forth between our worlds. And now you seem to be stuck here. But you canât stay in this reality. You donât belong.â
âThen why donât you leave?â I shot back.
All this talk about parallel worlds was starting to give me the creeps.
âYou donât belong,â he repeated. âAnd you ⦠you can do a lot of damage.â
I swallowed hard. âHuh? What do you mean?â
âYou are from another world. You canât just barge in and interfere with our world. You are dangerous. You are an Intruder. Thatâs what we call people like you.â
An Intruder?
âIntruders are very dangerous,â my twin continued. âEven if they donât mean to be. Sometimes when they touch things, they change them. Sometimes they destroy things completely.â
âOkay. I get it,â I said. âIâm an Intruder. If I touch something, I destroy it.â
âYou believe me?â he asked.
âYes,â I replied.
I crossed the room and grabbed him with both hands.
âGoodbye!â I shouted. âGoodbye!â
He jumped up and shoved me away. âNice try,â he muttered. âBut you canât control it. You canât just grab people and destroy them any time you want.â
He glared at me angrily. He balled his hands into fists. âDonât ever try anything like that again,â he said.
And then he lowered his voice. âBut there isnât much point in worrying about you. Youâre going to die in a day or two.â
âYouâre crazy,â I muttered, breathing hard. I balled my hands into fists, too. I was ready to fight again if I had to.
âHavenât you already started to feel the pain?â he asked. âThe pain of being in a world where you donât belong? Intruders always feel more and more pain.â
I swallowed hard. The headaches? The powerful, stabbing headaches Iâd had this afternoon? Is that what he was talking about?
No way. Everyone gets headaches from time to time.
âAnd when the pain becomes unbearable, Intruders start to fade away,â my twin continued. âThey get lighter and lighter â¦. They fade until you can see right through them ⦠lighter and lighter ⦠until they blow away like a dead leaf.â
âNooooo!â A scream of protest burst from my throat. âYouâre crazy! Youâre a liar!â
A crooked smile spread slowly over my twinâs face. âYouâll see,â he murmured.
âNo!â I shouted again. âNoâyouâll see!â
I lowered my shoulder and rammed right into him, shoving him hard. He let out a startled cry and toppled onto the bed.
By the time he regained his feet, I had the bedroom door open and burst out into the hall.
âMom! Momâhelp me!â I shouted, running to the stairs.
I leaped down the stairs, two at a time. âMom! Where are you?â
I ran through the house, calling for her. Back to the gym. Down to the family room. No sign of her.
I peered into the garage. Her car was gone. She must have gone out, I realized.
My heart pounding, I ran out onto the driveway. Iâve got to get away from here, I decided. Iâve got to get away and think.
I took off, running across front lawns. It was a hot, smoggy L.A. night. The air felt heavy and wet. I was already sweating. My shoes thudded over the perfectly trimmed lawns.
A Jeep rolled past, music blaring out the window. Its headlights rolled over me as it passed.
Normal. Everything normal.
Maxâs house came into view on the other side of the long, low hedges. Maybe Max is home, I thought. Maybe Iâll stop in and see whatâs up with him. Try to talk to him. Maybe he can help me figure out whatâs really going on.
I ducked through the spot in the hedge that I always use. The backyard was dark. One terrace light on at the garage. The house was dark, too.
No one home, I decided. I wiped
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