Special thanks to Malady for his help in editing and ideas.

Author’s Note: This chapter is very short, but it describes what happened to Grace's and Greg's 'sister', the dead version of Grace.

The Letters Chapter 10

The two made their way back to the office, and Greg had barely made it inside before he stopped to stare at the video still playing there. Gracie had followed him in, and when she saw the desk, she stopped too. There, in the 3D projection, was the sight they’d seen just a few moments before. Grace was lying on the floor in the position they’d left her in.

Gracie sat back down at the desk, letting frustration take her. She hit the desk several times, and as she did, her hand hit the rewind control, and the scene backed up, reversing one second per second. After a moment, she saw her and Greg walking backwards as the recording played in reverse. She watched as they knelt beside her other self and viewed her injuries, then they stood and walked backwards down the hall. A moment later, they stopped moving, and started talking, animatedly waving their arms, as they argued in reverse.

Fascinated, they both watched their conversation rewind, but with them simply standing in the hall. It was obvious that they were talking to the blob, but it wasn’t there. Was this how it really happened? Or was this something that was placed on the recording? She watched as she stepped around the corner, followed by Greg. She started to reach toward the button to play it forward, but she saw that Grace was still visible in the corridor. She wanted to see where she would disappear to, but it didn’t happen. A few minutes later, she saw a horrifying sight.

The crossbow suddenly moved to Grace’s hand, and her body flopped up into a kneeling position and her eyes opened. Her face was wracked with pain as the bolt pulled out of her face and returned to the bow, which cocked as her hand released its pressure on the trigger. Her hand shakily set the crossbow on the floor and lifted the bolt out of it, then started plunging it into her body, over and over and over.

In horror, Gracie sat, unable to tear her eyes away from her ‘sister’ inflicting injury after injury on her body. After a few moments, she laid herself down on the floor, obviously climbing to her knees had the recording been playing forward. She then lay there for a few moments, the blood surrounding her, pulling back into her body. Suddenly, her body seemed to elevate into a standing position and she began plunging the bolt into her body over and over again for a second time, in reality, the first..

Each plunge was rewarded with a spray of blood pulling back into her body until she picked up the crossbow and put the bolt back in its place and it was ready to fire again. She lowered the weapon to her side and began talking in reverse. A few moments later, she walked backward around the corner, and Gracie and Greg watched the scene they had witnessed before meeting the creature, played in reverse.

Greg slowly reached out and switched off the recording and they both simply stared at the desk.

“Why can we see it now?” Greg asked.

Gracie simply shook her head. She had no idea why. She reached forward and started the recording playing forward. A moment later, they watched Grace walk around the corner and suddenly stop. She had looked around and suddenly stopped, staring forward. She seemed to hear something, then started arguing, claiming that she wasn’t the one.

She was apparently losing the argument, however and then she raised the weapon. As if in a trance, she took the bolt out of its slot and then set the weapon on the ground. She stood up and began methodically plunging the bolt into her body. Never once did she seem to exit the trance, but after she raised herself into a kneeling position, it was obvious that she was in terrible pain.

She raised the crossbow again, and Greg reached out and stopped the playback. He had no desire to watch the final act of his ‘sister’s’ life, again. As it was, when Gracie looked up at him, his face was completely white.

“Sit down,” she told him, gently. He made no argument, and did as she said. Even after he sat down, he was decidedly green and he swayed for a couple of minutes. It was clear the incident had hit him hard.

Grace looked at Greg again, and his face was ashen yet again. In contrast to his red-rimmed eyes. She looked back at the desk and manipulated a couple of controls. A moment later, she removed a card from a slot and pocketed it.

She moved around the desk and asked Greg, “Are you gonna be okay?”

He looked up at her blankly, and she wondered why he was taking the situation so hard. The particular Grace was one of the worst there was. “Can you come with me? There’s nothing left here.”

He didn’t move, as she walked to the door. She left the room and went to the lift, and when the door opened, she was rather surprised to find her male self had joined her.

He didn’t talk as they moved upward in the lift, and she didn’t push him. There was grief in her mind also, but she was able to move it out of her focus. She hoped he’d find the strength to do the same thing.

The flight was quiet until she finally asked, “What are you thinking?”

He didn’t respond for awhile, and she thought he was going to simply ignore her. Or maybe he hadn’t even heard? Finally, however, he said, “I’m really not sure. I’m trying to keep what we saw out of my mind. I’m not having much luck though.” He took a deep breath, then continued. “Even though that Gracie wasn’t a great representative, she was one of us, and look what that thing did to her.”

“So you think the alien is responsible for what happened?”

“Don’t you?” He stared at her in wonder. How could she even doubt it?

She thought for a moment. “I sure don’t see any other explanation. She was an unhinged version of us, but she wouldn’t do that to herself.”

Again, he didn’t respond. In fact, she could see that he was clenching his teeth, as if he was trying to keep from responding.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he said forcefully. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“Okay,” she responded slowly, wondering what was bothering him. His reaction seemed like it was more than she was dealing with.

He had a vague notion that she said something else, but what it was, he couldn’t say. His mind was whirling. What had happened to his ‘sister’ was horrible, and he was sure he felt it more than anyone else could have.