(November 21, 2018)
It's nine o'clock on a Saturday and Pip was doing her usual deal. She glanced at the clock over in the corner. Stupid princess clock. Disney princesses weren't her style. Despite her parents' influence in her life, and her ugly pink room, she found places to put up Star Wars posters and space maps and papers. The clock clearly read 9:14 PM. She looked back down at the game she was playing in the dark, the only lights being the moon outside, her tablet, and a nightlight. As much as pareidolia fascinated her, she really didn't like the shapes that she would see in the dark. The figures on the far wall. The shadows dancing around the room.
She sat there, listening to the vent circulate air through her room. She wanted to make it to tomorrow. Pip tossed and turned. Usually she would fall asleep easily. She looked back over at the clock. 12:36 AM. Strange that her door was still shut. Usually her mom gets a little paranoid and opens it back up. There was a strange red light streaming in from under the door. There was dead silence. She couldn't hear the ticking clock on the other side of the wall.
She quietly got up and the bed creaked, like usual. She forgot it was the middle of November, and it was freezing. Her clock with the temperature didn't glow in the dark, so hell if she knows what temperature it is. She didn't have any lights to take with her. She put pressure on the doorknob, trying to hit that sweet spot, so that the door wouldn't creak loudly. She opened it, and bright red neon lights seemed to flash into the room from all angles. She stepped outside.
It led outside to a large open field, so she was unsure why there were bright neon lights. She stepped out in her pajamas, which was a horrible mistake. She should've grabbed a coat hanging in her closet. Oh my God can you get anymore stupid, she thought bitterly.
There was a noise behind her. Pip turned her head to look frantically. Nothing was there. She was getting cold. She began to feel lightheaded. She heard a voice from... she didn't really know which direction. "Here, I figured that you'd need something helpful." She felt something warm thrown over her. It felt somewhat like.... a leather jacket. She didn't recognize the voice either. Too bad she... basically fell asleep, because that's what passing out really feels like.
She woke up in a completely different place than a cold field. She felt well rested. She looked over at her clock- Hold up. This isn't her room. She sat up in a panic. She looked around the room for the door. She nearly screamed when she realized that this room was the reverse of her room. She looked over at 'her' desk and 'her' chair. In the chair, sat someone. She couldn't tell who, it was still pretty dark outside. She looked at the reverse clock. It looked like it read 12:57 AM. She didn't know what to say or do, but this all felt familiar.
"Uhhh hi," she choked up. What a way with words.
"Hello," the masculine voice was quick to respond. It was the voice from before! She had a strange thought creeping into her mind. Was this Dev? As strange and stupid as it sounded, was it really that bizarre. "You remember your name right?" What a weird question. Might as well humor the silhouette.
"Um, yeah," she covered herself fully with the blanket. Not that she was cold, she just felt eyes on her, watching her every move, and she hated it.
"That's nice. But, say, can you remember the names you've given me?" Pip gave the male a strange glance. What kind of insane asylum is this?
"I've never met you in my life," Pip ranted. The male shrugged.
"Not in your waking life," he remarked. Pip pursed her lips. This couldn't be him.
"That's impossible," she retorted. This isn't him.
The figure stood up in the darkness, she could hear it. "What about Sam, your penpal? The unnamed hero of that fantasy dream? Or more recently as I've been named, officially, you call it, Devin." With this he stepped forward into the moonlight, his murky green eyes reflected every negative emotion. His brown hair falling flat. Sideburns, bags under eyes, tight frown, chapped lips. Hell, he was wearing a black shirt under his maroon hoodie. I recognized him perfectly. This man was Dev, my alter ego. He smiled, his annoying stupid smile, because he knew what I must've been thinking.
"You know me, Destiny," he turned his back to Pip.... er... Destiny apparently, "It's funny that you think you have it all mapped out and under control. If you did, I wouldn't be telling you that you really fucking don't. Now that I exist, deep down, I'll always be a part of you that you don't like. I know you hate me. You don't know yourself, Destiny. I'm a flashing neon reminder that you don't have it under control. You don't know who you are."
"This is just a dream, you're not real, you fucking psychopath," yeah Pip was somewhat angry that he revealed her actual name but even more upset over that fact that he was right. He turned and looked at her with a questionable smile.
"Then maybe you should wake up before you lose control of that too," Dev laughed. His annoying voice, his stupid confidence, his ability to get under anyone's skin. Pip wished that she hadn't made Dev everything she hated about herself, everything she wanted to get rid of. The worst part was the fact that she found him somewhat charming. Maybe it was her stroking her own ego, or maybe she really had a thing for assholes. That's another thing she hated about him, Dev made her question herself even when she knew she shouldn't.
"Wait I have a question," she chimed in. Dev looked at her with the same unfaltering smile. He motioned for her to do whatever. "Who was on the Discord server? Because no one has the password and it wasn't me-"
"But I am you, retard," Dev sighed in annoyance and sat back in his swivel chair, "There's no one else it could be. Are you terminally ill?" Haha he said terminal. He stood back up and admired himself in the mirror for a few minutes. Dev shed his signature hoodie. He threw on a leather jacket and looked at his altered reflection. "Well whatever you are, you don't belong here. It's about twenty after and this isn't your life to lead so scram." Damn, for a moment she thought he would help her. Then she remembered that he was an absolute asshole.
Pip felt somewhat bad but, "Can I borrow a coat? It's freezing outside and I don't want to die-" Dev gave her a stupid look at quietly motioned at the nightstand. There was a jacket folded neatly on top of the nightstand Pip never had. She assumed it was the jacket Dev threw over her out in the field a while ago. "Thanks, Dev." Without responding, Dev turned his back on a guest he'll probably never see again. At least not in waking life.
