The Methuselarity Transformation (27 page)

“What happened, Marcus?” she asked.

“He almost died. At least he thought he’d died. And for a while we exchanged identities.”

“You mean you became him and he became you?”

“That’s right. And I was sure that my life was over.”

“It was the day of your speech, the one with the president. Wasn’t it?” Corinne asked.

“That’s right. How did you know?” He turned toward her again.

“Because something was different about you that night. Everything, actually.” She hesitated for what seemed to Marcus like an eternity. “We made love, Marcus. It was different. It felt different.”

“It wasn’t me.” His voice cracked in anguish. He looked away again.

“No, it wasn’t you,” she answered, touching his hand. “The next morning I saw you looking in the mirror. You were acting so strangely. I knew something was terribly wrong, but had no idea what was going on. I only began to put the pieces together when I felt his touch the day he rescued me from the fire. And Photina later told me about recognizing his movements from the way you moved that night.”

“I haven’t been able to get that night out of my mind,” Marcus said. “It’s been driving me crazy that he made love to you.”

“And yet, you’d agreed that he’d someday take over your life for good. He’d have your body and he’d have me to make love to for all eternity.” She was angry enough now to enjoy the pain that she was causing him by twisting the knife.

“Which made me even crazier. It was my own fault. And there was nothing I could do about it. But now it’s over.”

“Over? How?”

“Mettler is dead. I was there when he died and he released me. At the last moment, from within my body, he reversed the exchange and gave me my life back.”

“So what happens now?”

“I’m free. We’re free. There’s no more contract. Which is why I’ve been able to tell you everything.”

“You get to live out your life,” Corinne said slowly, pondering the implications, “without me.”

“What do you mean?” he asked in alarm. “Are you going to leave me?”

“Not right now, Marcus,” she replied, “but I’m growing older and you’re not. Our lives are going to be different. And even if we’re together until the end, I’m going to die.”

“I’ve thought about that,” Marcus said, looking again straight into her eyes. “I love you more than life itself. I want to grow old with you. I will grow old with you.”

“How?”

“I’m going to have the Transformation reversed. Now that the contract is over, I’m free to do so. And I’ll do it gladly. I was never comfortable with it knowing how you felt about it. Now we can live out our lives together...on the same terms...with no more secrets until death do we part.”

Lena Holbrook drove up to the Takana house for the second time in her life. She’d never published her story from her first interview with Marcus and Corinne. Ray was now dead nearly a year and she decided it was time to finish what she started. Now there was another chapter to the story, one of which she and Ray were a part. She wondered if she’d be able to write it.

Corinne came to the door and greeted her with a hug. They had bonded at the time of her first visit. By now, Corinne knew that Lena was Ray Mettler’s widow, which created an additional complexly nuanced bond between them. Corinne knew at least that she would never tell Lena about the night she and Ray made love.

“I’m very sorry for your loss,” said Marcus as he walked up from behind Corinne. “He was a hell of a guy. We both owe him our lives.”

Lena hadn’t seen Marcus since the day Ray was killed. She knew only that Marcus was by his side when he died and that the same people had been after them both, but knew nothing else about the connections between them. She’d hoped to solve these mysteries during this visit. She would not be disappointed.

When Marcus and Corinne had finished their story of an ill-fated contract born out of a fretful man’s longing for
immortality, a daring rescue from a fiery inferno, and Ray’s final gift of life and selfless death, Lena wondered at the complexity of the man with whom she’d shared her life, but hardly knew. The Takana story was now his story, too, and hers. Its arc was more sweeping and complete than the nascent version she’d buried years ago. And, Lena liked to think, telling a person’s story imbued them with just a touch of immortality. She prayed that it was all Ray would ever need.

About the Author

Rick Moskovitz, a Harvard educated psychiatrist, who taught psychotherapy and practiced for over thirty years, is the author of
Lost in the Mirror: an inside look at Borderline Personality Disorder
and
Carousel Music: a novel
, based on the controversy of recovered memories in psychotherapy. He left practice to venture further into writing fiction that explores the psychological consequences of living in a world of expanding possibilities.