Case File 13 #3 (15 page)

“Whoa!” Carter chomped a mouthful of chips. “You're saying I was in here just a minute ago?”

“Not you,” Angelo said. “Your doppelgänger. It sucked some energy from you to create itself. That's why you got the stomachache.”

“Dude, that is totally awesome!” Carter dug another handful from the bag. “What did I say? Was I like, ‘Hey, bro, I'm Carter. What's happening? Do you guys want to par-tay with me and my twin?'”

“It wasn't like that,” Nick said. “Mostly it was complaining that we don't take you seriously enough. It said we think we're smarter than you and all you do is eat and crack jokes.”

He thought Carter would laugh at the idea, but instead his friend nodded. “It's kind of true, you know. Sounds like my doppelgänger's not all bad.”

“What are you talking about?” Nick asked. “Of course it's bad. Doppelgängers cause trouble, and sometimes people even die after their double appears.”

Carter dropped the chips. “I'm gonna die?”

“We don't know that,” Angelo said. “I wish I'd realized it wasn't you. I could have taken pictures or asked it questions.”

“How many of them do you think there are?” Nick asked.

Angelo checked his book. “In the stories it's just one at a time. It could be one here copying many different people. Or it could be a lot.”

“We have to get rid of them,” Nick said.

Carter raised his hands. “What if we just pretend we don't know anything about them and hope they leave, like Carter Junior?”

“I'm not sure that's an option,” Angelo said. “Your double heard us talking about doppelgängers. They're aware that we know about them.”

“How do we stop them?” Carter asked. “Do we stab them in the heart with a wooden stake or cut off their heads with a samurai sword?”

“They aren't vampires,” Nick said. “And this isn't
Highlander
.”

Angelo flipped through his book. “I can't find anything in here about how to kill them. No one even seems to be sure that they're actually alive. The first thing we have to do is figure out how to recognize them. Then we have to find a way to reverse whatever created them in the first place.”

“I need to get home and make sure my dad's okay,” Nick said.

Carter looked out the window. “The sun's almost down. No way I want to be outside after dark. I bet that's when they're the most powerful.”

“I told you, they're not vampires,” Angelo said. “But you're right. We should go home. Nick, you check on your dad. I'll do some more research. And Carter . . . you're as smart as any of us. So you do some research too.”

Carter gave him an odd look. “All righty, then.”

“Keep an eye out for you-know-what,” Angelo said, peeking out the door.

All the way home, Nick watched for doppelgängers. Mrs. Wood was out front watering her flowers, which she always did. Mr. Lewis was shooting hoops with his kids. He missed most of his shots, but he wasn't a very good basketball player, so that probably didn't mean anything.

When Nick got home, Mom was in the living room reading a magazine. He studied her from the kitchen, trying to spot any differences that might reveal her as a double. She looked up from her magazine. “Need something?”

“No,” Nick said. “Just saying hi.” He tried to sound casual as he asked, “Where's Dad?”

“Upstairs on his computer.” She went back to reading, and Nick went to check on his father.

Dad looked up from the computer with a distracted expression when Nick knocked on the door. “Whatchu doin'?” Nick asked.

His dad rubbed his eyes and smiled. But it wasn't the creepy smile from the night before. “Well, I came upstairs to email the company I booked our campground through. I'm
positive
I filled out the right month. But that was twenty minutes ago. I guess I must have dozed off.”

“That's cool,” Nick said. He searched for any sign of the Evil Dad double, but he didn't really know what he was looking for. If doppelgängers looked exactly like the people they were copying, there would be no way to tell them apart. At least not from their appearance.

He tried going with a different approach. “I was wondering if you might consider increasing my allowance? I was thinking maybe double?”

Dad chortled. “Sure. Just as soon as you start doing twice the chores.”

“Fair enough.” Nick grinned and went to his room. That was definitely the real Dad.

The next morning, Nick woke up before his alarm had even gone off. He'd been having a nightmare where his mom and dad were snowmen. The sun had been melting them just enough to reveal horrible monsters beneath their snow-white skin. Trying to shake off the memory of the dream, he peeked in on his parents, made sure they were both sleeping normally, and left a note on the kitchen table explaining that he'd gone to
Angelo's to catch up on some schoolwork.

Angelo answered the door on the first knock.

“Any luck with your research?” Nick asked.

Angelo led him into his room, where books and papers were spread over every available surface. “Wow!” Nick said admiringly. “You don't do things halfway, do you?”

“We have to know what we're up against,” Angelo said. “And, frankly, things don't look good.” He grabbed a handful of notes. “The first thing we have to figure out is where the doppelgängers came from. There seem to be two theories on that. The first is dark magic. Sorcerers are supposed to be able to create doubles of themselves or others using something called bilocation. That's probably out unless you know a sorcerer who's ticked off at you.”

“Not at the moment,” Nick said.

“Okay, well the other option is that something lured them here.”

“Carter Junior,” Nick said at once.

Angelo nodded. “That's what I was thinking. This is just guesswork on my part. But let's assume the homunculus and the doppelgängers are both from the same place.”

“That could explain the big footprint.”

“Maybe,” Angelo said. “No one knows exactly what a doppelgänger looks like when it isn't copying a real person. It could be that they are huge. It could even be that all those Bigfoot sightings were really doppelgängers in their native form. If that's true, the theft of the homunculus could have upset them. Or, even worse, it could be, like, attracting them.”

Nick pressed a fist to his mouth. “Like bears going after a pot of honey.”

“Exactly,” Angelo said. “And Mama Bear is hungry.”

“Okay, so that means we just find Carter Junior, return him to the woods, and the doppelgängers all go home. Right?”

“It might not be so easy.” Angelo turned to his computer and pulled up a map. He pointed to an area of nearly uninterrupted green. “This is where we were camping.”

Nick leaned over his shoulder. “Looks like the middle of nowhere.”

“Precisely. The only road going in or out is an old logging road. It's normally blocked off, but the rangers were doing some fire prevention. That's the only reason we could even get in.”

Nick studied the map. “So it's nearly impossible to get to.”

“I believe that's on purpose,” Angelo said. “Mr. Grunwald said it was his property. My guess is he knows about the doppelgängers and he's managed to keep them trapped there all this time. It's entirely possible that by taking the homunculus, we broke some
kind of barrier. And now that the doppelgängers are out, who says they'll ever want to go back?”

“Tell me that's all the bad news,” Nick said, collapsing into a chair.

“I wish I could.” Angelo picked up another book. “If what I've read is true, doppelgängers take on the physical and mental attributes of their double—with all the knowledge, talents, and strengths of its duplicate. They retain that form until either they or their twin dies.”

“So we freed a bunch of them?”

Angelo ran his hands through his hair, making it poke straight up. “Either that or—and this is the part that really worries me—maybe they're replicating.”

Nick tried to imagine doppelgängers popping up all over the city. . . . The idea gave him the shivers. “And we don't know how to recognize them, stop them from copying us, or send them back.”

“That's pretty much the state of things,” Angelo agreed. “For the moment all we can do is watch and hope they get tired of our city. That, and maybe try to figure out where the homunculus is hiding. If we can find it, maybe it will give us some leverage.”

The doorbell rang and Nick looked out the window. “That must be Carter.”

But when they opened the door, Angie was standing on the front porch.

“What are you doing here?” Nick asked, hoping she hadn't been eavesdropping on their conversation.

Angie shuffled her foot on the porch and looked away. “I came to say . . . I'm sorry.”

“What?” Angelo asked with a look of complete shock. Nick couldn't blame him. In all the years he and Angie had been going to school together, he'd heard her say many things. But “I'm sorry” wasn't one of them.

“I know,” Angie said. “I'm a little surprised myself. The thing is, I know you guys have been under a lot of stress with everything that's happened over the last few weeks, and now Carter Junior is missing. So what if you forgot to meet us? It's nothing to lose a friendship over.”

Nick wasn't sure they had ever been what he would call friends, but if she was apologizing, it didn't seem right to point that out now. “Okay. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry you guys had to wait for us to get home. Believe it or not, we really were checking on Old Man Dashner.”

Angie looked over her shoulder, as if making sure no one was watching. “I heard about that. And don't tell anyone, but I think I know what's going on.”

“You do?” Nick asked.

Angie leaned in close and whispered, “Have you ever heard of doppelgängers?”

“Yes,” Nick said. He knew Angie and her friends were sharp, but how could they have learned about the doppelgängers when he, Angelo, and Carter had just figured things out themselves? “How could you know that?”

“Never mind that,” Angie said. “Have you figured out a way to stop them?”

Nick opened his mouth to say they hadn't yet, when Angelo stepped backward with a gasp of surprise. He looked up at the sky, then down at the porch.

“No,” Angelo said. “We have no idea at all. In fact, we're not even sure they really
are
doppelgängers. It could be a myth.”

Nick glanced at his friend. What was he talking about?

Angie seemed as surprised as Nick by Angelo's reaction, but she quickly covered it up. “Are you sure? Because if you know how to stop them, Dana, Tiffany, and I could help you. They'll do whatever I tell them.”

“Sorry,” Angelo said. “We've been busy doing, um, math homework. And we have to get ready for school.” He tried to close the door, but Angie put her foot in the way.

She put a hand on Nick's chest—something even more shocking than an apology. “You know, Nick,” she said with a gentle smile. “I've always admired you. You're not just smart, but handsome and brave too. Come with me and I'm sure we can figure something out.”

All at once, Nick understood what was happening. This wasn't Angie. It was her doppelgänger, spying on them to see what they'd figured out. “We have to go,” he said and slammed the door closed, knocking Angie's foot out of the way.

From outside came a screech of anger and a strange popping noise. Like someone had just burst a big balloon. He leaned against the door and turned to Angelo. “How did you know?”

“Remember when Mr. Blackham said he didn't have a shadow of a doubt that we would find a way to identify the problem and fix it?”

Nick tried to remember what the librarian had said. “I guess.”

Angelo smiled for the first time that day. “Angie didn't have a shadow.”

Carter was still wearing his pajamas when Nick and Angelo knocked on his window. “What are you guys doing here so early?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.

“Get dressed,” Nick said. “You've got to see what's going on out here.”

“It better be free burritos at the Burger Barn if you're making me miss breakfast.”

“Trust me,” Angelo said. “When you see what we have to show you, you won't feel like eating.”

“I'm not sure that's possible.” Carter grabbed a T-shirt and jeans. “Meet me out front. But don't let my parents see you. I'm not supposed to have friends over.”

“What did you do this time?” Nick asked. Carter was always in hot water for something. It was almost like he enjoyed being in trouble.

“It's what I
didn't
do. My mom is claiming I ate an entire chocolate cake yesterday that she was saving for guests. Trust me. I'd remember if I did that.”