Chapter 38: By a Thread

~ Jaden lay on his back, gazing up at the treetops, just becoming visible against bits of graying sky. Finally the forest was getting slightly more normal as, far off, he could hear a few birds beginning to wake and sing. Jaden was thinking deep thoughts about when they'd be able to get something to eat when a voice spoke from behind him.

"Good morning!"

Jaden scrambled to his feet, twisting to see who had addressed him. A young man stood there. A young man that looked...Exactly like himself. Jaden blinked. It occurred to him that perhaps he'd fallen asleep. Or maybe he was insane. Or maybe not. He was in a live-sim afterall. The other version of himself just stood there smiling at him. Where the hell was Andrew? Out of the corner of his eyes Jaden swept as much of the clearing as was within his line of site. No Andrew.

"Who the hell are you and what do you want?" demanded Jaden, with perhaps a bit more brusqueness than he'd originally intended.

"There's no reason to get snippy," his doppelganger said, in an irritatingly familiar voice. "I want to talk with you." Jaden advanced a step. He needed a closer look. And he needed to feel in charge of the situation.

"Where's Andrew?" he asked. The other him shrugged with pursed lips.

"Dunno. Should I?" Jaden gritted his teeth.

"You should tell me what in hell is going on here if you want to live to see the next three minutes," he growled.

"Do you really think you can take yourself in a fight?" asked his mind. "You already know all of your tricks."

"Oh...shut up!" he told his mind. The other Jaden stared at him. He ripped his dagger out of its sheath.

"Start talking! Who are you?" he yelled. The other Jaden continued staring at him.

"You won't kill me. You're afraid." He sounded awfully calm for a guy who's life had just been threatened. "You're afraid of what would happen to you if you hurt me. Or is it you?" He smiled. Jaden wondered if his face could possibly be capable of looking that obnoxious and...evil. Apparently it could. Jaden began to circle him slowly, mainly in order to get a look around the rest of the clearing without taking his eyes off of this guy. Where the hell was Andrew? The other Jaden, rather than turning in place, just took two steps backwards. He wasn't going to facilitate that particular move. Damn, maybe he really did know all the tricks.

"What do you want?" again Jaden demanded.

"I want what you took," his twin told him coldly. He'd stopped smiling a while back now. His face looked hard and mean.

"I didn't take anything!"

"You did. And I intend to have it back. You can't stop me." The other Jaden advanced on him. He seemed to be unarmed, but Jaden stumbled backwards. This didn't make sense. He needed some answers. He needed Andrew.

Somewhere in the back of his mind a tiny alarm was going off. Something was wrong here.

"Oh really?" he thought sarcastically. "Pray tell what is wrong here?"

There were anomalies. The fires that Andrew built, they were gone. The version of himself that was pressing him across the clearing was wearing a race uniform just like Jaden's real one, but he also still had on the wrist watch. Jaden was suddenly aware of a weight in his pocket. He pressed his hand to the outside of his pant leg and felt what was unmistakeably the outline of his old switchblade. No. He'd locked it in a box and hidden it in the closet of their apartment.

He had to find Andrew. He spun around, desperation driving him to take his eyes off of his doppelganger. He froze in place, refusing to believe what his eyes were seeing. On the ground before him, slumped against a tree, was a familiar body. Bloodied, tangled, desecrated, but familiar. The head was wrenched into an unnatural angle, the lifeless eyes left open.

"No. This isn't real!" his mind protested. Jaden felt his double slip up behind him. He felt the stinging caress of a blade against his throat. He didn't move, just stood staring at Andrew. What was Andrew. His doppelganger murmured softly, lovingly, into his ear.

"Now, I kill you." ~