Much later, Kyle was lying on the bed in his room, just trying to process things.
He had talked to Dr. Tig for almost 2 hours after Hope had dropped him off there. He didn't know if he exactly felt better, but he knew it had helped in some way.
Hope had said that she would find him again at dinner, but Kyle didn't go.
He wasn't hungry. He knew he should probably eat, but his stomach just kept on feeling slightly nauseous. Besides, he had actually been grateful to get away from Hope. The girl was intense, or something. Add that to the fact that she had kicked his ass for no reason this morning, he just wasn't interested. He didn't care how beautiful she was, or how big her boobs were.
At first he had thought that he would sneak off the grounds of this school and somehow hitchhike or something back to Colorado, but they had his phone, and his wallet was gone, too.
Even if he had them, after re-living that memory with Hope, he thought they were probably right about it being dangerous out there for him. Something was out to get him. Was it really his grandfather? Kyle didn't know what to think about anything now.
He felt a little bad for his attitude toward Hope. He could see in the memory that she and Dr. Saltzman had clearly saved his life, so he should show them a little more gratitude. But something ungracious in his head kept asking why couldn't they have showed up 20 minutes earlier?
Then his mom might be alive, and his dad…
Kyle shut his eyes hard. The only way out was through, as the saying went. He had to figure this out. Only then could he get out of this madhouse.
Another unpleasant thought forced its way to the surface. What about this doppelgänger business? If it worked the way Dr. Saltzman said, then would he ever be safe? Would he always be a target for evil creatures to use in whatever depraved rituals they needed him for?
Would Dr. Saltzman let him leave? Surely they couldn't keep him forever, could they?
A soft knock at the door interrupted his train of thought.
"Kyle?"
It was Hope. Of course.
Kyle felt a tiny surge of fear, but he suppressed it. Tried to remain calm. She could hear his heartbeat.
"Kyle, I missed you at dinner. Are you ok?"
He concentrated on his breathing, on what he must breathe like when he was asleep. Slow, calm breaths, in and out, nothing wrong here, just asleep.
He kept it up for quite awhile, then she eventually went away. He heard her receding footsteps moving down the hallway.
A long while later, he started feel restless. He stood up and went to grab his shoes.
He was going to go out and walk the grounds. He couldn't stay cooped up in here forever.
Kyle opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, being careful to head the opposite direction from Hope.