Sleepwalker

by Michael Laimo

  Non-REM

  “Your husband?”

  She nodded. “Once the man in black started tripping across timelines, Richard the scientist, my husband, knew the experiment had to be terminated. The machines he built had to be destroyed, the white hole expunged. The world, time, the universe as we knew it would be in jeopardy if Richard the serial killer was given free reign of the experiment. Such a power in the wrong hands would without question prove fatal to all of mankind--it's already taken its lumps, and will continue to corrupt as long as the man in black’s game is being played.”

  Putting one and one together, Richard came to a daunting yet illogical assumption. “Are you trying to say that the experiment is still running?”

  “Yes...”

  “But...isn’t Richard the scientist dead? And I killed the man in black myself. What can possibly stop us from ending it at this point, here and now?”

  “There’s much more to this than meets your simple, and wrong, assumption.”

  Richard ran a hand through his hair. It was getting hard keeping track of everything. “Dare I ask?”

  Pam grinned. “Richard the serial killer’s first step was to start eliminating the four other Richards. He first went across into the family man’s world--”

  “Oh no...”

  “And killed him as he slept.”

  “In bed...Jesus! Now I realize. He tried to do the same thing with me!”

  “Of course he did. There was no other way he could possibly get to you.”

  Confusion beset Richard. Even here and now he couldn’t drum up a response to her remark. “You’ve lost me. Why?”

  “For reasons still unknown, a person attempting to cross timelines can’t do so unless his alternate self is asleep in a deep non-REM state on the other side. I’m sure there’s an explainable science to it, but given the severity of the situation we hadn’t the time nor energy to research it. The fact that one’s other self must be asleep is actually a good thing though, because when tripping across timelines, a person ends up in very close proximity to them, hence keeping the tripper incognito, so to speak. So, with this directive evidently in place, the man in black had to wait until the family man was fast asleep before slipping into his bedroom. On heavy doses of medication due to his ailment, the family man had become an easy target. Richard the serial killer went into family man’s world in the middle of the night to fulfill his murderous intent, which he accomplished without a hitch. He then kidnapped his mother Julia and his daughter Debra, and took them into Richard the scientist’s world. He also took family man’s body with him. At first we didn’t understand his motivations for doing so, but realized later on he’d known all along that the family members, including the dead body, would become useful.”

  Richard’s heart started pounding, pure adrenaline sending his limbs into spasms and jerks. “Are you saying that my mother and daughter are here?”

  “Hold on...please understand that they’re not your mother and daughter.”

  “No...” he demanded. “They are...and what do you mean become useful?

  “Richard, please let me finish.”

  Richard rubbed his eyes, then nodded, staring at Pam through tears of frustration. He acquiesced to Pam’s lead.

  “He brought them to Richard the scientist’s lab and locked them in one of the sleeping rooms there. Knowing very well that I couldn’t fight him, I begrudgingly became a slave to his demands. So did Brutus, but he was confused because he couldn’t decide who to be loyal to anymore. As for my husband, the man in black believed him to be no threat. He kept him locked in a bare room, attending only to his basic needs.”

  “Why not just kill him? Isn’t that what he intended?”

  “Yes, but he claimed to be receiving, still, some useful information from the scientist through bleeding. His hunch was why not keep him alive until he couldn’t be of use anymore? But, I discovered soon enough that there was an ace hidden up my husband’s sleeve--not only was he smart, but he was cunning too. You see, he was creating false images in his head that the man in black would interpret as fact, and act upon. This would, at the very least, slow the man in black’s progress down, if not fully corrupt his ruthless intentions.”

  “What kind of lies did he drum up?”

  “Exactly what, I couldn’t say for sure. Scientific things. Whatever they were, however, they hindered his efforts to kill you. At least we thought they did, until we found out that we really didn’t need Richard the scientist’s deceptions after all. Thanks to you, and your sleepwalking.”

  “My sleepwalking? What are you talking about? Now you’re really confusing me. I thought you said that there was nothing wrong with me!”

  “There isn’t, but remember when I said that the tripper’s identity must be fully asleep in order for a successful crossing of timelines? Well, he nearly made it across two years ago, but you started sleepwalking just as he was coming through. It disrupted the vortex and he could only inflict his fury on Samantha before getting sucked back through. He tried hundreds of times since then but couldn’t make it completely across, because you never fell into a heavy non-REM sleep cycle. He would always manage to get a hand through, even his head sometimes, but again could never wholly pass through. Strangely, he found that he was able to toy with partial passing even if just your eyes were closed. This is how he was able to get the knife out of your kitchen.”

  “This explains my dreams of the blue light, and the man in black. Even the periodic flashes of light while I was awake. But what about my mother, and Debra?”

  “That’s why he kidnapped them. He’d known, probably through bleeding, that you’d be a problem for him. He knew that your mother and daughter were both dead in your world. This made it easy for him to use them, as they could be placed through without having to worry about their other selves being asleep, since they no longer existed in your world. He figured he might be able to lure you through by sending your mother and daughter--actually the mother and daughter of Richard the family man--through, that you’d somehow follow them back through the gate.”

  “I wanted to, but I was too afraid of the blue light.”

  “Your fear saved you, Richard. He would have tortured you to no end had you come through. When he realized that you weren’t coming through, he sent me in, to meet you. To seduce you. Then, kill you. He demanded I do so or...or he’d kill the child. But I also realized that there was no way he could get across, as long as you continued to sleepwalk. And, well...let’s just say that spending time with you was like having my husband back. Richard...immediately, I fell in love with you. I wanted to be with you. I knew there was no way I could allow harm to come to you. It was like having a second chance. With my husband about to die, I was rewarded with you. Richard Sparke. There was no way I could let you go. All I had to do was help you realize that you were safe with me.”

  Richard thought back for a moment to their lovemaking in the hotel room. Even through the lingering pain, his body tingled with delight at the recent memory. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth, from the beginning?”

  “I didn’t want you to know that I’d been privy to your problem all along. And I was certain you wouldn’t believe me if I did spill this story on you at the time.”

  Richard let out a gush of air. “You’re probably right.” He stared at her, their eyes locking. She, Pamela Bergin, bringer of all knowledge, looked so different now. His perspective of her, his respect for her, had reached levels he’d never be able to fully understand. She was all-knowing, all seeing. All he could do is succumb to her demands, allow her to decide his fate.

  Then, a thought crossed his mind. “Pam, if you say that you loved me, then why did you attack me yesterday morning in my bedroom?”

  She nodded. “Remember when I told you that it wasn’t really me that attacked you?”

  Suddenly, he understood. “There’s another Pam. Right?”

  “The man in black had a bit of a problem. He himself couldn’t get th
rough. Trying to draw you in by using your mother and daughter also failed, and, as he soon discovered, I wasn’t obeying his demands of me. So, he kidnapped my double from his own timeline, who, as it turned out, had dated Richard the serial killer at one time. She also shared some of his aggressive tendencies. He told her that he’d kill her unless she killed you. Easy enough, right? There is no Heather Barron, uh, I mean Pamela Bergin in your timeline. She was able to come through, right into your home. Obviously, she was unsuccessful in her attempt to kill you.”

  “She damn near did it, too. Probably would have if she didn’t freak out and start crying. She ran away. Care to explain to me what came over her at that moment?”

  “Bleeding. I have a confession to make. I did come back to your condo the next morning to try and make up with you from the night before. When I got there I parked outside, and was about to come in, but I started getting very strong thoughts and images from the Pam that was with you. Hateful thoughts. Thoughts of murder. I’d never experienced bleeding before and it scared me. I knew I couldn’t face you at that moment so I sped away, crashed through the gates at the condo and went home. However, she also began to receive my thoughts, my feelings. At that very moment, instead of hatred, she began to feel love for you. Like myself, she couldn’t kill you either. So, as it comes to pass, Richard the serial killer failed again in his attempt to eliminate you. He pulled the other Pam back and kept her in an apartment I keep as a second home, so to speak. A get-away from the lab, just in case he needed her again. Ironically, the same apartment in your timeline was empty, and where I stayed while on your side.”

  “Huh, that’s real messed up, Pam. It wasn’t you that attacked me, but it was you that crashed through the gates.”

  “Yeah, I guess you could say it’s messed up. But then again, the whole damn thing is.”

  “So what else is there to know, Pam?”

  “Well, what happened next you already know. The shrink put you under hypnosis. For the first time you experienced deep, non-REM sleep, without sleepwalking. The man in black jumped all over it, and slipped through into your universe. I saw it all happening. He pulled Debra through with him just to add a bit of suspense to the moment, and to get you all riled up. All he had to do, though, was kill you and then slip back. But his sick desire to stretch out the thrill of the moment got the best of him, and thankfully for us he didn’t pull it off right away. And then he took his time with the doctor, figuring to frame you for the crime. Meanwhile, Brutus, under the guidance of Richard the scientist, had just completed work on the second device, and opened another rift. I tripped back to his side. I took the unit back with me. At the same time, Brutus closed up the rift on the man in black. He panicked, tried to leap back but couldn’t, hence keeping him at the scene of the crime he intended solely for you. He had no choice but to flee. As you well know now, he decided to stay and make your life miserable. He got to Samantha, and eventually followed you upstate.”

  “And the whole time,” Richard said, “he grew weaker because he was gaining my personality traits. My anxieties. I ended up growing stronger, gaining his knowledge of fighting, his sense of fearlessness. We became equal opponents.”

  Pam grinned. “You got it. You, with the edge, because a man on the rise is always stronger than a man on a decline.”

  Richard settled back into the comfort of the couch. More than two hours had passed since Pam began revealing the plethora of answers to his plight. Now, with all these facts swimming around in his head, he could only sit back and ignore them, for to start going over each and every one, to try and put each explanation to the multitude of still unanswered questions in his head, he’d more than likely collapse from mental exhaustion, a complement to his physical state that would result in a full-body breakdown. He couldn’t let that happen. He needed to press on because he knew what had to be done.

  The experiment had to be ended.

  With only one Richard Sparke remaining.

  He looked at Pam, asked the question she was waiting for. The one he already knew the answer to.

  “What’s next?”

  Air-raid

  Leonard stood outside the building. Awed. Stunned. In an area not far from town where six square miles of wooded area should have existed, a huge building stood, its framework a lattice of silver rectangles holding mirrored windows within. Atop the structure stood a pyramid configuration that culminated one hundred and fifty feet high.

  The stress of the last couple of hours had finally gotten to him, and he could only stand and shiver and stare at the building, and not at his uniform where splatters of Pamela Bergin’s blood soiled the navy fabric--a tell-tale sign that would clearly tie him to her murder. You see, Spencer? There was a murder in Fairview.

  He paced toward the building, up the front walkway that led to a mirrored door. Silver letters above displayed the building’s identity: Quantugen Industries.

  Finally, his mind unglued itself from the fear holding it in pace, and he said to himself, “Jesus, what is this place?” knowing, somehow, that it had much to do with the startling disorder suddenly encompassing his life.

  His cell phone rang, the jingle sounding as loud as an air-raid siren. Trembling madly, he fumbled at his belt, managing a firm grip on the phone by the fifth ring. The digital display showed an unfamiliar number.

  He pressed the receive button. Said, “Hello?” and nearly fainted at the sound of the voice on the other end.

  “Officer Leonard Moldofsky? This is Pamela Bergin.”

  Reunion

  “Hello, are you there?” Pamela put a finger over the speaker on the phone in her office. “I can’t believe it worked,” she said to Richard, holding up the piece of paper she wrote Leonard’s number on while at her apartment yesterday.

  “Hello?” she repeated.

  “I’m here...I just...”

  “Leonard, we need to meet. If you want to get back home, I suggest you listen to me.”

  There was some hesitation, some erratic breathing over the speaker-phone. Clearly, the cop was distressed. “What is this place?”

  Richard watched as Pamela frowned. “Where are you now?”

  “I-I’m in front of a large building. There’s a pyramid on top.”

  Pam locked eyes with Richard, each of them clearly thinking, We got lucky. “All right, listen to me Leonard. We are in that building. Circle around the right side of the building, the side opposite the parking lot. Try not to let anyone see you. Just act as nonchalantly as possible. Take the walkway, don’t walk on the grass. Toward the rear of the building is a steel door. Meet me there now. Okay?”

  “I...I’m confused...”

  “Leonard, go now, if you want to live.”

  “Okay...”

  ~ * ~

  In ten minutes Leonard was sitting in the secluded office with Pamela and Richard. His face was drawn of all color. He cowered on the leather sofa, body trembling as if tiny alarms were going off beneath his skin. He looked as if he were attempting to recreate Richard’s own anxieties from twenty-four hours earlier--a naked babe in the woods left alone to fend for himself. Luckily, as did Richard, he had Pam to help guide the way.

  “You have to understand...I’ve seen both your dead bodies in the past eight hours, one of which died by my own hand. Now here you are, standing in front of me, alive and breathing. This kind of thing doesn’t happen everyday, you know. Jesus Christ, if I hadn’t seen my own twin, I’d have trouble believing this whole damn thing, I’d think I was losing my freaking mind. Now I have no choice but to swallow the unbelievable story you’re telling me.”

  Pam had given Leonard the ten-minute version, the basics about Richard Sparke the scientist, and the experiment he conducted. About the five Richards, and how she was involved. Then, a brief review of how Leonard ended up on the other side, and what might happen through bleeding should he stay.

  “I’ve noticed a slight change,” he said. “I feel lethargic, almost ready to lie down and give into
the mess I’ve gotten myself into. It all happened after I killed the other Pamela. This is unlike me, I’m always looking for answers to quandaries.”

  Richard could tell, by the frown on her face, that Pam seemed bothered upon hearing of the death of her ‘twin nemesis’. At first, Richard felt relieved, one less thing they had to worry about. Now he wondered if there wasn’t more to the other Pam’s presence than met the eye.

  “Leonard,” Pam said. “We need to get you back before too much bleeding occurs. You’ve been here about six hours, and still have some time before irreversible retention sets in, before your mind settles with unwanted memories of your experiences here.”

  “Are you saying that I won’t remember anything about this place once I go back?”

  “If you go back soon enough. This way the other Leonard’s memories won’t have time to root themselves into your consciousness.”

  Leonard stood up, legs wobbling a bit. “I’m game. Just send me back home. I’ve had enough of this place.”

  “There’s one thing you should realize.”

  “What’s that?”

  She cleared her throat, looking a bit uncomfortable, then said, “This timeline has been created, and will always exist. It is an entire universe, it can’t be destroyed. Therefore life will go on here indefinitely.”

  “Okay, so what’s the problem?”

  “The problem is that an innocent man here will probably go to jail for murder.”

  Leonard shrugged his shoulders, eyes narrowing. “I’m not sure I follow.”

  “You killed Heather Barron, aka Pamela Bergin. Although she is a ‘Pam’ from another timeline, authorities will identify her as me. Richard Sparke the scientist’s wife. And now, your prints are at the scene. Ballistics will trace the bullet she was killed with back to a police-issue gun. Maybe not Leonard Moldofsky’s gun, but someone’s nonetheless. Someone in this world. Of course they won’t have any knowledge of the event, may even have an alibi. But all evidence will point to that person. Especially if their prints are at the scene. I just wanted to let you know that.”