As we walked along the sidewalk after leaving the theater, I remained in a bit of a trance. In fact, I don’t remember much of the movie. I kept coming back to the fact that Adele could not recognize her own reflection in the pictures we looked over. Sure, people can look like a doppelgänger, but you can’t look at yourself in a picture and not recognize that it’s you. Well, that’s what I told myself.

What if I’m wrong? Maybe she’s not that actress. That might be why the man I thought was Boris Karloff looked at me so strangely.

“You’re quiet. Is something wrong?” Adele’s voice brought me out of my thoughts.

“No, I was just thinking about how fun the last few days have been.”

It was an honest statement. Now, I don’t think I’m in love. Hell, I can’t even fathom what that means. But I’m enjoying our time together.

Like she read my mind, Adele wrapped her fingers with mine as she took my hand.

“I’ve been thinking that our time together these last few days means more to me than anything else we’ve done since we got married.”

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” I suddenly realized that I didn’t know when Lane and Adele got married. In my head, I cursed Lane for not putting that in his little black book. After all, I’ve read that book repeatedly until I can picture the pages in my mind.

Making a mental note to find the marriage certificate when we returned to the apartment, I changed the subject. I wanted to try something with Adele that didn’t work for me the first night in Stull Junction. If it worked, then so much the better. If it didn’t, then I have a witness.

~~~

I left the office early out of boredom after I looked over the old files until noon. Nothing in them told me anything beyond the fact that Lane had plenty of dirt on people in Stull Junction. Bluntly, I wondered how he remained alive. When I arrived back at the apartment after lunch, I found Adele in the kitchen, acting like Mrs. Cleaver from the old TV show. Wrapping my arms around her, I kissed her neck and she trembled.

"That tickles."

“Say, how about we head out of town for a few hours? Let’s look at the scenery.” I leaned my head on her shoulder.

“Plus, I’d like to make love to you in the back seat of the car,” I whispered playfully. “We can act like kids again.”

Adele’s face flushed at the suggestion, but I saw her eyes shine with interest.

Half an hour later, we reached her car. Adele asked what road.

“You pick it, my angel.” I smiled, even though I very much doubted that we were leaving the city.

After we drove several blocks away, Adele turned on to Maple Street and I noticed a few political posters in the yards of the Victorian homes that lined the street. One name looked familiar. Tom F. Winton for District Attorney showed on most of the colored poster boards. As I thought about it, the little black book informed me that the D.A. was one of the few honest officials in the town.

I pointed out the signs to Adele, who glanced at me.

“You’ve never told me you had an interest in politics.”

“Well, I have an interest in knowing the good guys from the bad ones. I heard Winton is one of the good ones.” I looked for her reaction.

“Oh, I guess he’s alright. I met him at a party with Jenny. She says he’s too much of a stuffed shirt. She likes the man running against Winton, someone named Paul Hyde.” Her face scrunched up with distaste.

“I thought Hyde was creepy looking.”

Her statement doesn’t surprise me since Hyde knew Lane Dagger and they had an arrangement of some sort. The little black book wasn’t too specific on that detail. My thoughts turned to Jenny. My initial instinct to remove Jenny from Adele’s circle seems an accurate path to take. I just needed to find the opportunity.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

When the car reached the outskirts of Stull Junction, I grew tense knowing the city limits sign wasn’t far away. Adele continued to talk about Jenny’s party life and her multiple lovers. His wife called them boyfriends, but I wasn’t buying that. Out of curiosity, I asked if she was envious of Jenny.

“Considering how close you are, it appears you admire her independence.” I kept it as neutral as possible to see her reaction.

Adele gave me a curious look and then shook her head. I noticed her face sadden at the comment.

“I admit I’ve thought about that, especially as she kept insisting that I could do better...” she glanced over when she realized what I might think about her friend.

“That doesn’t mean she hates you,” Adele insisted.

I chuckled, knowing better, even though I had never met her.

“Well, whether or not she hates me, I’ll survive as long as you’re on my side.”

Yeah, it was a trite line, easily thrown away with little thought. But it seemed to work. Adele’s smile beamed, and she reached over and took my hand.

“Don’t worry, I’m not like her. As things were falling apart between us, she supported me. Maybe I’ve done...well...” Her expression flustered as she tried to explain. I understood Adele’s personality. Her loyalty to friends made her susceptible to their bad intentions.

“We’ve both hurt each other, and I believe we can work through the issues,” I interrupted her. “Don’t beat yourself up for things you don’t have responsibility for doing.”

Adele gave me an odd look at my words. That’s when I wondered about the wisdom of my actions with Adele. In a way, I continued acting like Lane Dagger. Wasn’t I using her feelings to achieve my ends?

Doesn’t it make me a hypocritical ass for continuing a relationship with Adele?

My smile momentarily disappeared as I considered the idea again. A few days ago, I’d dismiss the thought. But Adele must be real. She carried intelligence, emotions, morals, everything I would consider being human. What happens when I eventually return to my reality? After all, that’s my goal in the end. Yes, I want to survive here, but I still want to return to my place in a world before Miss Wonderful.

Thoughts came to me about an article I remembered reading at some point. It concerned the coming of computer sentience at one time. The article concerned what we consider sentient, whether animals, plants, or computers. After entering Stull Junction, I considered everyone around me a character, not unlike a virtual avatar. I consider no one in Stull Junction a real person. When I see characters like Boris Karloff, it reinforces my belief that this place is not reality. But my logic fails me when I feel Adele’s warmth and concern!

As some famous guy stated, I think, therefore I am. If Adele thinks, she must exist. That left me with an uncomfortable thought. Because of my insistence on re-establishing our connection as a couple, I’m leaving her open to more suffering when I depart.

I haven’t cut myself yet. However, the bloody nose I gave Lloyd, along with my sore muscles after arriving here, told me that this place wasn’t a type of virtual reality. At least I didn’t think so. Doesn’t it mean that those around me exist after my departure? There’s no reset like the video games I played while sitting next to my stupid sleeping cat? If that’s the case, I’ve really become Lane Dagger by leaving.

God, that’s what I get when I learned about my moral code during my first-semester philosophy class!

“We’re almost to the city limits,” Adele’s voice brought me out of my muddled thoughts.

I looked up to see the sign approaching and my thoughts went back to the last time I tried this. My eyes followed the marker as our car approached it, and I held my breath. Still expecting a flash of light, I waited.

Nothing happened.

I glance back and see the sign behind us. I feel a growing confidence until I look out the front windshield. My vision turns blurring, then a red tint covers everything I’m looking at.

“Do you think you can leave?”

It’s a familiar voice in my head, cold and arrogant like the first time I heard it.

“Did you hear that?”

I asked, as I turned my head to Adele. Her expression immediately changed. But I’m not expecting her to suddenly slam on the brakes. Flying into the dashboard with my shoulder, my legs locked up as she brings the car to a stop.

“Lane, your eyes! What happened?”

Looking through the red haze at her terrified face, I feel liquid on my cheeks. I push myself back into the seat. Reaching up with my hand, I wipe away the fluid and see blood covering my palm.

“What the hell?” I blink my eyelids and realize the blood is coming down like tears.

Adele goes through her purse, then pulls out tissue paper, which she presses underneath my eyes.

“My god, you’re bleeding out of both eyes, Lane.”

Looking at her face crumpled in worry, I realized I must look like hell. A bit of fear fills me when the pain shoots through my head.

“Did you hear that voice?” I ask her as I fumble around, blindly trying to assist her.

“Honey, keep your eyes closed and let me do it.” Adele told me in a soothing tone, and I complied.

“You didn’t hear someone’s voice?”

“No, I was telling you that this road goes to Willoughby,” her voice trembled. “Now, here you hold these tissues over your eyes. We’re going to the hospital.”

I tried to stop her, even knowing I had already lost the argument. I’m sliding across the seat as Adele uses the road shoulders to make a U-turn. The large car bounces around a few times, forcing me to open one eye. The stabbing pain in my head makes me want to puke. I catch a peek at the damn city limits sign again as the car barrels by. Almost immediately, the pain in my head fades away. I leaned back in the seat, silently cursing the entity that did this to me.

Adele’s hand touched my shoulder, and I told her not to worry. Only the road noise made its way into the car as I recalled the voice that came through my head earlier. I knew in an instant.

That fucking bitch, Miss Wonderful!