“I don’t know,” said Alessa. “I haven’t heard from him.”
“I guess he wouldn’t answer his cell on a Tech Off! Day.”
“He doesn’t have one.”
“Duh.” Britzky rapped his skull. It was kind of cute for a brute. “I shoulda thought of that.”
“If I hear anything, I’ll let you know. What’s your number?”
He didn’t remember. He had to pull out his phone.
Nobody ever calls him, she thought.
“Hey, thanks,” he said. He smiled at her. It came out crooked, like he wasn’t used to smiling.
“No problem.” She thought for a second. “ . . . Todd.”
He widened the smile, uncrooking it.
She could tell he really liked being called Todd. Oh, you got some moves, girl.
People were looking at her in school, she decided, but it was all right. She was Tom’s friend. A few people even asked her where he was, and she tried to be mysterious about it, not letting on that she didn’t know, either. Teachers were talking about Tech Off! Day in their classes, and there were arguments, but not nasty arguments—more like friendly discussions, like whether this was a good idea or not. Some kids wondered if people secretly didn’t want to talk to each other and that was why texting was so popular, and then some political kids said that maybe Google and Apple and Verizon and those other companies were pushing this stuff down our throats just to make money and we shouldn’t let them get away with it.
It was interesting. It wasn’t that everyone was for it or against it or there was a big split in the school like color war at camp. And kids were cheating; she spotted a few thumbs in action. But people were actually having conversations. Alessa felt proud that she was part of it. But she wished Tom were there. Where could he be?
There was an assembly to celebrate how special Nearmont was to have the first Tech Off! Day. A woman from Apple, the company that made the school’s computers, said that Apple supported Tech Off! Day because it gave people a chance to appreciate how important technology was on all their other days. Apple was going to give the school ten of its latest Macs.
The teachers led the applause. Britzky leaned over and said, “That doesn’t make sense.”
Alessa was about to say, “You’re not as dumb as you look,” but she bit her tongue. He might not take that right.
Mrs. Rupp didn’t use her PowerPoint in history. She was still planning to add the first Tech Off! Day to her timeline.
There was more noise than usual in the cafeteria. Alessa wondered whether that was because kids were actually talking to each other or because of the excitement over having all the cameras and reporters.
Britzky, sitting at her table, said, “Where’s Tom?” for the fourth time. Alessa thought he was like a dog waiting for his master to come home.
“On another planet,” Alessa snapped. She hated to keep admitting she didn’t know.
“Yeah . . . I always thought he was from another planet,” said Hannah, the girl with green hair.
“Both of them,” said the boy with the raccoon eyes.
“Both?” said Alessa and Britzky together.
“He changed,” said raccoon eyes. “He was like two totally different people.”
“The pills,” said Alessa.
“He really was like two different people,” said Britzky. “He got super nice. He made you want to be his friend.”
“He got boring,” said raccoon eyes.
Kids kept coming over looking for Tom. The basketball coach asked where he was. One of the jocks swaggered over, and Britzky jumped up, his arms crossed on his chest, standing between the jock and Alessa. Now he’s bodyguarding me, Alessa thought. This is too weird. But she liked it. The jock just wanted to say that the basketball team was behind Tom’s campaign.
“I’ll tell him,” said Alessa. “Thanks.” Cool the way people were looking at her like she was somebody.
But a somebody would do something.
Late in the day, she did something. She ditched gym and locked herself in a stall in the girls’ bathroom. She made sure her phone was on vibrate when she turned it on to check for messages. Please let there be something from Tom.
Nothing.
She needed to talk to somebody. She waited in the hall until Britzky came out of the gym.
“Todd? Do you think something could have happened to Tom?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. It’s as if he just disappeared off the face of the earth.”
Britzky lowered his voice. “Alien abduction.”
“Do you believe in stuff like that?”
He looked a little embarrassed, but he nodded his head.
“You think something is going on here? In school?”
“Everywhere. You can feel it.”
Alessa looked at him carefully. “When do you feel it?”
He leaned closer. Alessa could see cheese between his teeth. He whispered, “With Tom.”
She jerked back. “Like what?”
He shrugged. “I get a feeling when I’m around him. It’s like a hum. Maybe a buzz.”
Alessa felt a quivery chill rising up to her chest. “Me, too.” She took a chance. “I think something bad is going on. He might be in trouble.”
Britzky’s eyes looked fiery. “What can we do?”
“Dr. Traum. Maybe he could help us.”
“Do you trust him?” said Britzky.
“No. But who else is there?”
FIFTY-THREE
NEARMONT, N.J.
1957
RONNIE was hungry. Half of Eddie’s huge lunch sandwich was usually Ronnie’s major meal of the day. And Ronnie was lonely. Eddie was the only kid in school who let him hang around. Early in the morning, waiting for the food deliveries for the cafeteria, he spotted Dr. Traum in the parking lot and ran over to him.
“Dr. Traum, I’ve got some news about Eddie.”
“Do you.” His glittering green eyes made Ronnie feel chilly all over.
It took him a moment to remember what he had dreamed up to say. “Remember when you asked me about voices? Well, Eddie thinks his dog is talking to him.”
“Does he, now.”
It wasn’t working. Dr. Traum wasn’t interested, Ronnie thought. Could he tell I was lying, or does he know where Eddie is? Take a chance.
“Where’s Eddie?” he asked Dr. Traum.
“In a safe place.”
“Where’s that?”
“I’m in a hurry, Ronnie.” Dr. Traum pulled his briefcase out of his black Cadillac, slammed the door, and rushed off. He was inside the school before Ronnie noticed that he had left his keys in the ignition.
By the time Ronnie got back to the rear of the building, the delivery men had finished unloading the food and locked it inside the school. Ronnie had no chance to swipe even a can of mixed fruit, his favorite.
He trudged back to Dr. Traum’s car, opened the door, and pulled the keys out of the ignition. He would take them to Dr. Traum. Maybe then Dr. Traum would tell him about Eddie.
He noticed a pile of coins in the ashtray: enough to get breakfast at the diner. Boy, was he hungry. He scooped out the change and dropped it into his pocket with the keys. It would be a loan. He’d tell Dr. Traum. He locked the black Cadillac. He thought it was a pretty fancy car.
Even so, he felt a little guilty eating the egg sandwich he bought with Dr. Traum’s change. But it tasted so good and filled his stomach.
Without Eddie around, the day dragged for Ronnie. Three times he went to the psychologist’s office to turn in the car keys, but Dr. Traum was never there. Ronnie didn’t want to just leave them. He wanted to trade them for some information about Eddie.
After school he went to the County Recreation Center, where he could take a shower and eat leftovers from the senior lunch program in exchange for helping the janitor set up chairs for the evening meetings.
At dusk it was time to think about a place to sleep. He didn’t want to go
back to the church where he had hidden his bag of clothes. The priest had spotted him last time and invited him in for a meal, but the guy had seemed creepy. The railroad cops were checking out the boxcars more regularly, and the regular cops were running more patrols around the summer houses on the lake because there had been a few burglaries.
He remembered Dr. Traum’s fancy car. It should be comfortable.
It was still there. He unlocked it, put the keys back into the ignition, and crawled under some blankets in the back. Dr. Traum had said Eddie was in a safe place. He wondered if Eddie was at the Union County asylum. It was somewhere out in the country. The weekend he’d been there had been awful, in a cold little cell with a hole for a toilet. He got a headache from the constant noise, the patients screaming and banging their tin cups against the bars. They let him go when his caseworker showed up with a new foster mom. Why would Eddie be there?
Eddie was different these days since he fell at Boy Scout camp. He looked thinner. He talked faster. And the violin—where did that come from? Eddie had never said he could play. How could he keep something like that from me, his sidekick?
Ronnie fell asleep.
When he woke up, the car was moving.
FIFTY-FOUR
NEARMONT, N.J.
2011
THE door to Dr. Traum’s office was closed, but Alessa and Britzky could see a light through the pebbly glass. They heard low voices. They sat down on the bench in the hall to wait.
“What are we going to say to him?” asked Britzky.
“Tell him everything we think.”
“He’ll think we’re nuts.”
“He’s not like that,” said Alessa. “He’s very sympathetic.”
“How do you know?”
“From orchestra. And he cares about Tom, too.”
“But maybe he’s not into paranormal stuff,” said Britzky.
“He’s a psychologist—he’ll listen to us.”
“About alien abduction and replacement?”
“Replacement?” said Alessa.
“Tom is suddenly different, right? He turns nice, he gets people to like him, he’s a great basketball player. Alien replacement is a big deal.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.” Alessa felt a shiver of excitement.
Britzky’s face was getting redder. “There’s too much stuff you can’t explain any other way. And the government doesn’t want us to find out about it.”
“Why not? So we don’t freak out?”
“No, so they can make deals. If, like, China makes friends with the aliens before we do, we’re toast.”
Alessa rocked back. She hadn’t thought of that, either. “You think Tom is an alien?”
Britzky shrugged. “Or is under some kind of alien mind control.”
“You just think of that?”
Britzky shook his head. “I think about this stuff all the time.”
She wanted to grab Britzky’s arm. “You think Tom could be in trouble?”
“Trouble?” said Dr. Traum. They hadn’t heard his door open. He was smiling. “I’m sure we can work it out together. Come in.”
Alessa glanced at Britzky. He looked as nervous as she felt. Something wasn’t right.
Dr. Traum closed the door behind them and said, “The young heroes are here, Merlyn, straight from the pages of Marvel comics.”
Merlyn was sitting in Dr. Traum’s swivel chair, laughing.
What’s she doing here? Alessa thought.
“Actually, Traum,” said Merlyn, “it’s not comics—it’s computer-generated images from Pixar. You need to keep up with the times.”
“I’ll leave that to you. These times disgust me,” said Dr. Traum.
Merlyn reached into her backpack and pulled out a spray can. Alessa wondered if it was some kind of beauty product.
Britzky yelled, “Look out!” but Merlyn was already spraying a sour-smelling liquid in their faces.
FIFTY-FIVE
THE UNION COUNTY (N.J.) HOSPITAL FOR THE CRIMINALLY INSANE
1957
RONNIE was afraid to move. The dust on the blanket tickled his nose. He held his nose between his thumb and forefinger so he wouldn’t sneeze. He tried to breathe softly through his mouth.
Dr. Traum was talking. “Traum here. I am driving back to the asylum. You can bring the station down as planned.”
Who could he be talking to? Ronnie wondered.
“The boy and the girl are on their way from EarthOne with Merlyn. I don’t think the twins know where their father is. But I’m convinced he’ll try to save them or give himself up for them. He was always a little too human. End for now.”
Something clicked, as if Dr. Traum had turned off a switch.
Ronnie burrowed deeper into the blanket. The car was moving fast, so they must be on a highway. To where? What boy and girl? What twins? What does Merlyn have to do with this?
After a while, the car stopped, and Dr. Traum had a quick conversation with someone. Ronnie could hear the scrape of metal, as if a steel fence was sliding open. The car started up again.
There was a click. “Traum again. I’m sending Earl back to the school to pick up Ronnie. Should have thought of it earlier. The little mouse is harmless, but we should have everyone involved in custody before we proceed. End for now.”
Click.
The car stopped again. This time, Dr. Traum shut off the engine and got out. Ronnie counted to a hundred before he carefully crawled out from under the blanket and peeked through the window.
It was night. He could dimly see a big gray building with towers. It was surrounded by a high chainlink fence. Beyond it was nothing but vacant lots and what looked like factories in the distance.
We’re back at the asylum, all right.
“The little mouse is harmless.” Ronnie felt anger bubble up in his stomach. I’m stupid, too. How could I have believed Dr. Traum, that I was helping him help Eddie?
He peered over the front seat. The keys were still in the ignition.
If Dr. Traum was that careless, he might just think he left them somewhere.
Maybe I’m not so harmless.
Ronnie climbed onto the front seat and pulled the keys out of the ignition. He pushed them deep into his left pants pocket—the one that didn’t have a hole in it. He opened the front door as quietly as he could and slid down into the parking lot. He pushed the door mostly closed without slamming it.
Staying low, he crept to the edge of the asylum. The windows were barred and high off the ground. He circled the building twice before he saw light through a window. He found stones to make a pile high enough so he could peek in. It looked like the cell in which he had spent that awful weekend.
Eddie was in there talking to a guy.
When the guy turned around, he was Eddie, too.
FIFTY-SIX
THE UNION COUNTY (N.J.) HOSPITAL FOR THE CRIMINALLY INSANE
1957
EDDIE was happy to see Tom until he got a good look at him. Tom’s face was pale and sweaty. He was shaking all over. Earl had pushed him into the cell with a laugh and slammed the door so hard, the clanging echoes rattled Eddie’s brain. It felt like another football hit.
Eddie hugged his brother. “Are you okay?”
“We’re in trouble,” said Tom. He slumped into a corner and slid down the wall. He was clutching his backpack like a teddy bear.
“That’s a big tickle.” Eddie gave the little laugh he used when the team was behind and needed a boost. “We’re together now. We’ll come up with a way to win.”
Tom shook his head slowly. “We can’t win. The monitors got us. But Dad is alive. He must be in hiding.”
“How do you know?”
“Dr. Traum said so.”
“Like we trust that creep?” said Eddie.
“He’d have no reason to say it if it wasn’t true,” said Tom. “He’s using us to find him.”
“Why?”
“Because Dad’s one of the good guys,” said Tom. “H
e’s a rebel leader out to defeat the aliens.”
“Captain John.” Eddie was grinning.
“What?”
“Okay,” said Eddie. “We need to get out of here. Up and at ’em.” He pulled Tom to his feet.
“What are you doing?” said Tom.
“I’ve got a plan.” Eddie was bouncing a pink rubber ball. “I’m gonna get Duke in a game of Chinese handball. You can sneak out and get help.”
Tom said, “That’s stupid. How am I gonna get past Duke? And where am I going to go for help?”
“Don’t think so much—just do it,” said Eddie. “Did you bring that invisibility thing you showed me?”
“The CloakII? It’s never worked for me. And even if it does, it only works for about five seconds.”
“That’s plenty of time,” said Eddie. “Once I scored four points in five seconds, a jumper and two free throws.”
“This isn’t a game, Eddie. And even if I get out, where do I go? I don’t know where we are.”
“Coach always says, ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going.’”
“That’s dumb jock stuff,” said Tom.
“You’re smart and tough, Tommy. I know you can do it.” Eddie began bouncing the ball against the stone wall. “I know you don’t want to just sit there and cry.”
“I’m not crying.”
“Then just do it. The team’s counting on you. Must be something.”
Tom took a deep breath. There was something.
“There’s going to be a tornado, but not really. I read about it online.”
“When will it happen?” asked Eddie.
“I don’t know. Soon, if we’re lucky. The patients were right, it was a spaceship, not a tornado. And there’s a hidden tunnel here somewhere. I read that, too.”
“I knew you’d come up with something, Tombo,” said Eddie. “Let’s go for it.”
FIFTY-SEVEN
THE UNION COUNTY (N.J.) HOSPITAL FOR THE CRIMINALLY INSANE
The Twinning Project Page 12
