CHAPTER 19 - REUNION
I never would have guessed that Brian's hut had a basement, but apparently, it did. And that's where the three were.
Brian had to pull out the bed a bit, but the trap door was in the corner of their bedroom.
At the bottom of the steps, there was a large, metal door. It looked solid. There was a lock on it, which Brian had the key for.
I don't know why, but I was scared. I'd come all this way, but I wasn't sure I wanted to see Carter yet. I mean, it was scarry. I'd seen her before, but this was different. I was going to meet my Doppleganger, for the first time. I would get to meet the girl that gave me the reputation of being crazy. I would get to meet the cause of my therapy. I was excited and a little scared.
I understood why Carter hadn't wanted to meet me. I felt myself playing with my tangled hair and straightening my dirty clothes, hoping like crazy she'd like me. I knew how she felt, wanting to impress me. I wanted to impress her too.
Finally, the door swung open. It was nice and bright in the room. An old man sat in the middle. He looked a bit like O'Bryan, but older. He was hunched over a small contraption, pushing buttons.
Over in the corner, sat a boy and a girl. The boy looked just like Zane. He was wearing dark jeans - just like Zane - and a leather jacket - just like Zane - over a blue shirt - just like Zane. The only difference, his hair was shorter. Not much, but it was shorter. And he looked cleaner than Zane, and more healthy. But less tanned. Probably from being underground.
He had been talking to a girl. The girl sat beside him. She was wearing a black T-shirt with a hot pink jacket over the top. She had black jeans with a hole in both knees. She still had the blue hilights in her dark, choppy hair. She also wore dark makeup around her grey eyes.
All three looked up when we entered. Mason smiled and hopped up from where he was sitting.
"Zane, man," he said with Zane's English accent. "Knew you'd come. Carter wasn't so sure, but I knew it. I did think it would be a problem with your old man though. I mean, I know it was a shock for me when I first saw him. O'Bryan had said there was an informant here. Never dreamed it would be your Dad."
Zane shook Mason's hand. "Me neither, man. Never thought I'd see him again."
Mason smirked. "Bet it was quite a reunion."
Brian laughed from the doorway and grasped his shoulder. "Shoved me into a wall."
"You did?" Mason asked, surprised. "Calmer than me."
"What'd you do?" Zane asked.
Mason glanced at Brian. "Punched him."
Brian lifted his shirt. There was a large black and blue bruise on his stomache. "Hard too."
"Ouch," Zane said, laughing. Actually, all three were laughing.
I glanced around and my eyes landed on Carter. She looked like she'd seen a ghost. (Which was weird concidering that she's the one who's not real. Technically.) We both walked forward and stopped about five feet from eachother.
"Carter," I said.
She nodded. "Payson."
The guy's laughter had died down as they all began to fill eachother in on their various aspects of what was going on. Each had a different story to tell.
"Mason said you'd come."
I looked up at Carter. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?"
She shrugged. "Why would you?"
"Because you're my Doppleganger," I told her. "And even though we've never officially met, you've always been there. I've seen you."
Carter smiled.
"And," I went on, "because Zane was pretty stuborn about me coming."
Carter laughed. "Mason's the same way. Then agian, I'm not really surprised. Mason said they were best friends. Grew up together."
I nodded. "Yeah. They even look identical."
"Even the clothes," she laughed. "Neither one of them would be caught dead without their precious leather jackets. It's really sad."
Carter and I talked for some time. She told me about DQA and her quest. I told her about school and threapy, and even Mom. She talked about her best friend Mason, I talked about Beth, Ryan, and Zane. I told her about everything, and so did she. We had more in common than I origionally thought.
Finally, Brian told us we all needed to talk. We needed to decide what to do about O'Bryan.
"Connor's plan isn't that great," Cilas said. "He was always the guy with the strength; the guy who could carry out tasks. I was always the brains of the opporation. When I built this," - Cilas pointed to the machine; it almost looked like an old fahioned typewriter - ,"I put a reversal on it."
Mason shrugged. "What good will that do?"
"Well," Cilas said. "This machine makes normal people - non-origionals - see Dopplegangers, right? Well, it also makes origionals not see Dopplegangers. At least it should."
"You haven't tested it?" I asked. Wasn't testing part of the inventing process? It seemed like I'd heard that somewhere before.
Cilas scowled. It reminded me of when I met O'Bryan. Luckily, he'd warmed up to me. Although, he ended up being the bad guy... "And who, do you perpose, would we test it on?"
I shrugged.
"Then why don't we do that?" Brian asked. "If O'Bryan can't see or hear Carl, or any other Dopplegangers, then he isn't as powerful."
Cilas nodded. "Unfortunately, we cant."
"Why not?" Zane asked. "Why can't we?"
Cilas looked at his machine. "Because. I built this almost a decade ago. It requires a code to activate it, but my memory isn't what it use to be. I haven't a clue what the code is."
Everyone sighed.
"Well, that plan's out," Carter said. "Any other ideas?"
Nobody answered. Or raised their hands. Or had an idea.
The room was silent, everyone trying to think. What were we going to do? The only way to do it, and the old guy didn't remember the code? Just our luck.
"It's getting late," Brian finally said. "What if we all sleep on it? Come back in the morning or something?"
Everyone nodded.
"Great," Brian said. "Payson, Zane. Up the stairs. You can sleep in the guest beds."
"What about them?" I asked, pointing to the three others.
Brian shrugged. "What about them? They each have beds." He pointed to three cots in the corner.
"We'll be fine," Mason said, making his way over to the one on the end. "See everyone in the morning." He proceeded to remove his leather jacket and get into the cot. "Well," he said. "Am I the only tired one?"
Brian laughed. "Goodnight."
Zane and I followed Brian back up the stairs and into the main house, closing the trap door behind us and moving the bed back in place.
Brian showed us to the room next to his. It had one cot in it. "This one's for Payson," he said. "Zane's is next door. If you need anything..."
Brian walked out the back door and I could only assume he had gone to get Dinda. She was probably wondering what was talking to long.
"Goodnight," Zane said, making his way to his guest room.
I rolled over in my cot. I'd just met Carter Cambridge, my Doppleganger.
I shut my eyes and fell immediately to sleep
