Terror Chronicles 1: Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Don't look so confused. I am you, and vice versa. Now put down your damn guns and listen to what I have to say." My duplicate growled menacingly, and that alone made me want to shoot him in the face. No one comes into my home orders me around. This place is safe. This place is sanctuary.

I pointed my gun straight at my clone's face. "You don't get to do that. I don't know why you are here, how you are here, but you should go and be gone."

My clone barked out a mocking laughter. "Be gone? What are you going to do? Exorcise me like a demon? Please, you couldn't do that even if you tried. Your mind is weak, and your defences are likewise." He sneered, and my trigger finger got slightly itchier. Daniel made no sound during this entire exchange, and I realized he had his blade down. I shot him a look, telling him to bring his weapon up, but he shook his head.

My guardian was suddenly in the face of my clone, and my clone smiled triumphantly as Daniel's hand passed right through him. "See? You can't hurt me, not with any weapon we have. Now, put down your gun." I didn't comply. Daniel turned his back against my duplicate, and gave me a placating look. Put it down.

I scowled, but found the willpower to let go of my annoyance and focus on the matter at hand. A ghost of myself was in the hallway, and judging by the way Daniel eyed him, he knew what he was. Samantha and Rose jumped out from the dining room, and Rose had to tackle Samantha to the floor as she fired a single shot, blowing out the dim yellow ceiling light. My clone laughed harshly, shaking his head as he did so.

"You know what he is?" I asked Daniel. He nodded curtly.

"I do. He is an Other. A projection of the mind, given form by the will of the host." He explained quickly, frowning as he scanned my Other up and down. "This Other is unusually clear. Usually, they would have their faces blurred or charred, but this one doesn't have those traits."

"Because 'this one' is not just an empty form. I am real, and I need you to come get me." My Other, who I have decided to call Rivin one, glared at us. "And I need you to do it quick. By the way, don't call me Rivin one. That doesn't make any sense. Call me Roya."

"Roya." Rose and Daniel whispered, and both Samantha and I flicked to their direction. "The name of the second Raino, the Raino of the memories."

The Raino were the once powerful leaders of our people. There were six Raino, and each one oversaw a different foundation that made the Raixien nation. I did not know any of their names, but now I know one. The second Raino, Roya.

"So you're the Corors. And I'm guessing that girl over there is also a Raixien. Looks the part, has the weaponry, but I don't know which Rengar you're from. You wanna identify yourself?" Roya pointed at Samantha, who managed to scowl even harder than me.

"Make a guess." She said sarcastically, and Roya smirked.

"Let's see what we have here. You're leaning forward aggressively, a stance rarely found under normal Raixien teachings. You speak callously, and have near no restraint even when fighting your own. But, you saw my face and still fired, knowing that your real friend is standing behind me. That alone requires extreme reactions, and I only know of one group that might hold your powers." He looked her in the eye, smiling as he did so. "You're an exile."

"Hm." Samantha shrugged. "So you can read people. Might as well just admit it now. Yes, I'm an exile, and I'm going to shoot you again unless you tell us why and how you are here."

Roya rubbed his head in frustration, gritting his teeth. "Stop wasting my time, girl. As I have said, I need your help, and you have to come and get me." Samantha's eyes flared. I gulped, only just realizing what it would mean if Samantha started to throw off against a spectre in the house. It would not go well at all. And although I still found my clone annoying and far too aggressive for my liking, I had to play well with him if I want to know what he wants.

"You want to know what I am, why I exist, and what I want, but I will tell you in due time. Right now, just come to New Orleans and find me." Roya took out a piece of paper with a phone number roughly scrabbled onto it. "Follow the trail of the Hounds, and you'll find me soon."

"The Hounds?" Daniel queried.

Roya nodded quickly. "The Shadow Hounds. They're a New Orleans gang that specializes in kidnapping and weapons trafficking. A large criminal organization that everyone knows and fears. You should see a lot of those guys on the floor very soon." He pressed his lips together in anger.

I raised an eyebrow. "What are you going to do, Roya? What have they done?" Roya slowly turned his steady gaze on me, and I saw something in his eyes that I was sure did not exist in mines. A murderous rage and a desire to hurt.

And before he even opened his mouth, I knew his answer, as if we were identical twins connected at birth. Given his appearance, we probably were.

"I'm going to kill them all."

And with that, the spectre disappeared in a flash of purple light.

"Daniel, maybe going for this Other isn't such a good idea." Rose glared at her partner, who was tapping his chin thoughtfully with his other hand propped on the dining table.

"But this isn't just another Other. If he says he is a real, tangible person... this could change everything! He could be another Raixien with another set of Rengars, and he called himself Roya. What are the chances that this person is the Second Raino himself?" He argued. Rose shook her head in denial.

"You and I both know that all the Six Raino died when the Aerilosac arrived. None of them could have possibly survived that final wave, and we saw them die. Remember? They were killed in front of our eyes. Our leaders are dead, and we have to stop hoping the Raino would come back and help us. We have to help ourselves, and make our own judgements. And I think that this Other is nothing but a projection."

"And what if this isn't a projection? If this Other is everything as he said, we can get him to unify with Rivin, and actually stand a chance against the Aerilosac."

"Really? You still think we have a chance? The Raino were idiotic, believing that the four of us can take on an entire army and the Highlord himself? If you ask me, their mission for us is utter crap."

Daniel looked incredulous. "So after all this time, you want to just abandon our home planet, our people, and live our own lives on this foreign planet? Compared to Raxar, Earth is just a level two planet that's dying, but the only difference, is that this planet lacks a Reset. No matter how much we try, if this planet's time comes, it will come. There's no Reset, no second chance."

"And our own Reset will run out in two years. Two years! If we don't get back to Raxar in two years, our home planet will be just like this planet, devoid of any Reset and second chances. I say that we live our lives as best as we can here, where the people accept us and we can blend in with the rest of the humans."

"Then our people will never prosper. The four of us will be the last generation of true Raixiens."

"Maybe it's for the best."

"How could it be for the best?" Daniel exploded, jumping up from his seat, glaring at Rose with a fierce expression that he only does when he's extremely frustrated at me. "If we are the last generation, then we must do everything in order to make it back in time. If we fall..." Daniel warned, holding a single finger.

Rose's eyes narrowed in anger. "Not here, Daniel. They don't need to know about it. It's all in the past anyways. The Aerilosac destroyed us with hardly any effort. That legion we saw on Raxar was only one of the hundreds or thousands of them, and they weren't even the best of the best. Just disposable soldiers the Highlord could send at us. To the Aerilosac, we're nothing."

I couldn't catch on. It was like listening to your own native language, but still have no idea what they were talking about. I knew about the Reset and how it was the saving grace of our planet, but before today, I didn't even know that there was a time limit. Two years? We had to get back within two years?

And the Aerilosac legion. I've heard so much about the golden army and their capabilities, and though I saw... memories of them in my dream last night, what Rose was describing seemed far more dangerous, deadlier than what I had seen.

For a single legion to take out the entire planet... was terrifying to think about.

And we're supposed to fight that?

"Rivin." Daniel's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and he looked at me with his ever so determined eyes. "This is your Other. You should know him the best. Do you think we should go after him, or not?"

I blinked. Samantha raised a curious eyebrow. "What? You're asking me to make an important decision regarding our race without even giving me the slightest of details as to what my Other is?"

This time, Rose finally answered my question. "Long story short, an Other is the mental projection of a Raixien, created when ones subconscious wants to help the main consciousness but needs a more direct way to do so than simply thoughts. The Other is real, in a sense, but they are always just variants of the mind. Nothing more."

"The Other is also just a ghost." Daniel added. "A spectre, so it is unable to do anything physically. That is why I told you to lower your weapon. You cannot hurt it in any way, and vice versa. After all, the mind manifest cannot act."

"And the blur part? You said Others were supposed to be blurred, but mines isn't. Why?"

"I don't know." Rose sighed. "Maybe it's different on Earth. Maybe we forgot just how blurry an Other is supposed to be. This is the less important part. The most important part, is that the Other is always a part of you, no matter what. Thus, the host of the projection should be able to judge whether the Other should be trusted or not."

Does my Other mean good? If Rose said that my Other is a part of my subconscious, then surely it must be good, right?

But then again, when I look back on our brief conversation, I felt that the Other that was supposed to be a part of me... wasn't. Those auras of anger and bloodlust he gave out was unnatural, and I have never felt myself drift into those areas so deeply. For him to feel such anger at someone or something is incomprehensible to me.

After all, if an Other was myself, shouldn't it be the same?

And if it wasn't the same, should I trust him? Should I help him?

What are you thinking? Of course you should help him.

But I don't know him. Why should I help a potential enemy?

It doesn't matter who he is. He was real, and he needs your immediate help.

Why me?

You never turn down helping others in dire need. That's who you are.

My mind spoke its piece. And so far, my mind has never lead me astray. Well, not too majorly.

I replayed that one thought I had. It doesn't matter who he is. He was real, and he needs your immediate help.

It doesn't matter who he is.

"I will help him."