How To Go Back in Time Book One: Chapter Sixteen

I drove back to the motel in a funk. I was calmer, sure. But I had just been hit by an impossible
revelation—and the worst part is that it made sense. I didn’t know what was real anymore. Everything
could be an illusion. Or perfection if I looked hard enough.
The plan now would be to draw the copy out. Trap it in a cage so it couldn’t escape. But how
would I do that?
If the copies were killing each other and taking their places, that’d mean there were people I
knew who were copies already. Real, breathing people, no longer human. Just meat breathing
machines.
Gretchen wasn’t a copy yet, I thought. She still seemed real. But what would happen if I
pretended to think she was? She had said there were already eyes on me. Of course, that’s what the
copy would want me to do. I’d make myself bait, and then draw it into tar trap. And thus began the
calls.
I phoned Rosa and she picked up all groggy. “Oh hello.”
“Goodmorning, I have news for you.”
“Oh? Good news I hope?”
“…Kind of. Not really. But I’ve been doing some digging, and we have a new suspect. It’s
Gretchen.”
“But wasn’t she attacked? In your report, it says—“
“She attacked herself, and I’m going over there to prove it.”
“Well, alright then.”
“Be prepared in case I call you, alright?”
“Got it.”
For some reason, the car wouldn’t start. When I got in I saw the starter had been pried apart, and
the wires were loose. I cracked a smile. The plan was working. I’d have to walk, but that’d be alright. I’d
manage. Like I said before, all of it was going according to the plan.
The air was brisk and there wasn’t single person in sight. I just kept walking across the
pavement while the streetlights lit up my way. I puffed on my cigarette, and I listened to music. And as
I got closer I could feel eyes on me. When I’d walk I swore I’d hear footsteps behind me. I’d turn, and
no one would be there. Then I’d walk and feel fine, but then came the footsteps.
The moon was full tonight and sat up in the sky like a giant egg. I was just a street away from
Birdland. A car came careening down the midnight strip of road. It’s headlights blinded me. But I
continued on.
In the distance I saw the shadow of Gretchen’s house. It towered like a splotch of black paint.
Though, for some reason, the porch light was still on. It seemed that her lawn hadn’t been cut in some
time, as it was overgrown. Vines covered the picket fence.
And as soon as I placed my hand on the gate, I got a call. “Stop what you’re doing. Don’t
move.”
“And who would this be?”
“It’s Gretchen. The one you’re looking for.”
“I figured as much. You know—“
“Don’t speak. I want to speak. I am the one speaking, you hear?”
“…”
“Good. You’re listening. You went to the temple right, and saw me? No need to say anything.
But, uh…” There was the sound of a branch snapping, and then she spoke, “I’ve finally come out in the
open as it looks like you’re catching on. I can’t stay hidden forever. But, it’s not a problem. I’ll give you
what you want, Irwin. We just have to meet.”
“I know you’re not the real Gretchen. And I know about the doppelgangers.”
“…”
“What? Can’t speak?”
“No, it’s not that. I just can’t believe it took you that long to realize that.”
“It took me a long time?”
“Time is cyclical and completely subjective. It doesn’t exist.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Oh, right. I’m not talking to the right Irwin, am I? Never mind that. Meet me at the gas station
tomorrow, eleven A.M.. You know, where Justin was found? Or, the other Justin?”
And before I could respond the line clicked. I stepped away from the gate and turned to look
behind me. The bushes were rustling.
* * *
Three A.M.
I couldn’t sleep. I’d lay down, get comfy, and all I would do is think. About the case. About
James. About my home in Seattle. About Gretchen. But one thing consistently stuck in my mind. It was
one of the last things Gretchen said on the phone. About not talking to the correct Irwin. And, of
course, I knew who that was. I needed to see him again.
Now, I knew that for each night I got drunk, was another night I was seeing him. So, I decided
to get drunk. I ran to the liquor store and bought a couple bottles of vodka, and one container of
Jagermeister. These would do the trick.
And I sat there in bed getting hammered. When I stared at the television I found the camera
angle to be slightly crooked. And the more I stared, the more it distorted. Rings of static pulsated
through the screen, along with the sound of a gong being hit. It sounded through the room and shook
my ear drums.
“You don’t need to be drunk to see me, Mr. Sander.”
I jumped and turned. There he was. Charred flesh and all. “Why do you call me that?”
“Well, considering that we are the same person, there should be some distinction in our names.”
“What’s your name?”
“Irwin.” He said.
I turned to him with a shit-eating grin. The bottle nearly fell out of my hand and vodka splashed
out of it. “Did you see me call Gretchen?”
“Yes, I did. You do know that I am always with you. Now, tell me, what have you summoned
me for?”
I took another swig and the bottle was finished. I dropped it on the floor. “She said something
about not talking to the “correct” Irwin. Now, I feel like there’s somethin’ going on here that I dunno
about, and it’s kinda fucking with me, man. I’d really like to know… you know?”
“Oh. That.”
“Yes. That.”
He paused for a moment. It seemed that he had a case of paralysis as when he straightened his
back, he looked rather stiff. Like a rusty marionette doll. “You do know, Mr. Sander, that I have
traveled back in time to see you, right?”
I nodded. “That I do know.”
“And you know that you’re in a time loop, correct?”
“…Yes.”
“Traveling back in time… caused things to change.” He said.
“What things? Don’t be coy.”
“Two timelines are merging into one because of my little mission here. Alas, in my own
ignorance, I have caused this because I wanted to go back in time. But you can reverse this, and that’s
why I’m here. It’s you, Mr. Sander. You can put an end to this.”
My jaw dropped in awe. “And how do I?”
“Simple. You survive.”
And just like that, he disappeared. Like he had never even existed.