The Familiar Man

I suddenly woke up.

I found myself in a dark room, already standing.

Full of black-tuxed individuals whose identity I don’t know.

“So, how should we start?” one said while looking at me as if they were waiting for what I could suggest.

I don’t know how I ended up here again.

But it seems like the same phenomenon.

Though.

I don’t think I can see what my body is doing because of this darkness.

The same individual looked in the same direction as me, confused.

“I don’t think you should move your head a lot, Boss,” the individual said. “Since you might break your—”

“Ahk!” Before his warning could finish. A painful crack occurred from the back of my head. It made me lose my balance and had an unfortunate fall. I landed on a water puddle. As I opened my eyes, I saw a stoic variant of myself from the puddle’s reflection. What makes it more shocking is the fact that I am now covered with bandages, with a black tuxedo covering it up.

“Sorry to bother you with your way of analysis, Boss. But, it seems our spy here is about to run out of blood”

The individuals gathered around as they helped me stand up. Spy? What do they mean by that? I followed them as they led me to the supposed “spy”, leading me to an exhausted blood-covered individual tied up to a chair, facing a wall. So this is the spy? Is this spy… My enemy?

“Show me its face” I dictated. Yet, strangely, why does it sound like I’m used to doing this? Why?

As they moved the chair. It slowly revealed a man with seemingly familiar clothing, a torn-down formal attire with a face covered with swelling and bruises to the point of indistinguish. The man began to hyperventilate as he saw my sorry of an intimidating self and cried.

“Please, spare me, sir. I don’t know what happened here. I didn’t even remember working as a spy or in any sort within your field of experti—” Bang!

A metal pipe has rapidly impacted the man’s cheeks as one of the individuals controls his spouting. The same individual then looked at me as he threw me a pistol with an accompanied silencer.

“Ask him now, boss… Or shoot”

Everything suddenly went silent. From what seemed like muscle memory, I unnoticeably raised my gun and buried a bullet through the man’s fearful head. As I blankly wipe my blood-covered face in shock, questions linger once again. Who is that guy? How can he command me so easily? Is he my boss? Why does he look familiar too? Silver-haired, earring-eared.

As I hyperventilated further, my eyesight began to blur. The individual who commanded me earlier patted me and said words that were now distorted as my eardrums felt busted because of the gunshot.

How can I kill an individual? He confirmed that he’s not the enemy right? Then… how come? Just how fucking come?!

My sight went black, immediately following a thud to the blood-covered grounds.

Someone, please, give me answers.

Just what kind of life… is my other self… living here?

FLAUS’ FLAWS

I regained consciousness.

As my vision recovers, I slowly discover a man with a familiar face sitting next to me.

“Are you the right Flaus?” he asked.

I am… silenced, stunned, and questionable.

As the one who’s sitting beside me.

The one whose voice matched with unnatural accuracy.

Is the man, whom, I just shot in the head, point-blank, helplessly just about now.

“Well, judging by that reaction, I must be correct” the familiar man continues as he takes a breath to stand from the chair and begins to walk.

“I am so sorry, sir. But I think you might’ve thought of me for someone else” I respond as my eyes follow the familiar man walking around my bed.

“Ah no no no” he replies.

He continues to talk.

I used every strength I had to lift my head.

“My intellect has never failed to astonish me”

At that moment, my eyes widened.

As I realized.

“Why? Because…”

That I… Am.

“Even I don’t know how smart I am”

Strapped on the very bed I lay on top.

“So, since you are still confused about your current state. I’ll do the questioning first.”

The man stopped strolling around, stood in front of my bed, and smiled.

“So, what did you do to me there, Flaus?”

Me? There? So my assumptions are indeed correct. It explains why I’m strapped, wait… Strapped?

“You must’ve not killed me, right?”

By the time I notice, his sarcastic face is already near mine.

Shit.

My questioning is out of order.

I focused too much on myself that I forgot the obvious.

Who is this guy?

Why does he know me?

Is he the one who strapped me here?

Why?

This must’ve been the work of my dream self, that’s right.

Therefore, since he looked like he had connections with my dream self.

Then, he must be one of my enemies.

As only a flawed, knows, and befriends, another flawed.

I cleared my throat and stared back, seriously saying:

“But… I did”

Silence covered the room for a moment. The familiar man then stood up and unstrapped me. Strangely, he’s now wearing a mischievous grin.

“Do you know the answer to what am I experiencing, sir?”

He looked at me and laughed.

“Tch he, you are different from the other. Ha ha, it cracks me up”

My left brow raised by itself.

“I can tell the answers to everything, I guarantee that. But, I think this ain’t the right place to spew them.”

“And what place would it be?”

The familiar man suddenly went silent, with a serious expression. As if his life depended on this seemingly important place. He then slowly looked at me and said:

“The Children’s Park”

“...”

I’m starting to be skeptical about his cerebral claim about himself. But since he knew me, he must still know a lot more about the situation than me. That’s where it will begin, and it begins, by getting answers, from this seemingly familiar man. Though—

“Before we proceed, can I ask a question, sir?”

“Cross” he immediately replied.

“What?”

“Tch he, my name, you’ll ask for it of course.”

He opened his hand towards me, offering a handshake.

“Cross, Kleiss Cross. Nice to meet you again, Flaus Faust.”