The Alternate

Asleep

Eyes open in the morning light. Steven sits up in bed and quickly realizes he has lost time again. It felt different. He had lost time, but it was usually when he went to sleep. This was in public when it happened, which hasn't occurred since he was sixteen. Looking at his phone the display said "11:30 Friday July 17, 2015." It had been a week. He thought back to that last Friday trying to remember what he had been doing before he had blacked out, but nothing came to mind. He looked for the journal and it wasn't where it normally laid. He searched the house. Looking in places where it might be, and places it wouldn't.
In the kitchen he poured a glass of water. As he drank, he thought maybe the alternates were playing a joke on him. 'That's what it was, a joke. Had to be, because what else could it be?' he put the empty glass on the counter. Breathing in deeply, he tried to remain calm. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed his psychiatrist.

The phone rang and rang and rang, finally a woman answered the phone.
"Hello, is this Steven?" the woman asked.
Steven replied, "Yes Dr. Simms. Hey, would I be able to come down to the office and see you?"
"Sure Steven, it's 10:25 now. I will be in the office at 4pm. You can come then." she told him.
"Thanks Doc, I appreciate you being available on short notice."
"No problem Steven, see you at 4 o'clock." she said before hanging up the phone.

Placing the phone on the counter, he put his hands on his face. 'What is going on with me?' he thought.
He walked through the dining room to the living room. Looking around, he spotted the remote control. Staring at it as though it were a snake that was going to bite, he paused before picking it up. He turned the T.V. on. It was on some daytime talk show, and the host was being loud and obnoxious. Finding the button to change the channel he surfed for a bit until finally leaving it on the news.
He always did this to himself, watching the news waiting to see his face on the screen and the news anchor explaining how he did something horrifying. Thankfully it never happened.

However, there was a story about a man, who was in the hospital recovering from a stabbing he received from a carjacker. This had occurred in front of the man's home. The identity of the injured man was not given in the report which wasn't unusual. Some people liked their anonymity, he figured.
"So sad." Steven said aloud.
After a crazy morning of a missing journal and losing time, Steven was exhausted. Just the stress of not knowing what had happened after blacking out was tiring. He turned the t.v. off and went to the bathroom to shower.
Clean and ready for his appointment that was in an hour, he made a final check of things around the house before leaving.

On the bus and getting closer to his destination, he sat near the window. He watched as store fronts, houses, people, and parked cars went by. However Steven didn't notice a man who had boarded the bus. A person he had met last week, someone who had made a promise to him. Unfortunately, for Steven there was nowhere to run. The man sat right next to him. Steven turned to see his new companion and with a look of horror he saw it was the bald biker from the redline. Steven's face went white with fear.
"Remember me?" the man asked him with delight painted on his face at seeing Steven's.
"Y-yes. I remember you. You said, 'that you were going to kill me' the next time you saw me" he responded to the other man.
"I have been following you this whole time, and I've got to say, I'm intrigued by you." he let that hang in the air, then continued, "I have seen a lot of things in my life, a lot of messed up stuff. But you are probably the worst thing I have seen in a long, long time."
Confusion streaked across Steven's face, "I don't know what you're talking about?"
The man leaned back and let out a loud obnoxious laugh. He leaned in close and excitedly whispered, "I saw you stab and carjack that man the other night!"

'What did he say?' Steven thought to himself but what he said to the man was, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Sure, your multiple personalities are responsible for the bad you have done." he laughed, then continued, "look I own you now, if I say jump you jump, got it?" he told him.
Steven just looked at the man with increasing concern. He replied, " Yes, I understand that you are blackmailing me."
"Good. You  aren't as stupid as you look." he got up to get off the bus at the stop coming up, "I put a phone in your backpack when you weren't looking, so when I call, answer it; or the police will have some important information about you." and with that he was off the bus.