The Thing // Mark & Cesar

IX - Share

So... That was unexpected.

He tried to scream in this 'dream'. Nothing came out. But by using brute force, he finally let out some type of cry. An ear-piercing one, to say the least. His sobs converted into his actual being. He was finally awake, jolting up, screaming like it was the last moment he'd ever have in his life. And thank the Lord that the dream wasn't real. Or his last moment in life.

It was relatively cold in Mandela County. Even though it was summertime and the sun was shining, the heat did not hit the area. There was sun all year round, but they never seemed to get any temperature over 60 Fahrenheit. And if they did somehow manage to get over that temperature, their bodies would be so shocked by the heat that everyone would treat 65 Fahrenheit like it's the same temperature as a sauna.

It was morning time. It was dawn, driving cars were appearing more on the road, and you could see a small American Robin perched on a tree branch. And... It was warm. Warmer than any usual morning in Mandela County.

Mark ran to his window, peeking out to see that it wasn't pitch black and everything was viewable. It was. He watched citizens go on their morning strolls, with kids, with partners, with siblings, with friends. And as Mark was processing the dream, he expected him to lose memory of what happened. 

The day went on. Mark got dressed, and still aware of the dream. Mark got breakfast, Cesar was still sleeping in the corner, and he was aware of the dream. He sat down, reading a newspaper, even though it did not interest him at all since the town's newspapers were written horribly. The dream was like a reminder.

"God damn it... Why can't I just stop thinking of that dream?"

"What dream?"

Mark instantly jumped as he heard Cesar's voice. He whipped his head around to see him leaning against the kitchen counter, squinting his eyes since the kitchen light was a shock for the first thing to see in the morning. Mark shook his head, as he knew he was going to mistake the alternate for his actual dead best friend. 

"Oh. Don't worry..."

To Mark, that was the best excuse he could give without the alternate version of Cesar knowing. But to Cesar, he already knew. He already knew since he got that 'dream' too. In fact, the two weren't dreaming at all. They were wide awake while they were visited by Him. That's why they could both remember it like it was a cherished memory.

And he brushed it away. He knew Mark would not like it if he casually said, "Hey, that wasn't actually a dream, that was the man who created me, and He wanted to tell you that He's hunting for us". And even if he did, he was sure that Mark would not understand a thing he said. AND if he understood, he'd automatically assume Cesar was lying about the whole event.

As Mark was reading the newspaper, he occasionally kept making eye contact with alternate Cesar. The staring was distracting him from reading the newspaper, and he didn't even ENJOY this newspaper. Cesar glanced away from him, looking around the kitchen instead. He needed to find something that he'd enjoy.

The kitchen was a mess. Most of the bowls, plates, and cutlery where shoved into the sink, making everything pile up. Surprisingly there were no cups or mugs inside of the sink, but that's only because Mark uses the same bottle for drinking water and washes it repeatedly. And the alternate froze.

The alternate could remember every single thing. When the real Cesar came over to play Uno, which didn't end very peacefully as Cesar was shouting at Mark for putting down all of his powerful cards while he had one card left. How the real Cesar came over for a sleepover one time, and they ended up prank calling multiple people. And so the 'alternate' realised.

He was Cesar.

And he was sharing his body with the alternate that killed him.