Duality Doesn't Exist [Set It Off] [[DISCONTINUED]]

*tiny voice* well shit

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Right Side Up

Rayne
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I almost did a double take, barely comprehending what Mirror Maxx said. The van was eerily silent, save for his heavy breathing, almost hysterical, and the low hum of the van.

"Austin's what?" Cody whispered, eyeing Maxx and Dan who were still asleep. The sunlight barely rose over the trees on the side of the road.

Mirror Maxx was teary as he repeated: "Austin's dead. Cody killed him, I saw it...! I-" he stopped himself when his voice started to rise. "He-he choked him."

"What the fuck," Zach whispered, slowing the van down for a moment, then he pulled over to the side of the road, completely stopping.

"And... And whatever happens over there... Happens over here..." Cody murmured. My brain had gone numb.

"What happens to us, happens to you." Mirror Maxx looked at all of us awake, and then to Maxx who's head was lolled to the side, in deep sleep.

"Look, we should take a break at the next town up ahead," Zach said in a low groan. "We've been driving all night and they'll only have two miles by now. We have like, sixty. Eighty?"

"Yeah, okay." Cody nodded.

"Hey, can I hop out for a sec?" Mirror Maxx asked, holding the wounded side of his face. "I gotta take this thing out." he motioned to his reddened and broken eye, which wasn't even moving.

"Yeah, go ahead." Cody nodded. "It's better than popping it out in a McDonald's bathroom or something."

"Thanks," he whispered and opened the van door and running into the trees that lie ahead.

"If he's not back in ten minutes, I'm driving without him," Zach murmured, and Cody scoffed, giving him a light hit on the arm.

I looked out the window, waiting for him to come back, which I knew he would. The van shuddered as Zach turned it off, but keeping the radio on to a soft volume. I leaned into the speaker, not knowing the song, but it was better than hearing nothing as we were waiting for Maxx.

He came back after about three minutes, holding his hand up to his bleeding eye socket. Once he was back in his seat, Zach started driving again.

"You good?" Cody asked, shuffling around the floor. "Need a rag or something?"

"Nah, it's not bleeding," Mirror Maxx replied with a wave of his hand. "It just hurts... And feels weird."

I looked out the window: everything looked the same. A long winding road with forest on either side. "Where are we, anyway?"

"Were coming up to a small town, Slocomb," Zach said. "Alabama. We came quite a way from Miami."

"Ah," I responded simply. "Um... What are we gonna do about... Austin?"

"Nothing we can do," Cody said dejectedly. He looked back to Mirror Maxx, who was now crying. "You okay, man?" I shifted from my spot to sit beside him, nothing but a seat between us.

"I'll be fine," he whimpered, wiping his only functioning eye. "It's just... Austin was my only... He was..." he looked down, a new wave of tears streaming down his face. "He was the closest thing I could call a friend!"

Now Dan had woken up upon hearing Mirror Maxx's outburst. "Hm?" he sat up and quickly rubbed his short yellow hair tiredly. "Uh, morning..."

"Hey," I said with a small wave.

"What's going on?" he asked, looking back at Mirror Maxx, now more awake. "Hey, why are you crying?"

"Nothing," Mirror Maxx responded quietly, wiping his good eye.