Seeing Double

CHAPTER ONE

"Bye!" I called to my parents and younger sister who were waiting by the gate, watching me slowly walk away, about to board the airplane. I walked down the aisle, towards by compact economy seat. I sat there waiting for the plane to take off. It felt like days. I couldn't wait to get there: I couldn't wait to lay eyes on Riley and William. The winter break had felt so long and tedious. I couldn't stop thinking about her. What she'd said to me. I hadn't slept much lately, thinking about it, thinking about her.

I was nearly asleep when a sudden pain blasted through my head. I closed my eyes tightly, trying to ward off the pain still blazing in my head. When the pain passed I opened my eyes and looked past the aisle out the window. A pair of eyes stared at me from outside the airplane window. The thing is, as he stared at me I noticed how much he looked like me. Exactly like me. Same dark brown eyes. His skin color looked like he was from Latin-America, the exact same color as mine. The same dark brunette hair. He even wore his hair exactly like me, a mass of loose curls cascaded down the side of his forehead. He wore glasses like mine. Pushed up on his nose like they kept falling down. He had a smirk plastered on his face. I couldn't believe my eyes. He was me. I closed my eyes, when I opened them I expected him to be gone, like the cartoons. When I opened my eyes he was still there, staring at me expectantly. I closed my eyes again, sure he was going to disappear. I opened my eyes again. He was gone!

I couldn't get over what I just had seen. Was he real? Was what I just witnessed an illusion? Of course he was, I hadn't slept much. He was just a figment of my imagination. A fantasy, a delusion. Yes, that was it. He was a hallucination. With that decided, I fell into a deep, lethargic sleep.

My eyes fluttered open. Half asleep, I lay in my seat, listening to the flight attendants drone. "Please remain in your seats until the airplane has stopped moving and the seatbelt sign has gone off. Thank you for flying British Airways to Stuttgart, Germany. Have a nice day." The voice over the intercom chimed. A few seconds passed and, as promised the seatbelt light went off. I unbuckled my seatbelt, and lifted my body out of my un-comfortable economy class chair. Trying to avoid a massive crowd, I swiftly picked up my rucksack from under the seat in front of me. I started walking briskly out of my row into the isle. I walked towards the front of the isle where t two woman stood, stiffly smiling at me in their neat flight attendant costumes. One was quite short, long locks of bright red curls fell to her hips. She had pale-white skin, like a piece of paper, dotted with red freckles. The second flight attendant, stood to the right of the other one. She had her short, dark brown hair, styled into a bob. Her physique was the exact opposite of the first woman's. She was tall and a little bit gangly. Her olive skin complimented her dark hair. She would be quite pretty if she didn't have such a faux smile plastered on her face.

I slowed to a halt at the two flight attendants. It was the shorter woman who spoke first. Her voice owned a slight accent that I couldn't quite place. "Are you Maxim Baylor?" She questioned. "Yes, I am." I responded. The pretty woman spoke now. "I'm Phoebe, and this is Cecilia." She gestured the red haired woman standing beside her. She spoke again. "We're your escorts. We're here to guide you through the airport." She had a bright cheery voice that sounded a bit like my mum's. "Okay thank-you.' I replied, not knowing what to say. "Come along," the flight attendant I believe is Cecilia sleepily said. Not saying anything, I followed the flight attendants through the crowded airport, weaving through people. Several quick minutes later we has successfully navigated the packed airport and made it to my ride.

I waved goodbye at the two flight-attendants who were currently forcing smiles my way. "Bye Maxim!" The stewardess with the preppy voice called right as I was stepping into a white van. The van was completely white, everything was white. Although the van was a blinding color, it looked like it could be in a mystery television program. I could just imagine a white van screeching on to the asphalt and four buff men in ski-mask jumping in with a body bag over a rough shoulder. I realized that I was just standing there looking at the white van, and I hastily finished lifting my heavy luggage into the van and hoisted myself into the passenger seat next to an unfamiliar man.

"Hello, how're ya'? I'm George Smithe, I'll be your driva' today. I take it yur' Maxim Baylor?" The driver said, slurring his words. "Yes, that's me." I said curtly, not taking a liking to this man. The driver nodded clearly noticing my tone, and started the car with a turn of the key. We pulled out of the airport driveway and onto the long, icy road. The rest of the ride was dull, crossing across the frozen towns laden with lights and quaint little shops. I was on the verge of drifting to sleep when the driver spoke up again.

"We'll be needin' diesel in a few minutes time. Better to fill 'er up now." He announced as he swung out of the van. I was so zoned out that I hadn't noticed that we had pulled into a small diesel-refill station. Ruefully I watched the driver grab the gas nozzle and insert into the car's refilling spot. Slowly I moved my head towards the driver-side windows, and gazed into the endless sea of trees. The trees were completely still, they looked as if they'd been there for ages, a million years.

I was still glaring into the lifeless forest when my something flashed before my eyes. My vision disappeared for a second, and my head started hurting intensely. Hurting like before, when the boy had appeared outside my airplane window. I thought back, that seemed like ages ago, but in reality it was only a few hours earlier. I looked intently into the sky, then, checking on the driver's progress with the diesel, I looked out my window. It was the boy, he was staring at me, like before. I was hallucinating. I couldn't take it anymore, I burst from the driver's door and ran like I never had before.

I burst from the van eager to escape my hallucinations. I could smell the crisp scent of grass, slowly drying out in the warm afternoon sun. The pleasant wind tore at my curly brown hair, tickling my face. My feet pounded the hard concrete as I bounded towards the towering white oak trees, and the gold fields stretching before me. My foot springs off the concrete platform and I reach the meadow. I'm still running, still trying to escape him. The forest edged closer, and with each leaping step my nose was filled with the scent of rich, deep soil, and the distant cries of the driver got farther and farther.

I turned my head backwards to look at the van again, just seeing it reminded me why I was fleeing. I quickened my pace, my legs began to ache like they never had before, creaking. My heart beat against my ribs, trying to extract itself from my chest. The wind rushes through my ears sounding like the ocean waves crashing on the rocks back at home. The tip of my tongue stung with the salty taste of my own sweat. My body became heavy. I wanted to stop, but I had to reach the forest. I continued ignoring the ache in every muscle of my body, and the effort it took with every stride. I was almost there, almost at the edge of the trees. I was on the verge of collapse when I neared the first tree trunk.

I gave in to my tired body and with all the energy I had left, I threw myself onto the ground. For a few seconds I just lay there, regaining my strength. When I looked up again what I saw nearly stopped my heart. It was him. Again.