endlessly curious to see how Stone would look today. “I like you. You have … good vibes.” Charlie was trying out this new word, vibes. He felt he’d nailed it. “Do you have ‘good vibes'?” Stone asked. “Me? Hmm. I don’t know.” “I think you have good vibes.” Charlie laughed. “So why do you live here anyway?” “It’s my home.” “Yeah, but like, are you dead? Are you like one of those ghosts that wanders the shores? One of my friends told me about those. There was this one guy, Bill, whose wife died, and he was so sad that he swam out into the sea and drowned himself. Now they say his ghost walks these shores at night. Is that you? Are you Bill?” “No, I’m alive.” “Well, that’s good. I don’t think anyone would believe me if I said I was friends with a ghost.” “Your eye. What happened?” “Oh, just these kids at school. They’re assholes.” “Ass-holes?” “Shh, don’t tell anyone I told you that, okay? Stone nodded. “Look, just forget about it. I don’t want to talk about them.” “Okay.” By the second week, the creature appeared identical to Charlie. It’d even started to take on some of his mannerisms — the sniffle of his nose in the cold, the squint of his eyes when he was thinking, the way he scratched at his cuticles when he was nervous. Charlie was flattered. He’d never seen himself as someone worth imitating. “Can I see your home?” Stone asked. “My home? Oh, you don’t want to see my home. It’s boring compared to your home here on the beach.” “But at your home we can play Switch, right?” “Ha, I wish. My parents won’t buy me a Switch. They say it kills brain cells.” “But … you’ve got to see my home.” Stone said. Charlie found this compelling. “Let me think about it, okay? My parents … I don’t know if they’d like you.” The next day, Charlie decided he’d take Stone home with him. But as he was biking out from the schoolyard, he spotted Kevin in the distance with his gaggle of acne-riddled goons. Charlie squeezed his breaks and made a hard right, hoping they didn’t see him. But he heard Kevin’s scratchy voice shout after him. He pedaled faster, but it wasn’t long before the flock of bikes appeared over his shoulder in the distance. He pressed his tiny feet harder, pedaling madly even as his bike was rocked by the uneven ground that led up to the rocky shore. “Where ya goin’ you little shit?“ Kevin shouted after him. The bike’s chassis shook violently over the stones, forcing Charlie to toss it aside and take off on foot. He sprinted down the shore toward Stone’s cave, winter wind stinging his lungs. Water splashed beneath him as he dashed over the rocks, forcing himself not to look back. He burst into the cavern and screamed, “Stone! Hide!” But Stone didn’t move. Charlie pulled at its arm, begging it to duck behind the rocks together. But Stone merely shook its head. “Stone, please, those kids— ” Charlie broke off as Kevin appeared at the mouth of the cave, Max and Fin following close behind. No. 106 “Well, well, well. You didn’t tell me you had a twin, Charlie. Now why would you go hiding a secret like that?” Charlie shook his head, staggered back. “I don’t …” “Aren’t you going to introduce us?” Kevin jumped further into the cave. “His name’s Stone,” Charlie said under his breath. “Stone? Ha! What, was he named after a dog or something?” Kevin stalked up to Stone, the two of them standing eye to eye. “What are you looking at, huh?” The cave was still for a moment, air stinging with tension. Charlie’s hands were shaking as he watched the two of them. Stone’s head tilted to the side, studying Kevin. Charlie noticed Stone wasn’t afraid at all. It seemed just as curious as it was the day they’d met. “You think you’re tough or something?” Kevin jeered. Stone’s hand lurched out and took Kevin by the throat, lifting him off the cave floor. Charlie gasped, stumbled backward. Max and Fin looked nervously at each other as Kevin choked, “Cut it out man!” “Asshole,” Stone said, lifting Kevin higher in the air. “Stone! Stop it!” Charlie screamed. Kevin scratched at Stone’s hands, but flesh peeled off to the empty shadow beneath that wrapped around his neck. Charlie watched, horrified, as Kevin’s eyes flared with fear, the veins bulging from his face. Max and Fin turned and ran. Charlie rushed up to Stone, yanked at the arm that held Kevin up. “Put him down!” He screamed. Stone looked to Charlie as Kevin writhed in its grip. “Why?” “Because … because we don’t kill people!” “Hmm.” Stone said. “Okay.” He let go, Kevin crashing against the rocks. The cavern was filled with the echoes of his gasping breath as he crawled toward the cave’s entrance. They both watched as he scrambled to his feet and took off down the shore, not looking back. “Asshole,” Stone repeated, smiling to itself. Charlie looked to Stone, and as his breath began to ease, he started to laugh: a carnal release of tension accrued over years of torment. And as silence returned to the cave with only the gentle lapping of waves upon the rocks, Charlie realized that for the first time in his childhood, he finally had someone who was looking out for him.
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