“There’s a box in the kitchen. It can be pulled.”
“Then the fire department would come?”
Theena nodded, but neither of them moved. They weren’t anxious to go out into the hallway. Bill scanned the ceiling for a sprinkler. There was one over the bed, but he had no way of setting it off. For this first time in his life, Bill wished he smoked.
“Maybe I can talk to him.” Theena chewed her lower lip. “Manny and I have an understanding.”
“That’s not Manny.”
“I can try anyway.”
“First let’s do something about this door.”
Theena helped him push the dresser up against it, snugged tight underneath the knob. For good measure they put the desk behind that. Bill gave the door a firm tug, but it didn’t budge.
“That should be okay. Now what?”
Theena pressed the intercom button on the box next to the light switch.
“David? It’s Theena.”
“HI, THEENA.”
“We want to help you, David. We want you to get better.”
“I’M TOUCHED.”
“I mean it. I know that this experiment hurt you. It’s not your fault.”
“I’M GLAD YOU THINK SO. OPEN THE DOOR, WE’LL TALK.”
Theena threw Bill a desperate look. He joined her by the intercom.
“David? It’s Dr. Bill May from the FDA.”“
“HELLO, BILL. HOW’S THE INVESTIGATION GOING?”
“It’s over. N-Som won’t get approval in this country.”
“TOO BAD. WE’VE ALL WORKED SO HARD. MANNY WILL BE CRUSHED.”
“Can we speak to Manny?”
“I DON’T KNOW WHERE HE IS.”
Bill took a shot. “David, you’re Manny. He’s inside you. You’re the same person.”
No response. The silence stretched. Theena tapped Bill on the shoulder.
“Is it smart to confuse him like that?”
“As far as we know, Manny’s not a killer. Only his alter ego is. Maybe a catharsis will snap him back to normal.” Bill hit the intercom button. “Manny? Are you there? Hello? Manny?”
“I JUST PICKED UP A NEW CD. WANNA HEAR IT?”
A groan came over the loudspeaker. It was feminine, undeniably sexual, and Bill could identify it from experience.
Theena looked mortified. The female voice was joined by a male one, the sounds of two people making love filling the entire underground complex.
Bill was confused. Was it a recording? How?
“I REALLY NEEDED THAT.”
Theena’s voice. That was what she’d said after she and Bill had sex the first time. But the voice that answered didn’t belong to Bill.
“MARRY ME, THEENA.”
It was Manny. Out of breath, vulnerable.
“YOU’RE SO SWEET, MANNY.”
Theena blushed furiously. She lowered her head, refusing to look at Bill.
“PLEASE, THEENA. YOU’RE THE ONLY REASON I STAY HERE. THE N-SOM-SOMETIMES IT MAKES ME CRAZY.”
“YOU KNOW IT’S SAFE, MANNY. DR. NIKOS AND I WOULDN’T MAKE YOU DO THIS IF THERE WERE ANY POSSIBLE DANGER.”
Theena put a hand over her face. The playback ended, and the room got eerily silent.
“Nikos told me to sleep with Manny. To keep him on the project.”
“Even though it was hurting him?”
Bill felt bad right after it left his mouth. They both knew what her mistakes were, and he shouldn’t keep rubbing her nose in them. But hearing her with Manny stung. It was more than jealousy. Being with Theena had made Bill feel special, and he’d hoped the feeling was mutual.
She started to cry, but caught herself. Bill could sense the courage it took her to meet his gaze. “What you and I did, yesterday…”
“Theena, don’t.”
“I need to say it, Bill. For what it’s worth, no one made me do that. I did it on my own.”
They stared into each other’s eyes. Maybe it was ego, maybe it was gullibility, but even after being lied to so many times, Bill believed her.
“DO YOU STILL THINK THERE’S NO POSSIBLE DANGER, THEENA?”
Theena jerked her head up at the speaker, and then launched herself at the intercom.
“Manny, I know you can hear me. You and David are the same person. I know you’re inside him, somewhere.”
“IT SOUNDED LIKE HE WAS INSIDE YOU A MINUTE AGO. DID YOU ENJOY THE RECORDING? I GOT IT FROM THE LATE DR. FLETCHER. IT WAS MARKED ‘MANNY AND THEENA #7’. YOU SURE KEEP BUSY.”
“Dammit, Manny! You’re not a killer! You’re my friend, and you can fight this!”
They waited for a response. None came.
“Manny?”
Silence. Had Theena gotten through to him? Was he in some grand conflict with his other self, fighting for control.
BAM!
The knock on the door startled them both. They exchanged a frightened glance.
“Theena? Bill? It’s Manny.”
His tone was meek and submissive. Theena put her hip against the dresser and began to push.
“That’s him. We can open the door.”
Bill held her back. “He could be faking it.”
“How do we know?”
Bill wished he’d paid more attention to psych class in college. He knew that all DIDs had a core personality. Manny was the core. Did the core ever know about the other identities?
Bill didn’t think so. He recalled that old Sally Field movie, Sybil. She didn’t know that people existed inside her.
But it went beyond that-Manny and David thought they were separate people.
“If that’s Manny, how did he know we’re in here? David knows we’re in his room. But if Manny just woke up, he wouldn’t know what was going on. Right?”
Another knock. “Theena? Bill? I’m okay now. Open up, I’m scared.”
Theena edged the desk back into place.
“We can’t, Manny. We don’t know if we can believe you.”
The room shook with a massive WHUMP. Bill and Theena jumped back and stared with horror at the fire ax blade poking through the door. It worked itself free, and David winked at them through the newly made hole.
“Hi, guys.”
Bill spun around, frantically looking for something he could use as a weapon. He picked up a floor lamp with a heavy brass bottom, ripping the cord out of the wall.
David chopped away at the door, making fast progress. The upper half was quickly full of holes, and every whack connected more of them together. He soon had decent sized opening.
Bill moved closer, holding the lamp like a baseball bat. When David reached his arm through to push back the dresser, Bill swung.
He connected solidly with David’s shoulder, the metal lamp vibrating in his hands at impact.
David howled like a kicked dog, his arm snaking back through the opening. They watched him move away from the door, out of view.
Bill’s breath was coming out in pants. His whole body shook with adrenaline. Theena put her hand on his back and he jumped in surprise.
“I think he’s gone.”
Bill tried to open his hands, but they refused to let go of the lamp. He took a cautious step towards the opening, trying to get a better view of the hallway.
“Is he there?”
Bill couldn’t see David, but he wasn’t going to stick his head through the hole to be sure.
“I don’t know.”
“We should make a run for it.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“THAT WAS A NICE SHOT, DOC.”
Again, they both were startled by the intercom.
“I THINK MY SHOULDER IS DISLOCATED. IF I ASK REAL NICE, WILL YOU OPEN THE DOOR AND FIX IT FOR ME?”
Bill saw no reason to answer.
“I THOUGHT DOCTORS TOOK AN OATH TO HELP PEOPLE.”
Theena pulled a drawer from the dresser and moved to smash it against the intercom. Bill held her back.
“We may need it later.”
“I can’t take his mocking.”
“I know.”
She began to tremble.
“This is my fault. This is all my fault.”
Bill managed to set the lamp down. He reached for her and they held each other.
“WHY DON’T YOU JUST OPEN UP, GET IT OVER WITH? I PROMISE I’LL MAKE IT QUICK AND PAINLESS.”
David broke out in a hysterical giggle. It was the distilled sound of homicidal madness, and scared Bill out of his wits.
“WAIT, JUST WAIT A SEC, I KNOW I CAN SAY THAT WITH A STRAIGHT FACE.”
Bill closed his eyes. This was a nightmare. No-worse than a nightmare. You could wake up from those.
“LOOK, GUYS. NO ONE IS GOING TO HELP YOU. I’VE KILLED EVERYONE ELSE. DR. FLETCHER, DR. TOWNSEND, DR. O’NEIL… ALL DEAD. YOU’RE THE LAST ONES.”