The Impostor

Chapter 21 - Keep Going

I groaned when I woke up. I opened my eyes but quickly closed them again at the brightness of my surroundings. Opening them again after some time, I was met with pure, bright, white. I struggled up and saw a splatter of blood. Looking at my body, I trembled as I saw my hand. It was transparent. Turning around, I saw myself. Only, It wasn't myself. I was right here! It was my body. It lay in a pool of blood and had a large, tattered, gruesome hole in its chest.

Turning back to avoid the sight, my eyes fell on something else. It was my father. But beside him... Was my mother. She was still breathing but laying on the floor with a gash on her neck.

"No!" I cried. I tried to run to her, but I crashed into something.

"I'm sorry." My father said softly. "She's dying, Mike. You can't save her."

"Let me in!" I cried as I pressed my hands against an invisible barrier.

"I can't. You were an elite imposter. You are special. You have two lives, Mike. Not even the imposter knows this because even he doesn't have two lives. You need to use it to defeat him. You can choose to come in, but if you do.." He walked up to the barrier until he was facing me. "You can't go back."

My body trembled as he said the words. "But both you and mom are dead!" I protested. "Why should I still have to go back?!" Tears ran down my face as my heart ached and I clenched my fists. "There is nothing left for me back there!"

"Mike!" My father reached through the barrier and grabbed my shoulders. "You have a mission to complete."

I gritted my teeth. "Why did you have to become an astronaut!" I yelled.

My father seemed taken aback. "That is not important. We can't waste time!" He raised his voice. "Your mother died to complete this mission. The crewmates will die if you don't go back!"

My body shook as anger and sadness fought to take control. My father softened and he let go. "If you don't stop the imposter right now, he will kill everyone." He said. "This is your choice. Save the world from destruction, or live with your family."

My vision blurred as I raised my tear-stained face to smile at my dad. "You never told me that being an astronaut sucks." I laughed despite the state I was in.

My father smiled. He put a hand on my shoulder. "Only the bad parts suck. Wake up."

My eyes widened as the world around me started to flash. Black one millisecond and white another millisecond. I was tempted to close my eyes but they stayed wide open. Multicolored dots appeared in my vision as the blinding light took over one second and the pitch blackness the other. I felt the ground rumbling under my feet as it shattered with a breaking glass sound. I closed my eyes as I fell down into blackness.