CHAPTER TEN/EPILOGUE
"Where am I?" I asked, opening my eyes.
"In The Haze," A2 replied.
I was lying on dying grass, surrounded by a strange purple mist that smelled of petroleum and vanilla.
"The what?" I slowly stood up and A2 crossed its arms.
"The Haze—it's the land of us doubles. This is where we wait until we are randomly summoned—until we are given the opportunity to have a life."
"Are you not considered to have a life here?"
A2 responded, "We wreak havoc because we watch humans who don't reach their full potential every day. We watch humans let chances slip through their fingers. You mortals have everything, yet you do nothing with it."
"Am I supposed to feel sympathy for you?" I scoffed.
"Yes. I expect you to. Because you are mortal and good—in Earth's standards anyway," it answered.
"So what happens here? Do you kill me?" I asked.
"No. You'd think that there would be a great battle or something, which I would prefer, but obviously I'm not a mortal creature. It's not fair."
"You doppelgangers don't seem to care about that when you're ruining our lives. What's the difference here?"
"Would you prefer a great battle? Because I assure you that you will lose," A2 chuckled.
"How does this work?" I asked, trying to get on with the process. "Why is it just us here?"
"What everybody else sees right now, is your unconscious body and my unconscious body. Our physical beings are lying on the floor back at headquarters. But our spirits—our inner selves are here."
A2 urged me to follow it somewhere, and I walked behind my doppelganger. I had no other choice. There was no way to escape.
Ava 2.0 brought me into a grey stone building. We walked through the doorway, and I was met with...Laura. She was tied to a chair with duct tape over her mouth.
"Is she a doppelganger or did you kidnap her somehow?"
"I can't say..." A2 laughed, "I guess we'll find out. Here, take this."
It held out a small dagger.
"I don't want that."
"You have to. You have to take it."
I reached out and took the weapon. It looked newly sharpened.
"Now what," I asked.
"What do you think? It's a test of morality—your loyalty. You have the chance to do something to someone who has hurt you—with no consequences. Here, in The Haze, we don't take punishment lightly. One pierce through the heart is all you need."
"She's an awful person, but I don't want to kill her."
"You must. Don't you want to get out of here? If you don't, then I win. Simple as that," A2 explained. "Don't worry. You won't be arrested or trialed for murder. You—you will be free, but only if you use that dagger. Otherwise, I will. I have no problem with that."
YOU ARE READING
DOPPELGANGER
Teen FictionPicture this. Your world is crumbling. And you think that the only person who can save you is yourself, except it's not really yourself. If one day, you woke up and came face-to-face with someone who looked exactly like you and was basically a part...
