The Doppelgänger ▌│█║▌║▌║ ║▌║▌║█-𝙳𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝙲𝚞𝚝-

Marcus recklessly jumps over logs and ducks under branches running through the moonlit forest. He’s desperate to find a way out of this nightmarish trap. Thoughts of guilty try to distract him from the task at hand. Only the determination to escape overrides the freshly engraved images circulating his mind.

***

Billions of choices are made on this planet every day, creating our reality with each final decision. But then there are choices we decide against. They don't just go away. They continue writing themselves, branching off in boundless tangents in pursuit of living out those possibilities in an alternate reality. This is what Marcus questions within his mind as sweat incessantly pours out his glands, leaking into his eyes, creating a burning sensation from the concentrated salinity.

He finally comes to a clearing and pauses for a second, only to realize his surroundings give him no clue as to where he is. He should have never bought into the uncertainty of curiosity and stuck with his gut feeling to never step foot in that cabin.

He continues searching for a way out...

_______________________________________________

Two Hours ago, Marcus looked inside the window of that cabin.

_______________________________________________

He was familiar with passing the old, dilapidated structure on his daily run through the lush green forest, using it as a checkpoint of reference. He knew it was abandoned. Everyone did.

Winding down from a hard day's work, Marcus prepared to meet a friend at Kelsey's Sports bar five minutes from home. Thoughts of driving there teetered on the fence. He knew he could get carried away with the endless flow of beer but wasn't sure if that would happen this time. He opened the garage door where his choices stood before him. As enticing as his Ford Mustang looked, he grabbed the mountain bike instead, deciding to ride it through that same trail, using it as a shortcut to his destination.

The tiring sun had left for the day, leaving the full moon in its place to partially light the pathways. As he approached the long curve that passes the cabin, a small, glimmering light in its window caught his attention—a candle. He whizzed by at a fair amount of speed, only slowing down to a halt for another look. Noone ever goes into that place, he thought. This was none of his business. No longer caring, he continued pedaling to the popular watering hole.

Seconds later, Marcus returned. He knew he was ahead of schedule for bro-time with his buddy and felt it would only a take minute to see if maybe someone forgot to put the candle out.

Dropping the silver bike near the worn, dirt trail, Marcus began heading toward the structure....

Getting much closer, his eyes detected the dim glow of actual lights on inside.

A single window covered in years of neglect was the only means of peering in. Marcus spat on the cuff of his jacket and used the wet area to clean a small spot on the window.

His eyes seized at the sight...

The impossibility of a measly cabin to have so much interior space, let alone completely furnished, baffled every fiber of logic. Puzzled, Marcus crept through knee-high weeds on his way to the back to check for additional rooms attached.

There were none...

Crusted with areas of dead moss, the front door was missing a knob. Marcus found himself standing in front of it. He simply nudged it open enough to peek inside...

For the first time in his life, he thought he was losing his mind.

Caught directly in his vision was the exact replica of the kitchen at his father's home in Chicago which was hundreds of miles away from his location in Oklahoma. In fact, his dad's entire house was encased in the miniscule dimensions of that cabin. How was this possible? He felt a growing need to see more. Taking cautious steps through the kitchen, Marcus began experiencing strong feelings of deja'vu from all the memories he had from being there. This scenario had to be some kind of lucid dream or hallucination, he thought...

The sudden sound of feet rushing down the second-floor steps didn't allow him to dwell on anything. A half-naked young woman, wearing only a see-through nightie, bolted down the staircase right in his view. Marcus was taken aback from the instant recognition of her as Hallie, an ex-girlfriend from four years prior.

Overly anxious and staring directly at him, she began shaking her head in disbelief. Her voice trembled in fear as she spoke.

"How in the hell did you do that? You're upstairs right now passed out! I know you are because I watched as you slobbered your drunken self into a deep sleep. Who are you? STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

Marcus offered his hand in comfort to no avail. The gesture only made her scream at the top of her lungs. Her piercing shrieks rattled his eardrums, causing him to hunch his shoulders.

Marcus felt compelled to interact but since this scene wasn't real, he decided to watch it play out. Hallie ran to the front door to begin working the intricate lock. It, being the only thing that stood between her and the freedom she so desperately sought.

Seconds later, the reason for her haunting cries came down the stairs after her. Her screams for help had awakened him.

Angry, with bloodshot eyes, it was MARCUS? Marcus saw this and covered his gaping mouth with both hands, knowing this was the wildest thing he’d ever seen. Marcus, the inebriated one, carried a long ten-inch butcher knife by his side. He yelled out the woman's name upon making it to the bottom of the steps. He had kept Hallie captive for the last three days while his father was out of town.

Stumbling his way into the foyer, drunken Marcus grabbed the wailing girl by the arm before she could open the heavily locked door in time. He thrashed her to the ground and straddled her. His right arm then lifted the stainless-steel blade high into the air, peering into her terror-stricken, blue eyes that reminded him of all the pain he endured that she was supposedly responsible for.

His mind refused to entertain reason. This was the only way to silence her for good. With a psychotic look and a savage goal, he began violently stabbing Hallie like an untamed beast releasing a bout of rage. Blood flew to the ceiling and everywhere as he brought the sharp blade in and out of her again and again...

A prime example of overkill, by a mile.

Hallie suffered twenty-two stab wounds by the time the disturbed 25-year-old was done piercing her body. The other Marcus, horrified, wondered if he should have intervened but this was a dream or an illusion, it wasn't real.

Marcus reminisced about how his ex was sometimes cold-hearted towards him, and how they had their share of altercations, but he never thought about killing her! Why would his mind conjure such a grisly scene for him to see? His face remained locked in terror. He watched as his exhausted double-image slump over the dead woman's body. Evil Marcus began punching the floor beside her and calling her a 'stupid bitch' over and over.

As the vilified fit of anger began to settle, he tried to stand up but slipped back down to the blood-soaked floor, crashing down on his face. This fueled his anger. Expletives flew out of his mouth one after another until he finally met eyes with his living reflection standing in the archway to the kitchen.

The stare lasted an eternity like a duel between two gunmen from the days of the wild west. Marcus, the innocent one didn't understand the other's reaction to him. Dreams aren't supposed to feel this real. Marcus, the guilty one's head cocked to the side in confusion. His mouth was the first to give way...

"What is this? Some kind of trick? What the fuck did I do? How am I standing over there?"

If you could have seen the two men, just a couple dozen feet apart, they were identical, right down to their husky voice and the greasy appearance of their black hair. The only difference being the clothes they wore and the bloody mess the guilty one was covered in. The innocent one replied,

"What are you talking about, man! I'm not here! This isn't real! I'm gonna wake up or snap out of this messed up shit any moment!"

Guilty Marcus started laughing contemptuously, "No no no... this is not a dream of any kind. Go ahead, wake yourself up... You can't, can you? NO, YOU CAN'T DUMB ASS! Look at this place! I just killed our girlfriend...She made me do it! From the looks of your face, you saw the whole thing!"

Innocent Marcus didn't understand and quickly replied,

"Wait, what do you mean this is real and not a dream? Hallie broke up with me four years ago."

"It's not a FUCKING DREAM I keep telling you. You're still here, right? I'm still here! Hallie is dead as a doorknob on the floor over there isn't she? No, my friend this is far from a dream... Remember when she dumped us and we thought about begging her to take us back, but we didn't want to go crawling back with our tails between our legs? We just cried ourselves to sleep every night until we got over it. Well, we obviously did beg her, and she did take us back because everything you see here is real... Things were good between us for a long time until I stopped taking that fucked up medication. That's when we started getting into horrific fights that sometimes became physical. We made up every time because I would confess how wrong I was and how much we needed each other. She put up with me and my mood swings for months... But a week ago she broke up with me for good, said she no longer knew who I was and couldn't continue this pointless relationship. So, I kidnapped her and now look at what I've done. I'm a raving mad, piece-of-shit lunatic!"

Marcus had heard of alternate realities before but didn't think they were real, let alone, face one of his. His eyes blinked rapidly while trying to process what he was hearing. He never stopped taking the medication prescribed for a mental disorder and lives a normal life as a result. Still caught in the throes shock, he looked at the guilty one and asked,

"If this is real like you say, then... then give me some kind of proof! Tell me something about me! Us!"

"Dammit Marcus! We don't have time for this! I'm sure someone already called the cops!"

Evil Marcus' eyes went to the long knife still in his right hand and dropped it blade first into the hardwood floor of the foyer, leaving blood splatter around it. He looks at his hands in disgust. He wipes excess blood from them onto his shirt and pants while angrily deciding to answer the other one's question.

"Alright! Today is June 3rd, 2012... It's 9:38 PM on a Sunday. This is our father's house. God damn he's gonna kill me! We have two older brothers and a sister who is pregnant. We love pork rinds but hate onions... We got arrested when we were 15 for shoplifting... and, and Hallie has a birthmark on the right side of her neck. Is that enough...proof?"

The Innocent one's mouth dropped to the widest point ever while continuing to abnormally blink. The guilty one wasn't done talking.

"You should have never gone into that cabin, bro. I don't know what kind of bizarre time warping shit it did. I just know it got into your head, man. It brought you here... How do I know it was a cabin you walked in you ask? It's because I can read your mind, dummy. You can read mine too. Go ahead, tell me what I'm thinking."

Looking toward the ground, innocent Marcus began to concentrate to see if it was true and he could read the other one's mind. He began seeing disturbing imagery of the hostility, pain and torture Hallie went through. They were all memories from the deranged version of himself that were now hard-wired into his own head. The sound of their train of thought interrupted the painful visions.

You better leave now before I do and take your pathetic little perfect life, leaving you to deal with the fucked-up mess I caused tonight. Don't you love this little paradox we find ourselves in?

The innocent one quickly looked up into the devilish eyes of his twin and said, "You wouldn't dare."

With that, the guilty one tried to shove his way past him. They began to fight for the back door which led to the forest where the cabin resided. The innocent one grabbed the other one by the hair and yanked him back far enough so he would be closer to the door again. He turned to run for it, but the guilty one tripped him. This historic and pivotal scuffle went on for two, aggression-filled minutes and even continued when they began hearing police sirens getting close. They punched, kicked and tackled each other, inching their way towards the liberation of the back door...

The cops wasted no time banging at the front, threatening to force their way in. The identical men, now holding tightly to each other's arms, paused to look at the triple-locked front door, knowing it would give in any moment from the repeated bashing. Hallie's deceased body would be the first thing they see. Her eyes were caught in fear as the last emotion she experienced before succumbing to her fatal injuries.

Somehow, the two men ended up in the same position with the innocent one closer to the back door, now only 9 feet away. In a last, ditch-effort of desperation, a literal twist of fate, the guilty one swung themselves around 180 degrees with force, causing the other Marcus go off balance, breaking their embrace. The guilty one watched in slow motion as his counterpart flailed his hands at nothing to grasp. Marcus landed on his back, quickly sinking into unimaginable despair. He kept his eyes glued to the guilty one who turned his head one last time to glance at him before disappearing out the back door. Marcus heard the front door come off its hinges, allowing several police officers to fill the place. One of them instantly hurled at the sight of the woman who was sliced to death. Marcus quickly stood up determined to open the back door, ignoring every command to stay on the ground and opened it. All to be seen was his father's patio furniture and the large black tire hanging from a huge Oak tree him and his siblings used to swing on. There were no signs of guilty Marcus or the forest. The portal or whatever it was, closed after one person returned through it.

Overcome with devastation, innocent Marcus fell to his knees in realization that he wasn't going back to his life and that he killed that girl. He noticed he was now wearing the blood-soaked clothes of the guilty one. Reality shifted against his favor.

How do you explain your way out when everything down to the fingerprints is hard evidence against you?

The police threatened to tase him with a stun gun if he stood up again. He dropped his head in shame as the sounds of scuffling shoes and handcuffs surrounded him...

***

Marcus, the guilty one, recklessly jumps over logs and ducks under branches running through the moonlit forest. He needs to find a way out of this nightmarish trap.

After running for what seems like forever, he comes to a clearing. He sees what looks like the cabin from the back of a small wooden structure but isn't quite sure. He walks around to the front and sees the shining flame. It's the same cabin he escaped from. Searching his mind for anything he might have missed, he came across the memory of a bike left on the trail. He carefully looks for it but fails to find it or the trail. Reality shifts yet again. He begins to run and run. He runs so fast and far he thinks his lungs will implode. Stopping to catch his breath, he sees the twinkling candle AGAIN! It's just a couple hundred feet to the right of him. He's getting tired, confused and upset at the monotony, wondering what he should do next. No matter the direction, they all lead back to the cabin.

He sits in the dirt on the brink of defeat...

Maybe he’s wrong about being able to switch lives with his duplicate. The universe is a strange place with strange rules. Marcus the guilty one deliberates over going back into the cabin, not knowing he will be instantly switched back. Or he can stay and die in that forest searching for a way out. He takes his time creeping back to the front door... As soon as he touches it to peek inside, the entire structure becomes engulfed by a cosmic flash of arctic blue, illuminating the surrounding forest for a brief moment. Guilty Marcus is gone. Simultaneously, innocent Marcus goes from being handcuffed in the back of a cruising police car to holding on to his silver mountain bike. Completely distraught, he drops it to the ground and begins hyperventilating in relief of being released from an awful reality.

Marcus walks his bike home, staring at nothing particular the entire way...

***

The two, young men both return to their respective realities, but what neither of them knew was the ability to choose a fate, goes away when the candle burns out...