SWNOVELS Chapter 2247
The mist was thickening, swirling with an ominous darkness that seemed to breathe on its own. Wayne peered into its depths, a sense of dread creeping up his spine.
The first time he had encountered this strange fog, it hadn't been dark at all.
He stared into the undulating mist and murmured, "So it was you all along, morphing out of this thing, huh?"
The mist twisted and churned, and as it finally dispersed, there stood another Wayne, a mirror image of himself yet distressingly disheveled. Drenched to the bone, his frame was gaunt, a shadow of his former self.
"Your condition is a reflection of my fear, or the lack thereof," Wayne said, his tone even.
"Condition?" The man glanced at himself and let out a sickly chuckle, "You think I've become this because you're not scared of me anymore? Wayne, love really did a number on your brains, didn't it? This, this is because I'm merging with you, slowly but surely. What's disappearing from me is integrating into you."d2
"Is that so?" Wayne quipped, the corner of his mouth curling into a sneer.
The mist began to gather around the other Wayne again, threatening to engulf him completely.
"Back off!" he snarled, flailing his arms in disgust and shouting with loathing.
His eyes, filled with venom, fixated on Wayne, "Soon, we'll be one and the same. And when that happens, no shrink will be able to tell I still exist. Penn will sign the discharge papers just like his old man Osmond did. And then... oh, Wayne, when the time is right, I'll seize my moment. Just like Ayden did to Betsy, I'll tear Rosalynn apart!"
He paused, a wicked idea sparking in his eyes as he stared at Wayne, "I'll do it in front of your kiddos. Your little girl, she loves to draw, doesn't she? I'll have her use her mother's blood to paint the gruesome scene. Haha, quite the picture, don't you think?"
His words were chilling to the bone.
A wave of rage and terror shook Wayne's composure for an instant.
The fear fed the other Wayne, his surrounding mist quietly dissipating, his sunken eyes filling out slightly. He embodied Wayne's base instincts, his deepest dreads.
Wayne had seen Betsy's autopsy report while investigating Ayden's case, those images were seared into his psyche.
And now, haunted by nightmares where Betsy's face morbidly morphed into Rosalynn's, he feared he might, in a moment of madness, kill Rosalynn just like Ayden had killed Betsy. It was Wayne's greatest fear The other Wayne's lips twisted into a smug grin.
"If you want to prevent this, you know what you must do, right?" he said, moving closer, exuding a musty smell that Wayne recognized from the attic where he'd found Ayden's diary.
"Die." The sinister whisper slithered into Wayne's ear, "Only your death can ensure your wife's safety. So, what's it gonna be? Let me lurk in the shadows, ready to kill Rosalynn in front of your son and daughter, or you end it all right now. Make your choice."
"Are those my only options?" Wayne asked, his gaze piercing.
The other Wayne's grin faltered, replaced by anger, "Yes, it's either you or her!"
Wayne shook his head. "I choose a third option."
"Third option?" The other Wayne frowned, confusion knitting his brow.
Unbeknownst to him, the mist was gathering behind him once again.
"You die," Wayne said coldly, stepping closer. With a forceful shove, he pushed the man back into the creeping fog.
The other Wayne's face twisted in horror as he fell backward, the mist wrapping around him before he could escape.
Wayne sat back, his face icy and resolute, not a trace of the amiable man he was known to be after his memory loss.
"I've been foolish," Wayne muttered, watching the struggling figure within the mist. "How could you be a part of me? I should have realized that every bit of me, from flesh to soul, belongs to my dear Rosa. How could letting her die ever be a choice for me?"