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Chapter 1
We will figure this out
.
She could not believe what she was looking at. It was impossible2. How could this happen? Only an hour ago, everything was fine. She thought she was one of the happiest3 women in the world. She had everything: a man who loved her, an excellent job, a bunch4 of friends, and a cute car. She could not wait to wake up every morning and go spend her day with a big smile on her face. And now… Well, now she was not sure that her life would ever go back to what it was. No. Let us rephrase5 that. She was not sure that she had life anymore. How did this all happen?
It all began this morning when he told her that he was leaving her. Things went down the hill6 afterwards7.
“You what?” she asked.
Having just done her morning yoga routine, she was sitting on a tall stool near the kitchen island in her sportswear, still having her first cup of the day and the words spilled out8 with some coffee.
He was standing near an open window, still in his pajamas with his hair untidy from the night’s sleep. It was a bright day and it looked as if he had a halo over his head. What an irony!
“We can’t be together anymore,” he added and looked out of the window rather nervously.
“What are you looking out of the window for?” she tried to stay cool. “Is your new girlfriend waiting for you out there?”
Staying cool did not seem like an option.
“I’m sorry, but we have to end it today,” he said looking at her.
“What do you mean today?! What? Do you already have a breakup plan9? Or did you just decide10 it while drinking your coffee?” she asked, barely controlling herself and slowly realizing that it was not a joke of some kind11.
“Listen. We’ll figure this out. Believe me, it’s for the best,” he said.
“Are you being serious now?12” she put her cup down on the kitchen table, suddenly13 realizing that she might throw it at him right about now14.
He opened his mouth and that was the exact15 moment when something cracked16 loudly outside, and he fell on the floor with his head covered in blood. Then her phone started to ring.
***
She answered in a zombie mode, still not realizing what had just happened.
“You’d better17 leave now,” a female voice said on the other side of the line.
“Ah?” all she could master, with her eyes fixed on the motionless body on the floor.
“Go now or you’ll be lying next to him in a minute,” not a hint of compassion18 in the voice.
“Who are you?” she was almost screaming.
“Don’t believe anyone. Run!” the same coolness19.
Then the phone went dead.
She looked around her apartment. What was going on? She ran to him, still hoping it was a terrible prank20. Nope. This was blood on her floor. And this was one dead man. Her man. Well, her ex-man. When she was about to check his pulse, just in case21, she heard someone running in the corridor outside her door. She jumped up.
***
The morning street felt strange. How can these people go about their business when he is lying dead on the floor, up there in their apartment? Where is she supposed to go now?22 Somehow, calling the police did not seem like a clever idea. But why? She did not do anything wrong. She just had a cup of coffee and her soon-to-be-proposing boyfriend was murdered just after breaking up with her. Should she call the police after all23? Perhaps, she should.
She looked for her phone, but … Oh no! She left it on the kitchen table. All her contacts. She doesn’t remember any numbers by heart24. Who does? Are there still payphones on the streets these days? Whom should she call even if she finds one?
“Don’t scream,” the same cool voice from the call, but … behind her.
She stopped in disbelief25.
“Keep walking,” a slight push on the back.
She complied26. A decision triggered27 by her survival mechanism28 rather than her brain.
“Who are you?” she asked quietly.
“In a minute,” the stranger said. “Turn right here,” another slight push on the back.
They walked in a quiet alley. A few moms with baby strollers29 and senior citizens sitting on benches.
“Here’s good,” the stranger said when they reached an empty bench. “Sit down.”
“May I turn?” she asked, sitting down.
“If you want,” the stranger said.
She did.
Perhaps, it is not a good comparison, but what she saw shocked her almost as much as the death of her boyfriend.
***
She was looking at herself. Well, she was looking at a young woman who looked exactly like her, as if they were identical twins in different outfits. The stranger was wearing a dark blue hoodie with no print on, a pair of black jeans, and, what looked like, Dr. Martens black leather boots. Her hair was a bit shorter.
“Yes, I know,” the stranger said. “It took quite a bit of time for me to understand this.30”
“Are you …?” she began.
“You?” the stranger guessed. “Yes. I am you.”
“From the future?” the only guess she could venture31.
“Not really,” the other she said. “I’m your other copy.”
“My other copy?”
“Yes. Some of us come with a back-up copy, but they never tell us that,” the other she said as if it was common knowledge32.
“Who are they?” she was confused.
“They,” the other she shrugged33. “The ones who make and control us. And now they are trying to erase34 us for some reason.”
What?!
“I haven’t done anything illegal. What is happening?” she said.
“Listen, we don’t have much time, so let’s get the hell out of here first and then we can properly catch up35,” the other she said, looking around.
“But I don’t understand …” she started.
“No talk. Let’s go,” the other she said quickly and stood up.
The stranger extended36 her hand and … her head exploded37 like a watermelon.
***
Two dead people in one morning might seem like nothing on the global scale of things but seeing your boyfriend and ‘your other copy’ getting shot in front of you could make anyone go insane38.
Is that what it was?
She was going crazy and was seeing things that weren’t there? Nope. The moms are screaming, and the grandmas are trying to run away. There was definitely some shooting just now. Was she the next target?
The other she said that they were trying to erase them. Click. The brain started to work again.
It took her a couple of minutes to get into the endless stream39 of people hurrying to their work. She stopped by the curb40 to catch her breath when a car tire screeched41 next to her, and the passenger door opened.
“Get in fast,” the driver yelled.
What next?
Will it ever end?
Why does this voice sound so familiar?
“Come on, Lizzy. We don’t have much time!” he sounded agitated42.
He knows her name!
***
She gaped43 at him. It was him. Her man. But how could that be?
“I know,” he said without taking his eyes off the road. “It took me awhile to understand this, but I’m not who you think I am.”
“You’re his copy,” it dawned on her44.
He nodded.
She couldn’t stop looking at him. He looked exactly like the man who was going to marry her. Only his hair was combed in a different way, to the right side, and he wasn’t wearing pajamas, but a white T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. Also, he was wearing a rather chunky45 diver’s watch with a steel bracelet on his right hand, unlike her boyfriend who had his dress watch on a leather strap on the left hand.
“He was trying to make you leave the apartment this morning. To save you,” he said. “He just needed a bit more time.”
What?! He knew?!
“We found him first and told him everything,” he said. “He thought we were from the future,” he added with a sad smile.
He kept quiet for a while. Only the sound of the accelerating46 engine.
“He was adamant47 to keep you out of it,” he said breaking the silence.
She felt tears running down her cheeks and his face became blurry48.
“How do you … Did you know him?” she asked.
“We just met him last night,” he said after a pause.
He looked at her for a second.
“Listen, we both lost important people today,” he continued. “I know this is all messed up49, but we need to stay together. At least for a while to get to the bottom of it50.”
She couldn’t see and hear him anymore. Emotions finally broke through the barrier of shock.
He took her hand and quietly said: “Don’t worry, Lizzy. We’ll figure this out.”
Then he took a ramp to merge into the highway out of the city.
Chapter 2
Lizzy’s Diary
6 DAYS BEFORE THE JUMP
I guess the most difficult thing in this crazy story was to accept the reality of it and get used to wearing the other Lizzy’s clothes. The latter wasn’t a big problem because we were the same size and she had good taste. I have 6 more days before the jump, and I must put all my memories together while they’re still fresh and painful. Yes, pain. I don’t know if I feel it after the jump. It connects me to the past. My past. My life seems to be so long ago. Will I still be me if I lose it?
In any case, I’d better start from the beginning.
I was in the car with Mark, or Mark’s copy, and my life was disappearing51 in the rear-view mirror52. When we put a good hundred kilometers between us and the city, he started to slow down.
I had no more tears in me and was just staring out of the window thoughtlessly53.
The car stopped.
“Here’s where we meet him,” Mark said.
“Who?”
“The man who knows the answers,” he said and opened the door. “Are you coming?”
5 DAYS BEFORE THE JUMP
“How do you know him?” I asked Mark when we got out of the car.
“You told me about him. I mean, the other Lizzy. She found him a while ago or he found her. I’m not sure how that happened. In any case, he told her to bring her copy to him.”
“To do what?”
“Apparently54