Duality Read online

  Contents

  Also by Nasser Rabadi

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Author’s Notes

  Copyright © 2019 by Nasser Rabadi

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, events, and places described herein are purely imaginary and are not intended to refer to specific places, or to specific persons alive or dead. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without prior written permission of the publisher except for brief quotations embodied in critical reviews.

  ISBN: 978-0-9991475-2-8

  Also by Nasser Rabadi

  The Eclipse Theater

  Eternity

  Dedicated to Laura van Ryn and Whitney Cerak

  And to my little sister Gg

  Chapter One

  The horror which befell the city of Carpenter all began on 13 Trenton Street one Friday morning before school when Rose Hawthorn hurried into Valerie Hart’s room and told her to hurry up because Rose’s brother would leave without her if she took any longer. Rose and Valerie looked identical: blue eyes brighter than lucky pennies, and hair as dark as the depths of the sea; the only difference between the two friends was that Valerie wore her hair down, and Rose wore hers in a bun.

  Valerie hopped down from her spot on the dresser, went over to the bag of Sweettarts on her desk, unwrapped one, and laughed. She wasn’t even ready yet—her books were all scattered out on the desk and God only knew where the damn book bag was. She threw away the wrapper in the trashcan by the door and looked around with Rose for her book bag.

  “Riding with your brother feels like a fucking abortion,” Valerie said.

  “Tell me about it,” Rose said. “If I have to hear Orion play Maxwell’s Silver Hammer one more time when he drives us to school—”

  Valerie rolled her eyes and said, “I know.”

  The drive to Carpenter High was short. They thanked Rose’s brother Orion for the ride and entered school just in time for first period English with Mr. Starkey—a talkative, white-haired man who was passionate about teaching. Once the bell to start class rang, he stood up and looked at the class and asked, “Who wants to be the first to tell me their thoughts on the poetry you all read—or were supposed to read—for homework last night?”

  Nobody raised a hand.

  “Come on, I’m sure somebody read it,” he said. “I’ve had it memorized for years. Back when I was in school. Who can tell me what kind of poem it is?” He paused, then recited, “Flowers won’t awaken you, not where sorrow has taken you; I’ve often thought of joining you, even though I’ve buried you. I’m not afraid of the chilled winter kiss; it’s the breath of life that you miss. We often sit together in the night—you visit me in dreams; a bittersweet mirage. Your new eyes are lovely; inky and deep. Soon I’ll join you in eternal sleep.”

  Valerie raised her hand.

  “Yes, Miss Hawthorn?” Mr. Starkey said.

  “I’m Valerie.”

  “Ah, sorry, Miss Hart.”

  “Is it free verse?”

  He nodded, “Very good, now who can tell me—”

  A boy across the room spoke without raising his hand. “Is it about a nightmare? It seems kind of nonsensical and hard to follow. I didn’t like it.”

  “Very good, Shawn,” Mr. Starkey said. “As for what it’s about…”

  Rose feigned yawning, tuning out the teacher for the rest of the period.

  At lunch, Rose noticed a teardrop rolling down Valerie’s cheek while Valerie picked at her food.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Rose asked. “Why are you crying?”

  “I still have that poem on my mind,” Valerie replied.

  “What? What about it?”

  Valerie sighed, then wiped the tear away. “It just stuck with me.”

  Rose did not know what to say. She wondered why her friend had bags under her eyes lately. Valerie wasn’t looking well, and Rose wondered if she had been getting enough sleep.

  Valerie was quiet the rest of lunch. Rose did not see another tear. Next was study hall, then history, then math. Rose wasn’t sure she could survive such a boring day. But that’s how every day was in Carpenter—boring. And gloomy. And dreary. There was always an air of depression around the town, and every single day was like having a raincloud following her.

  Rose thought, Let’s just make it through the school day, then you can reward yourself.

  And surprisingly, the rest of the day was not so bad. She finished most of her homework in study hall. In history class, the teacher wheeled in the TV from one of the storage rooms and they watched a documentary about Oak Island (that, at least, was interesting. Oak Island fascinated her. The documentary offered theories such as sinkholes, but Rose had heard stories about the paranormal and wondered if such forces could really be keeping the treasure hidden). In math… okay, math class didn’t go so well. She despised math, as did Valerie.

  Two blocks down from Carpenter High was Eli’s Creamery—they had the best chocolate chip cookie smoothies in the world. Going there was Rose and Valerie’s after school tradition on Mondays and Fridays; once to get them through the week, and once to enjoy themselves. After school, they each bought a smoothie then sat down at the booth by the window and people-watched.

  “So, Val,” Rose said.

  Valerie looked up from her phone, “Yeah?”

  “Do you remember my cousin Shelly?” Rose asked.

  “God, she’s annoying,” Valerie said. “And she overuses the word bitchin’ way too much. Every time she says bitchin’ I just want to punch her in her bitchin’ face.”

  Rose took a long sip, then said, “Geez, you only met her once or twice. Imagine how I feel, having to see her every couple months.”

  “Yeah, I bet,” Valerie said.

  “But, uh, you see… I got a family thing next week at her house and I really wanna get out of it… I don’t feel like seeing Shelly at all! Can you cover for me?”

  Valerie held her side in pain from all the laughter; she laughed so hard that noise wouldn’t come out. Tears came out of her eyes like a faucet. After she calmed down, she sipped her smoothie then laughed loudly. The other customers in Eli’s began to stare.

  “So, uh—” Rose began, but Valerie cut her off with more laughter. Rose turned bright red, and embarrassed, said, “Puh-lease!”

  “Nobody would believe it,” Valerie giggled. “They all mix us up, but I guarantee if we switched, they’d notice.”

  Rose pouted, “Val, please! My parents would never let me stay home! They hate leaving their ‘baby girl’ alone. They’d drag me to it even if I were possessed.”

  Valerie sighed, “And what are you gonna do instead? What would you do as Valerie Hart?”

  “I don’t know, but anything is better than seeing the weird annoying side of my family!”

  “Haha, yeah,” Valerie said. “So I get to be the lucky one stuck with ‘em.”

  The girls went their separate ways after they were done at Eli’s Creamery. They used to be neighbors until the Hawthorns moved five or six blocks away. Rose walked into her house. The lights were off.

  Cold air inside her home traced her body. It’s like I walke
d into The Twilight Zone.

  “Mom? Dad? Orion? Anyone home?”

  Rose’s room was upstairs. It was almost creepy how similar it looked to Valerie’s room; the main difference was Rose had a pile of novels to read instead of a pile of comics like Valerie had, and Rose did not have any movie posters on her wall like Valerie did. Everything else was the same: the placement of the dressers, the same type of desk, the blue piggybank on the right corner of the desk, and even the same bedsheets on the bed that each girl had in the corner of their rooms. She set her book bag down on the desk and plugged her phone into the charger, then yawned.

  Just as she turned away from her desk and started toward her dresser, her phone vibrated. She turned back and picked it up. On her lock screen was a text from Val: I’ll do it.