“Maybe that’ll work,” Ulrich said, although he sounded a little dubious. “We can work together to eliminate one another’s alter ego. And when there are only two of us left, we can try to take out the last two alter egos together, so there won’t be only one of us left here. It would be horrific to be alone in this grayness,” he added as an afterthought.
Tammy could easily imagine what it would be like. The fear that she experienced when she had first landed here was horrific. And fighting with her alter ego was a terrifying fight to the death that she would have lost if Hiroshi had not intervened. Tammy shuddered.
“As soon as Nick comes back, we’ll try and get water from the pipes and then we’ll start making plans,” Hiroshi said. “Start thinking of something. The singing might work. I’ve got karaoke songs on my laptop.”
Tammy and Ulrich pulled the filing-cabinet beneath one of the aluminum tubes. Ulrich pulled the drawers open one by one and Tammy laid the files flat. One would not be able to stand on files that were upright.
Ulrich climbed up the open drawers and examined the big pipe.
“It feels thin,” Ulrich said. “Thicker than household aluminum, but I’ll be able to cut it open with your sword, Hiroshi. But we’ll have to wait for Nick with the bowl. If there’s water, we’ll need the bowl.”
Suddenly there was a soughing sound like wind through a tunnel.
Tammy stiffened. Somebody was coming to this dimension. . .
A petite little girl, with two long, black strings of plaited hair, appeared so close to Tammy that it gave her a fright and made her jump to one side. Big, brown eyes stared at her in bewilderment.
“¿Dónde estoy?” asked the little gypsy-like girl in a frightened voice, but Tammy couldn’t understand her. Behind the little girl, next to the aluminum sliding door appeared a roughly finished, white wall. There was a picture of a nicely clothed matador with his red cloth and a raging bull.
“¡Cierre!” Tammy heard and saw the girl’s alter ego approaching. It must mean “Snap!”, she decided.
The alter ego grabbed the girl by her neck while the girl’s hands went for the alter egos throat.
“¡Ayúdame!” shrieked the girl and looked at Tammy with big, pleading eyes.
Tammy plucked the short spike from behind her belt and held it in her hand like a dagger. She didn’t understand the little girl’s language, but she knew she must help her.
Suddenly the alter ego swung the girl around and around in a circle. Their black hair swirled about their heads. Now both of them screamed and Tammy couldn’t make out which was which. Both looked terrified, but Tammy knew the alter ego was only pretending. It was enough to fool the watchers. The two girls looked like identical twins playing merry-go-round.
Hiroshi stormed closer with his sword ready above his head, but came to a standstill. Tammy could see that he didn’t know who was who either. If he hit the real girl, they would both die, like Chris and his alter ego.
A shot cracked through the grayness.
Tammy was paralyzed with fright.
Hiroshi swung around.
Nick walked into their field of vision. The pistol ready in his right hand and a white bowl under his left arm.
“Matte! Wait!” Hiroshi cried out. “Don’t shoot! We don’t know who’s who ... . . . ”
He turned around to look at the girls.
Tammy too.
The two girls had disappeared into the grayness.
“Where . . . where are they now?” Hiroshi asked. He looked at Nick. “Did you shoot one of them?”
“No, I fired into the air. I thought it would frighten the alter ego.”
“Ach nein!” Ulrich exclaimed from where he was still standing on top of the filing-cabinet. “The shot gave me a fright. I almost fell off. But that means the alter ego had taken the girl into the grayness. Damn! It seems to me the alter egos are getting smarter. Luckily we all have weapons by which we can be recognized and Tammy has her strange clothes. Shame about the little girl. How old do you guys think she was? Ten, twelve?”
Tammy nodded. She felt close to tears. She would never forget the fear in those beautiful, wide eyes. The little girl appealed to her for help, but she had failed her. She couldn’t prevent the poor girl being snatched away, stored in this horrible place forever. To think that her nasty alter ego is probably already on her way to earth! A creature that shrieks and goes crazy just to get what she wants.
Goodness, when will they escape this horrible place? And how will they manage it?
Chapter Eighteen
NICK HELD THE WHITE BOWL out towards Tammy. He put the pistol into one of the outside pockets of his jacket. Tammy could just about see the handgrip.
“Don’t feel bad, Tammy,” he tried to comfort her. “You are just as much a victim as that poor girl. Have some popcorn. There was more than I initially thought. The bowl was lying on top of most of it. Here is enough for a good snack for all four of us.”
Tammy took a handful of popcorn and tried to smile. The popcorn smelled good and it looked clean. She put them in her mouth and chewed, surprised that she would be enjoying the popcorn only seconds after witnessing another tragedy. It really was good.
Ulrich came down from the cabinet to get some popcorn. It seemed as if he didn’t have a problem anymore with the thought that the popcorn might be dirty. The other two also ate handfuls of the lightly salted popcorn.
Tammy went to fetch the t-shirt that they had been using for cleaning the plastic trays and wiped the microwave-safe corn bowl clean.
“Now for the water pipes,” Ulrich said. “Hiroshi, go and check the fire, please, it may need more wood by now, then come back and help us. Stay sharp. I can’t wait to see if there is water in these pipes.”
“I’ll keep a lookout for the alter egos,” Nick proposed and took the pistol from his pocket.
All of them stood close to the cabinet, awaiting Hiroshi’s return. He was soon back. Then he climbed up with the drawers until he could touch the aluminum. He pierced it with his sword and cut it open. The soft aluminum gave easily before the steel sword, but still left burrs on the blade.
“My poor sword,” he sighed softly, but everybody could hear him. “It will never be the same again.” Then louder: “This is a real Tiger Katana Samurai sword.”
“If it wasn’t for your sword, my friend,” Ulrich consoled him, “we would all be stored by now.”
“Except Nick,” said Tammy. “He brought his own weapon.”
“That’s true. Even Etsu and I would’ve been stored,” Hiroshi agreed.
Hiroshi laid the sword down on top of the cabinet and tried to force the aluminum open with his hands. It required all his strength, because the aluminum was reinforced with a thick spiral wire. He grunted, tensed his muscles, grinded his teeth and pulled two wires apart. Soon two red copper-pipes were visible in the opening he’d made.
It was a total anti-climax.
Everybody stared at the copper-pipes.
“What now?” Tammy asked, holding the bowl ready.
“Maybe I should shoot a hole in each pipe?” Nick said.
“No,” Ulrich answered quickly. “Save your bullets. We need them for the alter egos. It’s too dangerous in any case. The bullet could ricochet and hit somebody.”
“Copper is softer than steel,” Nick said. “I reckon that the sword would be able to cut a hole in it.”
Hiroshi frowned at him. “Again my sword.” He sounded agitated.
Tammy could see that there were already scratches on the tip of the blade and the middle was blackened by the fire while Hiroshi and Ulrich had cooked the food.
The sword didn’t look quite as magnificent now as it had before.
“Ach nein, Hiroshi, it’s all that we have. When I’m back in Frankfurt I’ll send you enough money to buy yourself a new sword. Another Tiger Katana. I’ve got your email-address,” Ulrich said.
“It’s not that,” Hiroshi said, sounding sad. “It was my grandfathe
r’s sword. He was in the army. He received this sword as a mark of honor. He died when I was still a baby,” as he spoke Hiroshi caressed the sword with his fingers.
This was the first bit of personal information that Hiroshi had shared with them, Tammy realized. They were so busy fighting for survival that they hadn’t even sat down to talk. She knew he was eighteen, but didn’t even know if he was still in school.
“Which grade are you in, Hiroshi?” she asked, knowing that it wasn’t really the right time. They needed to get the water.
“I’m in my last year at school,” he answered.
“Your grandfather would be very proud of you, knowing how you are fighting in this dimension. We owe you our lives,” Tammy said. “When we get water, you are getting the first share.”
“Thanks,” Hiroshi said and looked up to the pipes above his head. “Keep the bowl ready, Tammy and Ulrich. Nick, I think you should hold me steady so that I don’t lose my balance.”
Then Hiroshi reached up to the pipe with his free hand. “First I’m going to hang onto one of the pipes. It may come loose from the invisible thing that’s holding it.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Hiroshi,” Tammy stopped him. “If the pipe falls down, we’ll lose a lot of water. Hit a hole in it. We’ll have more control over a hole.”
“True. Let me hit it. You’re going to send me money for a new sword, right, Ulrich?”
“I’ll also send you money,” Nick promised. “That is if I get out of here and don’t go to jail.”
Everyone went quiet for a second, absorbing what Nick said. He was staring a jail sentence in the face. For murder. Tammy knew that in South Africa it can be for twenty-five years.
Hiroshi worked out where he should strike one of the pipes. He had to drop down a drawer in order to wield his sword properly. Nick’s hands held Hiroshi’s waist.
Ulrich joined Tammy in raising the bowl. She felt his fingertips against hers.
Hiroshi hit the pipe. A loud “ping” noise pounded against the grayness. Instantly a slit appeared in the copper-pipe. A clear fluid started to drip from the pipe.
“It looks like water,” Ulrich said excitedly. “I’ll taste it.”
He took his cigarette-lighter from one of the pockets in his trousers, dipped it in the fluid and put it in his mouth. A broad smile spread over his lips.
“It’s water, you guys! Thanks, Nick, for telling us about the pipes,” Ulrich said. “What kind of factory was this, anyway?”
“It wasn’t a factory. Just a storeroom in a hardware store. The bags with the cement and other stuff were packed in front of Chris’s desk, but they didn’t come through with us. Chris was the boss, he handled all the stock,” Nick explained and gestured with his hands. “There’s a bathroom to the side. That’s where the pipes were leading.”
Hiroshi pressed the tip of the sword into the slit and prized it a fraction wider open. Immediately a thin stream of water trickled out of the pipe into the bowl. A few drops spattered onto Tammy’s face.
“We must get the bowl higher so that the water doesn’t splatter out,” Tammy said. “Hiroshi, fetch the lids of the CD-holders and the coffee mug, while I climb up higher. We don’t want to lose a drop.”
Hiroshi jumped from the drawer, landed slowly on the grayness next to the filing-cabinet and sprinted towards the tree.
Tammy carefully climbed up the drawers, holding the bowl under the thin stream of water. Nick and Ulrich eased the cabinet forward so she could put the bowl down directly beneath the stream.
“Here.” Hiroshi was back with the coffee mug and the flat, round lids of the CD-holders and held them out towards Tammy.
Tammy took everything and placed them next to the bowl. She selected the coffee-mug that Etsu had cleaned and held it carefully under the stream of water. As soon as it was full, she passed it to Hiroshi.
“There, enjoy.”
Hiroshi took a little sip.
“Delicious!” he exclaimed and drank greedily until the mug was empty.
Tammy scooped up some water in two lids of the CD-holders and gave those to Ulrich and Nick. Then she took her turn to drink some of the cool water.
Her hands were appallingly dirty and her face needed a wash, but she’d never waste precious water on cleaning.
“Give me the mug, Hiroshi. The bowl is getting full. I don’t want it to overflow.”
Tammy quickly filled everyone’s drinking-things.
Too soon the pipe was empty, but the bowl was almost full. If they drank sparingly, the water would keep them going for two or three days. And there was another pipe. Food, in the form of tree-roots and water from the pipes and in the plastic drawers, was no longer an immediate problem. Now they could focus all their energy onto escaping from this desolated place.
Chapter Nineteen
AFTER SUPPER WAYNE added his smallest t-shirt and tracksuit top and trousers to the pack. They were much too small for him. Indeed, he should have thrown them out years ago, but they should fit Tammy. His parents would never allow him to go to Tammy’s house to fetch her clothes. They had forbidden him to try and “vanish”, although he thought his dad was only saying so to support his poor mum. He also packed a pair of tight fitting socks and an old pair of sneakers. The rucksack weighed a ton and was almost bursting out of its seams, but he couldn’t think of anything to leave out.
He then slung the heavy rucksack onto his back, fastened the belt around his waist and went to perch on the edge of his seat in front of his computer. The overfull rucksack almost pushed him from the chair.
He switched on the Internet.
Then all he had to do was make himself feel really bad and hope that the game will appear on his screen.
He thought about Tammy. He felt bad about her, because he knew that he had been indirectly responsible for her disappearance. He didn’t know why he had laughed at her. It was a cruel and stupid thing to do. Anybody can get a pimple. It wasn’t as if he never had one. The spot marred her beauty, but it was no reason to laugh at her. Yet spots are always temporary. Had something affected her permanently he felt sure he wouldn’t have laughed. He’d been stupid, but not truly evil.
Was he feeling bad enough? Obviously not, because there wasn’t a “Snap” message on the monitor. He had to keep on trying.
Okay. What can he do on the Internet to feel even worse? It had been some time since he’d looked at Facebook, because of the trouble he was having with the home Internet connection. His dad had sorted everything out while he was at the office, so it was okay now.
His cell phone started to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket.
“Hallo, Wayne. Mrs. Delport here.” The voice wasn’t quite how Wayne had expected it to sound.
“You sound excited, or happy. Has something happened?” he asked without greeting her properly. “Has Tammy shown up?”
“No, but there’s an email in her mailbox. I want you to read it and show it to your dad. What’s your email-address? I’ll forward it to you.”
“What’s it about, Mrs. Delport?”
“It’s very peculiar, Wayne. The email is addressed to me, Tammy’s mother. It’s from a Japanese girl who says that she knows where Tammy is. They were together in another dimension. She wrote that Tammy is in the ‘Alter Ego Dimension’. Do you know where that is, Wayne?”
“Yes, well, sort of, perhaps,” Wayne fumbled his answer, his mind racing. “A Japanese girl? Is the girl’s name Etsu Tanaka from Tokyo?”
“Yes, do you know her?” Mrs. Delport sounded surprised, and very hopeful.
“Not personally, but there was something about her on the Afrikaans evening news.”
“Really? What did they say?”
“Four days ago she went missing and after three days suddenly showed up again in her parents’ home. Interpol is investigating the case. Mrs. Delport, please send me that email immediately. Perhaps you can write to the girl and ask her about Tammy. And ask her where this dimension is. Tell her
to write everything down that she knows about the place.” Wayne paused for breath and then continued: “What time is it in Tokyo now? Do you know, Mrs. Delport?”
“Tokyo? That’s east so they’re ahead,” Mrs. Delport thought aloud. “About seven hours ahead of us.”
“Oh no, she’ll be sleeping now.”
“But, Wayne, what else did they say over the news? Where was she?”
“They didn’t say, Mrs. Delport. But they warned people not to play a “Snap” game on the Internet. The international police, Interpol, are investigating the case and have urged people to contact their local police station with information regarding this. It was a very short report.”
“Dear oh dear. Wayne, where do you think this Alter Ego Dimension is? Can we get there? Alter ego . . . but that is our other self, isn’t it? Surely a place like that doesn’t really exist. It’s something that . . . psychologists thought out. It’s all in the mind. Your other self is still yourself. It’s an inseparable part of you. How can anybody get to such a place? Sounds impossible.”
“Mrs. Delport, I don’t know what’s going on here, but one of my friends has also disappeared and reappeared again. Not for long, ten minutes. Now he’s got a totally different personality. As if an . . . other self had taken over.”
“What are you talking about, Wayne. Who is this boy? Did he say where he was?”
“No, Mrs. Delport. It’s Ben. He’s in grade twelve with me and Tammy. He was a nice guy, but now he’s such a pain in the . . . backside, that I don’t think he’s going to tell us anything. According to him, he didn’t disappear anywhere, yet everybody that knew him, knows he is different now. He’s not the old Ben anymore.
“That’s why I’m afraid for Tammy’s sake . . . and my own. I don’t want her to be different when she comes back. I want to go and look for her, Mrs. Delport.”
SNAP! and the Alter Ego Dimension Page 12
