The Wallet

Jeremy always did enjoy his late-night walks. Those were times where he could escape the hassle of school, and work, and other people, even if only for a few hours. Most of the people he knew would consider it boring, but Jeremy savoured the regular practice of clearing his mind and enjoying the pleasant breeze by himself. He was almost always alone when he strolled down the sidewalk, but tonight, there was another man walking a few feet ahead of him.

Jeremy tended to avoid strangers when out on his walks, so he turned to cross the deserted road to his right, when he noticed something quite odd.

The man ahead of him wore the same grey hoodie, camouflage trousers, and white sneakers Jeremy did on his walks. They were both of equal stature. Jeremy pulled his hood down to get a better view of the man through the dim lighting of the moon, and so did he.

Jeremy stopped walking. So did the stranger. He raised his arms in the air and waved them around. The man copied the movements as Jeremy was making them. Jeremy jumped in the air. So did the stranger. Their feet hit the paved ground at the exact same time.

Sufficiently spooked, Jeremy stared in awe for a moment.

“what…what?” Jeremy mumbled. The doppelganger did not mumble.

“Hello?” Jeremy continued.

“Who are you?”

The stranger made no response.

Suddenly, it took off, sprinting down the street before Jeremy could get another word out. Jeremy ran after it, but soon found out he couldn’t move half as quickly as it could. Just before the man disappeared around a corner, something black and square fell out of its pocket.

Jeremy walked over to it, catching his breath as he processed what just happened. He pulled his hood back up, as a chilling gust caught him off guard.

The object was a wallet, with identical design and wear as Jeremy’s wallet. Jeremy glanced up, darting his eyes down the road to see the man was still there, but all he saw were shadows cast upon the tarmac.

Jeremy was scared to open it. He reached into his pocket to pull out his own wallet only to find nothing. His clammy fingers grasped at the wool to no avail.

Just as Jeremy had almost gained enough courage to pry open the wallet’s zip, he heard footsteps behind him.

Soft footsteps. With soles that had been worn down over copious amounts of walking. Footsteps that sounded like they belonged to a grey pair of sneakers.

Jeremy’s mind froze as he felt a pair of eyes on his back. The wallet wasn’t in his hands anymore. Without realising it, he had begun walking at the exact same pace as the footsteps behind him. The surface of his hood fell down onto his shoulders. He stopped and waved his arms in the air, dumbfounded. He shook a little as his feet hit the ground, combined with another set of feet.

“what…what?” Jeremy’s own voice echoed back to himself.

“Hello?” There was a moment’s pause as Jeremy anticipated his next words. “Who are you?”

Jeremy wish he knew the answer to that question. But he did know what must be done now. He took off like a speeding bullet, the fastest he’d ever ran. The desperate footsteps behind him slowly faded despite their owner’s best attempt at keeping up. Jeremy rounded a corner and was instantly faced with his front door, despite being several miles away from his house moments ago. He burst through and slammed the door behind him.

Jeremy practically fell through his bedroom door, collapsing onto his bed in a dramatic manner. He looked at his bedside clock, only to see the exact time he left blared out in front of him in blocky red numbers. Something in his pocket was pushing against his hip, and he realised that the wallet hadn’t fallen out on his way to the house.

He wrenched it out and bust it open. All that fell out was a single piece of paper torn from the notebook lying on his desk. Written on it, in his handwriting, Jeremy saw just six words.

“Excuse me, is this your wallet?”

In the corner of his eye, Jeremy caught a glimpse of his doppelganger staring through the bedroom window with milky white eyes.

Jeremy doesn’t go on night walks anymore.