CHAPTER TWO - IDENTICAL
‘Ow…’
It was dark. Very dark. Brian was beginning to wonder why there was no light until he realised that his eyes were still firmly sealed. He tried to force them open but they immediately closed again instinctively. There was light above him somewhere. Light that dazzled him and burnt his eyes.
He was lying on something soft, but he still felt like he had been carelessly dropped onto a hard floor of some description. His entire body was aching while his stomach groaned inside of him as it complained at the whatever brutal treatment it had just been forced to endure.
He slowly opened his eyes and blinked, trying to adjust him to the light. He was in a cave with dull, rocky walls. In the ceiling was clustered a group of glowing yellow crystals which lit the entire room up. He had only seen them once before and that had been when he was in B’s time…
He moaned slightly as he begun to remember. B was gone. B had been snatched while Brian had been downstairs with… with… that thing.
His mind was still quivering as it thought about his alter ego, an older version of himself who had been trying to take B away. He remembered grabbing him when he had tried to skip times, forcing him to take Brian with him.
Where was he now though?
“Get off of me!” a voice screamed angrily at him.
Brian gave a muffled groan as someone threw him off of them to the cold, stone floor below. His head burned and spun at the action and for a brief moment everything whirled like a queer carousel.
Suddenly someone was grabbing his shoulders and hauling him to his feet. He found himself turned around and then pinned up against the wall. He gasped slightly as he found a face inches from his own. It was the same as his face except for a few aged lines.
“Why did you come with me?” the twin demanded. “This is going to cause so much trouble! Why did you come?”
Brian glared at him, hating everything about the man before him. How could he have become like this? So arrogant, so angry, so… old. His eyes narrowed and then he forcefully pushed the twin away and straightened himself up. “I came to rescue B!” he snapped.
“Well B doesn’t need you! He’s got me!”
‘Then why did he come to me?’ Brian thought to himself, but something stopped him saying the words. He had seen the look on his twin’s face when he had seen B with Brian. He had seen the despair and sadness. Even though the hatred was deep, he would not say it.
“Bri!” a voice called happily. “You’re back!”
Both of them turned abruptly at the voice and Brian’s heart jumped slightly as he saw the blonde hair, but his excitement soon faded as he realised that it was only Nick. He had been hoping for a glimpse of Sammy.
Nick’s face suddenly grew pale and his mouth fell open slightly as he stared at the two men before him. His eyes swivelled from one Brian to the other. “W-what?” He stammered. He looked at the older twin. “Bri?” he whispered. His head turned back to Brian.
Bri shot Brian an evil stare. “This freak followed me because he wouldn’t keep his nose out of something that is not his business!”
Brian balled his hands into fists. “You’re saying my own sons are none of my business?” he said, threatening his older self to try and tell him they weren’t.
“In this time they’re my sons, not yours!” Bri spat viciously.
“I was the one who saved them from the Gerai!” Brian cried, thinking of the time he had been sent to this time to help B. “I stopped them both from dying!” How could anyone say they did not belong to him?
With a smug satisfaction, Brian saw that Bri was momentarily lost for words. Bri glared at him hard, as if he could somehow shoot Brian with his own eyes and erase him from existence. “You don’t belong here.” His voice was cold and brimming with acidity. “This is not your time.”
“I don’t care. I’m staying,” Brian replied flatly. He folded his arms defiantly. “B’s in trouble and I’m going to help him! You can’t expect me to stay out of this!”
“B is not yours!” Bri screamed hatefully. His blue eyes were flashing with jealousy and Brian knew that he hated him because B had come to him. He had come to Brian, not his own father from his own time.
“Would you two stop bickering and tell me what is going on!” Nick yelled suddenly as he saw that Bri was about to start fuming and that Brian was about to shout back. “Why the hell is there two of you?!”
Bri pointed a finger at Brian accusingly. “He’s been playing dad to B for the pats two weeks in his own time and now he can’t accept that B does not belong there!”
“’Playing dad’?” Brian snapped. He could feel his face turning red as it flushed with anger. “I am his father!”
“Not in this time!”
Nick had a hand held to his face as if he were developing a headache. He may have thought it was bad, but he wasn’t feeling the overwhelming disgust and hatred that was throbbing in Brian’s blood.
“Look, both of you just shut up!” Nick cried. He stared at both of them in turn. His own face was becoming a mask of anger and his glared hard them both. Brian nodded and remained silent. Bri tried to outstare Nick for a moment before reluctantly looking away and folding his arms as he slouched against a wall. “Now,” Nick said, his voice much calmer. “Where is B?”
“Jonathan - ” Bri started.
“A Gerai took - ” Brian began.
“One at a time!” Nick said as he covered his head with his hands. “You’re gonna give me a headache!” He looked across at Bri. “Bri?”
Bri shot a smirk at Brian, clearly telling him in that one glance that Brian was an outcast here. Brian glared back at him, refusing to back down. He had never met a more arrogant or selfish man before. ‘I can’t believe that’s me.’ There was no way in hell he would ever let himself turn into that.
“B was staying with…” he hesitated as he stared at Brian. “Him. I just followed for a while because I wanted to do this quietly and B seemed safe there.” Brian noted that he forgot to mention ‘happy’. “But Jonathan was after them. I tried to get B to come home, but he wouldn’t. I tried to tell him that he had to come but he wouldn’t listen so I tried talking to him instead.” He pointed at Brian. “But he was too selfish to listen to me and wouldn’t let me take him! And then Jonathan broke in and snatched B!” he glared at Brian. “It’s your fault!” His voice was becoming hysterical and for the first time Brian felt a twinge of sympathy for him. He could hear the crack in his voice as he told Nick of the kidnapping. He could see a pain burning inside… It was exactly what he was feeling. “And that’s not all,” Bri said and now his voice became full of despair. His eyes looked like they might begin leaking tears any second. “B has the virus!” He lowered his head and covered his face with his hand.
Virus? Brian’s heart began to pound hard inside of him. He did not like the sound of a ‘virus’. He stared at Nick, his own face turning pale as he began to realise that something could be dangerously wrong with B. he remembered Bri’s words in his own time.
‘He could die!’
B was ill and now he was in the hands of the Gerai. Anything could happen to him!
“What?” The look upon Nick’s face only confirmed Brian’s own fears. He stared from Bri to Nick, trying to understand what the problem was. Surely B couldn’t be that sick?
“I don’t know how he got it!” Bri replied desperately. “But he was coughing up blood!”
Nick chewed upon his lip nervously. “It doesn’t mean he has the virus,” he said. “I mean, how could he have caught it?”
“Excuse me, but what is going on?” Brian asked, sick of being ignored by both of them.
Bri immediately turned upon him. “It is none of your concern!” he snapped viciously.
Brian’s eyes narrowed. He knew why Bri hated him. It was because B had come to him. He was jealous. “We’ve been through this, it is my concern! I care about B as much as you do!”
Bri shook his. “No you don’t! You never could because you don’t know him like I do!”
“Like hell I don’t! I wasn’t the one yelling at him! You’re a real understanding father aren’t you when all you do is shout!” He could remember B’s face when Bri had shouted at him in the hallway. He had been upset, disappointed. He had expected caring and comforting words, not violent shouts.
Bri had curled his fingers into fists and his eyes were like slits before he leapt upon Brian. Brian strangled a startled cry as the fist connected with his mouth and found himself falling back slightly.
“He’s not yours he’s mine!” Bri snapped.
He was so wrong… Brian had been the one to save him from the Gerai. Brian had been the one to take care of him after he found his way into 2003. He glared hard at Bri. This man was not himself. This man was a stranger, an impostor. The hatred was uncoiling itself ready to fight. He suddenly felt nothing but the urge to destroy the distorted mirror image before him. He was Brian, this man wasn’t.
“Bri!” Nick cried, horrified by what was happening.
Brian wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, shuddering as he tasted the substance upon his tongue. “I am not going back until I know B’s safe!” he said determinedly. “You can fight me all you want, but I am staying!”
“No you’re not! You don’t belong here! B is nothing to do with you!”
Bri lashed out and tried to hit him again. Brian ducked just in time and fury burned in his hand as he threw his own punch into Bri’s stomach. Cold adrenaline was pumping through his veins. Hatred was ready to pounce and take him over. B was his son. It did not matter what time the boy lived, B was still his. Nobody was going to take him away. Brian wouldn’t let anybody take him.
Bri’s own eyes had a hateful gleam in them as he kicked out at Brian, causing him to scream and collapse as the foot connected squarely with his kneecap. Hot pain sucked at his leg, paralysing him and he gasped in agony before another blow hit his face. It felt like a brick had crushed him. Sore, aching pain gripped his jaw. He wanted to scream.
“Bri! Stop it!” Nick’s frantic voice screamed.
Brian raised his head and to his shock he saw that Bri had tears streaming down his face. “B loves me, not you!” He tried to punch him again.
Brian stretched his hand out and tried to ignore the blinding pain as he pushed him away. He leapt forward, his leg feeling as it would shatter any second, and smacked Bri hard about the head. He knew he had to stop. He never usually fought with people, but something was forcing him to carry on. Something was forcing him to try and defeat the spectre before him. He found himself hitting him again and again, before Bri delivered another punch of his own.
He felt tears in his own eyes. He shook his head frantically. B cared about him. B always said he did. B was his own son.
He was on his feet, but Bri had grabbed both of his arms and was grappling with him. “Stay away from us all!” Bri snapped.
“I told you no!” Brian returned, pushing against Bri’s arms in the attempt to push him away.
“Stop it! Both of you!” Another pair of arms were trying to force them apart.
“Stay out of this Nick!” Bri said.
Brian leaned forward but his head felt dizzy and he could not put any weight upon his right leg. His knee was still burning as if it were encased in molten lava. Bri suddenly kicked his ankle and he screamed as shards of pain shot up his leg. He released his hold on Bri’s arms and the older man wasted no time in forcefully pushing Nick away before grabbing onto Brian’s shoulders.
The world was filled with coloured blobs that swirled about his vision like a distorted television image. His whole leg was burning…
“You have to go home!” Bri said.
Brian suddenly realised that his eyes were closed. Slowly he opened them and saw the tears streaking Bri’s face again. He was crying over B… somehow Brian knew that. Brian slowly shook his head His own cheeks were damp and he saw blood dribbling from Bri’s nose. He froze slightly at the sight of the blood and began to tremble. He was not sure why he suddenly felt so sick at the sight of his twin’s bruised face when moments ago he had been all too willing to cause as much damage as possible.
“I’m not going home! How can I go home when I don’t know what’s going to happen to B?” He grabbed Bri’s hands from his shoulders and pushed them away violently.
“I don’t want you anywhere near him!” Bri was screaming, his voice full of tears and Brian knew that his own voice sounded exactly the same. Something deep inside of him was recoiling at the damage he had done to Bri when the man looked identical to himself. It was disconcerting, frightening almost…
“You can’t stop me!” Brian screamed. “You can’t! I love him!” B and Sammy were two of the most important things in his life. He could not walk away from B, not when he’d never thought he would see him again up until he had turned up on his doorstep.
“No you can’t!” Bri smacked him about the face and Brian felt his own nose beginning to pour blood onto the stone floor below them. His head spun even more at the sudden blood loss and for a brief second he felt so light headed that he thought he might float away.
There was a strange mingle of emotions crossing Bri’s face. Like Brian, the hatred had seemed to be replaced by fear of hurting something that resembled himself exactly.
But the jealousy was still there. Bri would never give up. He somehow needed to force himself that B loved Bri more than Brian.
“What is going on?” a voice roared suddenly.
Both of them turned, blood still pouring from both of their faces. Nick was standing in the doorway, his face grey and shaken as his eyes travelled from one Brian to the next. Beside him was the tall, dark haired figure of Darren. Nick had given up on trying to break the fight up himself and had instead brought Darren.
Darren’s face was white with rage as he stared at them both. In one moment he had crossed over to Bri and seized his arms. Nick took the hint and immediately Brian felt his own arms held back.
“What is going on?” Darren said angrily to Bri.
“He followed me back!” Bri croaked. “I couldn’t stop him!”
“I want to help!” Brian replied, knowing that Darren would try to send him back.
Darren released Bri but gave him a warning glare that signalled for him not to attack Brian again. He stared at Brian until recognition managed to creep into his faces. “Ah, you,” he said, finally realising that this Brian was the one that had come before. “You shouldn’t be here. This isn’t your time.”
“B has been kidnapped!” Brian said desperately. “I can’t just do nothing! I had to come and help!” He turned to try and look at Nick and slowly the blonde released his arms, but continued to watch both Brians warily in case the fight should begin again.
“But you don’t belong here! We can’t exist in the same time!” Bri pointed out. “We’ll both get ill and die of brain damage!” His eyes, though still red and watery from tears, now had a triumphant gleam in them, but Brian was not beaten yet.
“I can stay for a while!” he snapped. “I want to help!” He knew how much the temporal remembrance headaches hurt and now he knew why he had experienced them in his own time, but he would risk it for B.
“You can’t!”
“You can’t stop me!”
“All right, all right!” Darren snapped. “Both of you quiet now!” He stared at both of them. “Let’s get you both down to the med centre and get you cleared up! Then you can both rest while Nick and I talk about what we’re going to do.”
Brian felt his heart flutter in relief. Now all he had to do was to talk Darren into letting him stay…
Bri looked completely appalled at this idea. He glared at Brian hatefully. “But he can’t - ”
“Not now, Bri,” Darren said as he held up a hand. “We’ll talk about this later.”
Bri folded his arms across his chest and turned away from Brian, determined to ignore him. “What about the teams?” he asked. “I was supposed to go with them.” He stared at Darren.
“You’re two days late!” Darren replied. “You miscalculated the time jump. They left two days ago!”
“What? But you’re sending another team aren’t you?”
“Not tonight.” Like Nick had done, Darren seemed to be getting a headache. Brian wondered vaguely if it would ache as much as his pounding skull which was still ringing after the numerous blows Bri had dealt him.
“But what about Sammy? And now B’s probably at the base too!” Bri wailed.
Brian raised his head. “What?” he asked quietly. Did that mean Sammy was at the base?
“Nothing!” Bri snapped, not even turning to look at him.
Brian balled his fists again. “You can’t say it’s nothing if it has something to do with Sammy! Is he in trouble?” His stomach was turning again inside of him as he remembered Sammy’s silence in his own time. Why hadn’t Sammy gone with Bri to retrieve his brother? Sammy would have been the first to volunteer!
“This Sammy is nothing to do with you!”
“It has everything to do with me! Where is he?” His voice was becoming hysterical. ‘God, please don’t have let anything happen to him…’
Bri stared at him but remained silent.
“Where is he!” Brian demanded as he began to stride towards Bri again.
“He’s been kidnapped,” Darren said finally. “Along with Kevin. They were out on a search party for B and they were jumped and taken by Gerai.”
“What?” Brian whispered. His head had grown heavy again and a gaping whole had filled his chest. He could still hear B’s terrified scream for help echoing inside of his head and now he could see Sammy begging for help as well. He stared at Bri, hating him even more for not telling him. “And you wouldn’t tell me?”
Bri had his head lowered. “You don’t belong here.”
“Why don’t you try asking them that?” He had no idea how he had ended up being alive in this time, but he still knew that B cared about him. He knew Sammy would as well. They wouldn’t want him to leave when they were in trouble.
Bri’s eyes flashed with fury and then he leapt at Brian again, a fist smacking his jaw so hard that Brian heard a tooth crack inside of his mouth. He fell to the floor and Bri was atop him, punching and screaming. Brian frantically began to kick and lash out with his own hands but Bri was trying to stop him.
“You two!” Darren bellowed. He tried to reach out and seize Bri but he shook the hand away, hatred now having him in its hold completely. Brian could see it in his eyes. He felt the same urge to fight burning to take control inside of his own body.
Cracking pain was searing through Brian’s stomach as something crushed into it and made him want to throw up. He could feel his organs writhing in pain as the blows fell upon him. He struggled back and managed to deal a nasty blow to Bri’s face that left a rapidly swelling eye.
Bri was screaming and swearing t him and Brian found similar words erupting from his own mouth as he tried to fight back and dislodge his attacker. Blood poured down his face and began to soak into his shirt to mingle with the sweat of his perspiring body. He kicked up hard and heard Bri groan before he forcefully pushed him away.
His head seemed to be turning and everything he could see was a mess of red because of the blood that had somehow leaked into his eyes. He looked about and saw Bri to his left. The two of them held each other’s glares for a moment before Darren suddenly seized hold of Bri and dragged him to his feet.
Fearsome arms were suddenly grabbing Brian as well. He heard Bri hurling curses at Darren and he wanted to do the same to Nick. Bri and Brian had to end their fight. They had to battle it out between them. Their eyes met across the room and Brian felt a surge of hatred rippling through him, but there was another strange sensation as well. It was almost as if he could sense his twin’s emotions and feelings…
“Try anything like this again, either of you,” Darren snapped. “And I’m locking you both up in the prison cells! Bri, you could have killed him!”
Bri mumbled something under his breath and Brian’s own temper flared up. He had been fighting back. He had not been losing!
Darren glanced up at Nick. “We need to get these to the med centres.”
“I don’t want to be in the same room as him!” Bri snapped.
“The feeling is mutual!” Brian growled back. He could not help the words or the tone of voice. His mind could not help but loathe his mirror image. They were identical. The same person. It wasn’t right. It was… wrong.
“Keep them separate,” Darren said, ignoring both of them.
Darren dragged Bri out of the room first. Brian’s older twin gave him another look of acidity before he finally stopped resisting Darren’s actions.
Brian breathed a sigh of relief. His skull was searing with pain and he wondered if his face was like Bri’s, a hideous mask of black bruises and red blood. He knew one thing though, both of their eyes were tearful. He was trembling slightly, his body unable to control everything he was feeling. He thought of Bri again and confusion washed over to engulf him.
Nick sighed from behind him. “You okay?”
“Uh… I dunno… I don’t normally fight…” he wasn’t a violent person, and yet he had been ready to fight to the death if he had to. Would they be able to kill one another? Or would something in their minds stop them? He remembered the strange shudder that had coursed through him when he had seen the blood on Bri’s face. He had hated seeing Bri hurt…
“I know you don’t and neither does Bri,” Nick replied. He slowly began to lead the dazed Brian out of the room. Everything was beginning to fade to black and he found it difficult to limp along the floor. It felt like it was moving beneath his feet. He moaned slightly as he felt himself beginning to slump to the ground.
Before he blacked out he heard Nick’s groan. “This is going to be a long day.”