How To Go Back in Time Book One: Chapter Nineteen

The fluorescent lights buzzed and hummed overhead. The whole room was a stark white. The
television was on, but it played nothing but PBS shows. I laid in bed, eating the hospital’s slop for
dinner. My knee was still in pain.
James was sat in the chair across from me, flipping through the magazines. I could tell by the
disgruntled look on his face and the way his nose was turned, that he was pissed. Probably bored.
Though in the glint of his pupils, I saw worry.
“You don’t get it.” I said.
“I don’t get what?”
“I’m the FBI agent that saw the killer! I should be out in the field—not here!”
He scoffed. “Well, that sucks. Your knee’s broken.”
“If I can still walk and twiddle my toes I can do something.”
A facepalm. “That’s not how that works…”
“You don’t understand what I used to do in the military. This is nothing.”
“Nothing? Really? This is nothing for you?”
I sighed and fell back into the bed. Staring up at the spinning fan, many thoughts crossed my
mind. Justin’s suicide. Talking to him. The flies. “James… I have seen things you wouldn’t believe. So
when I say they don’t know what they’re walking into, THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY’RE
WALKING INTO!”
And all James did is roll his eyes and stay silent. Then, he his phone rang. I don’t think he knew,
but I could hear everything. Paul and Rosa had found Gretchen and chased her down. She had been
arrested. There was also the talk of a drug orders sheet being found. There was nothing concrete to go
on, but they’re may have been talk of drug poisoning.
But I knew better than to lay down my arms this second. Nothing was working. I was stuck
there in that dingy-little hospital bed, attempting to chase the correct ghost, while my comrades chased
the incorrect ghost. And my knee was broken.
I opened my eyes to the news playing on the television. A news anchor said that a criminal had
been caught here in Beldad. They showed a picture of Gretchen—and wait a minute. Her eyes. They
weren’t yellow. Now I had finally understood. This confirmed it. Doppelgangers. Sure, they had caught
Gretchen, but not the right Gretchen.
I sat up to the edge of the bed. “I’m, uh, gonna go to the bathroom.”
He slowly looked up. “…Okay.”
Outside the door, I barricaded it with a chair. I ripped the IV out of my arm and blood spilled
onto the floor. Fleeing down the hallway, I rushed through a crowd of nurses. They stared at me with
eyes of shock, and demanded that I return.
I rushed out the door, and hopped into the police car. But then I realized I didn’t have the keys
on me. Breaking open the dashboard, I hot wired it. The engine came to life and I put the baby into
drive. I went forty over the speed bumps and crashed through the gate.
I ran a red light and emerged onto the road. My phone began ringing and I picked it up. It was
James. “Irwin! What in the hell do you think you’re doing? Come back and let me out!”
“Sorry, can’t do that. You’d only drag me down.”
“Drag you down? Seriously?”
“Listen, I’m sorry but I something I need to do. Paul will let you out, how about that?”
“God damn—“
I hung up and careened into Birdland. I nearly crashed into the mailbox, trying to park. Finally,
I was outside her trailer, retracing footsteps. I landed on my knee the wrong way and winced. But I did
not let go. I waddled my ass up the steps and through the door.
It did seem like someone was here before, and I did see the drug orders sheet. But when I turned
and looked at the wall, I saw blood. There was a shootout. Had they found the right Gretchen?
I began to get frustrated that I couldn’t find where she had went. The blood trail followed down
the stairs and outside. There were tire marks, but they dissipated. I searched under couch cushions, in
wall panels, and every single cupboard. Nothing that I could find for evidence. But, of course, I
wouldn’t have found anything anyway. I was looking for the other Gretchen where the Real Gretchen
was.
I had given up, and sat on the floor in pure dread. I begged him for a sign. “Where are you?” I
yelled. “Come on! I need help! Please!” I pounded the floor and kicked over counters. “Where are
you?” I screamed, again and again.
Until finally, a light emerged. It was bright and covered the whole room. It seemed impossible
for it to appear, but I looked out the window and caught a glimpse of where it was coming from. The
water plant.
I raced to the car as fast as my busted leg could carry. I sped up the dirt road and smashed
through a railroad crossing. Then I emerged on the other side of the canyon, and into the water plant
parking lot.
I stepped out and noticed that it was eerily quiet. Not even the chirp of crickets. Just the pale
moonlight and silence. I stepped through the doors and I heard them creak and I heard the pebbles
crunching under my feet. The hallway was pitch black.
Pressing forward, I saw light just around the corner. Then the shadow of a person on the wall.
Pounding footsteps. I turned the corner with my gun aimed. “You’ve got nowhere to run!” I told her. “I
don’t know what you are, but I’m putting an end to this.”
“You’re gonna kill me detective?”
“Not that. I’m gonna capture you, and I’m bringing you in. People will know about this.”
She laughed and took a step back. “I want you think about that for a second. I want you to
imagine bringing in a doppelganger and telling the world these doppelgangers exist. Do you realize
what that would do?”
I sighed and cocked the gun. She was right. Maybe people didn’t need to know. I sure as hell
didn’t. I raised my gun and fired. She ducked out of the way and threw a kick. It hit my ankles and I
was swept off my feet.
Chasing after her, she ran out the emergency exit. I followed and saw that she running towards
the canyon. I rang a few shots but they all missed. I was too far away. And as I caught up, she shot me
in the chest.
I gasped and fell to the ground. All I could smell is the fresh dirt as it entered my nostrils. That
and the blood pouring out of me. She towered over me for a second, staring down. “You created me,
Mr. Sander.”
“I created you?” I said, barely gasping.
“Yes, you and your friend. All because you wanted to go back in time. Now you’re here, and I
am going to kill you.”
“But why?”
“Sometimes you have to put old gods down. You don’t care for me, just like God does. You
resent your own creation—your gift. Don’t you see that I am the fruits of your labor?”
“That’s not true.”
“You went back in time, and that caused a separation between worlds. You allowed me and
others through. I am your child!”
Though my hands were wet with blood, I could barely grasp the gun. I loaded the bullet and
leapt forward. I tackled Gretchen to the ground and put the gun to her head. She bit at my arm, but that
did nothing, only delayed it. And then, I fired.
Her life vanquished before her eyes. I grabbed her by the collar and lifted her body up. Then I
dropped it into the canyon. No one would ever find it.
I collapsed to the ground, gasping. I had lost a lot of blood. Slowly, my heart pounded. Softly,
my eyes closed.
* * *
AND NOW,
YOU’RE IN A STATE OF SUSPENDED ANIMATION
YOU’RE IN A STATE OF SUSPENDED ANIMATION
YOU’RE IN A STATE OF SUSPENDED ANIMATION
Deep within the reaches of death,
You will find God.
With the vision growing black,
Around the edges of your sight,
And a cord around your tongue,
You will return once more,
To a state of sleep,
And absolute bliss.
In that you are God,
And whatever comes forth,
Is the dream,
That we are all partaking.