Ding, ding, ding! The razor hit the glass sink as I continued to shave.
“You’re going to break that sink one day, Austin,” my wife, Kate, said.
“I know, you’ve told me before,” I rolled my eyes and smiled at her through the mirror. How disgusting the ominous voice inside of me said, I furiously silenced him. This had started to become a
common thing, hearing this voice. His name is Joe, he isn’t the kindest person in the world, he speaks purely vile about everyone, and he absolutely hates Kate for reasons that I cannot decipher.
“Important day today?” she asked snapping me away from my thoughts. She was referring to the clothes laid out on the bed; apparently in my trance I had picked my most formal suit.
“Oh, no,” I replied, “I guess I wasn’t paying attention when I picked my clothes.” I stared out the window that took up most of the wall. I spotted a squirrel running from our dog. The dog’s eyes were fixed on his prey with an intense gaze that could open the gates of hell. I stalked back to the closet to find myself clothes for the day. I looked at myself through the mirror but there was something wrong, I wasn’t staring at myself, I was staring at someone that looked like me, but somehow wasn’t me.
“Who are… How did… What the hell is going on?” I turned away and he disappeared. I was looking at myself again, I saw my familiar blue eyes and my brown hair, I saw some of the new gray hairs that were just a symbol of my aging self.
“Did you say something?” Kate said as she came in, she stopped as soon as she saw my pallid face. “You look like you just saw a ghost!”
“Not exactly,” Joe said.
“I’m going to work,” I said breathlessly. I walked out of the room as fast as I could and got in the car. I looked at my reflection through the side mirror and sighed in relief; it was me staring back. I drove to work trying to relax and forget about the phantasm that appeared in the mirror.
Once I got to the police station I was feeling more like myself. I walked inside and was greeted by the familiar smell of fresh brewed coffee and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. I went to my desk and stared blankly at the computer screen. My co-worker Chris dropped a file on my desk.
“Another murder, chief,” he said.
“Another? What is it, like the sixth one this week?” I asked.
“Yeah, and they all appear to be from the same killer.” I opened the hefty file and found gruesome pictures of the dead bodies. They all had the same scars and marks on their head. The murderer wrote a cursive J on his victim’s forehead with their own blood. A chill ran down my spine like a snake. A tenebrous laugh startled me; I rose from my seat and looked around to find nobody but myself in my office. You have to get your act together, I told myself. I took a deep breath and continued to flip through the pictures. I felt like I was having a déjà vu. I’ve seen this before, but where? I asked myself. The laugh came back and this time it sounded closer. I leaped up out of my seat with my gun in hand and looked around.
“Hey Aus—,” my partner Shaun came in. “Whoa dawg, what’s wrong with you? Man, put that gun down, fool.”
“I just, I heard—never mind.” I put the gun back into its holster. “What’s up?”
“How ‘bout you tell me? Where were you yesterday? We were supposed to patrol the town to spot any suspicious activity.”
“Oh, I wasn’t feeling so great so I guess I took the day off…” Don’t you remember? Joe said.
“Don’t I remember what?” I whispered. Where you were, what you did, what we did.
“You’re not real, you’re just a figment of my imagination. Go. Away.”
“What’d you call me?” Shaun joked. “Just kidding fool. I’ll holla at ya later,” I waved him away.
After a few hours of examining the murder file I’d decided to go home. As I drove on the way home I didn’t feel like myself. My motor skills began to respond slowly, the world around me became opaque. I found myself gasping for breath and the metal frame of the car seemed to wrap around me like a straight jacket, locking me into place. That’s where my surroundings disappeared into the abyss.
Joe –
Finally, I was free. I had control over my host body. I had beat Austin. I glanced down at my clothes and felt disgusted, what awful taste he had, that Austin. My appearance would have to wait, however. There is just one more person on my list, the list of all the people that taunted me, calling me Austin’s lame imaginary friend. Now who’s imaginary?
So it’s been you all along? You’re the murderer? I mean... I’m the mur—we’re the murderers? No! It can’t be me, what the hell is going on here! This is a drea—
“Silence, you fool! Now, be a nice little subconscious or whatever and thank me that I’m defending you from those stupid children that mocked me for being your friend.”
I drove with such rage, mostly fueled by the trifling dispute with Austin. Finally I reached my victim’s location. A shiver of pleasure ran down my spine, I quickly gathered my utensils and followed closely behind him. Jason Holmes, a successful lawyer, pity, I could’ve used him as my lawyer if I ever got caught. Which will never happen. He got into his car and I quickly sat down on the passenger’s seat.
“Hello Jason, remember me?”
“Austin? What the hell are you doing in my car?”
“I’m not Austin, Jason. I’m Joe.” I took out the knife from my pocket and impaled it through his heart. He squealed like a pig for a matter of seconds until his eyes closed from the poison on the knife. I left my signature with J on his forehead, written with his blood. I stared out the car window with a smile on my face but there was someone staring back. It was Kate, that tramp was out buying groceries for Austin. She rushed into her car and sped out of the parking lot.
I pushed the cadaver off the seat and onto the asphalt and started the car, speeding up to follow Kate’s car. When I got to Austin’s home, I dare not call it my own home, she was already there I could see her through the window she was on the phone. I rushed inside and ambushed her from behind, locking her into place with my arms. I locked her in the closet and went on to find the lighter fluid. I could hear the screams of her and of Austin. I stopped by the bathroom to fix my hair. Austin was staring back at me with pleading eyes through the mirror.
“You have to stop this!” he yelled punching the mirror trying to attack me.
“Stop what?” I replied mockingly.
“You have to stop this or I’ll—”
“You’ll what? You can’t do anything, you’re a weak sorry excuse for a human being!” I laughed maniacally at the thought of him stopping me. I began to blink unnecessarily, my surroundings slowly drifting away from me with every blink. I was now looking at Austin but from a different angle. I was no longer in control of him.
“Bloody fool!” I screamed.
“This has to end, you have to stop,” Austin’s voice was still. “There’s only one way to do this,” he reached for his gun.
“No! You can’t do this, just like you said I’m not real! I’m imaginary, I’m merely a figment of your imagination!” my imploring words did not break his psyche.
“You’re not the boss of me anymore, I am the captain of my life-carrying vessel and you will no longer hijack my sailing course, Goodbye,” he murmured through unmoving lips. He brought the gun slowly up to my chest, our chest. He pulled the trigger; my world began to fade away from me. With every second that passed I could feel the darkness expand around me. I could hear the distant screeching noise coming from Kate, as she did not know what was going on. The shot did not kill us instantly but I could feel every memory slipping away from me. The police arrived shortly after; they let Kate out of the closet. She ran toward Austin and let herself drape over us like a protective blanket. The filthy woman couldn’t even let me die in peace.
“I’m sorry Kate… if only I could explain…” his voice began to falter as the darkness surrounded us in a tenebrous manner as we entered purgatory. Half good, and half bad, we were destined to roam forever in the vast emptiness of the in-between.
