This choice: Wake Bradley here, stay silent • Go Back...Chapter #26The Beating of a Lifetime (and Before It) by: Nostrum   You’ve spent the better part of two hours thinking about your plan, and you finally have an idea how to handle Bradley.
Though Mrs. Wilson’s plan would make things easier, there will be some issues. For one, Dennis lives in Tyneside - a 15-to-30-minute trip. Any delay will make things harder to explain to your mother. Second, clone-Dennis will be there, meaning he could throw a wrench in your plans. Third, you don’t know how the pens Dennis’s mind told you about actually work.
Sure, there are other issues (like dealing with Clara and Daniel, but you can always prepare Mrs. Wilson for that), but the last one especially complicates things. You know they work, you know how they work, but you don’t know anything else. For example, what if the cloning pen can only make one clone before shorting out? (Otherwise, why would they be selling such a potent pen at such a cheap price?)
You’ll still need to explain things to Bradley, and if you can do it there, you can do it here. That was the hardest challenge, but maybe if you test the pen Dennis planned to use on Mrs. Wilson, it might make things easier. You don’t know how it works, but if it does, then you don’t have to think of a convincing lie.
But to do so, you need to ask someone for permission. “Missus Wilson?”
She shakes her head, disturbed. “Even if I know it’s you inside, David... You still sound like him.”
“I have a plan that might work, but I need to know if you’ll allow me. It... requires using the pens.”
As you suspect, Mrs. Wilson isn’t happy with the idea. “We don’t know what they do. You said that.”
“Yeah, I know I did. But right now, the only other option is to tell Bradley everything. And to do so, you’d need to tell Vanessa everything – and if she does, she’ll have the tools to set Bradley against you.”
“That’s true...”
“I know it’s a gamble, but if we can prevent him from asking too many questions, that gives us a little breathing room. And if this works, we could use the same with your sister.”
“But we thought Mom was gonna replace Auntie Nessie...”
“After what happened?” Mrs. Wilson grimaces. “I don’t know if I should. I’d be stealing her life.”
“I know,” Jimmy says, trying to persuade her. “But let’s be honest. Maybe Auntie Nessie was good with me, but she stole the life you were supposed to have.”
“If I accept, then I should accept your father as Bradley. It’s only fair.”
“Mom? That man was gonna steal the life of a good man. Auntie Nessie stole the life you were supposed to have. It’s different.”
“It’s not!” she exclaims furiously.
“I agree it feels wrong,” you tell her, unsure of her reaction. “It’s not right to steal someone else’s life. But Jimmy’s right – she stole yours by shoving Dennis in your life. For all I know, they’re together in this.”
“Would it feel right if someone posed as your mother, David?”
“No, but if someone wronged her for a long time, I’d tell her to do it. And that’s the point. You agreed to become Vanessa to see if Bradley noticed the difference after you heard everything she had to say. Dennis ruined that for you. Don’t you think you deserve a proper chance?”
“I don’t know...”
“Missus Wilson? You deserve it. Perhaps with a different face, even though you're wearing your twin, but you two deserve to be truly happy together. Dennis doesn’t deserve to win. After all she did, you think Vanessa should?”
You notice her reticence, but she slowly comes to terms with her decision. “I wish she’d change her mind, but she won’t.”
“Well, this is your chance. Don’t think of it as stealing her life. Think of it as being a better her. Think of it as being the Vanessa that Bradley deserves.”
She chuckles, yet she can’t stop the tears. “It feels so weird when you say that in his voice.”
“So? Will you let me use the pen to see if we can fool Bradley into thinking nothing happened?”
“Sure.” She sniffs, wiping her tears. “But first, let’s teach Dennis a lesson he won’t forget.”
--
“You think this’ll work?” Jimmy asks, looking at the white pen in your hand.
“I dunno,” you respond in Heather’s voice. (You decided to return to her as a further precaution, as technically you weren’t there.) “But it should.” You click it, then point it at Bradley’s chest. You notice how the green pointer forms a little slit with a gentle swipe; you draw the pen down, and the slit becomes larger, revealing a second layer of skin inside stuck to the borders.
It takes you a while to pull it off, but soon enough you notice the man behind Bradley’s skin. Jimmy can’t deny his parentage – Dennis Wilson looks like a crook, with a buzz-shaved head, wide cheeks and a thick stubble. His lips are wide, his nose is flat, and his eyelids bulge as if constipated. You notice he’s husky, but he was probably fatter.
As soon as Jimmy looks at him, he retches. “Mom?”
“Yes?”
“How could you love me when I’m almost his twin?”
“Dude,” you say to support him. “You got more from your mom than from this guy.”
“Yeah, but I really look disgusting. No wonder girls don’t like me.”
“Girls don’t like you ‘cos you behave like a dunderhead sometimes.” He gives you a somber glare, but you riposte. “Hey - I’ve been in his mind, remember? He’s got parental issues – you, on the other hand? You love Missus Wilson.”
“Well, yeah. Mom’s worked a lot so that we had an education and stuff.”
“Well, live by her example. I mean – he's a hard worker, but your mom does too, so...”
“Stop it,” the middle-aged woman demands. “Now what?”
As she says that, you notice a little issue – the back slit seems fused. No matter how hard you pull, it doesn’t budge, and you don’t want to take any risks. “I suppose that our only option’s to wake him up.”
“But what if he threatens us?”
“He’ll wake up in a daze, ma’am. We can always tie him up.”
She hums and nods. “Can you seal that slit on his front?”
“I can try.” You test by joining the slit, to no avail. You figure sealing it must be the same procedure, and as you wave the light on the edges of the slit, they immediately fuse. You grab the black pen from the case – the one you found in Bradley’s car, hidden under his seat – and point it at Dennis’s skin. “Jimmy? Hold his arms.”
“Sure.”
“Missus Wilson, you know how to do a knot?”
“Not sure if it’ll work, but I do.”
“Good. We’re gonna make a loose knot on his arms and legs – once he reflates, it should tighten. In the meanwhile, we’ll see if we can get Bradley’s remaining skin off him.”
“Alright.” Soon, Mrs. Wilson produces two ropes from her basement, and she guides Jimmy into making a very basic knot. Then, as you click the other black pen, you see Dennis reflate, and almost immediately Bradley’s skin falls off. You grab it before it gets smushed by Dennis’s body, while Jimmy and Mrs. Wilson tighten the knot.
Soon, you hear Dennis groan. “Ugh... What happened?” He feels the knots and struggles. “Julia? What’s the meaning of this?”
“Dennis? I can’t believe you’d do this. Trying to fool me by becoming Bradley?”
He’s still probably blind, but now he’s wrongfooted as well. “How? Julia, explain to me why--?”
“There’s nothing to explain, Dennis. Vanessa swore you changed, but that was a lie.”
“I tried my best, but you still kept rejecting me!” You notice Jimmy’s about to explode, but you keep him at bay. “I sobered up. Almost ten years, Julia. But I made my peace with my alcoholism – it's never gonna go away. I still deserve to see my kids – where's Jimmy? He knows who I am?”
“I know enough.” Dennis turns his head to Jimmy’s location, and winces as light finally pours on his eyes.
“James? Is that you?”
“If you actually cared for Mom, you would’ve known.” You notice Jimmy’s hand is clenched tight into a fist, his fingers digging deep into his palm.
“Who says I didn’t? Your mother was the one who--?”
“That’s not true,” you growl, challenging his claim. “You wouldn’t care for Clara or Danny as Bradley. What makes you think you’d care about us?”
“Us?” He looks at you, terrified. “Heather?”
“So this is the creep that kept calling you?” you say, echoing her reaction.
“Heather, I’m not a creep! I’m your father! And Jimmy’s father too! I did this so we’d become a family!”
“You know that’s bullshit.” Mrs. Wilson is stunned, but you had to say it. This isn’t Heather talking anymore – she'd be angry, but she wouldn’t humiliate him. You, on the other hand... “You’d insist on making your moves once... once we’d be away from Mom. She had to work a lot of jobs to raise us, y’know.”
“I suppose she didn’t tell you about your alimony, right?”
“The alimony you paid after being five years in prison? After you violated the restriction order?”
“Jules, I wanted to see my children! You can’t deny me--!”
“You know Judge Wright ordered I’d have sole custody of my children, right? You lost that right, Dennis. And if you really cared for them, you’d have convinced Vanessa to leave Bradley alone. You were together in this.”
“I think the kids deserve to know the truth! Not just yours, mine!”
“I don’t need to hear it from you,” you say as you tear the slit on Heather’s neck, pulling her face from yours. “I already did.”
“Who are you!?”
“My best friend,” Jimmy says, grabbing Dennis’s neck. “Someone that really cares for me. Unlike you.” As his father squirms, the youngest of the Wilsons looks at his mother and makes a simple question. “Mom? Can I?”
You sense she hesitates, but ultimately, she nods. “Yeah. Go wild.”
Jimmy raises his fist as you hold Mr. Wilson still. You’ve never seen him as angry as he’s now. And with a single claim (“this is for Mom”), he delivers the first blow...  You have the following choice: 1. Continue |
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