Сергей Редькин – The Queen of the Two Moons (страница 1)

The Queen of the Two Moons

Sergey Redkin

© Sergey Redkin, 2024

ISBN 978-5-0064-7500-7

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

Preface

It was December 2019, and I was planning to spend the New Year’s holidays with my family, not worrying about daily posts for my educational channel, where I share short lessons and tips for people who learn English. The news pundits were talking about a virus that could potentially be threatening but having experienced the SARS pandemic back in 2002 in Taiwan, I didn’t pay too much attention to it. What I was thinking about, though, was an idea to write a short story in the form of dialogues, divide it into small parts, and post them on my channel over the holidays, allowing people to learn a few new things. This way, I wouldn’t need to worry about creating new content during that time.

So, I set out to write a short story entirely composed of dialogues. To make it more exciting, I began with a murder, added a deadly virus, and ended with a cliffhanger. The story was posted, and people seemed to like it. Then, of course, COVID-19 happened, and we were all busy adjusting to the new reality.

Fast forward a couple of years. I stumbled upon an article about self-publishing and remembered the little story I’d written. I dusted off the Word file and decided to expand it, adding more details and self-publishing it as a standalone story. Thus, As Long as I’m With You was born. The idea was to create something both interesting and useful, so that people learning English would not only enjoy the story but also pick up new vocabulary and expressions, with the hope of cultivating a reading habit in English.

“Why stop there?” I asked myself. “A trilogy would be even better, because three is a good number,” I continued, building on my idea. “The more, the merrier,” I added, and so I sat down to write more.

That’s how The Perfect Match and The Two Moons were written and published. Soon, I was writing non-stop, and even completed the first draft of a novel (Hide-and-Seek), a psychological thriller in a different genre, which gave me an opportunity to hone my writing skills further.

I read the stories with some students in my Book Club and during online classes, receiving a lot of valuable feedback. As a result, I decided to revise the parts a bit and combine them into one novel with many useful references for language learners – and that’s how The Queen of the Two Moons came to be, the book you are now holding (or reading on your device).

I hope you will enjoy reading the story of one strong young woman, Lizzy, and learn many interesting words and expressions if you are studying English.

“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.” Maya Angelou

Part 1: As Long As I’m With You

Chapter 1: We’ll Figure This Out1 (Present Time)

Lizzy could not believe what she was looking at. This was impossible2. How could this happen? Only an hour ago, everything was fine. She thought she was one of the happiest women in the world. She had everything: a man who loved her, an excellent job, a bunch3 of friends, and a cute ocean wave green Mini Cooper. She couldn’t wait to wake up every morning and go spend her day working in a big international company as a logistics manager with a big smile on her face. And now… well, now she was not sure that her life would ever go back to what it was. No, come to think of it4, she was not sure that she had a life anymore. How did this all happen?

It all began this morning when he told her that he was leaving her. Things went downhill5 afterwards6.

“You what?” she asked, putting her phone down. Lizzy had been scrolling through some of her favorite influencers, looking for productive ways to give her already successful career another boost.

Having just done her morning yoga routine, she was sitting on a tall stool near the kitchen island in her sportswear. She was still on her first cup of the day as the words spilled from her mouth along with the coffee.

He was standing near an open window, still in his pajamas, hair disheveled7 from the night’s sleep. It was a bright day, and it looked as if he had a halo8 over his head. What irony!

“We can’t be together anymore,” he added and quickly looked out the window, turning his back to

her.

“What are you looking out of the window for?” She tried to stay cool. “Is your new girlfriend waiting for you out there?”

Staying cool did not seem like an option.

“I’m sorry, but we have to end it today,” he said looking at her.

“What do you mean today?! What? Do you already have a breakup plan9? Or did you decide10 just then, while drinking your coffee?” she asked, barely controlling herself and slowly realizing that it was not some sort of joke.

“Listen. We’ll figure this out. Believe me, it’s for the best,” he said.

“Are you being serious?11” Slamming her cup down on the kitchen island, she suddenly12 realized that she could throw it at him right about now13.

He opened his mouth …and at that precise moment something outside cracked14. He fell on the floor; his head was covered in blood. Then her phone started to ring.

She answered in zombie mode, still unable to process what had just happened.

“You’d better15 leave now,” a female voice said on the other end of the line. Somehow the voice sounded strangely familiar.

“Ah?” was all she could master, her eyes fixed on the motionless body on the floor.

“Go now or you’ll be lying next to him in a minute,” said the voice without a hint of compassion16. “Who are you?” Lizzy was almost screaming.

“Don’t believe anyone. Run!” The same coolness17. Then the line went dead.

She put the phone down on the kitchen island and eyed the kitchen. What was going on?

Click.

The brain started to work faster. Lizzy ran to him, still hoping it was a terrible prank18. Nope. This was blood on her floor. And this was one dead man. Her man. Well, her ex-man. She was checking his pulse and breathing, just in case19, when she heard someone running down the corridor outside her door. She jumped up.

The morning street felt strange. How could these people go about their business when her boyfriend was lying dead on the floor, right up there in their apartment? Where was she supposed to go now?20 Somehow, calling the police did not seem like a clever idea. But why? She hadn’t done anything wrong. She’d just had a cup of coffee while her soon-to-be-proposing boyfriend was murdered in the process of breaking up with her. Should she call the police after all21? Perhaps she should.

She checked her pockets, but… Oh no! She’d left her phone on the kitchen island. All her contacts.

She didn’t remember any numbers by heart22. Who could? Were there still payphones these days? Whom should she call even if she found one?

“Don’t scream,” came the same cold voice from the call, but… behind her. She stopped in disbelief23.

“Keep walking.” A slight shove on her back.

She complied24. A decision triggered25 by her survival mechanism26 rather than her brain. “Who are you?” she asked quietly.

“In a minute,” the stranger said. “Turn right here.” Another nudge to her back.

They stepped into a quiet alley where most of the benches were occupied with elderly people and mothers rocking their baby strollers27.

“Here’s good,” the stranger said when they reached an empty bench. “Sit down.” “May I turn around?” she asked, sitting down.

“If you want,” the stranger said. She did.

Perhaps, it was not a good comparison, but what Lizzy saw shocked her almost as much as the death of her boyfriend.

She was looking at herself. Well, she was looking at a young woman who looked exactly like her, as if they were identical twins in different outfits. The same mouth shape, the same celestial nose28. Her straight hair was shorter than Lizzy’s shoulder length curls. The stranger was wearing a plain dark blue hoodie, a pair of black jeans, and, what looked like, Dr. Martens black leather boots.

“Yes, I know,” the stranger said. “It took quite some time for me to wrap my head around this29too!”

“Are you…?” she began.

“You?” the stranger finished. “Yes. I’m you.” “From the future?” Lizzy asked in bewilderment30. “Not really,” the woman said. “I’m your copy.” “My copy?”

“Yes. Some of us have copies, but they never tell us that,” Lizzy’s copy said as if it was common knowledge31.

“Who are they?”

“They.” The other woman shrugged32. “The ones who want to control us. And now they are trying to erase33 us for some reason.”

What?!

“I haven’t done anything illegal. What is happening?” Lizzy asked in a wavering voice. “Listen, we don’t have much time, so let’s get the hell out of here first and then we can properly catch up34,” Lizzy’s copy said, looking around. “But I don’t understand…” she started.

“No talk. Let’s go,” the other she said quickly and stood up.

The stranger extended35 her hand, another cracking sound somewhere in a distance, and… the copy’s head exploded36 like a watermelon.

Two dead people in one morning might seem like nothing on the global scale of things but seeing your boyfriend and your copy, whatever that meant, getting shot in front of you could make anyone go insane37.