Beyond the Mirror

Chapter Three

Gabriel found his way back to the hotel. His mind raced with questions. Who were those men, really? What was he involved in? Why would they even call him “specimen?”. He was a full-blooded human with some level of rights for God’s sake. He must come to terms that the magnitude of his troubles was more than he had imagined. He had come to Berlin for answers, but now, he seemed to be the prize, the pawn, of certain dangerous men of the underworld. Gabriel reeked of sewage and grime. His was soaked and beaten. His entire being exuded a potent mix of troubles and foul smell. He found himself questioning his own reality. Was he trapped in a dream? The line between the two became increasingly blurred. Ethan’s voice re-echoed in his mind: “The dream is real until you wake up.” What had Ethan meant by that? Gabriel’s thoughts were sharply pierced by quick raps on his door. The raps followed with quick bangs indicating impatience of his mystery guest. He suspected that the dangerous gang had tailed me down to his lodge. He picked up a bat, ready to defend himself while getting the door. Alas, It was the woman who had given him a plane ticket to Berlin. She had literally asked him to run away back at the Brandenburg warehouse. This time, she was dressed as a nun – all black and a touch of white. Before Gabriel could utter a word, she immediately handed him a brown folder containing a single piece of photograph. Inside the folder was also the key to his new sedan which he had abandoned at the warehouse.

“Who is this?” Gabriel asked anxiously studying the image

“That’s you,” she replied. “Or rather that’s the you they want you to become. You are just a pawn in their game. Gabriel, you are the key to unlocking one of the grandest experiments of the Kentaur programme by the Nexus.”

Perplexed, Gabriel looked at the woman and looked at the image in quick secession. It was the picture of a hybrid. Half human and half animal. This was strange to him. How could anyone want to control his life so much and attempt to transform him to a hybrid? His eyes narrowed as he studied the woman’s facial expression. “But who are you and why have you invited me here?” Gabriel asked point-blank.

The woman did not feel at ease with Gabriel’s sudden question about her identity. It looked as though Gabriel had ruffled her feather. It was obvious. She gathered herself with a sense of urgency and hastiness to leave. “Gabe, wash yourself up. There is something I must show you tomorrow.”

Not backing down, Gabriel persisted, “You literally told me to run away from those monsters back there and Ethan told me to wait for them. I don’t understand what’s happening. Can you just explain?”

The woman looked bemused by Gabriel’s plea. “Are you sure it was really Ethan’s voice you heard or that’s what they made you believe?

Eager to prove his point, Gabriel pulled out his phone and scrolled through his mail log to play the voice mail he had received from Ethan earlier at the warehouse but couldn’t find it. The timestamp was dated today, and he was sure he had received two clear instructions from Ethan to meet him at the warehouse and to wait for the gang who had raided the warehouse. Alas, he found none! Gabriel became more frantic with his phone as if to conjure the mails to re-appear on the log, but all effort proved abortive.

“Oh love,” the woman said softly drifting towards Gabriel. He held his head and stroked his hair tenderly with her hands. “You need to rest your head now. Your memory fails you sometimes when you don’t take enough breather.”

Gabriel was confused. There was absolutely nothing wrong with his brain. His memory was just fine, and he was dead sure of all he had said. The woman’s closeness to Gabriel radiated burning warmth and turbulence. He inhaled the cologne she was wearing. The cologne sparked a foggy memory. It was as if he had inhaled the cologne somewhere before. Her warmth exuded familiarity somehow. It was the closest the woman had come to him, and it sparked a domino of troubled memories he couldn’t possibly pinpoint. He had no idea where and how. It was purely nostalgic.

Convinced by his own assertion, Gabriel insisted. “But Ethan had asked me to come to Brandenburg warehouse today. I heard his voice. It was him.”

“There is no Ethan!” The woman snapped as if to have been provoked by Gabriel’s insistence. “There is simply no Ethan. Don’t you just get it, stupid? Remember. Just remember!”

Gabriel was taken aback by the woman’s sudden outburst, but her new revelation was even more disturbing. “There is no Ethan?” Why would she say this now? Ethan was literally his reason for accepting her invite to come to Berlin. He had come to seek answers, to meet his friend whom he must find in order save his own life. But more questions were popping up than answers.

“What do you mean there’s no Ethan? Ethan’s not dead. I get voicemails from him.” Gabriel asked keeping a serious face. “But you told me I would find Ethan here in Berlin. You invited me here.”

The woman fixed a scornful look on Gabriel’s face. Her eyes seemed to drill into his soul. “You were supposed to forget, boy. But your questions mean one thing: You must remember. You are just close. Just this close.” She snapped her fingers shut as if to close a trap.

The woman was firm and assertive. “I must show you something tomorrow,” she ventured. “Meet me at the Neues Museum, at the bust of Nefertiti, at midnight. Come alone.” She got the door and flung it shut behind her. “You must not abandon your car this time.” Her voice faded behind the door as she darted off.

“But I don’t even know your name! What do I call you?” Gabriel shouted as the woman walked away behind closed door, but his question was met with silence.

Gabriel waited anxiously for the next day; his mind raced with questions. Who was the woman really and why was she helping him? What did she mean by “there is no Ethan”? He couldn’t conquer the feeling that he was trapped in a web of lies and darkness. He had no idea what move to make now. He stared at his phone all night expecting Ethan’s text or voicemail but found none.