“Ally,” I said, trying to keep my composure, “what are you doing?”
“Trish can explain it all to you,” Ally said, “get in the car.”
“They’ll catch us,” I said, “Ally, there’s no way we’re getting out of this.”
“Jake,” Ally said as she hammered back the slide, “you know me better than anyone, so you know when I’m not fucking around. Get in the fucking car.”
I stared at my sister for a long moment. The look in her eyes was telling me she was right, she wasn’t fucking around. Did I think she’d kill me? No, but I suspected she wasn’t opposed to putting one in my shoulder. With her regulators off, she could put hole after hole in me, and then just change the molecular composition of my bullet wounds until they were healed.
“I’ll get in the car, Ally,” I said as I slowly backed up and took the keys off the counter, “I’ll drive you to where you want to go, but I want you to put the gun down. I love you more than anyone, and if running away is what you think you need to do, then I’ll help you escape.”
Oh, Jake, Trish laughed, You’re coming with us, you know that, right?
What the fuck!
I jolted upright in surprise and was blinded by the muzzle flash before the bullet plowed into my shoulder. Blood splattered against my face and I went down in a scream of agony.
“Why the fuck did you do that?!” Ally yelled at me, “You knew he would freak out! Why the fuck did you tell him!”
I couldn’t resist, Trish howled in pain and mirth in my mind, I wanted him to get a taste of the hell he put me through over the past four years. How does it feel, Jake?! Do you feel helpless and alone? Are you scared and in pain?! How do you think it felt to be stuck in the darkest corner of your mind for four years?!
“C’mon,” Ally said as she pressed her hand to my wound and helped me to my feet, “you still need to drive us.”
“You fucking shot me!” I screamed, welcoming the sounds of approaching sirens.
“Trish made me do it!” Ally yelled back, “I told you I wasn’t fucking around, and then all of the sudden you jumped up…no sudden movements, Jake! Haven’t you watched television?!”
All I could do was groan as Ally’s hand healed the hole in my shoulder. She dragged my limping body out to the driveway and half-shoved me into the driver’s seat. She wheeled into the passenger’s seat and leveled the gun to my shoulder.
“I don’t want to shoot you again, Jake,” Ally said, “but right now, we’ve got the cops, and soon the feds rushing toward us. I’m not spending twenty years in Baraga Maximum, so put your foot on the gas and become an accomplice.”
“I’m your hostage!” I spat.
“Half of you is,” Ally smiled back, “but I’m hoping you’ll come around with Trish and I.”
“You know this is the end of us,” I snarled as I put the car in reverse, “you know I’ll never forgive you.”
“Yes, you will,” Ally said, “you’ll fucking thank me when it’s all over. Explain it to him, Trish.”
Are you ready for an exposition dump? Trish asked me as I floored it down our cul-de-sac.
Give it to me. I grunted mentally as I screeched around the corner and through a nearby alleyway.
When you put me through hell by casting me back here, Trish said with a venomous tenor, I was lost and alone. I was left in the darkest corner of your mind, where only the truly strange, violent, and perverse thoughts you carried dwelt. Needless to say, it changed me. The only glimpses of our mind that I caught were the feelings you kept locked away. Feelings about murderous revenge, feelings about nihilistic indifference, feelings about your twin sister, you perverted little boy, you…
What the fuck are you talking about? I yelled back at her as I swerved past a tan coupe and merged onto the county road.
Oh, just the occasional thought of bending your twin sister over and shoving it into her ass, Trish said nonchalantly, Sometimes, it’s a little romantic diversion, but most of the time, it’s an anal rape fantasy. Maybe you get these late at night when you’re watching that BDSM shit on your laptop. Maybe it’s the fact that you’re frustrated with women because they pay you no heed. Whatever it is, you can’t handle these thoughts, so you stick them back here, where you think they’re forgotten. But they’re not forgotten, Jake, you had these thoughts, and now I have them. They’ve manifested themselves as part of who I am, and it’s corrupted me.
Look, Trish-
Don’t worry about that now, Trish said, the point is, you fucked me. I used to be just a horny little schoolgirl, but now, I’m a perverted psychopath with murderous tendencies and a sadistic disposition. If you take a wrong turn on Garfield Lane, I’ll know you’re going to the precinct. I’ll tell Ally to put one in your balls, and she’ll do it. We’ve gotten very close, her and I.
I locked you up! I screamed mentally as I veered off my course to the precinct and continued passed Garfield Lane, You shouldn’t be able to talk to anyone! Not even me! Tell me how you did it!
One drunk night in April, you forgot to take your pills, Jake. Trish laughed, You were blacked-out, but I wasn’t. The shock therapy kept me in my cage, as it does now, but I was able to see through your eyes for the first time in years. And what did I see, Jake? Connections. Billions and billions of streaming connections burning from the tendrils of your irises. That’s when I knew I was special. That’s when I knew I was a telepath, a witch, like your sister. I don’t know what caused it, or how I could have this power and you couldn’t, but I seized the opportunity (something you never seem to do, you useless coward), and sent out a message to Ally. Ally was shocked when she heard my voice in her head, but that shock soon turned to euphoria. You see, Jake, Ally loved us both equally, and when you put me away, she lost half the person that she loved. And when she lost her powers to save you, she resented you for it.
I stole a glance at my sister and wondered if Trish was broadcasting this to her. God, I hoped not. I didn’t recall any of the fantasies, but I knew Trish wasn’t lying. You can’t lie to someone who shares your mind, and Trish was beginning to seep back into mine. My pills were sitting idly on my dresser right now, and my shock therapy session was due tomorrow. It was only a matter of time before Trish finally got out.
So, Ally and I made a little deal that night, Trish continued, I told her I’d figure out a way to take off her regulators, and she’d shave off a few milligrams from your pills. This gave me a one-hour window where I could talk to her while you were asleep. She was so glad to have me back, Jake. She apologized for taking your side all the times I tried to express myself. She said it was wrong that you should lay claim to a body we shared equally. She agreed to help me come back, if I helped her find a place we could be safe.
But how did you do all this? I asked as I merged onto the interstate, How did you find out about taking off regulators, and where the fuck are we going?
I’m a bit more resourceful than you are, Jake. Trish laughed cruelly, You can find any number of things on the dark web. As for where we’re going…don’t worry about it just yet. All you need to know, is that we’ll be safe. Take exit 171 for Ann Arbor, and then a left on South Street. Pull into the public storage lot, and then put it in park.
I did as Trish asked. The sounds of sirens still blared, and the metallic patter of a chopper cut through the Michigan air, but these sounds were distant and fading in the direction of our house. Trish had guided us to safety, but I was afraid to what end. This was the woman who deemed my genitals too useless to keep when she was sane. Now, she was infected with the waste of my subconscious, and more dangerous and unhinged than ever.
Don’t worry about that pathetic thing you call a cock, Trish said, I’ve decided to keep it.
Despite everything else, a sense of relief washed over me. I was certain that Trish’s first order of business was to remove the symbol of my masculinity…of our masculinity.
Ok, Trish, I said as I put the car in park at the storage lot, You’re the one in charge, what now?
Ally’s going to show you where to go from here, Trish said, and you better fucking do as she says.
If it means anything to you, Trish, I replied, I’m sorry for what I did to you.
To us, Jake. Trish replied coldly, it wasn’t just me you hurt. You’re an introverted pussy who’s too afraid to take what he wants. All the daring and excitement left your life the moment you shut me out. But that’s all going to change now. Like Ally said: you’ll thank us when we’re done.
Trish’s voice faded into the dark recesses of my mind as Ally’s voice grew louder in my ear.
“Jake, get out of the car and follow me. I don’t have to keep this gun on you, do I?”
“No,” I said to Ally as I got out of the car, Trish’s stinging words still etching their way into my soul, “no, Ally, I’m in this shit with you now.”
“Good,” Ally smiled for the first time, “I didn’t mean to shoot you; it was just reflexes. I don’t think I could do it again, no matter what Trish says.”
“You still pulled a gun on me and shot me,” I replied, shaking my head, “you forced me into a car and made me a fucking fugitive. If you think for one moment I can forgive this-”
“I saved your life!” Ally yelled angrily, “I sacrificed so much of who I was for you, because you matter that much to me. Can you sacrifice anything for me, Jake?!”
I stared at her rage-contorted face with a level expression. Her upper lip trembled in a half-snarl, setting her flushed cheek into a protruding oval baring a cute dimple. God, she looked hot when she was mad. Oh fuck, that wasn’t a subconscious thought. Oh shit…
“Ally,” I asked nervously, my level expression falling in shame, “did you hear any of that little conversation between Trish and I?”
“Every bit,” Ally smiled coyly, “but I already knew about all that other shit. Trish told me about your…darker thoughts a while ago.”
My face flushed red and beads of stinging sweat formed at my scalp.
“Ally, I don’t remember having those thoughts, it was just my stupid brain making connections with stimuli and relationships and…”
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