Chapter Eight

Just as I was starting to wrap my head around the concept of alternate dimensions, and being in a totally different London than I had ever known, things started to make sense… as much sense as they possibly could. This London felt strange and uncomfortable. I felt like I was under a great amount of pressure, and the air smelled like cigarettes.
“Why is it so weird here?” I asked Luke as we continued to ride the streets on his motorcycle.
“It’s because you’re not supposed to be here,” he explained. “It’s kind of like… if a person born and raised in the city were to suddenly be dropped in the forest. It feels odd and strange and different. Or, not even. It’s almost like a fish out of water. It’s just not supposed to be there, right? So the universe is trying to adjust to the fact that it has something that doesn’t belong here, and thus, you feel weird.”
“Fish out of water?” I asked. “You’re saying I’m going to die if I’m here too long?”
“Oh, that was a bad metaphor. No, you won’t die, I wouldn’t put you in that kind of danger. It’s just an odd feeling. You feel weird here, right? Well, that’s just because you don’t belong here.”
I continued to look around. Every person wore black. Black shirts, black jeans, black jackets.
“I stick out like a sore thumb,” I said, looking down at my red outfit. “Well, I guess I blend in with the sky.”
Luke stopped near a building. He got down, took off his jacket, and handed it to me.
“Here,” he said. “Wear some black, you’ll fit in more.”
I accepted it, and put it on. It was a bit big on me, but I’d take that rather than being the spot of red in a sea of black.
We walked into the building which looked identical to all the others. It made me wonder if Luke knew he was taking me to the right building.
“Right up these stairs,” he said.
The building looked like a normal yet darker apartment building from the inside.
Luke stopped at the door which was numbered 429. He knocked on it. Nothing happened.
Then there was a note that slipped from under the door. Luke picked it up, and read it. He smiled.
“Right. I’ve got some business to do here, so you can look around for a bit, but don’t get into any trouble.”
“What?” I exclaimed. “You’re leaving me here all by myself?”
“You’ll be fine,” he said.
The door opened, and it was a woman. She was wearing an extremely short and revealing black dress. “Right on time, Lucas,” she said. “Please, come in.”
“Oh. ‘Business.’ I understand,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Have fun.”
“Right. Take care. Remember, don’t get into trouble.” Luke went into the apartment and the door closed behind him, leaving an eerie echoing noise that rang through the staircase of the building.
I climbed back down, and existed, and leaned across the motorbike.
I was starting to get kind of bored. How long was Luke going to take? I supposed he wanted to take his merry time, then, shagging that woman. I observed my surroundings and realized how everything looked as if I was looking through a red veil. Even the boy who was on the other side of the street of me, his red hair made it look like his head was on fire. I was distracted, however, by the fact that he looked way too familiar.
He began to walk away. I pulled the hood of Lucas’s jacket up above my head so that it cast a shadow over my face, and began to follow him into an alley way. I knew I wasn’t particularly stealthy, but he didn’t seem to notice that I was following him. Either that, or he didn’t care that I was following him.
He eventually joined a small group of people. The girl in front had the same red hair, and the same hazel eyes as the boy. The two of them had to have been around my age. The boy whispered something in the girl’s ear, and she smiled.
The girl was wearing an obscenely short dress, and boots that were so high that they went over her knees. On top of her flaming locks was a black beret which made it look like the coal that set off the fire.
She reached down the side of her leg where her right boot was, and reached into it. I had to croon over to see, but she had just pulled out a gun. She aimed at a man that was on the opposite street and shouted, “HEY!”
The man froze I his tracks. His eyes wide with fear, but he didn’t dare look into the girl’s eyes. He fell to his knees and put his hands on his head. The girl and boy approached him. The boy started to snigger.
“P-please don’t hurt me,” he said, tears falling from his eyes. “I-I was j-just going home… to my wife and my daughter. I-I told them I would b-be home soon.”
“Oh, shut up,” said the girl. Her familiar voice made my stomach lurch. It couldn’t be possible.
“H-here,” the man said, emptying his pockets. “I’ve g-got cash… whatever you want just p-please don’t k-kill me.”
“How cute,” the girl said.
The boy laughed again.
“You see, we don’t want your filthy cash,” she spat. “We just love the look on your face right now.”
“The smell of fear,” the boy said.
All the color fled from the man on the floor’s face. “I-I don’t… I mean… I know who you are… a-aren’t you supp-supposed to be in prison?”
“It was boring,” said the girl in an innocent-like voice. “And my brother and I didn’t have much fun, did we?”
The boy shook his head. “Not at all. We just had to sit there.”
“S-so it’s true? That the Wh-Whitewood twins escaped?”
Whitewood? I thought. But… that’s my last name!
“Well, would you look at that!” the girl said, sounding genuinely surprised. “Cedric, this guy actually doubted us! Of course it’s true, you blibbering idiot. No stupid prison can ever dream of containing us.”
“Caitlin, I think we’ve had enough fun with this man,” the boy said.
BANG. The boy and girl walked away. The girl still with the smoking gun in her hand, and the bloody corpse of a fearful man lied dead on the sidewalk.
“Now,” Caitlin said. “Do you think that would have scared the person who was following you, Ced?”
I froze completely still. They had heard me. And they killed a man just to show me how scary they were.
“Yes, I think that might have scared them,” Cedric said.
BANG. Caitlin had shot the gun again, and the trash can that was only a few feet away from me was hit and fell over. I shrieked, and pulled the hood of Luke’s jacket over my head even more.
“Just come on out,” Caitlin said.
“N-no,” I squeaked. I had to make sure that my voice didn’t sound like her’s. “P-please don’t hurt me.”
“‘Please don’t hurt me!’” Caitlin mocked. “Now, doesn’t that sound familiar, Ced?”
“It really does, Cait,” he said. “And I still love hearing it every single time.”
“Who are you, and why were you following my brother?” Caitlin shouted.
“N-no, I wasn’t f-following,” I said.
“Don’t you even try to lie to us,” Cedric said.
“R-really,” I stuttered, holding on to the jacket tight. “I-I wasn’t following you. I p-promise.”
“Show me your face,” Caitlin said.
I simply gripped the edge of my jacket tighter.
“SHOW ME YOUR FACE!” Caitlin screamed.
BANG. She shot the gun at the trash can again.
“WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?” Caitlin screamed. “DO YOU THINK YOU’RE LIKE ME? DO YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST WANDER THE STREETS OF LONDON LIKE THIS? FOLLOWING M BROTHER AROUND?” BANG. BANG. “WHO ARE YOU?”
The next two gunshots were drained out by the sound of a very loud motorcycle. I looked behind me to see Lucas’s motorcycle coming up along the alley way where I followed Cedric down. It didn’t stop in front of me, so I simply grabbed the handle and hopped on when it drove past me. It cut through between Caitlin and Cedric, and sped away.
I was surprised to see that the motorcycle was driving itself, and that Luke was actually nowhere to be found. I heard a couple more distant gun shots, and then the other me and my other brother were far from sight.
“How…?” I said, looking down at the motorcycle that was driving itself. It stopped in front of another building. I got down and peered at the motorcycle again, and noticed a note taped to its dashboard.
“Hey, Caitykins,” it read. “Hope this thing didn’t scare you too much! I had it come pick you up. The building that you are in front of is a bakery. Be a dear and pick up some chocolate cake for me? Thanks! I should be finished in around half an hour. Stay out of trouble!”
I folded the note and put it in my pocket. “Oh, you’ll be finished, all right,” I said, slightly disgusted.
I went into the building. It was, indeed, a bakery.
“Hello,” I said.
The lady behind the counter simply glared at me.
“Um… could I have some of your chocolate cake?”
“Fifty pounds.”
“F-fifty?”
“Yeah. Fifty pounds or get the hell out of my shop.”
I rummaged through the pockets of Luke’s jacket and pulled out a fifty pound bill. Would money from an alternate dimension be any good here?
“What country are you from?”
“Huh? I-I’m from here… why do you ask?”
She looked at the bill I had just handed her. “It just looks funny to me. Something’s not right.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“Is it counterfeit?”
“No! It-it’s not… at least, I don’t think so. It’s my friends, you see.”
She took out a marker, and drew a line on the bill. It came out brown.
“Right. Well, looks fine, I suppose.” She handed me a box. “Now get out!”
I ran back outside as fast as I could.
“Wandering around by myself is no good,” I said to myself, sitting on the motorcycle. “Taking orders from Luke is no good. Geez, what am I even doing here?”
And just as I had finished mumbling to myself, the ground shook. I fell off the motorcycle, and the box with the cake inside it fell right on top of me.
The earth finally stood still, and I got back on top of the motorcycle.
“Whoa, I’ve never felt an earthquake like that,” I said to myself. “I suppose the fault lines are different here or something.”
The motorcycle roared to life.
“Oh, I suppose Luke is all finished now?”
The motorcycle revved again. It took off, at least this time with slight warning, so I was able to hang on as it drove down the dark streets.