Page 35 of One Shade of Gray
What did that mean? Was I never acquainted with Sibyl? Or perhaps the woman I knew was someone impersonatingher?”
No, that was impossible too. I met her the first time after she performed on stage. I folded over and clutched my head in my hands. “I don’tunderstand.”
The chair in front of me shifted, and the paper was scooped from the floor. I glanced up to him holding his cell phone out to me. I took it, uncertain what else he wanted to showme.
The image on his screen was Izzy. Her short blonde hair that wide smile that could drop me to my knees. She looked so beautiful, so happy, in that picture. “Do you know who thatis?”
“It’sIzzy.”
He nodded. “Well, you’re one for two, atleast.”
I opened my arms, surrendering to whatever game he was playing. “What do you want from me? Why am Ihere?”
He shook his head and slipped his phone into his cargo pocket. “You’re here until you realize that being with my sister is detrimental to her health and happiness. You’re not a sane man, Mr.Gray.”
“What do you even know about me? Who the hell areyou?”
“My name is Warrant Officer Jake Vale. Isobel is my sister. That’s all you really need to know about me. And more than mostdo.”
“I’m going to ask you again, what do you want withme?”
He leaned in, his face only inches from mine. I could see Izzy’s eyes, and it threw me off even more. “Do you recognize me atall?”
“You and your sister shareeyes.”
“That’s not all we share. Izzy and I are identical twins. I was born two minutes before shewas.”
I scanned his face, but it was like trying to turn on a light when the bulb had blown. I couldn’t line his features up with Izzy’s and make themfit.
“You don’t see it, do you? It’s because you’re not well. I spoke to the medical team that treats you, Gray. They confirmed your symptoms already. You’ll start seeing things, inverting memories and faces, until the past and present mix up and you will be unable to untangle the two. Apparently, its common once a patient passes the hundred-year mark. It’s the start of your mentaldeterioration.”
I let his words sink in. Hadn’t I considered the very same possibility? But Sibyl and Izzy? I’d only sought Izzy out because she looked so much like Sibyl, hadn’t she? And now, after seeing those images of Sibyl, it was fresh in my mind that they looked nothing alike. Then there was Izzy and her brother, who also looked nothing alike tome.
“Did the doctors tell you how to fixit?”
He shifted in the chair, causing it to squeak some more under his weight. “They advised you go stay at their center for treatment. Do you understand why I’m doing this, Gray? My sister cares about you. Once she told me about you, I showed up within hours to keep watch over her. I can see that she cares for you, and I know you care for her. If you truly do, then you will let her go so you can get the medical help youneed.”
I thought about Izzy, how angry she must be waking up to find me gone. “I can’t just leave her without so much as agoodbye.”
He waved his hand like a magician presenting a new trick. “You already took care of that too. That note you left on the counter was veryeffective.”
I remembered writing her the note, but I could barely recall the words. The most important part was that she thought I left her, just up and left without aword.
Damn. I did intend to leave, didn’t I? I knew something was wrong already, maybesubconsciously?
“Let me take you to get treatment,” Jakesaid.
I met his eyes and let him see the anger I’d been keeping at bay. “I will not be going anywhere with you. What I do with my life and with whom is none of your concern, even if she is your sister. She is an adult and can make her ownchoices.”
“Wait,a…”
“No,” I stood up and tried to muster all the dignity I usually possessed in my bespoke suits while still in my boxer briefs. “You are letting me out of this rat cage, and you will give me some clothes. Talking about your sister, my health, all of it...not a single thing warranted being tased, kidnapped, and locked up like aprisoner.”
He rubbed his neck and had the gall to look sheepish now. “Some of it may have been for my benefit. I know you’re fucking my twin sister, and I don’t appreciateit.”
“She’s a grown woman, and if I know her, if she knew about this, she’d have your balls in a bell jar under hersink.”
He laughed, and for the first time, I could see her in his face. That smile was just like hers. “Well, you do know her, I’ll give you that. I don’t intend to tell her about all this. And if you tell her, it will only hurt her more. You should get out and away while she thinks you’re just gone. A clean exit is open for you, just take it,Gray.”
