DOPPELGANGER

Doppelganger: Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR

I woke up the next morning lying in my bed. I blinked several times, just trying to make sense of everything. I slowly sat up and looked across my room. Nobody else was in the room with me. I checked the time on my alarm clock; it was six.

"Doppelganger," I whispered to myself. "I'm an idiot. What kind of messed up dream did I just have?"

"None because it wasn't a dream," a voice said, making me jolt.

I wish I hadn't heard it. My closet door opened and "it" came out. I closed my eyes and I felt pressure on the other side of my bed.

"No matter how hard you close your eyes, I won't disappear," it mentioned.

"What do I call you?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought we were past formal introductions." It let out a short chuckle. "I find it very interesting that you're not so afraid anymore."

"Trust me. I am. I'm just trying to figure out what all of this is. Am I in a coma or something and—"

"You're alive and healthy...somewhat."

"But apparently my sanity is out of whack because I'm talking to myself—literally."

"I'm both you and not you at the same time; I'm the you that you refuse to let out. You can call me Ava 2.0. A2, for short," it explained.

"Why are you here? How is this even possible?"

A2 stood up and rummaged through my backpack. It pulled out the Being Doubled book. It threw it at my face and I barely caught it.

"Finish reading that; it could help. But just know that it won't give you all the answers. The rest of the truth lies within you."

"You mean you," I clarified.

"No," it shook its head. "I am a part of you, so I mean you."

"I am so confused," I groaned falling back down on my pillow.

"I know; it's quite amusing," A2 sang.

"Well, I'm glad you think this is funny," I responded sarcastically. "I have a question for you, though."

"What?"

"Why did you hit Maia with a book?" I asked.

"Because you've been wanting to," she replied, shrugging.

"I care about Maia very much."

"It's not that you don't care about her; it's that you're drowning your subconscious thoughts. You know that Maia's been a brat lately, and her actions sometimes irritate you. And at certain moments, you just want to slap her or something."

"What about the mall incident with Laura?"

"Anybody within a ten mile radius who knows the story of what she did would want to slap her, too. And you know it; don't act like you don't agree."

"I have always wanted to slap her," I confessed. "And as for Maia, she can be annoying sometimes."

"Exactly. I'm your aggressiveness come to life," it said to me.

"Do other people have doppelgangers?" I asked. "And...are you paranormal? Like, you're not a ghost or anything, but you can disappear and stuff."

"I can manifest myself to be seen or unseen. The thing is, you and I can't be seen at the same time or else..."

"Or else what?" I inquired.

"Read the book," A2 answered, "Ciao for now."

In the blink of an eye, it was gone. I held Being Doubled tightly, and I took in everything that just happened. I opened the book and scanned down the table of contents.