bit his lip, and felt that same gut feeling. Gretchen was right. I, is another.

But Irwin had been down this road before. Think too much about a creepy thing like that—doppelgangers, and you’ll start to imagine the bushes moving. He started the car. Looked behind him. Obviously, my presence had gone invisible.

He went back to the bar, and saw James at at the counter. Irwin stood there, shocked. “You’re still here?”
James giggled and stretched out across the counter. “Yeaaah, BUDDY. I’m still here.”

“You’re deteriorating.”

“…Huh?”

“Let me take you home, James. You’re not well—like, at all.”

James suddenly sat up and threw himself back. Irwin launched a foot forward, thinking he would fall. “I-I don’t needs to leave.”

“Cut him off.” Irwin said, to the bartender.

The tall bald man stopped and stared at James. “Yeah… you’re cut off.” He said, taking James’s glass.

He stumbled out of his seat and looked like he was about to yell. Instead, he just slinked back and had a bad stare on his face. James walked up to Irwin and touched his shoulder. “Take… take me home.”

Irwin hauled him to the car, and started it. “Where’s your house?”

James hiccuped and said, “O-On Bluebird.”

“You live in Birland!?”

“Y-yeah, not like… what’s-her-face.”

Irwin twisted the key and said, “You mean Rosa.”

He sat up with wide eyes, “Yeah, HER!”

The drive to Birdland would be quiet and long. There was traffic, and the roads weren’t all that maintained. Every now and then, Irwin would catch a glimpse of himself in the mirror, and he’d freeze. Then fawn.

And once James was dropped off, Irwin did what he always did to calm himself down: Drive to some random-ass spot, and sit there. Drunk, and smoking cigarettes.

He realized that a rural spot wouldn’t work. Too much open space. He decided that somewhere downtown would work. Perhaps a hotel parking-lot.

It was about nine miles, and Irwin kept the music low the entire way. With the help of some cheap vodka, he had forgotten what Gretchen said. And that had warmed him.

With his seat over looking an abandoned car-wash, and the railroad tracks, Irwin felt nice. The night had turned soft, and the moon hung up in the sky, with cool-wind. From the left, birds chirped. From the right, crickets.

* * *

AND NOW,

A SUBCONSCIOUS TRANSMISSION RIGHT BEFORE YOU FALL ASLEEP

Cue curtain drop.

“Hello, Mr. Sander.”

Irwin opened his eyes and saw me in the passenger seat. My skin crackled. Sparks flew. “No need to be alarmed, you are not in danger.”

“…Then what are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to tell you to calm down. I’ve been monitoring your progress, and you are doing completely fine.”

Irwin couldn’t help but stare at the moon through the windshield. “I am?”

“Yes, perfectly so. You mustn’t change a thing, really. I’ll be going now.”
“Goodbye.”

And with that, Irwin opened his eyes, and woke up back in the car.