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| IMPOSTER BY MARIQUA |
CHAPTER 51 |
More than the voice...even more was what Slider saw happen before his eyes as the lingering trail of the words evaporated into the air. The body in front of him shifted into a new state - rising up as if from a dormancy, and every physical and mental aspect of Todd that had been familiar was now completely unfamiliar. His dead eyes clicked on and a developing, razor sharp intelligence seemed to have taken over.
Unconsciously Slider's lower lip dropped as he saw something that he didn't believe was actually taking place. A pair of eyes stared brazenly at him, and the hunched body had straightened up into to a prouder, more relaxed bearing.
"Hello... Slider."
In the seconds that had passed, Slider had witnessed a transformation that had left him tingling with a sensation of unknown origin. He should have been frightened, but something else was charging him with currents of intense feeling. This was the world he had hungered for in some part of himself - the world of unknowns and deep, dark secrets. His fear had been replaced by an overwhelming need to know more.
Speaking at last, he mouthed what he knew was a normal reaction, but inside he knew he was dead wrong.
"Z?"
"Forget it, Slider...you know I'm not Z."
More minutes passed as Slider digested the words spoken from the new being in front of him. Okay...I'm not going nuts...this is too weird...
Another boy would have laughed it off and dismissed it as a prank, but Slider's mind was not that of an average teenager. Already he had reached a conclusion that few would have done, and he had no doubt anymore that another intellect was inhabiting the body of his friend. He knew Todd...knew him as well as anyone else could. No, you're not Z!
Viki walked the long path down to the front and sat down -- trying to prepare herself for the emotional release that might come as she talked about her late brother. Making her way down the aisle, she had observed that those who were attending had all in some way been connected to him, and though many of the connections had long since been broken, they were still there to pay their respects. It didn't matter to her if any of them believed anything that she said. She knew that those who had loved and tried to understand him, would be willing to listen.
I still don't know quite what I'm going to say, Todd...your last day in Llanview was full of treachery, and worst of all, you never even got a chance to say goodbye to your little girl. Then there's Tea. You've left her a widow who will probably forever wonder who you really were. Is this what we're left with? Maybe not. There has to be some sort of legacy...and no, I don't think you and Victor were ever the same. That night...the night you left Tea in the country...you were going on a journey to find yourself, weren't you? I felt it.
Max Holden half-yawned and eyed the woman sitting next to him lasciviously. Why are we here in this place when we could be elsewhere having a good time?
You dragged me here...something about putting on a good face...and now I have to sit here and listen to Viki talk about her warped brother. Blair Manning kept her eyes straight ahead and a film of mist began to cloud her eyes. What am I going to tell my baby? This is so typical of you, Todd! You leave, and I have to explain everything to her...someday she'll know all about you, and you won't be here to help her deal with any of it.
Sam sat down next to Viki and Jessica. Not once had he wondered if she would be strong enough to talk about her brother. You'll be fine...we both will.
"Want to know who I am, Slider?" the voice almost spat back at him, and Slider's body jerked involuntarily.
"Whe...where is he?" Slider asked suddenly, his curiosity beginning to build and all his boyish imagination fueling the existence of this nightmare.
"I told you...weren't you listening? He's gone...he's history!"
Suddenly Slider's amazement began to change and simmer into a slow boil. From the day he had first met Todd, he had known that he would look out for him...protect him in any way that he could. He didn't like what he was hearing, and as outlandish as it all seemed, he recognized the threat to his friend immediately.
Before he knew what he was doing, he had lunged at the boy sitting across from him and grabbed his shirt in his fist.
"What have you done with him? Who the hell are you?"
Looking down at the fingers clutching his shirt, the green and gold-flecked eyes slowly moved up to stare boldly back at the crazed eyes of his attacker -- as if completely unruffled by Slider's reaction.
"Don't lose it, Slider...you're smarter than that. My name is...Nick."
Slider's grip loosened, and he inched away as he heard the last word uttered.
"It's no joke, Slider...no one's jerking your chain...this is for real."
'Dr. Liu? What can I get you today?" a friendly voice said from behind the cafeteria counter.
"The usual, Betty...I'm not into splurging right now," Sherry said as she looked at a tray of cream pies down the line.
"You're too disciplined, Dr. Liu. Every day, the same...chicken salad and fruit. You need to live a little."
"Maybe I will, Betty...I'm just not quite there yet," she said smiling. Moving down the line, she passed the tray of desserts and then backed up again. A very large slice of coconut cream pie seemed to be beckoning to her. "Oh why not?" she thought and put the slice down on her tray quickly. I'm in such a rut...in everything...I need this!
As she walked over to sit at the table she usually occupied during the lunch hour, she noted that it had already been taken. A smaller table in a corner was vacant and she hurried to get to it before someone else did. Finally...I've been waiting to have some time to myself all day.
Sherry put creamer into a large cup of steaming coffee. She didn't usually drink coffee during the day, but after her sleepless night, she knew she needed some. The ER had been relatively quiet in the morning, but anything could happen later. All her mental faculties had to be primed again for action. This month she had been scheduled for two Saturdays. Normally she welcomed her weekend time at the hospital, but now she felt as if it were some kind of intrusion into her life -- a life that was becoming more complicated by the minute.
She'd been up at the crack of dawn to get ready for her early morning stint in ER, and the demands of the day had kept her mind occupied. Lurking just outside her professional demeanor was a nagging sense of disorder that she needed to clean up. That disorder could be defined in one name -- Nick.
Nick's presence had done more than she ever would want to admit. Somehow his infiltration into her life and Slider's was causing all her patterns of behavior to shift -- whether she wanted them to or not. What's more she now had evidence that she didn't even really know what her subconscious mind was capable of. As horrible a thought as it was to face, she had to admit to herself that she was just as responsible for her response to Nick when he had kissed her. He's not totally to blame... It wasn't as simple as just wanting a man to pay attention to her. She'd had plenty of that, and she had occasionally dated casually for brief periods. Nothing ever came of it, though, because she had an innate loyalty to one man. Yet...another man had just challenged that loyalty in a big way -- playing with her focus and disturbing the safety zone she lived in.
Taking a last bite of pie, she checked her watch. Time to go...but I still need more time to think. It will just have to wait...all of this.
As Viki walked slowly to the podium, all eyes followed her. There had been no special effects...no music -- just an oppressive silence intermingled with a few coughs and sneezes. A last minute squeeze of Sam's hand had helped to reinforce his support, and she had silently thanked God that he had been brought into her life. Her blue eyes deepened into a warm gray as she looked out at her audience.
"Todd Manning...was my brother" she began and once again she surrendered to the strong feeling of pride for a brother that she knew she rightfully should never have felt proud of. Here I go, Todd...this is just for you...
Slider's legs did not move from the same spot even though his mind kept ordering him to get out while he still could. He had a choice now. Something had happened to his friend, which was almost too bizarre for him to comprehend. It would have been easy to just leave and forget everything he had seen. Maybe Todd would be back to normal in a few days, and they could have a good laugh over it. That thought was only a fleeting one because in his heart he knew that there had been some kind of breakdown. A sadness had crept in, too, as he realized that Todd might not be coming back any time soon - if at all. Whoever it was that was talking knew of him, though, and Slider hoped that he could somehow persuade him to bring Todd back.
"Okay...whatever you say," Slider said diplomatically and removed his hands from Nick's shirt.
Nick stood up suddenly as if signifying that the show was over. "Don't worry, Slider...it'll get easier to take once you get to know me."
Slider's anger rose again, and he forgot that he was trying to placate this new persona.
"I don't want to know you...I want Todd to come back!"
"You're going to have a long wait then," Nick said in a patronizing manner and patted Slider's shoulder.
The hand was the same as the hand that had patted his back many times on the playing field, but the tone of the voice was nothing like that of the boy he had formed such an attachment to. It riled him that a stranger would take this kind of liberty with him.
"Get your hands off me!" he shot back and leveled a look that caused Nick's eyes to widen.
Nick's eyes changed and slanted, and he cocked his head to one side as if to assess his competition.
"Good! At least you're straight that I'm not him anymore."
He walked slowly around Slider and inclined his head in the direction of the hallway. "Careful...we may wake up his Daddy."
Slider looked hard at Nick as he heard this. He had picked up the inflection when Nick had said "Daddy" and his attitude that Peter Manning was not his father.
"Look, Nick...or whoever you are," Slider tried again to make some sense out of everything he had seen. "What's going on? Why did you call me to get over here? What happened here tonight?" What happened to make my closest friend turn into some some kind of schitzo?
The questions tumbled out into the somber stillness of the room as Slider felt the urge within him to get the truth at any cost. I'm going to stay here until you tell me.
"What happened?" Nick repeated back to him in a husky, broken whisper, and the echo of the question channeled down through the murky waters of Slider's consciousness as another sound revived him.
"Slider.....Slider! Hey..snap out of it!
Slider returned to the present, and leaned his body forward in the chair in an attitude of readiness . "I remember now...I remember I waited and waited for some kind of explanation and I never got one. I'm not waiting any more, Nick..."
