Rachel and Sarah gripped the guardrail as the catwalk wobbled underneath their shoes. Yellow pipes, warning signs, and Ether propaganda posters stretched across the walls. Hazmat suits and safety hard hats hung in lockers while the scent of chemicals lingered in the air. Ether hummed along through white translucent pipes that clung to the walls like veins.
"What are we doing here, Rache?" Sarah asked as she gazed up at the Ether pipes overhead. She rubbed her shoulders, her eyebrows lowered as she looked behind her. "Maybe it's just me, but I feel like I am being watched."
"That's because we are being watched, and whatever you do, don't light anything on fire, please," Rachel replied as she leaned over the guardrail, staring down at the core of the reactor underneath them. "We need to get to that," she explained, pointing at the core below.
Sarah glanced over the guardrail and then looked around. "I don't like this. Getting real bad vibes about this place," she muttered, then crossed her arms as she followed Rachel down the catwalk.
"You will live," Rachel replied as she opened a door.
A long corridor, bathed in red light that resembled Rachel's home, appeared on the other side of the door. She blinked heavily, closed the door, and looked at Sarah with a perplexed expression. Sarah's eyebrows raised as she took a step back. Rachel opened the door again to see the same hallway.
"What the hell is going on?" Sarah asked as she stood behind Rachel. "I must be hallucinating."
Rachel shook her head. "You're not hallucinating...I see it, and I don't like it."
"We should go," Sarah muttered as she glanced down. "This is like the horror movies. We're going to die if we go in there."
Rachel focused on the red light, painting the hallway in neon red. She sighed and balled her hands into a fist as she stared down the hallway. "Just stay close," Rachel said as she took a step into the hallway.
Sarah groaned and breathed deeply as she grabbed Rachel's arm. "You are fucking crazy," she muttered as her arms trembled as she gripped Rachel's hoodie. "Is this Emily doing?"
Rachel shook her head. "I don't think so," she replied as they started to walk, and the door slammed shut behind them.
Sarah rushed towards the door, attempting to open it, but to no avail. She crouched next to the door, then pulled at her hair as her eyes widened. "We are fucked....we are so fucked!"
"Rachel helped Sarah to her feet, then looked her in the eyes. "I need you to trust me, okay. We are not in any danger, physically. You need to keep your shit together, okay?"
Sarah nodded as she breathed out of her mouth, staring wild-eyed down the corridor.
Multiple doors aligned the hallway, each with numbers that resembled binary code. The numbers glitched in and out of existence as they looked at them. A faint music box tune played behind the door at the end of the hallway. The air was static with the lingering scent of old electronics, carpet freshener, and perfume.
"Ⱨ₥₥₥₥...Ⱨ₥₥₥....₥₥₥.. Ⱨ₥₥₥₥...Ⱨ₥₥₥...₥₥₥...Ⱨ₥₥₥₥...Ⱨ₥₥₥..₥₥₥₥," the music box hummed from behind the door.
Rachel reached for the doorknob, but the door remained locked. She turned back around and glanced up at the other doors. Sarah leaned on the wall, rubbing her arms as she looked down at the carpet. She looked up and noticed the light switch hanging over her head. She reached for it, then pulled it, and the neon red lights that bathed the hallway faded to an off-white. Rachel's eyebrows raised as she glanced around, then gestured for Sarah to pull the light switch once more. The red lights appeared once again, and the music box tone played behind the door once more.
"Ⱨ₥₥₥₥...Ⱨ₥₥₥....₥₥₥.. Ⱨ₥₥₥₥...Ⱨ₥₥₥...₥₥₥...Ⱨ₥₥₥₥...Ⱨ₥₥₥..₥₥₥₥," the music box hummed from behind the door.
"Pull it twice," Rachel ordered Sarah as she looked up.
Sarah nodded, then pulled the light switch twice. The hallway remained bathed in red light, but a door creaked open. She glanced at Rachel with worried eyes, then slowly walked towards the open door. The door slammed shut behind Sarah, trapping her inside just as Rachel reached the door.
Rachel banged on the door and then pulled at the doorknob, but it remained locked.
"Sarah!?" Rachel yelled as she kicked the door. "Shit," she grumbled to herself when there was no response. She reached for the light switch and pulled it three times, and another door opened.
Rachel took a deep breath as she walked through the door, and then it slammed shut. Her eyes widened as she gazed around her room, bathed in red light. Volleyball trophies, posters, and broken cassette tapes were scattered across the floor. There were no windows, and the stench of dirty clothes, drugs, and regret lingered in the air. Several Gloom pills were hidden in the carpet fabric and the bed sheets on her bed.
Polaroid pictures from another timeline cluttered the walls, depicting memories of her and Emily. Rachel shook her head, unable to recall when she took these photos. She picked up a Polaroid, and the image came alive in a flash of static, like a movie, as her hands rubbed across it.
"Em, how much did you bring?" Rachel, in the photo, asked as she flipped her backpack over her shoulder. "What is that?" She wondered as Emily grabbed a luggage suitcase from the trunk of a car.
"It's my art supplies," Emily replied as she dropped the luggage on the ground, then pulled out several bookbags before shutting the trunk of the car.
"Is all that necessary?" Rachel asked as Emily struggled to position her belongings on the suitcase.
"I am an art major. Gotta have my stuff for class."
"You're going to take up all our closet space with your junk! The professors would give you everything you need.
Emily rolled her eyes. "I have a specific type of colored pencils I like. I am not going to be using Crayola in college."
"What's the difference?" Rachel shrugged as they started to walk towards the college dorm rooms.
"You can only apply so many layers with generic colored pencils. The wax doesn't cut it for serious works of art. You go cheap, you get cheap results."
Rachel rolled her eyes. "Whatever, just save some room for me, Miss Fancy Pants."
The Polaroid image stopped playing in a burst of static. Rachel let the picture fall to the carpet as her eyes darted from side to side. She shook her head, then looked around her room.
"These are not my memories... they're from another Rachel from another universe," she muttered to herself as she gazed at the other Polaroids hanging on the wall.
Rachel turned her head as the door creaked open. She returned to the hallway, looking up and down it for any sign of Sarah, but she was nowhere to be found.
"Ⱨ₥₥₥₥...Ⱨ₥₥₥....₥₥₥.. Ⱨ₥₥₥₥...Ⱨ₥₥₥...₥₥₥...Ⱨ₥₥₥₥...Ⱨ₥₥₥..₥₥₥₥," the music box hummed from behind the door at the end of the corridor.
She sighed and then reached for the light switch once more. She pulled it three times, and another door opened, closer to the end of the hallway this time.
Rachel found herself at Mel's Diner. Her eyes narrowed as she watched Emily sit across from another Rachel, wearing an oversized flannel shirt, ripped black jeans, and a leather jacket patched up with various metal band insignias. Her bright red highlights glowed underneath the fluorescent lighting. Neither Emily nor the other Rachel seemed to notice as she sat down at the mulberry dining booth alongside them.
A popular grunge band played on the jukebox as Rachel stared out the window at her Red Miata. A streak of blue reflected off the hood, which came from the electric blue Mel Diner sign outside. As teenagers gossiped beside their parked cars, stars were speckled in the midnight sky.
"Why did you pick the red one?" Emily asked as she cut into her pancakes.
"Well, they didn't have Pink Miata at the dealership," Rachel responded, turning her head back to Emily. She chuckled when she saw Emily's milk mustache.
Emily smirked. "You should have got the black one. Everything is better painted black."
"Keep talking, and you will be walking to your next show," Rachel replied as she stuck a fork in Emily's pancakes.
Emily chuckled. "Remember when we first met? You were out jogging and stumbled upon me practicing with my band in my garage."
Rachel took a sip of her orange juice. "And I said. You're loud, in a good way. Then you said. You're loud in a bad way. I haven't forgiven you for making fun of my clothes."
"Now we are dating. Was it the music or my sense of style?"
Rachel rolled her eyes. "Neither, it was your passion. Also, Static Veins is a horrible band name."
"I will convert you eventually, Rache. You like pop music, but that's not who you are on the inside."
"And what might that be?"
"You got a little darkness to you. You hide it very well as the volleyball captain and prom queen."
"Maybe that's just you rubbing off on me? Anyway, I got to use the bathroom," Rachel laughed as she got up and headed towards the bathroom. "Don't eat my pancakes!" She yelled as she glanced back at Emily.
Rachel got up and followed her doppelganger. The bathroom door groaned open, a low, guttural sound that echoed in the pit of Rachel's stomach as she stepped inside. The air was thick and sour, reeking of disinfectant and stale tobacco, coating her throat like a second skin. Above, a lone fluorescent light buzzed and sputtered, its pale glow pulsing in sync with her racing pulse, casting jagged shadows across the checkered floor that seemed to twist under her feet.
"₳ Ⱡł₮₮ⱠɆ Đ₳Ɽ₭₦Ɇ₴₴ ₴ⱧɆ ₴₳Ɏ₴," Rachel Static Doppelganger chuckled in the mirror. It grinned as Rachel's eyes widened. "₮Ⱨ₳₮₴ ₱Ʉ₮₮ł₦₲ ł₮ Ⱡł₲Ⱨ₮ⱠɎ."
"Leave me alone," Rachel replied as she stepped back from the mirror. Her eyes teared up as her heart raced.
It crawled out of the mirror, grinning from ear to ear. "₴₮łⱠⱠ Đł₴₴Ø₵ł₳₮ł₦₲ ₩ł₮Ⱨ ɎØɄⱤ₴ɆⱠ₣ ⱧⱤ₥₥₥₥?" It asked as it trailed its sharp nails across Rachel's face.
Rachel curled up into a ball in the corner of the bathroom. The flickering lights overhead began to pulsate an eerie red. A hum formed in her mind, making it hard for her to think.
"ⱧØ₩ ⱠØ₦₲ ₳ⱤɆ ɎØɄ ₱Ⱡ₳₦₦ł₦₲ ₮Ø ₭ɆɆ₱ ₮Ⱨł₴ ₵Ⱨ₳Ɽ₳ĐɆ ₲Øł₦₲ Ɽ₳₵ⱧɆⱠ?" It asked as it gazed up at the flickering red light.
"I don't know what you are talking about."
It chuckled as it loomed over her. "₮Ⱨł₴ ₮ł₥ɆⱠł₦Ɇ, ₮ⱧɆ₴Ɇ ₱ɆØ₱ⱠɆ ₩ØɄⱠĐ ₳ⱠⱠ ₴₮łⱠⱠ ฿Ɇ ₳ⱠłVɆ ł₣ ɎØɄ Ⱡł₴₮Ɇ₦ɆĐ ₮Ø ₥Ɇ."
"I didn't know what would happen!" Rachel yelled as tears trickled down her face.
"Ⱡł₮₮ⱠɆ Ⱡł₳Ɽ," It hissed, its voice screeching like nails on a chalk board. ₮ⱧɆ₦ ɎØɄ ⱠØ₵₭ ₥Ɇ ₳₩₳Ɏ ₮Ø ⱤɆ₱Ɇ₳₮ ₮ⱧɆ ₴₳₥Ɇ ₥ł₴₮₳₭Ɇ₴ ØVɆⱤ ₳₦Đ ØVɆⱤ ₳₲₳ł₦!" It yelled as it picked Rachel up by the hair.
"I just wanted to save Emily."
"₳₦Đ ₴ⱧɆ ł₴ ₮ⱧɆ Ø₦Ɇ ₵₳Ʉ₴ł₦₲ ₳ⱠⱠ Ø₣ ₮Ⱨł₴!"
The bathroom door jolted open, and as Rachel stepped through, she found herself back in her hallway once more.
"Ⱨ₥₥₥₥...Ⱨ₥₥₥....₥₥₥.. Ⱨ₥₥₥₥...Ⱨ₥₥₥...₥₥₥...Ⱨ₥₥₥₥...Ⱨ₥₥₥..₥₥₥₥," the music box hummed from behind the door at the end of the corridor that creaked open.