Free Talisman of El by Alecia Stone Page A

do I look?’
    The trio looked at one another, neither one willing to answer.
    ‘It’s all right,’ the man insisted. ‘I just want to know the truth.’
    ‘Don’t you know how old you are?’ Richmond asked. ‘Oh, I know how old I am. I just don’t know how old I look. I stopped looking in the mirror about a week ago, and for me … a lot changes in a week.’
    Charlie and Richmond regarded Alex. ‘I think I’ve insulted him enough,’ she whispered.
    Charlie looked back at the man and said, ‘I’d guess you’re about … fifty?’
    The man sighed, rubbing his forehead.
    ‘I meant forty-five,’ Charlie corrected himself.
    The man chuckled. ‘It’s all right, kid. At this rate I’d be dead in a month.’
    Charlie glanced at Alex and Richmond, who both looked just as confused as he felt. Addressing the man, he asked, ‘Do you want us to take you to a hospital?’
    ‘Thanks for the offer, kid, but there isn’t a doctor in this world that can help me.’ The man paused, as if deciding whether he should continue. ‘I’m not fifty – or forty-five. My name is Derkein Odessa. I’m from Long Island, New York, and I’m twenty-seven years old.’
    An awkward silence filled the room. It was as if the man had spoken a foreign language, and the trio hadn’t understood a single word of it.
    ‘Did I hit you on the head?’ Alex asked.
    Derkein smiled without humour. ‘I didn’t think you’d believe me.’
    An unsettling feeling stirred within Charlie. He was certain he had heard the name Derkein before. He just couldn’t remember where. ‘Have we – met before?’ he asked. ‘I doubt it.’ Derkein slipped his hand inside his jacket and pulled out a thin, black book. ‘Take it,’ he said, holding the book up.
    Charlie stepped forward, snatched the book, and stepped back. On the cover were the words PASSPORT. United States  of America . He looked back at Derkein.
    ‘Go ahead,’ Derkein insisted. ‘Have a look.’
    Charlie opened the passport to the photo page, and his heart stopped. It was all there: Derkein Odessa, 22 JUL 1985, New York, U.S.A. He was looking at a photo of a young man in his twenties. He heard Alex gasp beside him. She said something, but he didn’t hear it, for his mind was elsewhere. That feeling of familiarity came over him again, but this time he knew why. It wasn’t the first time he had seen the man in the photo.
    The wrinkle-free young face, shoulder-length black hair, still olive eyes staring back at him …
    ‘Hard to believe, isn’t it?’ Derkein’s voice interrupted his thoughts. ‘A few weeks ago, I looked like the person in that photo. Now look at me.’
    Charlie stared at Derkein in utter disbelief. His first impression was that he had to be dreaming. There was no other explanation for it. He felt the passport slip out of his hand, but he didn’t take his eyes off Derkein. The last time he had seen those eyes they were staring into oblivion. Now here he was. Alive when he was supposed to be dead. Real when he wasn’t even supposed to exist.

CHAPTER FIVE
     

    Finding Wakeman
     
    CHARLIE HADN’T REALISED HE had passed out until he woke up and found himself staring at a wooden ceiling.
    ‘The ironic thing is that my father always lectured me about growing up,’ he heard Derkein say. ‘Now I can’t seem to stop.’
    Charlie raised himself up and saw that he was lying on the cardboard bed, the others sitting around him. He leaned his back against the wall. With the door now closed, the room was warmer.
    ‘You all right?’ Derkein asked him. Charlie stared at him in shock. ‘The truth was a little too much for you, huh?’
    Charlie looked away. ‘You have no idea.’ He still couldn’t fathom how or why he had dreamt about Derkein. Another thing he couldn’t get his mind around was why of all the cities in the entire world, Derkein had turned up in Capeton.
    ‘Hey.’ It was Alex. He blinked several times before meeting her eyes. ‘What is