The woman from the rafters lowers herself down with the grace that a world-class figure skater could never manage, and Andrew�s face grows cold.
He whispers in a slightly flooded tone, �Nina� and she says, �Yes.� They are so unnerving that I can�t stand it, so I start to walk away from the pair when Andrew�s arm shoots out again. I swing back to Nina and he, and he says that he has to tell us something. He matches us, shoulder to shoulder, and says that he has always loved the two of us. I�m like, �what?� and Nina has a similar reaction, but more graciously. �Andrew, I�ve only known you three days.� And he says that no, we haven�t. He says that his name is Shawn, and that he�s been afraid to talk to Nina for a long, long while. And turns to me and says that he wants me to rebuild the playhouse, and I think he thinks he was Alison�s grandfather.
He pulls something from his pocket. It�s a packet with hair gel in it, just like you see in old magazines, and Nina begins to cry. He says that he�s sorry for doing this to her, and she shakes her head. He thanks me for killing his killer, and I say, �What?� and he talks about parallels.
How we�re all the same stuff, basically, and that matter can never be destroyed. Alison�s grandfather used to go off about this when he still lived with them, and I come to the stuttering realization that he just might be telling the truth.
He talks about split universes, and quantum physics, and then says something odd.
He says that Nina and I are the same person.
And I am quizzical, and I am unnerved, and then Nina is looking at me and I see my face. And my hands rise to my cheeks to hide the terror-bloom of red and white, and something unusual happens.
I lose part of my shoulder. I see it vanish, and a part of Nina vanishes, and we go piece by piece like Lego bricks. This is antimatter plus antimatter. They make a quiet negative value. I feel strangely at peace. I�ve done my deeds, and I�ve lived full enough and crazily enough to make life OK. Nina floods into my brain, and she feels the same.
Of course she would.