A Step to Nowhere Read online

  “I shouldn’t have done it,” he said as if apologizing. “I just …” He looked at his partner. “I just don’t remember when I laughed the last time. What about you, Vlad?”

  “Like now? I don’t remember.”

  His answer was careful. I could barely hear what he was saying. Even though there’d been holes in the partition.

  “I didn’t follow the instructions. We have to bring her to the location immediately,” Vlad said.

  “So, bring me, what’s the problem?” I shrugged. “I’m not stopping you. I’m not in a hurry to get there, wherever it is, but I don’t see a reason to delay. Unless you’re thinking of letting this innocent girl from Planet Two go.”

  “We’ve got to go now,” Vlad said.

  “I have a double?” Jason asked, glancing at me. If only someone could make me think that the person in front of me wasn’t the one I knew backward and forward. That this person was just his copy. I even noticed a small mole on his temple like my Jason had. It was paranormal.

  “Everyone has a double,” I said.

  “We’ve heard about that,” Jason said and looked at his partner. “There’s a rule for travelers to Planet Two. Not to meet their doubles.”

  “I know that, trust me. Why else would I be here? By the way, your double,” I had to bite, “is much more pleasant than you. He’s kind, responsible, and fair. He doesn’t fag out.”

  If not for the glass, Jason would have hit me after that last phrase. His eyes became slits, his jaws strained, and his lips pressed. He gazed at me for a few seconds, then turned to the road and took off.

  “We shouldn’t talk to her.” I heard Vlad comment. Like I’d asked them to start doing that.

  We were quiet the rest of the way, which was about twenty minutes. I lay down on my side across the seat, and sat up only after the car had stopped and the door of the driver’s side opened.

  We’d stopped in front of a huge, iron gate that connected the walls of a high, stone fence. It was impossible to see what was behind the walls. Jason said something into the metal plate embedded in the stone, but I was too scared to hear him. Then he pushed a card into the plate and pulled it back.

  My heart compressed from the fear that crept in just at this moment. How many minutes separated me from my death? I didn’t expect to have a proper trial and charges.

  “It’s not the corporation,” I said. “Your jail? Cute.”

  There was no answer. The gates parted slowly, lazily. Just as slowly we drove inside the yard. It was more like a park with different kinds of trees, flowers, burbling fountain in the middle made of geometric figures put down in the shape of a pyramid, a gazebo, and a few wooden benches under the green arches. The gates closed after us and the car moved on the road among freshly cut lawns to the niveous painted house.

  “What a wonderful, I’m not afraid to say, romantic jail! I yelled trying not to give away the fear in my voice. “Probably human microwaves here are covered in diamonds. It’s a pleasure to die here. Too bad I can’t post it on my Facebook. Look people, that’s where I’m going to be cooked! I know, not all of us can be so lucky! Don’t hate me!”

  I ceased the stream of words after Jason stopped by the white marble stairs with two columns. The entrance to the house was blocked with double, glass doors. Nothing futuristic or any different than I would see on my own planet. The geometric fountain was an exotic animal here. Peeing angels would look better. I would have to tell the jail boss, if I should see him, and make it my last wish, if I had one. I would make my last statement regardless. Put peeing angels in the yard.

  The men left the car at the same time and Jason opened the door for me. He didn’t help me to get out and it wasn’t an easy task to do with my hands behind my back. I couldn’t make a graceful exit, but at least I didn’t fall on my face. Thanks to my coordination. I stood inches away from Jason and he seemed, to me, a little taller than my boyfriend.

  “You’re not going to take off my handcuffs?” I looked into his eyes. “Or are you afraid I’m going to beat you down and run away? What did they tell you about me? What goal do I have? Maybe they didn’t explain it to you. Really, what’s the difference?”

  “You’re a spy from Planet Two!” Vlad spat.

  “Oh, thank you for telling me, because I didn’t know that. Now it’ll be easier to die. What did I want to spy on here? What secrets? Can you tell me that, too?”

  I talk too much.

  Jason looked into my eyes for awhile, then put his head down, and took me by my elbow.

  “Let’s go.”

  “With pleasure,” I said. My voice was too high. “I can’t wait to feel the poison in my body. Maybe I’ll get high. Do you know?”

  Stop this nonsense. Shut up! Try to calm down.

  Only it wasn’t easy. My knees started to tremble. I was a nervous wreck and when I was in this condition I fell into one of two extreme categories. I would be completely silent or I wouldn’t close my mouth. Now it was the second.

  The rifle on Jason’s shoulder slid down his arm and hit my leg. He switched it to his other side, letting my arm go for a second and then grabbing it again. His touch was light, almost gentle, and that was strange. Judging by his face at the very beginning, I was expecting him to hurry me, push me, yell something obnoxious.

  We walked up the stairs; Jason with me, Vlad following behind us, and stepped in front of the door with semitransparent glass. I didn’t see the bell, but there was a camera over the door.

  Jason didn’t call and didn’t knock, but after a second I saw a fuzzy silhouette approaching us. The silhouette was in an unusual for this world outfit of bright yellow.

  The door opened. My vision blurred and I thought I was going to faint this time. First time during this fun trip.

  There was a woman in front of me in a tight, long, yellow dress, with her hair down.

  That woman was—me.

  CHAPTER 21

  I realized that I was gasping for air from surprise or rather from shock. I couldn’t calm down. My legs became paper and hardly held me in a vertical position; my heart was doing a crazy dance. It was one thing to meet doubles of the people you’d known, and another – yourself. Yes, it was me. The only difference was the bangs. I had them and my reflection didn’t. The reflection looked me over, condescendingly and arrogantly, and smiled with the corners of her lips.

  “You’re dead,” I said, making my tongue follow the order of my confused mind.

  My reflection cackled, looked at her hands, and talked with my voice.

  “It’s time to believe in apparitions.”

  The man to the left of me, Vlad, chuckled. I turned to Jason. His expression was heavy and cold. He was gazing at my reflection. His fingers closed tighter around my hand, but I didn’t think his reaction had anything to do with me.

  “Or as people say on your planet … ghosts,” I added. Not I. My reflection. “Correct?”

  Then she stepped away from the door.

  “Take her to my office, leave the code for the handcuffs, and you’re free to go.”

  I looked at Jason again and thought that he was hesitating.

  “What happened?” my reflection asked, losing her smile. “Isn’t that the order you received?”

  “We were ordered to convey her to onis.” Jason’s voice showed some tension. “After we stopped here.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. Do you doubt that? Do you want to verify it yourself?”

  “No,” my boyfriend’s double said. “Your order is equal to our leader’s order.”

  “There’s a reason he calls you the best,” my reflection said. She waved her hand to the hallway and Jason pulled me there.

  “I’d never been in million dollar houses on my planet, but I was sure they looked like this one. I even forgot my fear, confusion, uncertainty, and handcuffs, while staring at the surroundings. The house looked like a museum.

  The hallway walls were covered in gold-colored silk with wide,
maroon stripes. There were paintings in golden frames hanging on both sides. The floor was of redwood; crystal chandeliers with golden rims hung from the ceiling. We passed two closed doors, I saw a big, open space ahead, but we didn’t reach it. One of the doors before it was open and I was escorted into the room. The walls here were dark blue with golden, vertical stripes. Dark blue drapes were over the window. On the redwood table facing the window, there stood a computer that looked almost like ours. I saw a few boxes on the table made from the same kind of wood. Near the wall across from the window, was a coffee table and two chairs the same color as the walls with two golden pillows on each. The air smelled of freshness and chocolate. It was the house of a kind fairy that would feed you, give you a drink, and put you to bed.

  “Before cooking you.”

  “What did you say?” my voice asked from behind me.

  I had vocalized my thoughts it seemed.

  I turned to my double. Is that who she was?

  My reflection or double or whoever she was, keeping her eyes on me, accepted a small, black box from Jason. It was blinking with a red light. It probably was a thing to open my handcuffs. That had to happen soon. My fingers tingled, the muscles in my arms ached.

  Copy! I’ll call her – my copy.

  “You’ll be rewarded for your service,” my copy said. Jason and Vlad bowed to her like obedient grovelers, making me sick, and then left the office.

  My copy studied me for some seconds before going to the table. Her gait, unlike mine, was confident and sweeping. I watched her, thinking that my behind didn’t look bad. Nice ass, straight shoulders, narrow waist. She sat down at the table, picked up a rectangle thing with buttons like the one from the corporation, and put it to her ear. It was a phone, just a phone.

  “Cup of coffee. What do you want?”

  I studied four blue candles on the coffee table, thinking about Ray. Thinking that I was here because of him. Face to face with my copy; my alive and breathing copy with a nasty personality. He’d lied to me the whole time; he’d lied about her death. Why? What difference did it make at that point?

  “I asked you what you want to drink. Are you deaf?”

  I moved my eyes from the table to my copy. I didn’t want to look at her, but she was drilling me with her curious eyes.

  “What? Are you? Going? To drink?” she asked.

  “I. Will have. Water.” I answered. I could refuse, but my mouth was dry and I had a feeling that I was going to talk. Difficult to do that with a dry mouth.

  “Cup of coffee for me and a bottle of water from PT.”

  The phone-remote fell on the table. My copy folded her arms over her chest then as if she’d remembered something, grabbed the black box that Jason had given her, pressed it with two fingers two times, and the red light turned green. At the same moment, I heard a sound behind my back and felt the pressure on my wrists weaken.

  “Don’t try anything funny,” my copy said. “I have security guards everywhere. One step in my direction and you’ll get a hole in your head before blinking your eyes. That’s a warning.”

  “So rude and theatrical,” I finally managed to say. I even managed to keep my voice steady. I dragged off the handcuffs, threw them on the floor, and shook my hands. Thousands of needles pricked into my fingers, but I didn’t let myself even blink. Not in front of her. “You don’t have to threaten me. Would I want to run from a house like this and such a hospitable owner?” I sat down in the chair without invitation, dropped the pillow on the floor, and leaned back. It felt good. “If I didn’t think you were dead, I would have dreamed to meet you. Not everyone gets an opportunity like this.”

  “You talk too much.”

  “I know. My mom keeps telling me that. Where’s your mother?”

  “She died.”

  “For real or like you?”

  A skinny girl of about eighteen, in a dirty-pink uniform, entered the office apprehensively. She stopped by the door, holding a blue cup with golden rim and a bottle of Evian. Her hands were trembling.

  “Coffee for me, water for her,” my copy ordered. My disgusting copy. I’d never spoken to anyone in such a tone. Somebody should spank her to teach some good manners.

  The girl went to the table and put the cup in front of my copy and then walked to me. Her eyes rounded in fear when she looked at me, and she became pale, appearing she was about to lose consciousness. Her legs started to move slowly and her hands shook harder.

  “Stop it, right now!” my copy barked. “Give her the bottle and get out of here!”

  The girl threw the bottle to me and flew out of the room.

  My fingers didn’t want to obey me and I couldn’t unscrew the cap. When I’d finally done that, I dropped the cap on the coffee table and drank half the bottle. It wasn’t enough for my body. It wanted to eat. I was hungry as hell. I didn’t know when my copy was going to finish playing with me and tell her people to finish me off, so it would be a good idea to get some food. Cats liked mice, mice liked cheese.

  “Didn’t they ban coffee here?” I asked, nodding to the cup in my copy’s hand.

  She took a tasteful first sip, closed her eyes for a second and smiled, then returned the cup to the table.

  “Not in my house.”

  “This house is not bad. You don’t dress like everyone else.”

  “Why do you think I’m like everyone else?”

  “Why not? No difference in my opinion.”

  My copy rolled her eyes.

  “Strange that you don’t know that. Your question about my house and my clothing is strange.”

  “I didn’t ask questions about that.”

  My copy wrinkled her nose contemptuously.

  “You’re cocky, but it doesn’t make me angry. Be cocky while you can. Then we’ll see. Talking about my house and my clothing,” she said. “Almost everything you see here was ordered and purchased from your planet. That’s why it seems familiar to you. My wardrobe is not an exception. I like the fashion on your planet and many other things.”

  “Too bad you don’t live there.” I smiled pleasantly.

  “That can change,” my copy said.

  “Are you going to visit us? I wish I could be there. I’d show you around.”

  “There’s not enough room for both of us.”

  “You’re right about that.”

  “Why did you think I was dead?”

  “I didn’t think about it.” I took a more comfortable position in the chair. It was cozy, despite of its cosmic look. “Your husband told me.”

  “Ray told you I died?” my copy asked me doubtfully, and scoffed.

  “Oh, yes. Not just that …”

  I heard a sound like drums and my copy put the phone or whatever it was, to her ear.

  “I told you, do not interrupt me,” my copy said through her clenched teeth. She listened to somebody on the other end. “When I say.”

  She pressed the phone angrily and threw it on the table.

  “My father didn’t want me to meet you, but curiosity was above my will.”

  “Curiosity killed the cat,” I mumbled, feeling a sudden loss of orientation.

  “I couldn’t miss this opportunity to meet my double and see my superiority. Anyway, you’ll get to onis before he comes here.”

  “Your father,” I breathed out. It was a punch in the gut. I didn’t know my father. Actually, I’d known him, but didn’t remember. My mother divorced him when I turned one and he’d never appeared in my life after that. She divorced him for a very simple reason. My daddy liked beer and he liked it more than anything. When he had too much of it, he usually confused my mother with a punching bag. I grew up without him and had never regretted it. My mom loved me enough for two, but now I felt a light sting of jealousy, hearing that my copy’s father not only existed in her life, but also participated.

  “What does he do? Your father?” I asked, trying to sound indifferent.

  “Don’t you know anything?” My copy smiled and took a sip
of coffee. “You really don’t know? Actually, how would you? You have been running around the city the whole day. Are you tired, by the way?”

  I ignored the last remark, which had been made in my style, and closed my eyes, rewinding the events of the day. A lot of crazy stuff had happened today, but I concentrated on some of them. News, Velma, lottery commercials. Could that dictator, despot, serial killer, be not only my homonym, but my father’s double? Drunkard on my planet, sole leader of the country here? It just couldn’t be. My mind refused to believe such nonsense. The difference was too great. Okay, one Jason was a hunter and the second Jason—a computer geek. But drunkard—king … Impossible.

  I heard fingers snapping and opened my eyes.

  “Did you fall asleep?”

  “Screw you.”

  My copy frowned. Did I have such an ugly mimic?

  “Oh, I see.” She smiled again. “We have quite different dads. Not only that…” She encircled the room with her eyes, as if hinting at the luxury she was living in. She was right. My life was much more modest. “My father used to drink, too. Unlike yours, he didn’t hit my mother and his alcoholic habits stopped at the early stage. He gained different interests.”

  “How do you know about my father?” I asked. The anger rose inside me. No one, ever, had talked to me about this subject, besides Aisha and Jason.

  “I know everything about you.”

  “Is your life so boring that life of your double becomes a part of it?”

  “Right. It’s just necessity.”

  “What for?” I wanted to stand up and pull my copy’s hair. She thought she had a right to run my life.

  “It’s all so strange. People on our planets often lead totally different lifestyles, but it’s seldom that couples separate. Very, very seldom. As you say—fate. Some men and women on our planets connect to produce the same children. Like they follow some mirror plan of copying the human world.”

  “I was one of those few people who went against the rules of the universe?” I asked.