Chapter 3

Ricky sat alone in his apartment, slowly playing his drums. Thoughts of Casey and Marissa raced through his mind. "This just can't be a coincidence," he thought out loud. "They gotta be twins or, or something." He stopped playing his drums and sat, deep in thought. "Why am I attracted to Marissa so much?" he asked rhetorically. "She looks like Casey's clone, that's why. But Jamal, my own brother, won't let me talk to her. I mean, Ok, not technically. Ever since Gabi left, I've been so confused. I mean, the thing with Karen, and the candles." He shook his head and went back to his drums.

Jamal lay on the bench in the park, silent, watching the sky. He hoped, he prayed Lucy would find something, anything. Then he remembered telling Marissa he wouldn't be long. He got up and began home, with Alison on his mind the entire time.

"Alison," Livvie said calmly, "You have to believe me. Rafe tried to brainwash me, too. Somehow, I could resist him. How he got his memory back, I don't know. Ever since your breakup with Jamal, you have seemed to blank almost everything out of your mind, except Rafe. Don't you notice that?" "I can't believe I'm hearing this," Alison said. "Rafe was the man that I loved and you-you shot him! I will never, EVER forgive you." Alison stormed to the door. "Alison, wait-!" SLAM!

"So?" Marissa asked Jamal as he walked in. "I don't know where Ali is. Lucy doesn't know, either." Jamal said. "Oh, now that's great," Marissa said. "Rafe's dead, Alison's gone. What else could go wrong?" The phone rang. "Looks like you spoke too soon," Jamal said as he picked up the phone. "Hello? Lucy! What? She left Livvie's house? How do you know? All right. Bye." Marissa looked at him, as if asking, "Well??" "Lucy called Livvie's house and Livvie said Alison had just left. I gotta go." "Wait!" Marissa shouted. "This time I'm coming, and you can't stop me!" Jamal rolled his eyes. "Fine." The two rushed out the door.

Ricky finally decided to call Marissa. He dialed Jamal's number and sighed when he heard Jamal's voice. "Sup? Ali and I aren't here now, so leave your name, number and a brief message. Peace." Ricky chuckled to himself. Jamal forgot to change his answering machine. Suddenly, Ricky was surprised to discover he felt sorry for Jamal. Jamal had lost his love. Just like he had.

Jamal was surprised to find the door open, as was Marissa. He marched in and saw Livvie. "Livvie!" Jamal shouted in a tone Livvie had never heard before. "Where's Alison!?" Livvie knew it would be tough, but she explained everything she could. Jamal was shocked. "Y-You killed Rafe? But-why?" "Jamal," Livvie began, "Rafe. . .he brainwashed Alison. After you guys broke up, you obviously noticed they became in love with each other almost immediately. You don't find that odd at all? Well, anyway, after Rafe came back from heaven after being forced away from Alison, his memory disappeared. When I found him, somehow I knew he was trying to brainwash me into acting like Alison did when she met him. So to protect him from brainwashing Ali, the only thing to do was to marry him. Unfortunately, he got his memory back and went back to Alison, who was still 'hypnotized.' In the end, if I hadn't've killed him, Alison would have been brainwashed forever." Jamal was silent for a few seconds until he asked, "But isn't she still under the spell?" Livvie nodded quickly. "You see," she continued, "Alison has to resist Rafe's spell or it won't go away. No one else can do it for her." "And you know all this. . .how?" Jamal asked. Livvie smiled. "You don't think my experiences with Caleb taught me anything?"