The Chronicles of the Caltamere Twins: The Prophecy

Almost Lost Another

September 12, 2015

The thing about memories, you remember them. Some unpleasant which keeps on playing in your head but some very precious and so delicate to be forgotten. I remember everything. From the time I got up from bed to the time I went home with Joan yesterday. 

Memories are like a canvas. It has different shades of colors representing the different memories it contained. But a small portion of blackness smudges the whole canvas and the painting would look like it is missing a few shades of color. A gaping hole ruined the whole point of memories in that painting. It looks so incomplete.

This is how I feel. I feel a gaping hole inside my memory. It gives me this uneasy feeling about it not remembering. It is so uncomfortable. 

But I will never forget the day she died. How she died.

I’ll be visiting her grave today at Stone Hills. I drove by Mrs. Roger’s flower shop. I bought her favourite flower, white rose with an angel's breath. She loved these flowers. Whenever she comes by these flowers, she’ll stop whatever she is doing and feel the flowers. I never understood what’s with flowers but she liked them. It made her smile.

I was driving along Hart Road when Joan called. She’s been calling since eight. I didn’t plan on answering but I couldn’t resist it, so I answered. 

“Hey,” I said coolly.

“Jen, where are you? What’s taking you so long?” she asked and she was quite annoyed.

“What are you talking about?” 

“You said we’ll visit Dr. Franklin today.”

“What? When did I tell you this?”

“Last night. You said we’ll visit him today for a consultation.”

“What are you talking about, Joan? Are you okay? Where are you?”

“I’m fine, a while ago,” she hung up. She’s upset. I have this nagging feeling about that phone call. My insides were starting to flip as I felt a cold tingle at the back of my neck. 

Why do I get this feeling that something bad will happen to her today? I don’t like having this kind of feeling. It felt like that gaping hole I had with my memory, but this time, a gaping hole in my soul. 

The phone call, it was like someone had called her last night as me. This is bad. I turned around and went straight back to town. I know where I could find her. She will be there. I know. I likely had upset her. 

I’ll come back for you later. I don’t want to lose her as I had lost you.

I drove as fast as I could down at Roasting Rods. I really don’t like this feeling. If something bad happens to her, I will never forgive myself. Then I felt a pricking pain in my back and I knew that Joan was hurt.

I arrived at the modern Texas style restaurant hoping that I’m not too late.

A scream of agony jumped me off my feet. “Joan,” I said under my breath. I ran as fast as I could towards the door and saw something I couldn’t understand. Legends say that once you meet an exact double of yourself, you’ll die. That’s how I feel the minute I saw who she was but I didn’t die.

There behind the counter, a girl in a red shirt, brown coat and has her dark hair loose down on her face. I felt a sudden electric current erupted inside me as the girl and I locked eyes. I gasped and I felt all my cells ruptured. It was like seeing me in the mirror, a reflection. But I’m not in front of a mirror. I’m in front of my actual reflection.

She has the same dark hair as I have, wavy but calm. The brow is quite thin and near to each other, always in a crease; eyes round as the long eyelashes shield them, but her eyes are the only difference. Mine’s hazelnut, hers are bloodshot red which gives me the creeps. Her lips curled in a peculiar way, thin and a bit puckered. That’s another thing that totally differentiates us. I don’t have a pair of thin puckered lips. But her jaw angle is exactly the same as mine, immaculately angled from the earlobe down to the chin which gives way to her neck where veins are clearly visible.

“Red eyes, really?” I found this feeling a bit familiar, the feeling of a calming satisfaction and not of fear or anything else. I never thought my collar bone was that evident, I thought as I kept observing this imposter. 

A clatter of shattered glass brought me back to reality.  The imposter moved in behind the counter when I realized Joan must be there. The imposter was holding a dagger, in a stabbing position. She raised it above her head. I didn’t bother to think what would happen next because in an instant, I took the peg from the door, leapt towards the counter and swung the peg to her. She staggered back and dropped her dagger.

I jumped over the counter and side kicked her to push her father away from us. She hit a rack of bottles which was now in ruins. She hung herself limply at the wreckage. She’ll come around, I thought, better check on Joan.

I turned my back on her and found Joan lying on shattered glass. She had cuts all over her and what’s worse is that a chunk of glass stuck out from her left arm. I went to her but she’s in a state of malaise. I checked her eyelids; it was as pale as snow. She lost a lot of blood, I concluded. 

“Jen?” Joan managed a squeak. I brushed off strands of hair from her face and cupped my hands to it. 

“It’s going to be alright, Joan. I’m here.” I assured her. I ripped the hem from my shirt and placed it above her wound to apply pressure and pulled out the glass. I have to finish this fight. I was taken back with Joan’s eyes which gave me her response. She thinks I betrayed her. I gently let her go and slowly back away. She thinks I tried to hurt her and the look she’s giving me bore more bullet holes than the scar I had. 

“Joan,” I said but she just shook her head, too weak to move further. I was trying to tell her that it wasn’t me. But how will she believe that? 

Her head laid back and she went to unconsciousness. When she wakes up, I will try to convince her about this. How? I don’t know. I found it difficult to explain this to her. She’ll think I’m crazy, but I have to try. I stood up and looked around me. Customers in the diner were frozen like statues.

Time has stopped for them. 

Immediately, a flicker of recognition from this occurrence had made me wonder when I had experienced this. The hollow hole inside my memory nags me. I flinched as my head hammered from trying to remember. I dismissed this nagging feeling away for a while. I need to focus on what's in front. I’ll deal with this feeling later.

I turned my attention back to the imposter. With a splitting headache, my fists trembled with rage and frustration. I have no idea what is happening and I couldn’t think right now of any reason for it. I glared at this imposter as she slowly came around. She has the answers; that I have a hunch of. I marched towards her and asked, “Who are you? Why do you look like me? What do you want?!”

The imposter smirked. Better call her Jane Doe. Saying “imposter” over and over again appeared to violate the grammar world. So, Jane smirked and apparently, I heard her snarl. She seemed amused. She gradually stood up, glaring at me and showing her wicked smile. 

I waited for an answer but she never made a sound. I watched her until she withdrew another dagger from her sleeves. She planned her eyes to Joan. I blocked her view and said, “You’ll have to get through me first.” I raised my fist on guard and bent my knees a little for balance. I placed my left foot forward, left arm on low guard and observed every inch of her.

Jane was overly open. No defence. None. As if she doesn’t care what happens to her. She held the dagger low with the blade pointing at me. She snarled. Grinning at the edge of her lips, she bent low readying herself for a pounce. Then she hissed like an attacking cat. 

I stepped back, surprised at her sudden action. Disappointed at how she managed to spite me, I clucked my teeth together. 

From that moment, she attacked.

She caught me off guard but thanks to my reflex, I managed to dodge the dagger from above. Immediately, I countered her attack. I gave her a knee at her side and smacked her back. The counter is too narrow to fight. So I leap above her and over the counter. I heard shuffling glass as she gained her balance back. She jumped over the counter like a wild cat and lounged at me aiming for my chest.

Using her momentum, I dived under, swung my arm up to block her, twisted my waist inward, and grabbed her waist to throw her over to the wall. She fell with a grunt and a vicious frustrated look on her face. 

Oh boy, I angered a cat.

She came to me, this time, with tremendous speed. I barely keep up. I tried to keep dodging and blocking but all I do is lessen the severity of her blade. I feel hot cuts all over me which I deliberately tried to ignore. She kept this pace until I stepped on something which twisted my ankle. 

I didn’t know that the battle would be judged by a single misstep. I tried to adjust my footing but it was too late. Jane was already mid-air, holding her knife above her as she struck it down towards me. She caught a bit of flesh from my arm and damn it hurts.

I’m pinned down. My legs were immobile as she sat over me. She pulled the knife back and about to strike another. I crossed my hands above me to catch her wrist. She’s too strong. The blade is about inches from my face. This is vaguely familiar and I could feel my panic attack welling up inside me. Not now! I have to stay focused. Joan needs me! I struggled enough to push her hands up, made a grab of her wrist and forced my body to roll over.  As soon as my legs were free, Jane’s other hand pulled another dagger and stabbed my sides leaving the knife through it. I screamed. She caught the side of my hip hoping she did not hit an artery. Once again, she’s on top of me struggling to push the other knife towards my chest. Her eyes started to glow red. Her other hand gripped my neck and it was as hard as iron which blocked my windpipe from air. I struggled from her grip. My hands that were protecting me from her blade are slowly loosening their strength. The blade is almost on my chest, I could feel the tip poking through me. I tried to make use of my legs but found it futile as her body became so rigid. My lungs burst hot as I fight for air. Her grip still around me, the knife hit the surface of my chest, she glared at me, her glowing red eyes stared directly at me. It was so intense that I felt a sudden rip from my retina. I screamed as this torture drained every energy I have left.