The Frozen Heart

Chapter 12

Jacks POV

My muscles tense up, but I shrug it off because there's more at stake here.  I can't let that creepy tune stop me.  I let out a sigh before I turn to go knock on the front door.

I wait a few moments before the door creaks open to see Maysie still in her pajamas.

"Jack!" She exclaims as she jumps forward and pulls me into an embrace.  I allow it and hug back.

"Ugh, where'd you go?! I woke up this morning to find you were gone!" She pulls back to scorn me.  I chuckle as I think of a lie.

"Sorry, I ran a bit late, literally," I start. "I couldn't sleep very well so I decided to go for a jog or somethin' to make me tired."  I rub the back of my head as I give her an embarassed grin.  She knits her eyebrows together but quickly smiles and laughs.

"That's okay, I was just worried." She reassures me.  She leads me back inside the house.  Here we go.

****

All day, we just walked the streets of the small town back and forth.  People probably thought we were the weirdest kids on the street, probably because they've seen us walk by about 10 times.  We just talked about random things, like her school, my 'old' life (which I had to fabricate on the spot), and even though I didn't understand a thing she was rambling about, she talked mainly about something called quantum numbers and the periodic table or something like that.  I just pretended to know what she was talking about.

To be honest though, I'm completely exhausted.  I think I pulled some neck muscles from nodding so much.  I nonchalantly rub my neck as we walk back to the house.  It's already dark and all that's emitting light is the orange streetlights and the moon.

We get to the front door whenever Maysie stops dead in her tracks.  I turn and look and she raises an arm to her forehead.

"No! I forgot to go get groceries!" She groans. "Look, I'll only be a few minutes, go ahead inside.  I'd feel bad to ask you to walk all the way back for me." 

"Wait, I mean-" I start but she already turned and is running the other direction waving me goodbye. I huff in defeat.  Great, alone in this dark house.  I turn back and open the door to step inside.

I glance around the dark house.  Seems like her dad is gone or something.  Hm, I'm just gonna walk around and explore, I suppose.  

I take a left turn into the hall which held alot of doors that led into some rooms.  All were shut except for the one on the end to the left.  

"Huh?" I mutter under my breath.  A beam of light was shining through, illuminating the hallway.  I can feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.  I take light toe-heel steps towards the door, careful not to make a sound.

I carefully pull the door wider, allowing myself to slide in.  There's a staircase that leads down, looks like a basement, I think.  I hear some metal clanging about, but I can't see the source of the noise.  I take a gulp and start my descent.  I take care to step on the outside of the stairs because I've observed before that they're less likely to creak.

I hold my breath for every step I make.  As I make it to the bottom, I can see that this basement is sort of like an O shape, where there's a wall in the middle.  I immediately assume that the source is behind the wall, in fact, that's where the light is coming from too.

I mutter up some more courage, and venture towards the corner of the wall to peek around.  Once I make it there, I slowly inch my head to see the source of the noise.

I gasp.  I see Maysie's dad sitting on a workbench that has a heat lamp clamped onto the table against the wall.  His arm is rested on the table, but that's the weird part.  In his left hand, he's holding a screwdriver and some electrical tape is on the table.  His right arm however, is on the table, but his forearm is somehow opened up?  But not in a gruesome way, it's like a cover on a machine.  I can soon see inside his arm isn't muscle and tendons, but slick, gray metal gears and belts. What is this? I think.  

He whips his head around, breaking his concentration, "Hey, HEY!" He yells after me as I turn and sprint up the stairs.  He must've heard me gasp, how careless of me.

"Get back here!" I can hear him yell behind me.  I slam the basement door shut and head towards the back door that leads towards the alley behind their house.  I take no hesitation and run outside.  I take a sharp turn to the left and run under the soft glow of the street lamps. 

I take series after series of turns, hoping that I won't be spotted by either Maysie or her dad.  I decide now to sprint beside the forest line because it's where I felt most comfortable.  My mind won't stop racing.   Is he a robot? And does that mean Maysie is one too?  Dozens of questions I don't have answers to keep popping up. 

I keep running, surprisingly not running low on energy.  Huh, my adrenaline is on overdrive today.

I hear a rustling in the woods in front of me but I don't have time to slow down.  I hit something as hard as a brick wall and fly backwards.

"OUCH!" A voice cries out. "Watch where you're going, you idiot!"

I rub my head which is now pounding.  I wince in pain as I realize I'm on my butt.

I look up to see what I hit to see a boy who is also on the ground in my manner.  It wasn't until I saw his face that made everything stop.  He seemed to react the same way whenever we made eye contact.  This kid, is another me?