The Evil Twin

Chapter 6

It was a bright sunday morning. Sunlight crept in through the partially open door and travelled across the living room in a straight line. I was having my breakfast with my eyes fixed on the tv. An advertisement informing about a comedy movie that was going to be telecasted the next morning showed up. I remembered this movie. It was the same movie I had seen about six months ago when I was first brought here. I imagined how much my life had changed in the past six months. I had not seen a single person except for my assailant, which was just like looking in a mirror, except that we had different body-builds. I threw a quick glance at him as he ate his breakfast while speaking on the phone. He wasn't weak anymore. He had put on a lot of weight in the past six months and looked completely healthy. Staring at the gun sleeping soundly on his lap, I wondered if it was responsible for his increased strength. Whereas my physique, on the other hand, had slipped down to the lowest state. It seemed as if we had acquired each other's frames in the past six months.

Someone had been constantly calling my assailant that morning. The initial calls had been pretty short and formal. But with the increasing number of calls and probably because of the tone on the other end, my assailant was getting frustrated.Very soon, the discussion turned into an intense, heated argument, loud enough to distract me from my breakfast. Just then, a beep sound interrupted him as he saw his mobile screen. It was a low - battery warning. He got up quickly and started searching for his charger. Meanwhile, the gun had swiftly slipped down his laps and landed on the chair he was sitting in. He was in the room inside. 'If I could somehow get my hands on that gun, I am free again', I told myself. I quickly started untying my legs, but the knot was on my backside where my hands were unable to reach. I realized that it was my only opportunity and I had to somehow get to the gun. So, I abandoned untying my legs and jumped towards the other chair along with the chair tied to my feet. I fell just a foot short but managed to grab one of the legs of the chair.Hearing a sound, my assailant quickly rushed out in the living room. I pulled the chair closer and quickly snaffled the gun and pointed it at him. "Don't you dare.. ", he screamed at me and started rushing towards me. In reply, my trembling hands quickly pressed the trigger, but the bullet missed the target. My assailant stopped right there." Listen, trust me. You should not be hurting me. If you hurt me, you are going to end up in trouble too. Give that gun to me, and I promise you that I'll leave you. Please listen.. ". I interrupted him with another bullet. This one missed as well.But I was just so overwhelmed with this feeling, that it didn't matter if the bullet hit him or not. He was dancing to my tunes, and that's all mattered to me right now. I wanted to see fear on his face. 

He had realized that words were not going to calm me down anymore. So, he slowly started to move towards the door while trying to convince me to give back his gun. I understood his move and pressed the trigger again. This was the first time in my life I was holding a gun, so I wasn't surprised when the bullet missed him this time as well. He took advantage of the situation as he quickly escaped through the door. The door was wide open now, and plenty of sunlight barged into the living room.All these months, I had been craving for a single ray of light, and now I suddenly had plenty of it.I could sense freedom flowing in through me as I inhaled the fresh air. Quickly untying my legs then, I rushed out of the house. But he had disappeared until then. Just then, I realized I was seeing the outside world after such a long time. The hot sun above my head, the cars honking unnecessarily; nothing bothered me anymore like it would have, six months ago.I was able to breathe properly again unlike inside that house where I always felt suffocated. And so, I began searching for my assailant to kill him and avenge for all that he made me go through for the past six months. After searching for him throughout the day, I finally saw him on an isolated road in the night. Without any second thoughts, I rushed towards him.He saw me but acted as if he didn't know me. I started with a few blows until he fell down to the ground after which, I started kicking him.

I bent down close to his face and told him that this is what he deserves for what he had done to me. He was confused and said that he didn't even know me. I apparently thought that he was lying, to somehow escape before I would kill him. So, I pulled out the gun and pointed it at him. He panicked and started screaming. He said that he really didn't know me and that maybe I was mistaking him for someone else.He didn't stop at that as he started crawling with his injured legs, trying to run away from me. This infuriated me. This guy had tortured me both physically and mentally for the past six months, he had made my life miserable, and now he thought he could outrun a bullet with his injured legs? He had to stay still there and bear whatever I did to him for what he had done to me. He had to fucking watch the bullet come out of the gun and pierce his body, taking his life away while my soul laughed boisterously. So, I punched his head hard with the end of the metal gun and turned him around. His eyes began to close and open involuntarily as he started losing consciousness. I aimed the gun at him and placed my finger over the trigger. Just then, a guy wearing a capote arrived there and stopped me from pressing the trigger. On asking who he was, he simply pulled down the hood over his head. I was shocked. This guy too, looked like my assailant. He understood my bewilderment and started explaining me everything.

"I am the one who's been torturing you for the past six months and not him," he said pointing at the guy on the floor. Hearing this, I turned the gun towards him. He smiled and continued, "First listen to everything that I tell you. Then do whatever you want." Confused, I still kept the gun pointed at him. "See, this is a bit hard to digest, but you, me and that guy on the ground there, all of us are the same person. I am your 6-months future self while that guy is your 6-months past self. "He realized that I was completely baffled. "Now, the reason I did what I did to you was that I had been told so by my 6-months future self, exactly 6 months ago when you were lying down on the ground there while I was in your place, holding that very gun. And now, you have to do the same with your 6-months past self as well", he said, pointing at the guy on the floor. "What? No. You can't tell me what to do. Besides, if I kill you both, how would you.. ".                                                                                                             "Don't even think about it," he interrupted abruptly. "Listen, there are very few things you can manipulate in time-travel and death clearly isn't one of them.If you kill me now, six months later that guy lying on the ground will kill you. And trust me, you can't change it. It's destiny".

I kept quiet for a while, trying to muse over all that he had told me. "And what if I kill him as well? ", I asked, pointing at my  6-months past self on the ground." When you kill a person, all his/her future selves cease to exist. So, if you kill him, both of us will also die. That's the reason I didn't kill you for the past six months. If I would've killed you, I would've also died", he replied promptly. "Also, don't leave him on his own. You can see how lonely and depressed he is. This is probably why he has developed an addiction to cigarettes. If you leave him on his own, he's not going to be able to take care of himself.So that's why, do all that I did with you for the past six months. Keep him away from cigarettes. Give him a life." I couldn't think of anything anymore. I threw my gun away and covered my face with my palms. My assailant (or my 6-months future self) walked up to me and explained that it was just six months that I had to get through, after which life was going to be really great.He told me all that I had to do for the next six months, and once I was made aware of all my responsibilities, he disappeared into the darkness. I carried my 6-months past self back to the house and tied him to a chair.

After six months of hating it, I had finally managed to escape out of that house only to be forced back into the same house again. The next morning, I bought a lot of snacks to eat. I hadn't eaten enough in months. I ate a lot while watching the same movie I had watched six months back. Unlike the last time, I enjoyed the film a lot this time. After having eaten enough, I placed my leftover food in front of my 6-months past self which he straightaway ignored to eat. So, I began getting ready to leave the house.I was really excited. Unlike last night, I was more cheerful and excited to go and see the world outside. After getting ready, just as I was about to leave the house, I remembered something. I turned around and with a big smile, told him, " You might wonder why you are going through all this.But trust me, you deserve this.I am doing this for you.You need all of this, " and I closed the door on my way out, leaving him back in the darkness while I stepped out into the light, ready for this new inning of my life.The bright sun made me smile while all the trees around welcomed me into this lively world. I realized that I no longer was a person tortured and controlled by someone else. I was over my dreadful past and was heading towards a beautiful future. Content with that thought, I smiled back at those trees.