Re-Animating From Beyond

Chapter 1

  The moment class was dismissed, Herbert was gone. Dan didn't think he had ever seen the man move so fast in his life. He glanced in the direction of Herbert's lookalike and wondered why he was so eager to distance himself from Mr. Tillinghast.

  The man in question was idly gathering up his things, no longer in such frantic disarray as he had been this morning. Dan approached him, softly clearing his throat to get his attention. He looked up, smiling upon seeing it was Dan.

  "Oh, hi," he said. "Thanks again for helping me this morning."

  "Hey, we've all been there," Dan said, recalling more than a few nightmare mornings of his own. "I just... I'm sorry, this might be weird, but there's something I have to ask."

  "Shoot."

  "Are...you related to Herbert West?"

  Tillinghast let out a humourless laugh. "Yeah, unfortunately. I'm Crawford."

  He held out his hand in formal greeting and Dan gave it a shake. "Nice to meet you. Herbert's never mentioned you."

  Crawford shrugged. "I'm not surprised. We're not close."

  "I kind of gathered that," Dan said, gazing over at the door Herbert had bolted out of. "And, just to clarify, you're...?"

  "Twins," Crawford finished for him. "Identical. Except for the glasses."

"I'd say," Dan said, letting out a little laugh. "Kinda thought I was losing my mind when I first saw you."

"I wondered why you were looking at me like that, but as soon as I saw Herbert, I knew," Crawford said as he walked toward the door, a silent invitation for Dan to follow. "Did you know Herbert before school?"

Dan shook his head, trailing after Crawford. "No, I didn't. I met him briefly when he was getting a tour of the school and later, he responded to my ad for a roommate, so..."

"He's living with you?" Crawford said, incredulous. He shook his head. "That must be...fun."

Dan chuckled at that. "You have no idea."

"Oh, believe me. I do." Crawford said lightly, another smile lighting up his features.

There was something so surreal about this whole situation. Hearing what was essentially Herbert's voice laugh and joke around sounded so odd to Dan. He was so used to every smile and laugh from that man being related to something grotesque, to something awful and wrong. This was...refreshing.

  "So, what are you taking?" Crawford asked.

  "Medicine," Dan answered. "Trying for surgeon. You?"

  "Hoping to be a physicist, though I probably didn't do myself any favours by being late today. Hopefully my grades will speak better than my actions." Crawford laughed a little, a nervous undertone apparent. He quickly changed gears. "What's Herbert taking?"

"Medicine, same as me. Although, I suspect it's for very different reasons," Dan replied, suppressing a grimace.

Crawford let out a weary sigh. "I should have known."

  As the two students continued to chat, Dan couldn't help but marvel at how normal Crawford seemed. They talked about school and work and hobbies and not once did the subject of reanimating the dead come up. It had been so long since Dan had had a conversation with somebody that didn't involve death, he had almost forgotten what it felt like.

When they reached the school parking lot, the two parted ways pleasantly. Crawford expressed how he hoped to see Dan in class again soon and Dan agreed. They shook hands once more before Crawford went to hail a cab, throwing up one last parting wave as he left. Even if Crawford was the mirror image of Herbert, Dan was seriously doubting their familial relation as he approached his own vehicle.

  His own vehicle which had a very testy looking scientist lurking around it.

  "Took you long enough," he snapped as Dan unlocked his car. "It's not exactly balmy out here."

"Shut up and get in," Dan sighed.

  As he pulled out of the school parking lot and onto the main road, Dan noticed the not-so-subtle glares Herbert was throwing his way from the passenger seat. It was clear he was itching to be provoked and Dan, ever-foolish Dan, always took the bait. He sighed again. This was about to be a long drive.

  "Alright, what's going on?" He asked flatly.

  Herbert's gaze snapped towards him like he was surprised he had spoken at all. "What are you talking about?" He said, feigning innocence.

  Dan pushed on. "Something's bothering you."

  Eyes narrowed dangerously behind thick lenses. "How would you know?"

  "Because I know you," Dan answered plainly.

  "Is that what you think? Now that you've talked with Crawford?" Herbert said accusingly.

  There it is, Dan thought.

  "What's your deal with your brother? You practically ran from the room as soon as class was over."

  "I don't like him," Herbert stated, as if it were obvious.

  Which it was.

  "Yeah, I know that," Dan said. "I think anybody in a ten mile radius knows that."

  "And his research is foolish and stupid," Herbert continued. "Parallel universes and other dimensions..." He fell silent, articulating with his hands the struggle to find the words to properly insult his brother's work. "It's... It's garbage. There is nothing, nothing, to back up any of his theories, yet he insists on chasing them." He rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Stupid."

  "So, you're telling me that the only reason you don't like him is because you disagree with his research?" Dan said. "Huh. Seems a little extreme to me."

  Herbert huffed. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest, sinking down in his seat. "Whatever. I just don't want to see him and his stupid face."

  Dan choked abruptly in a failed attempt to hold back a laugh, nearly careening off of the road in the process. If looks could kill, Dan would have been dead with the fiery gaze Herbert was directing his way.

  "You make one joke about us being twins and I will use your corpse for my experiments," Herbert threatened, though it did nothing to dampen Dan's mood.

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another chapter boiiiii

i got ideas out the wazoo for this so i'm gettin them out lol

i hope y'all are enjoying it! i can't wait to write some interaction between herb and crawford

not sure i'll be able to do it without herbert throwin hands but we'll see xD