multiverse

The next time I woke up my mom is beside me again. I didn't want to wake her up from her nap, but must have done something to wake her.

"How are you feeling" she asked.

"Like I got hit by a truck" I joked. She didn't find my attempt at a joke funny.

"Water" I request for my dry throat. I wonder how long I was gone for this time.

She brought me the glass of water and clicked on the button calling for a nurse next.

"Is that really necessary" I complain to her. I just can't seem to escape the doctors and nurses. Not in my last life and not in this one.

"Yes" her voice clearly stating that she would not compromise on this. She kept her eyes on me the entire time, as though if she blinked I wouldn't be there anymore. I wonder how bad I look for her to worry so consistently about my well-being.

Memories overlay themselves in my mind and I see both who she is right now and who she is going to be. That road of thought leads to pain, and my mind shies away from remembering her cold dead eyes staring back at meDrakemeDrakemeDrake.

That's still going to take some getting used to.

I must have made a sound or my expression must have given me away because her grip on my hand gets tighter as though to anchor me while her voice calling for help gets more urgent.

Hurried footsteps and I'm back to being poked and prodded. Questions are asked.

This time my mother is escorted out of the room by one of the nurses. She tries to resist but the nurse said something to calm her down enough for her to step outside. I'm somehow lucid enough to notice for the first time that I'm in a private room. Which means despite not having seen my dad - I really don't want to call that piece of human garbage dad - he must have paid for the room. At least something for his dying child. Fuck. Am I dying? Is that what this is?

I must have said those words out loud because someone tries to reassure me everything is okay. I'm then injected with something and I lose consciousness once again.

I closed my eyes in one space to open them in another. I'm in that white space again, the one where I experienced agony to such an extent it had brought me to my knees.

It's devoid of anything.

I stay there and wait.

I'm not sure what for but I wait.

My waiting must have paid off, though I have no idea how long I've been here. It both feels like an eternity and no time at all.

The entity from before is back. The Drake that was and all the Drakes that could be.

I stare at him again and find myself falling into a trance. He is mesmerising and something inside me calls to him. Maybe whatever part of him that mixed itself with who I was... If that's even what happened.

He comes over to me, never taking his eyes off of me as incapable of doing so as I have been it seems.

He comes near and sits down on the floor in front of me.

"You're back" he says stating the obvious.

"No shit" I respond.

He sighed. It's a bit out of this world seeing a being like that sigh of all things. It seems so human.

"That's because I am" he says responding to my unvoiced question, a hint of amusement in his piercing eyes. "Sort of", he adds.

"You just read my thoughts" I state. I feel like I should be much more alarmed than I currently am.

"You have your thoughts written all over your face" he tells me. The amusement in his eyes much more obvious now.

I frowned feeling as though I was being made fun of.

The amusement fades from his eyes as he seems to make a decision. "Your life hangs in the balance. You have a choice in front of you. Depending on the path you take you will determine the outcome of this world".

"I don't think you could sound any vaguer if you tried" I retort. This dude is starting to really piss me off. I have always hated uncertainty and purposefully cryptic individuals of uncertain origin epitomise what I hate most.

He smirked at my response and all of a sudden the white space around us disappears and transforms into a sky so dark yet light because of the millions of stars it holds.

Then the surroundings change and we are simultaneously everywhere and nowhere at once.

"This world is one of many worlds out there" his voice commands my attention from our surroundings. "Each world contains anchors. These are human beings born with specific purposes, that go on to do great - sometimes terrible - things. Out of each decision any one of these individuals make another world is born, a world in which they took the other path. Drake is one of these anchors. When you look at me you see all the potential he holds" he tells me not really looking at me but staring right through me.

From the sounds of it he's basically confirming the parallel universe theory. That there is such a thing as a multiverse.

"Correct" he said.

I glare at him. "So you were reading my mind earlier" I accuse.

"Yes. But that doesn't change the fact that you have your thoughts written all over your face as well" he said with a smirk.

I consider his response and instead of continuing what is surely to turn into an argument I instead focus on the fact that he basically confirmed that there's an infinite many universes out there. I try to process the implications of this and something he said earlier tugs at me.

"Why is Drake an anchor?"

"It is not known how anchors are selected. Why these people in particular above all others. What has been consistent across all these individuals is the sheer potential they hold. The potential to make waves so grand that they shake their universe and make or break its existence at times. Anchors are special. Each anchor has their own role to play in the progress of that world. Their each decision leads to the creation of another world" he tells me.

I frowned and tried to process what exactly that meant. If Drake is such an important person then why did his life turn out like that. Why am I here? Why am I of all people taking over his life?

"See, in every decision that an anchor makes there is ... let's say a good decision and a bad one. I don't necessarily mean the morality of it or anything, rather one that will lead the anchor to live a - some might say - better life or not. For example, an anchor could decide to buy a lottery ticket. Maybe it's a winning lottery ticket by chance. If it is then there's a world in which they bought the winning lottery ticket and a world in which they did not. Similarly, if they postpone their decision or make it at any other time, they may not receive the winning lottery ticket and hence end up wasting their money. In which case there might be a world in which coming short that specific amount of money led to a shortage of money for another venture or outing. Which would have its own implications. Each decision creates another universe and the longer it goes on, the further that universe diverges from the original."

That's ... I don't know what to do with that.

He takes pity on me and continues explaining. "As such there is always a decision that will lead to a worse outcome for the anchor. Drake - the part inside you at least - is an anchor who has been the subject of all the bad decisions all the Drakes have made. Each anchor eventually creates their own best version and worst version. These two versions are heaven and hell apart, if there were such things in the first place. The worst version of the anchor tends to lead a pitiful and horrid life. They become... unpredictable" he said.

Processing this hurts. This basically means that Drake was the cast off - that so many versions of him didn't end up the way he did.

Wait.

"Does this mean there's a version of me, who I was Before out there as well? Or worlds where I didn't die like that?"

"Perhaps" he says. "I cannot disclose that information even if I did know".

I try to control my temper. He's told me so much yet not really given me any answers as to why I'm here.

"You have all the answers you need for this point in time. You have the clues, now piece them together" he said and disappeared.