SNAP! and the Alter Ego Dimension (7 page)

She fought back her tears. This was not a good time to cry.

She looked at the dead man’s tie. It would have made a much better belt if it hadn’t been drenched in blood. She shuddered.

Tammy turned her back on the body and put on the shoes. They were at least a size nine and she was only just using size sixes. Even though they were very loose, the shoes and socks felt much better than cold, bare feet. Her whole body soon began to feel warmer. Perhaps she’d find a pair of small socks or some material that she could stuff into the front of the shoes to fill the gaps.

She stood up and checked out her feet. The oversized shoes looked even bigger with their tapered points.

Ulrich laughed and quickly covered his mouth. Tammy frowned, but couldn’t get annoyed with him as she knew that she looked ridiculous.

“You look like a clown,” Ulrich said, still laughing. “But the shoes should be bright red or yellow. Wait, let me take a picture of you.”

Etsu and Hiroshi also began to snigger and Tammy joined in. She must look frightful. A multi-colored curtain for a dress, oversized men’s trousers and shoes and still that damned pimple by her nose. She wished she could see herself in a mirror . . . Or perhaps not.

Ulrich switched his phone on and took a picture while everyone was still laughing. Etsu also took her phone out of the pocket of her jacket. Hiroshi saw her and was obviously cross. Tammy didn’t need to know Japanese to understand that he was telling her off.

Taken aback, Etsu put the phone away. Tammy reasoned that Hiroshi was probably worried about the phone’s power failing.

Yet, Tammy wished she had her phone so that she could take photos of this place and her newfound friends. Should she return to earth, she wanted something to show to her mother and her other friends. But perhaps she wouldn’t show them to Wayne. If he saw her like this, he would probably never ask her out again. He would go back to his lovely Rosette.

“Can I see what I look like?” she asked and Ulrich showed her the picture. She burst out laughing again.

For the moment they could find the situation hilarious
, she thought, but in truth there was nothing funny about it. They were in a fix that she would not wish on her worst enemy. Not even beautiful, blow-up plastic doll-faced Rosette.

After they got their laughter under control, Tammy felt much better. It was as if her stress levels had been dialed down. What happened next didn’t matter so much anymore. They must try and find a way out of this place, and in the meantime find food and water and survive.

“All jokes aside,” she said to everyone as she gave Ulrich his phone back. “I think we must drag this man away from the tree. We don’t want to look at him all the time, not while we’re working on the roots.”

“Agreed,” said Etsu and the two boys nodded their assent as well.

Hiroshi, still with the sword in one hand, and Ulrich took hold of a leg each and dragged the man into the grayness. In a few seconds they were lost from view, and moments later even the sound of their breathing and exertions were swallowed by the grayness.

Tammy suddenly felt scared and stepped closer to Etsu. They had almost forgotten about the danger from their other selves.

But in less than a minute the boys were back.

“We put him over there,” Ulrich pointed. “Behind a pink wall, but we couldn’t leave you two alone much longer.”

“No way to bury or cremate him,” Hiroshi said and put a hand on Ulrich’s shoulder. “I’m still hungry,” he said. “Let’s get back to digging up roots.”

They started scraping at the soil with renewed vigor. The tree had thick, red-brown roots with much thinner, yellowish offshoots. It was the thinner root that Hiroshi hacked off with his sword and cut into slices. Tammy thought they resembled small pineapple rings.

They each took a piece.

Tammy peeled the thin outer film from the root slice. Beneath, the root was a more appetizing white. She took a tiny bite from the fleshy pineapple thing and chewed. It was more bitter and a lot tougher than a fresh carrot, but otherwise not too bad. She took another bite.

Soon she realized that the other three were staring at her. Not one of them had taken a bite from their piece.

“I think it’s okay,” she said encouragingly. “I rather like it. A little bitter.”

Now it was Tammy’s turn to watch them take a bite. They seemed cautious, their lips drawn back like dogs eating something that they didn’t really like. As soon as they’d started to chew though, they looked a lot more comfortable.

“Um, nice,” Hiroshi agreed, then added: “More?” and chopped at another root without waiting for an answer.

“We’ll have to move your ‘room’ here,” Ulrich said and took another slice. “I don’t think we’ll be able to move this tree. It must weigh a few tons.”

“We’ll first have to catch the birds before we leave,” Tammy suggested. “We can’t leave someone here to watch them. It’s too dangerous. We’ve only got one weapon.”

“I told you,” Etsu scolded Tammy. “Pistol very useful other weapon.”

Tammy responded quickly, pressing her lips together and staring at the tree for a minute. “We can break that long branch off and sharpen one end like a spear. That’ll make another weapon.”

Tammy couldn’t imagine herself piercing anything or anyone with a spear, but perhaps, when pushed, she would rise to the challenge. Maybe, if her life was threatened, she’d find the strength and the courage. Like with mixed martial arts. She knows how to push someone’s windpipe back to kill him, but that was all just theoretical. Would she do it if needs be?

“Good, Tammy!” Hiroshi said excitedly, eyeing up the branch. “Good idea. Hold the sword while I climb the tree. First we’ll catch the birds and then make the spear.” Then he spoke again, addressing Ulrich. “Be ready to catch the birds when I knock them to the ground.”

Tammy felt close to tears. One moment she was terrified, the next she was laughing and now she was distressed by what had to be done to eat. How had she landed herself in this crazy situation? She, an ardent nature-lover, driven to actions and cruelty against her very nature. Condoning actions she found abhorrent. She so wanted to wake up from this silly, sad and cruel dream.

“You go ahead and catch the birds,” she said to Etsu and Ulrich. “I’ll keep an eye out for the alter egos.”

Tammy took her place in the middle of the side open to the grayness and let the tip of the sword rest between her oversized shoes. She held the black hilt in both hands against her stomach and watched the grayness in front of her intently.

She felt like the ancient Joan of Arc. The female French knight who was burned at the stake after being on trial for heresy and sorcery, only to be given sainthood by the Church of Rome at a much later date.

Her eyes tried to pierce the opaque of grayness. At first she likened it to a morning mist, like the wispy mist that hangs over the hilltops in Pretoria a day after light rains. But that is a gentle, slow moving white mist that glides harmlessly off the hills to occasionally coat her lawn and pool in a fluffy cotton wool. Every bush or tree would look hazy, softer and brighter. The grayness of Alter Ego Land was very different. It was like moveable, solid walls of dirty smog. Inside the smog-shell everything was clear, but as you moved forwards or backwards, the smog shifted with you, eerily keeping pace. Shrouding who knows what dangers lurking just a few short steps away.

Tammy was startled by shouts and noises from the three behind her and heard Hiroshi uttered Japanese words that she thought must be the sort you didn’t use in polite company. It was obvious that they were having trouble catching the birds, but she didn’t dare risk a backwards glance.

The noises died down and she heard the snap of a branch breaking.

She couldn’t help but turn around, stepping back onto the grass and unconsciously raising the sword. She looked behind her at Ulrich and Hiroshi with the branch they would use as a spear. Every one of them should be armed, she thought, then they could all travel more freely through this grayness and seek out the hiding places of their other selves.

When she noticed the three birds in Etsu’s hands, tears welled up again.
How awful,
she thought.
Their short lives ended so prematurely, just to make us a pathetic, meager meal.
She looked closely at the birds through eyes glazed by tears. The birds were beautiful, but she couldn’t identify them. That in itself was a surprise, because Tammy would often sit with her mother watching the birds in their garden in Pretoria. They could recognize and name almost every type, but these were new to her. The birds and the tree they were in must come from some place far from home.

“We pluck feathers while they still warm,” Etsu said in her staccato English.

Tammy couldn’t take it any longer. Her vision blurred completely as her eyes flooded. She cried, fought to hold the sobs back, then gave up and let the tears flow. She bent forward and rested her head on her hands. Hands which, in turn, rested on the long Japanese sword.

She felt a comforting hand on her back.

“Let it all out,” Ulrich’s soft voice came from somewhere close to her ear. “Cry as much as you like, Tammy.” The hand moved gently across her back, squeezing her shoulder. “I feel real bad about the birds, too. I’m going to light a cigarette, to see where the smoke goes. There is a wooden door and lots of paper against the walls in Hiroshi and Etsu’s room. My door also came with me. Perhaps we can start a fire and cook the food. When we’ve eaten, we’ll all feel better. Better about the birds, I mean.” For a while they stood in silence, before Ulrich started talking again.
Maybe he only spoke to take her mind off the birds . . .
and the murder.
“Shame there’s no salt,” he said, “but perhaps that’s a good thing, we don’t have water and the salt would make us even thirstier.”

Tammy straightened up as Ulrich moved to stand in front of her. He took the sword and handed it to Hiroshi. Then he turned to her again and pulled a clean handkerchief from his pocket. Gently he wiped the tears from her face, cradling her chin with his left hand.

She couldn’t help but look directly into his eyes. She saw sympathy and empathy in their brown depths. She felt that he understood what she was feeling. He really was different than Wayne, who’d been so heartless with his laughter. When was that? Just this morning, yesterday, or a week ago? Undoubtedly, Ulrich cared, cared for her as a person.

“Thank you,” she said, then nuzzled even closer to him and planted a kiss on his cheek. For a moment she forgot about the pimple on her face and the silly looking clothes she’d draped around her. She was just Tammy, no longer embarrassingly self-conscious. Ulrich took her in his arms and held her to his chest. His warm, strong body felt so good, so safe, so reassuringly comforting.

“We’ll get out of this place, Tammy. We’ll survive, I promise,” he said, his hand now holding the back of her head, his fingers stroking her hair. “And I’ve had an idea. I’m going to make us some water.” He smiled down at her puzzled expression. “In my school they don’t call me ‘Einstein’ for nothing,” he laughed.

Tammy smiled through her sadness. He made her feel so much better. It was as if strength and power flowed from him to her. His closeness made her as positive and determined as he was.
Yes
, she said to herself. Again she said yes and at last she really believed it.
Yes, we will survive
.

And that was what they all needed. To believe in themselves and each other. They couldn’t just sit here and wait for their alter egos to destroy them.

Water. Ulrich said he was going to make water. She was still very thirsty, although the root slices had helped a little. They were somewhat watery, but nothing like the real thing. She longed for a proper glass of clean, cool water. And her hands were dirtier than she ever remembered seeing them. She would love to wash her hands with soap and water. Or even take a shower. At this point in time she couldn’t think of anything else she’d rather do.

When she pictured herself in the shower she had a sudden urge, an urge to pee.

She, and all of them, would sooner or later have to go to a bathroom. Where and how do you do that in this place? How do you wash properly afterwards?
Goodness!
she thought, worriedly.
This dimension is just a storeroom, a transitioning room between consciousness and sleep. A place between something and nothing. A place definitely not designed for people to live in
. The faster they could get out of here, the better.

Ulrich let her go, moved just outside the cube the tree was in and took the cigarettes and lighter from his pocket. Tammy watched as he put a cigarette between his lips and lit it. He somewhat clumsily inhaled then coughed.

Etsu and Hiroshi observed anxiously, the latter raising his sword and stepping closer to Ulrich in case they had any unwelcome visitors.

The cigarette smoke drifted almost straight up in the still air and was lost amongst the grayness above them.

“So, warm air drifts upwards like it does on earth,” observed Tammy. “Do you think all the laws of nature and physics still apply here?” she asked, only to be a little surprised that Hiroshi should answer before Ulrich could.

“Except for day and night, because the sun doesn’t shine here,” he said.

“Come, let’s go get paper and wood,” Ulrich proposed, wiping his mouth with his hand. “A door or chair or something.” He pressed the cigarette into some freshly dug soil. Tammy thought he looked relieved to squash it out. Not what she’d expect from a smoker . . .

“Do you have anything to go on?” Wayne asked the detective as his interview finished.

“I’m sorry,” the man answered, turning a page on his notepad, “but I’m not allowed to discuss an ongoing case with civilians.”

“So, that’s a no then, isn’t it,” Wayne’s voice sounded harsher than he intended.

“She was in her room, then she wasn’t,” the officer then said after a short hesitation. “No one saw her leave, no one’s seen her since. Nobody has any idea where she’s gone or why. There’s nothing missing. She’s just vanished and yes, you’re right, we haven’t a clue what to do next. Except hope. There’s always hope, until . . . ” the man didn’t finish his last sentence. Wayne knew what he wanted to say, ‘until a body turns up’. He was glad the officer refrained from giving voice to his darkest fears.

That meant that the authorities could do nothing. Absolutely nothing except to stand around and make useless notes. No one knew how to find Tammy. Nobody knew anything. Not one of the grade twelve’s had seen Tammy since the previous afternoon. She had gone home with her mother in her mother’s car and that was the last her friends and classmates had seen of her.

Wayne worried. The only idea that seemed worth pursuing was the crazy
Snap
game. He sent a text message to his father, to remind him to act on the article in the Sunday paper. His dad must try and find the phone number of the two brothers in Sabie. Wayne wanted to call them as soon as he got home that afternoon.

Two brothers!

Ken and Ben. What could the kids in Sabie tell him that Ken and Ben couldn’t? He could find Ben now. He should be at school, although Wayne hadn’t seen him amongst the kids interviewed by the police. Ken had told him that Ben behaved very strangely from the instant he reappeared. Wayne knew Ben well. He would find Ben amongst the clusters of youngsters awaiting the school bell and talk to him, see for himself if Ken was right about his brother’s personality change.

After a few minutes of searching, Wayne saw Ben in the shade of some trees talking to a group of girls. It looked as if Ben was entertaining the girls, because they were all laughing with him.

Wayne was astonished at the sight. It was definitely a first for Ben. Girls laughed
at
Ben. Not with him. Never before had he seen Ben in female company. A single girl would have been surprising in itself. But a group? Ben was always a loner and afraid of girls. His shyness was almost an illness, resulting in or from very low self-esteem, lack of confidence and a very introverted style. Yet, there he was, laughing and joking with several girls. This must be what Ken meant, by a total personality change. Was Ben aware he was different? What would he say about it? Did he even realize he was acting so completely out of character? And, perhaps most importantly, where had he been for those minutes he was missing?

“Hi, Ben,” Wayne called as he approached Ben’s group.

Ben turned towards him and grabbed his right hand.

“How’s it going, Wayne, old pal?” Ben said with a broad smile.

This was definitely different. Being called an old pal was another first. Ben using such a strange greeting and shaking his hand was even more out of character.

“Good, man. Good. I’m good,” Wayne blurted out as he tried to be as enthusiastic as Ben seemed, but Wayne was in too much of a hurry for small-talk. “Although I’m worried sick about Tammy. She’s been gone for almost twenty-four hours now. Vanished right out of her bedroom.” Wayne pressed on. “I heard from Ken that you disappeared for a few minutes last night, too. Do you remember anything about it, and do you know where you went?” Wayne wanted answers before the school bell rang. He wouldn’t get another chance until much later in the day.

“Me? Vanish? No way, buddy. Ken must have been sniffing glue. He probably thought I disappeared when I went to the bathroom. Daft and stupid, he is sometimes. Well, most times really . . . ”

“Sniffed glue?” Wayne asked in astonishment. Some of the girls laughed out loud, but Wayne ignored them. “Does Ken sniff glue?”

“Figure of speech, mate. I didn’t go anywhere. Maybe to the bog or the kitchen. Ken must have nodded off in front of his computer and dreamt about me vanishing. Nice that old Ken still worries about his brother.”

“Ken said you beat him at everything you played . . . ”

The memory brought a smile to Ben’s face. He obviously wanted to impress his girlfriends and made sure they all heard the answer.

“No, bud, I didn’t just beat Ken. I destroyed him. I showed him I’m better at that stupid game he liked so much . . . ”

Wayne stopped listening to Ben boasting. Ben, in turn, lost interest in Wayne and turned back to the girls. Wayne watched as Ben put his arm around a girl’s shoulder and pulled her towards him.

First Wayne couldn’t believe his ears, with Ben using such strange speech patterns. Now he couldn’t believe his eyes. This was not the Ben he knew. He now believed, really believed, Ken’s crazy story. This Ben was not Ken’s brother.

Wayne frowned as Ben walked away, hoping that Tammy wouldn’t change her personality when she reappeared. That would be disastrous. He liked her just the way she was. This self-complacent Ben was a pain in the . . . whatever.

“Ben,” he called, and Ben unwillingly turned towards him again. “Ken said that there was a message on your monitor, before you vanished. It asked if you wanted to play
Snap
. He said you couldn’t make it go away? Do you remember anything about that?”

Ben glared at him. He was almost snarling. Ben had never appeared so hostile before. Then the boy shook his head. “No message. Ken’s a screw-up. Now leave me alone. I’m busy.”

Wayne turned away. He was sure that Ben knew something, but Wayne was also sure that Ben wasn’t going to talk about it.

That afternoon Wayne phoned Sabie from their landline. He spoke to Diekie Malherbe who had made the video when his older brother, Frik, had disappeared.

Diekie told Wayne that Frik’s girlfriend had dropped him the day prior to the event and that Frik was really depressed. He’d taken it very badly. The only thing that Frik wanted to do was to bury himself in mindless games on the Internet. He wouldn’t talk to anyone. Not him, not any of their friends or even his parents.

“Did you see which game your brother played?” asked Wayne.

“Yes, he played
WOW
for a while, then
Shogun
.” The newspaper said that Diekie was fourteen years old. “The last game he played was
Snap
.”

A strange feeling took hold of Wayne.

“
Snap
? Are you sure?” Wayne needed to be sure. Confirmation would mean he was definitely on to something.

“Yes, you can even see the message on my video.”

Wayne immediately thought of Ben, and how Ben had changed so much in such a short time.

“After your brother had reappeared,” Wayne asked, “was he still down in the dumps over his girlfriend?”

“No,” Wayne heard surprise in Diekie’s voice even over the telephone. “No, not at all. That’s what’s so weird about all this.”

“Go on,” Wayne urged.

“He phoned another girl and asked her out. Straight away. They went for a milkshake somewhere. He’s totally over his old girlfriend. Like he just didn’t give a damn anymore.” Wayne heard Diekie snap his fingers to emphasize the sudden change in his brother.

Wayne talked a little more, just to be polite, then rang off.

To Wayne, the conversation confirmed that the game,
Snap
definitely had something to do with the disappearances of Frik and Ben. Yet there was a massive difference between what had happened to Ben and Frik, and what had happened to Tammy. Tammy had not come back, old or changed personality notwithstanding. So, had
Snap
something to do with what had happened to her?

The previous night he had tried everything to make
Snap
appear on his computer, but nothing had happened. According to Ken, Ben had said the message had appeared without any warning and that it didn’t want to go away or couldn’t be closed. So, Ben had no choice but to play. Why was that? What was it with this game that made it appear to Ben and Frik but not to him?

There was no obvious answer to Wayne. He was about the same age as the other two, they all had PC’s rather than Apple computers. There seemed to be no difference where the machines were placed, or which sort engines they used. All had used Google. So, what was different? Before the game, Diekie’s brother was down because his girlfriend had dropped him. But Ben hadn’t been dumped. But, perhaps Ben was miserable too, because Ken kept beating him on the computer. So, both Frik and Ben could have been feeling low. Assuming they were depressed, Wayne wasn’t. Okay, he had the assignment to do, but that didn’t get him down. He felt good because . . . It took him a while to admit it. He felt good because he really liked Tammy. And she really liked him.
Didn’t she?

Wayne tried to picture the four people he was puzzling over, Ben, Frik, Tammy and himself. It was a bit confusing, so he decided to put his thoughts down on paper.

Wayne went to his bedroom and sat behind his desk-cum-worktop and pulled a pad of paper closer. He opened the pad at the center spread to give him maximum writing space, and wrote on top of the page:

Ben; Frik; Tammy; Me

Underneath both Ben and Frik he wrote:
feeling bad, Internet games.

He looked at Tammy’s name. She was feeling okay, wasn’t she? She was happy with their relationship.

Wayne pictured Tammy’s face and tried to remember the last thing she had said. That he could come over to her house? That was true and . . . Nothing wrong there. So, he would go to her house and
get his stupid printout!
Of course, she said stupid, so she was cross. She must have been cross with him. What had he done? Wayne couldn’t remember. Had she had her hair cut and he hadn’t noticed? No, Tammy wouldn’t get cross because he hadn’t noticed something, she’d just think he was unobservant. It had to be something more serious.

Wayne dug deep into his memory. He pictured himself just before they parted. He was standing there, gazing at her cute little face and laughing. What were they laughing at?
Oh no
, he thought,
he
was laughing, Tammy wasn’t. The last time he had seen Tammy he had laughed at a big zit on her face.

She had been feeling bad about it . . .

And he had laughed
.

A wave of guilt threatened to engulf Wayne. Tammy had been feeling bad and he had made her feel worse. Much, much worse. He felt such a fool. He had made her feel bad and she had still gone off to do his homework. Damn! He really didn’t deserve her.

Was that the common thread, feeling bad? All three of the disappeared were depressed about something.

Immediately he wrote
feeling bad
beneath Tammy’s name.

His eyes caught the word
Internet.

All three of them had been busy on the Internet, because it seemed as if Tammy had vanished from in front of her machine. He wrote
Internet
underneath Tammy’s name. So, three depressed teenagers were on the Internet when they disappeared. Could that really be the key to what made
Snap
appear? It still didn’t seem right. How can a computer, a non-living machine, possibly know how anyone feels?
Impossible
, he thought, unless there was something behind the machines . . .

If there was, something extraordinarily strange and sinister was happening.

But where was Tammy? Why hasn’t she reappeared? What was the difference?

Wayne looked at his notes. Should he work himself into a bad place, a depressed state, then go on the Internet and see if the
Snap
message appears?

And if it appears, what then? Will he also disappear and reappear again? And what if he comes back changed, with a different personality?

Maybe he should run it past his dad. Perhaps his dad could be with him while he tried to get the message up on his screen, so that someone will know what’s going on if he disappears, too.