Chapter 2

“Sometimes in life, there will be curveballs. And you got to hit them out of the park.” That was something my dad loved to say whenever I came to him with a problem. Well, Frank Specter standing in my doorway while there was a copy of me sleeping on the bed was a curveball that missed the bat altogether and hit me straight in the nuts.

Let me describe the most ridiculous situation I had ever experienced in my life until then. My kind-of-best-friend/friend-I-had-known-for-the-longest-time, Frank (this is the last time I describe him this way, I promise) was standing at the door of my house. He had supposedly broken into my house without making a squeak and looking at me with a smug look on his face. To add to the ridiculousness of the situation, someone was sleeping on the bed I had just vacated. Let me rephrase that. Not just someone, a copy of myself I had no idea existed until then. Needless to say, I was flummoxed.

“That pill really worked, huh?”. Those were first words out of my friend’s after what seemed like hours of us staring each other down. I was broken out of my reverie after he spoke those words. I was struck with the immediate temptation to punch the smug smile off his face. But one thing that I have learned in all my years of friendship with Frank was that you never take on Frank in a fight. Bad things happen if you do.

My shock was now slowly morphing into rage and frustration, at the situation and most importantly, at Frank.

“What the hell is happening here, man?” I couldn’t keep my incredulity out of tone as I demanded some sort of explanation for this ludicrous situation I had found myself in.

“First of all, let me congratulate you on your untethering. Exciting times await you, my friend.” Frank announced, acting as if I had just won the lottery.

Okay, now I was reaching my boiling point. I demanded an explanation and not some weird declaration of terms which I had no way of comprehending. I was seriously contemplating just punching the shit out of my friend, consequences be damned. But I restrained myself and enquired again with as much composure as I could muster.

“Seriously, not helping. Explain it to me in terms I can understand. And what is this ‘untethering’ stuff?”

“Why don’t you sit down first? It’s gonna be a while.” Frank calmly said.

“Dude, you better explain some things quick. I am reaching the end of my patience here.” I wasn’t feeling his calm and composed attitude, acting if this was just another banter-filled conversation between friends.

“Someone is sleeping on my bed who looks exactly like me. Last time I checked, I don’t have a twin brother and I went to bed alone. Now, my best friend is standing nonchalantly in my room as if he was supposed to be here all along when I pretty sure you broke into my house. And all this mess started with the god-knows-what pill you gave me on the account of our friendship. So, forgive me if I don’t sit down.” I was out of breath and out of fucks to give at this point and nothing he said would calm me down.

“Okay then, have it your way, “he murmured, acting as if his usually laid-back friend hadn’t just gone on an angry tirade. “To begin with, just let me say that ‘this mess’ you keep referring to didn’t start with the pills I provided out of the kindness of my heart. You’re welcome, by the way. No, the beginning of all this mess was actually the mysterious illness that has ailed you over the last couple of weeks. It was no illness, my friend, it was actually your soul or spirit or whatever fancy you want to use to describe your true being trying to leave the plane that all mortals reside in. The pill just sped up the process, taking away days of excruciating pain which you could do without.”

“I was going to die?” I asked, my brain freezing with the implications of what he had just said.

“No, why would you think that?” he asked with a puzzled look on his face as if I was an idiot.

“You just said my soul was about to leave the mortal plane. That’s literally the whacky spiritual way of saying that someone is dying.” I rambled vehemently, unable to comprehend the fact that my friend had just delivered the news of my impending doom with all the grace of a newspaper boy throwing a paper while cycling.

Frank just casually waved my concerns off saying, “Nah, mate. I just meant that your soul was no longer able to sustain itself in the mortal plane. Never mentioned anything about dying.”

“Thanks, mate, that cleared everything up. Coffee?” I couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of my tone and Frank wasn’t best pleased with me interrupting his explanation.

“Let me explain first. And don’t interrupt. In the world we live in, there are two planes, one of which ordinary mortals can’t perceive. Normally, mortals just live out their entire lives without ever becoming aware that another plane exists. But sometimes, some individuals are born special. You see, their true being, or core as we call it, differs from other beings. These cores being special means the sustenance provided by the mortal plane isn’t enough for these cores to survive. So, these souls just try to leave the mortal plane so that they can cross over to the plane we are currently in, simply known as ‘The Dimension’. This dimension contains energy called ‘miasma’, which is the energy required to sustain the core of an individual like us.”

I couldn’t help but interrupt at this point. The more Frank spoke, the more confused I became and the questions kept racing around my brain.

“Wait up, individuals like us? What does that mean?”, I enquired, wondering what was so special about me.

“Individuals like us, or ‘Untethered’ as we like to call ourselves, have the special core I talked about. The need for miasma makes it impossible for our cores to actually live in the mortal plane for long and our cores leave the mortal body we were stuck in. Hence, the term ‘Untethered’. The time it requires an individual to untether is dependent on the individual himself, but it always happens if someone has a special core. That was the reason for your illness and pains actually. Now that the untethering process is complete your ailments have also passed.” Frank explained in an attempt to assuage my concerns.

I dramatically raised my hands to address a few of the other concerns I was having.” Some questions, master. If I have untethered, what the fuck is a doppelganger of mine doing on my bed? Can the so-called ordinary mortals perceive us? And what in the name of heaven is so special about our cores that they can’t survive on ordinary mortal food. I rather like my pizza, if you don’t mind.”

Frank had an amused grin on his face as he proceeded to answer my questions, “Good questions, my good padawan. First of all, as I said, only the core can enter The Dimension, not their mortal vessels. So, that would make that doppelganger lying on your bed, your mortal body.” He finished that with a short grin, almost as if he was looking forward to my reaction to that piece of news for a long time.

“What!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” I had a mental breakdown. I am not ashamed to admit that I had a little freak out in my head and was close to jumping out of the window, just to make sure I was really hearing this stuff and not making it up in my mind. Not one of my standout personal moments, I can assure you.