“Just what the doctor ordered: a bit of stress relief.” He sighed with a laugh. I couldn’t move; I was frozen to the bone marrow. My other me approached Bruno, only to take his pulse. He kneeled down and carelessly put his hand on my fallen comrade’s neck. “Thank God I didn’t kill him, that’d been a waste of materials for Bruno.” He turned to look at me. “You didn’t really think you came to my doorstep on a whim, correct? You should know, I plan things to the root.” He dipped his finger in the puddle of my unconscious friend’s blood and proceeded to put it in his mouth. I raised my guard again, as if I could fight him, and tried to keep my heart calm. He continued talking. “Now, I know what you’re thinking. Why would I bring you all the way here to do this to you, when I could’ve done it at any time?” I wasn’t really thinking that. To be honest, I don’t think I was thinking about anything. Panic blocked me from doing anything at that moment. “Well, you see, truth be told… I’m dying. Now wait! I know, I know. We’ve enough illnesses in our bodies to ALWAYS be dying, right?” he joked. The sick bastard joked. “…but this is a special kind of illness. I got a little carried away, and ended up getting my body infested by some nasty nanotech. I’m not going to lie now, they’re eating my organs up!” He smiled at me and then pointed at both Bruno and Gabriel. “And it’s not just me, I got my brothers infected too. So we really need you as donors…” His eyes pierced mine like spears going through the air. I never thought I’d be so intimidating. He seemed to be expecting me to answer him, yet he seemed amused by me being paralyzed in fear.

“What do you need?” I innocently asked trying to keep my head cool. He laughed out loud in a strenuous matter and gave me a pat in the shoulder as if I were some sort of kid trying to understand something too difficult.

“Why, everything. From those useless lungs, to those efficient muscles. I’ve been cutting it real close, lately. I mean, that thing barged in here with its tendrils, and all. Murdered all my staff! Can you believe it? I fought it off thanks to my Gabriel and Bruno, though I don’t know where it went…The point is, this body of mine doesn’t have that much fight left in it.” Amidst the nonsensical rambling (nonsensical at the time, at least), a cold sensation ran through me; I felt a needle pierce my chest. He injected me with something without me being able to react, all in a swift move far too fast for anyone to have seen it. I fell on my friend’s blood and let its warm sensation soothe the cold that was slowly invading my body. “Not that you care about any of that!” he yelled in victory while he proceeded to pull a cellphone out of his pocket.

“According to plan?!” Gabriel said as he crawled forward. “You mean the Resistance, and even Rud…?!”

“Rud?” my doppelganger asked. “Oh! That useless excuse for a man?! The one who drove you here?! Nahh! He wasn’t in on the plan, his destiny was just to become dog food!” He clapped so what used to be a white wall besides us became a screen that flashed with color. It was some sort of bendable TV system that could turn into a wall at will or something. I’m still not sure of what it was. The only thing I do know is that it was the instrument that revealed to us poor Rud’s faith.

Rud’s screams invaded the reaches of our ears as we saw how a group of wolf-looking dogs tore through his clothing and mauled on his skin. His hands were tied, and a piece of cloth was stuck in his mouth, yet his screams were not muffled enough to be inaudible. Whatever system was recording the event would morbidly zoom in on the areas of his body that began bleeding heavily. The pack slowly broke through his flesh and muscles, digging deeper into the insides of his carcass; his pained moans dug into my brain while Gabriel and I saw how parts of his organs were flung to the sides: the animals were not hungry, they were just murderous. “Stop!” he cried, “Please!” he begged, “Just kill me!” he pleaded towards the end, but my other self just watched entertained. It took 10 minutes for his screams to cease, and all we were left with was the sight of life leaving what little was left of his face and eyes, effectively releasing him of a heinous torture.

Gabriel looked down at his blood with eyes open, questioning to himself if he was going to die here. I felt fear, but was mostly angry. How could I have let this happen? How could someone who was like me in principle turn so evil? How could I not avenge the lives he had taken in my name? A fury that I had never felt before invaded the reaches of my body. Standing up was futile at the moment, but I tried anyway. The emotions that had made their way into me before began burning up, making me feel like I could fight to win. I struggled with myself, but managed to make my body stand on its knees with my arms against the ground. I thought I could beat him. I believed in myself. My doppelganger looked at me with pity, however, and that sensation of strength quickly vanished as he smashed my extended left hand under the heel of his shoe. I heard every bone in it snap; I felt every vein break and every bit of blood gush out as if a balloon had popped. I thought that wouldn’t stop me. I would defeat him; I would not let him drag my good wishes for the world through the mud. I would avenge my friends. I felt pain, but I suspect whatever he injected me with had numbed the sensation by a mile. I stared at him with all the anger I had, and all he did was give me a look that showed regret, probably at having had to damage his “donor”. He looked at me while drawing that comforting smile I always try to give to people when they’re sad on his face. He sighed in relief before giving one final comment.

“Welcome to our dimension. Enjoy your brief stay.” I felt his fist hit my face against the floor, and then everything started going black. The last thing I saw was a string of black liquid oozing out of his hand, something he noticed in horror.