Stingbulbs

  Furrowing her brow. Kendra moved toward the tall metal filing cabinet. Before she arrived, a girl emerged from behind the cabinet. A girl who looked exactly like Kendra. Same height, same hair, same face. It could have been her twin, or some trick with a mirror. The Kendra replica cocked her head, smiled, and waved.

  Kendra froze, trying to process the bizarre sight. She had seen some impossible things in the past couple of years, but nothing more surprising.

(Additional text cut)

  Rex peeled the duct tape from her mouth and tugged out the saliva-soaked cloth. Kendra smacked her lips. Her tongue felt dry. "Why, Rex?"

  He smiled, eyes squinting behind lightly tinted lenses.

  "Rex wouldn't do this to you, kiddo. Haven't you caught on? I'm not Rex. "

  "Are you some kind of shape shifter?"

  "You're getting warmer. "

  "There were two of you," Kendra guessed. "Just like there was another me. "

  Rex sat down on the chair by his desk. "Want the low-down? Honestly, I came from a tree. I was originally a fruit. A stingbulb. We're not supposed to exist anymore, but here lam. "

  "I don't get it. "

  A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "When you reached into the box, playing the touch game, a stingbulb pricked you. Stingbulbs must be handled carefully. They become the first living thing they sting. "

  "That clone of me used to be the cactus fig?"

  "We're amazing fruit. Takes about ninety minutes for the metamorphosis to occur. Throughout the transformation, we continue to draw matter and nutrients from the tree we were plucked from. Then the remarkable connection breaks, we survive for three or four days, and poof, we die. "

  Kendra stared at Rex, thinking through the implications. "So the Kendra stingbulb is going to pose as me. "

  "She is a remarkable duplicate. She even has most of your memories. She'll do a good job imitating you. Your guardians will be none the wiser. "

  Kendra scowled. "If she has my personality, why isn't she helping me?"

  Rex placed his palms together, tapping his fingers. "Not your personality. Your memories. The majority of them, anyhow. Like any stingbulb, she has her own consciousness. So do I. Just because I can access Rex's memories doesn't mean he gets to run the show. We stingbulbs follow whatever commands we are issued after our transformation. My course is set. Rex was complicated. I'm not. I was created for the purpose of abducting you. While Ronda was leading singing time, I was issuing instructions to your duplicate. "

  "Why not disobey your instructions and let me go? The people who made you are evil! You don't want to help the bad guys, do you?"

  Rex chuckled, smiling broadly. "Don't waste your breath. Stingbulbs are single-mindedly loyal, Kendra. Our awareness functions differently from yours. We accomplish what we've been programmed to do. Despite the fond memories of you that Rex possesses, I can only perceive you as my enemy. Tough luck. I'll only exist for another day or two. I must fulfill my assignment. "

Chapter 2