FRIEND?
I knew where I had to go. If this was the same neighborhood as my previous one, then Jay should be here too. Jay was my best friend and the only person who might be able to help me.
I got to his house and immediately noticed how different things were too. Jay was also one of a twin, but unlike me, his twin had died at birth.
As I entered his house, I saw him walking toward me. We ran to each other and hugged like we hadn't seen each other in years. I started talking about the strange things happening, and he immediately told me to be quiet, we couldn't talk here because his family was watching.
I looked at who he pointed out as his parents, but they weren't the parents I had always known. Then he pointed at someone else, saying it was his twin brother. He quickly added that he knew his brother died at birth, even before I could ask.
Just like me, his family had changed, with him being the only person who still looked the same.
He told his mom he was going on a walk with me and that he'd be back soon. We were about to leave in a hurry, but just like in my case, his mom asked his twin brother to go with him. He was able to convince her that he'd be back quickly, and she let him go alone.
He took me to a park outside his house, and the first question I asked was, "What the hell is going on?"
He explained what he remembered as quickly as he could, and it was just the same as what happened to me. His dad said they were moving. A few days later, he woke up to discover his parents weren't his parents, his dead brother was alive, and they had moved to Ghost Town. He couldn't remember anything, and his parents said it was because a toolbox fell on him while they were moving.
I told him it was the same thing that had happened to me too.
Unlike me, he had more information. He had overheard his parents talking about "speeding things up before he meets Pam." He had decoded that they meant me, and he still remembered that my name was Sam.
I was relieved to know that someone else knew something strange was going on. We just couldn't figure out what was going on.
In the end, we settled on alien abduction. Maybe aliens invaded Earth and kidnapped us? Maybe we were part of some freak experiment to study humans? We both laughed nervously, like it was some insane conspiracy theory... but deep down, it made too much sense. Right now, it was the only explanation we could come up with, unless we wanted to lean on the possibility of both of us being crazy.
But how can we both be crazy at the same time?
Time was running out, and we had both started to forget some things. Jay was starting to recall memories that didn't happen. He was starting to remember things he had never done.
We decided to go home and meet up at the same place the following day, so we could finally find a solution to whatever was going on. Jay warned me not to mention anything about what was going on to my family. I was to pretend as if nothing was wrong and quietly find out any information I could.
Same time, same place, we'd meet again and hatch out a plan.
I met up with my sister, and we both headed home.
That was the last of Jay that I ever saw.
The person I saw the next day was Max.