Doppelgänger

14. Corner of the Past

The safest route to get to district two is through the forest. A small alley behind a church near the city library will later connect to a secret path close to the forest. He said the ORION people would not pass this path because they did not know it existed. The path that has been prepared by my father, who knows when will certainly be able to help me get through them by minimizing the danger in sight.

On the fifth day, I spent more time studying the maps and notes given to me by my parents. I even re-recorded and marked several other points to understand them better later. When I really understood the map, I suddenly thought of something. Why did Mother and Father tell me to go to town first if I would pass through the forest in the end? It's not that I can start the journey from there because if I think about it, I can take the secret path if I start the journey from my house near the forest there.

I was suspicious for a while, asking myself what they had hidden from me. Did they want me to find something in the city, so they sent me here first?

Because what happened during these five days accidentally awakened a memory from a remote corner of the past of me ever seeing a flash through my doppelganger. This vision was seen as my first and last flash because, since that day, I have never can see it again for some reason.

**

[POINT OF VIEW 3]

Being an only child has never made Zack feel lonely for a moment. He has both complete parents who love him, not to mention Gayden—his black pet dog since childhood. He is always accompanied so that he never feels alone. Sometimes, his mother gives him an understanding if there is an urgent situation that causes Zack to be left alone at home, his mother says only for a short period because they will return.

After all, there's still Gayden with him, right?

So, Zack doesn't need to be afraid of the short departure of his parents.

However, one day, there was an incident that Zack had never expected before. Gayden disappears, only for Zack to leave briefly to make a sandwich. The man was starving and in the end, he left Gayden on the terrace of his house and rushed to the kitchen. However, when he returned ten minutes later, the dog was nowhere to be seen. Zack had searched every corner of the house, called him many times, and even baited him with his favorite food, but Gayden still didn't come.

Because this incident didn't happen once or twice, Zack already knew where his beloved dog had gone. Without waiting long, Zack finally went straight to a secret path that could directly connect him to the forest. The location of his house faces another house, not far behind which there is already access to the woods. Still, there is an iron fence which makes it a little tricky to get in there, considering that there could be wild animals that could approach at any time, therefore the local government anticipates this by making an iron fence so that humans can not go to the forest too often.

It's a different story for Zack, who can visit the forbidden area every three weeks, only for an excuse that his dog is too naughty and keeps going into the woods without saying goodbye beforehand. As a result, because Zack often whined when Gayden suddenly left in the past, his father made a secret path into the forest for the man to pass when he wanted to find his dog.

Zack's father checked the surroundings for several days before finally letting Zack in there. Initially, the boy was always accompanied by either his father or mother. Still, as Zack grew older, he was no longer afraid to go alone. He could easily search and find Gayden in the forest even if he went alone.

Like now, because Zack has just gone through the secret path. “Gayden!” called Zack in a loud enough voice, usually Gayden would come immediately when he heard Zack's voice. Therefore he had to raise his voice.

"Gayden, let's go home!"

His two legs are increasingly bringing Zack to enter the forest, it's not that deep, so Zack still feels safe. The distance between him and the city is also relatively close, so it doesn't matter if he has to go a little further. What's more, Zack has the spirit of an adventurer. Therefore he is even happy if he can explore the forest to his heart's content when his parents are away like this. Maybe if they found out, he would have been completely scolded because Zack is rarely allowed to go alone, especially to dangerous places like this.

It was getting dark and the breeze that hit Zack's body made the man shudder because he felt cold, but he didn't stop his search. His thin lips also continued to call Gayden's name endlessly, hoping the dog would come to him soon. Less than five minutes later, Gayden finally came over to Zack, happy to have met his owner.

Who told him to leave when he looked that happy to see Zack back in the end?

Zack crouched down and took Gayden into his arms. Luckily the dog's weight wasn't too heavy, so Zack could still carry him while walking like this. When he turned around and intended to return, the man realized he had gone too far. Zack even felt confused about which path he should take to be able to return home. While waiting, he was scared when a stray dog that came from nowhere started to approach him.

Gayden immediately rebelled down from his arms, the instinct of a pet dog must want to protect his master, so he started barking loudly to drive the stray dog away. The wild dog didn't want to hear, he got closer and had a brief fight with Gayden, which made Zack scream hysterically because he was afraid. Zack quickly took a stone and threw it at the wild dog several times until finally, the dog left because Zack's throws always hit it on target.

Gayden is hurt.

With Zack's fast movements, he immediately approached Gayden and intended to carry him away to go home immediately, he was not the type of person who had to burst into tears first because he was worried about the wound. Zack will always prioritize action, so now what's on his mind is that he should immediately bring Gayden home and treat him at home.

However, one thing that Zack never expected was... when he touched Gayden's body, he saw a flash of vision at that moment.

At the end of the vision, Zack sees Gayden's dead doppelganger near his parents, who are also covered in blood.

Not yet surprised by the flash of vision, Zack was surprised first by a hand that suddenly touched his shoulder. As soon as he turned around, the man found his mother and father looking at him worriedly. Without many words, Father replaces Zack to carry Gayden to the house, and mom immediately leads him to follow. Maybe they both thought that day that he was too shocked by Gayden's condition, not with Zack, who had just seen flashes of the death of the three of them.

At that time, Zack had never told his father and mother about his visions, he still kept a little secret of his ability because Zack thought it was just a glimpse when he was hallucinating. So far, he had never seen flashes of his parent's death, not even with Gayden—Zack had never seen him through an animal. But why today can he see everything? And again, why could his parents suddenly come to pick him up at this place?