An Entire Year of You

Chapter 26: The Double

Sandstorms in Night Vale were viewed the way normal storms were around the rest of the world. They were mildly dangerous, but they were more of an inconvenience than anything. Even the rest of Carlos' team seemed mostly unaffected. They went into work as normal, having apparently experienced worse throughout previous postings. Carlos, on the other hand, had never seen a sandstorm before in his life so he opted to stay in the place he felt most secure, his apartment. After all, if he could survive an angry spirit in there, he could survive a simple sandstorm.

The winds howled outside the window, whistling through every little gap and crack. He didn't have anything to block out any damage, but he had managed to stop the sand from blowing under the door by rolling up his duvet and placing it in front of the little gap underneath. He spent the day at his table, watching the different shades of orange and yellow swirl by, maintaining a safe distance from the window in case they shattered. He kept the radio on for more information. Of course, Cecil wasn't being much help. In fact, Carlos was actively ignoring his advice to close his eyes. The view was too beautiful that.

He was almost in a trance when he spotted it. A dark shape moving passed his window, clear as day against the burnt orange background. Carlos shrugged it off at first. He was probably just imagining things. He imagined things all the time, especially since he moved to Night Vale. Then it passed by again. A dark black shadow about the size of an adult man. Carlos gulped before quickly rationalising. People had been walking around all day, despite the radio's warnings against it, and his apartment was on a main street. It could be anyone. He hoped they were alright. The sand was blowing fast enough to blind a person.

"Highway officials are warning all Night Vale residents to stay off the roads. The sandstorm is making travel nearly impossible. We are told that several cars have stalled near the southbound off-ramp at Exit 6 on Route 800. Traffic officers reported..." The radio was hard to hear over the noise outside. Carlos strained his ears to find out what was being said about the roads. He managed to find a relatively secure place to store his car near the lab, but he was sure it was going to scratched to high heavens regardless. Luckily, he had no-where important to be the for the next few weeks. He leaned to turn it up as far as it would go and even then, it was difficult to understand the words clearly. "each fighting pair seemed to be of the same build, gender, age, and were wearing the exact same thing."

What? He must have missed something. It didn't really matter. Something weird was always going on in Night Vale. The shadow passed by again. It was possible that there was someone out there in trouble that he should check on, but it was always out of sight before Carlos could make the decision.

"Old Woman Josie has not called, but intern Dana said that Old Woman Josie updated her Facebook page with an Instagram of some rune stones. Dana has been furiously translating these symbols, and her best guess is that they say 'They come in twos. You come in twos. You and you. Kill your double!'" Carlos wasn't sure which struck him more; the statement about the doubles or the fact that Josie had a Facebook account that nobody had told him about. He rarely used social media, but it was nice to be aware of these things. He wondered if he had a double. What would he be like? Would they get along? Who would ultimately kill who? He shook his ahead. It was likely that everyone had a doppelganger somewhere, but the likelihood of a pair meeting each other was astronomically thin. It was a prank or possibly some sort of optical illusion brought on by the storm. He could believe either.

The day went on and the reports became more alarming. Carlos tried to ignore all of it with cool, calm scientific rationality, but scientific rationality meant little to Night Vale. He feared for the town, now in a state of emergency, griped in mist of something they claimed they were not afraid of. He feared for Dana, a young woman he'd never met and might not never have a chance to, endangered by her position, fighting against herself. He feared for Cecil, who he couldn't reach on the phone. He didn't yet fear for himself, not really, but the shadow was getting closer to the window each time it passed and the question of either he had his own double grew ever stronger in his mind.

"And with that, dear listeners, let's go to the– ...oh, my. Look at that. Listeners, there is a black – almost indigo – vortex that has formed along my studio wall. Listeners, words fail me. It is so beautiful!" He wanted to yell at Cecil not go. There was too much going on and a vortex could not be safe. Nothing was safe while the storm was raging on. "I can't leave you, as our show is not yet over, but...there must be something beyond this something, Night Vale. I must see what it is! I must go! I will try not to be long, listeners. I will try not to be long..."

The radio went dead. It was just static, crackling loudly, blending in with the swirling wind outside. It grew louder and louder, almost deafeningly so, and it was everywhere. Outside the door, inside the apartment, within his own mind. It was blinding him from behind his own eyes, suffocating him.

And then it stopped...

Where there was noise there was silence. Where there was a storm there was now peace. The wind had stopped, and the sand had settled. There was just quiet. Quiet and a new voice on the radio.

"Hello? Hello, Desert Bluffs? What is this studio? Hey there, Desert Bluffs! I don't know if you can hear me. Kevin here. I don't' know where I am..." The voice was so kind, too kind, too happy.

"Cecil?" He asked, though he knew that the voice certainly wasn't Cecil. There was a bang on the window. His head spun to see. There was still nothing. So much nothing.

"Listeners, if you can hear me, I am in a strange place. I do not know if I am in Desert Bluffs, or if anyone can hear me. The sandstorm rages outside. The vortex is still there, only it's black – almost a deep blue. There's a low hum. I do not know if this is the portal, or the storm, or my own body. There is a photo here on the desk. It is a man. He is wearing a tie. He is not tall or short, not thin or fat. He has eyes like mine and a nose like mine, and hair like mine, but I do not think he is me..."

'He is not you,' Carlos thought, 'and you are not him.' But he was someone. One day, he would be someone important. Whoever this man was, he was going to be a big part of his life someday. Carlos could feel it.

A more pressing matter lurked besides him. Carlos could see it in the corner of his eye. The shadow was inside the house, standing next to him, calm but radiating sadness. Carlos turned his head, his feet and body motionless, and the shadow was no longer a shadow. It was a man. It was him. The double didn't move, his eyes were locked on the radio.

"That's him, Carlos. That's my radio host." The double said solemnly. While his appearance was identical to Carlos, his voice was not. His voice was deeper, rougher, somehow older, and all too familiar.

"Mr Markson?" asked Carlos. The double turned. Their eyes met for just a moment. It was like looking into a mirror.

" You may not know me, nor I you, but we have this mic, and this voice, and your warm ears blossoming open to hear comforting secrets in the vibrations of a voice that pulse so deep into your body, your heart relaxes for a time. And we have this, sitting right here on this odd and bloodless desk. So now, dear listeners, whoever you are, I give you the weather." The man on the radio started the weather. The winds picked up again, lighter this time, soft and safe. Mr Markson was gone. Carlos waited for the song to end for the relief of Cecil's voice before turning off the radio and trying with all his might to forget.