Sam, March 2020, Alternative Universe
I closed my eyes for a moment, it was one spilt second, the last thing I remembered was being thrown backwards as I watched the roof cave in but when I opened my eyes again I can feel warm water cascading around my body. I blink, trying to make sense of where I am or even how I got here.
I'm in a shower, looking around the familiar room I realise that I'm in my shower, not the one I shared this morning with Veronica but the one in my bathroom back in Claremont. The layout is how I remember it but the surroundings have changed slightly, my shampoo bottle has a completely different label on it but still the same brand that I've used for years and there's a cake of soap instead of Roni's fruity scented body wash.
The tiles look new, like the bathroom has been recently renovated, gone are the old cracked and chipped, faded brown tiles, in their place is new white tiles, making the room appear so much brighter. I know I haven't been back here in a while but I'm sure Dad or Celeste would have mentioned they were giving my bathroom a makeover.
I reach for the tap, to turn the water off but stop when I see my own arm, it's covered in tattoo's, there's not an inch of skin that's isn't inked and as my eyes travel from my arm, across my chest, to my other arm, I see it's not just one one full sleeve of tattoo, I have two and a few on my chest but what disturbs me more than anything, my rabbit is completely gone, not just covered up, it doesn't exist. Am I dreaming? This feels way too real to be a dream, I can actually feel the warm water on my skin, if this is a dream then it's the most realistic one I've ever had.
Maybe I died but if I am dead then why would it bring me back here of all places? Haunting a bathroom?
I shut the water off and grab a towel that's hanging on the rack, while drying myself off I have a look at my body in the mirror, hoping to not discover any more disturbing surprises like a lollypop tattooed onto my cock, I look down and breathe a sigh of relief when I see my own skin, not ink. I look back up at the mirror, it's definitely me, although my face looks older and I've got a few strands of grey coming through on my sideburns.
I need to get to Veronica, I need to figure out what the hell is going on, she's the only person I trust who won't consider me crazy, I know it. I get dressed in the clothes that were on the vanity, a black t-shirt and jeans, good to know my taste in clothing is the same here, even if everything else is warped.
I open the door of the ensuite and walk into what was once my teenage bedroom, after I left for England I'd left it set up the same but in this reality, it too has had a makeover, my posters of bands and football are gone, replaced with a giant glass cabinet filled with trophies and medals. My eye's scan over the trophies, reading the dates, Premier Cup championship 2002-03, well that one I know I achieved but the 2006-07 trophy for the Premier Cup floors me and it's not the only one, there's trophies dated all the way up to 2015. How can I have trophies for games played 10 years from now? Then I see the muscle car calendar hanging on my wall and I almost have a heart attack, how the fuck am I in 2020?
A loud, vibrating noise behind me has me jumping out of my skin, I turn around and find the vibrating is coming from a long, flat screen, I pick it up and discover it's a phone of sorts and my caller is Lucas of all people. The phone is giving me two options on the screen, answer or decline, against all my better judgement I hit answer, hoping Lucas might just be able to provide me with some sort of understanding of what's going on.
"Hello?" I say into the phone, not even sure I'm holding it right.
"Finally, I've been trying to call you for the last 20 minutes." He says, sounding annoyed.
