“Against all odds, Violet, we’ve prevailed—at least until now. When all is said and done, you’ll understand why things must be this way—for as long as we walk the earth—and maybe beyond. You must see now why there can be no other Marks—no other Shivas. We will always have the gift of instant communication—superluminally—like those billions upon billions of quantum particles reunited across time and space. Einstein called it ‘spooky action at a distance.’ This unfathomable mystery is perhaps entwined, embedded in our very DNA, never to be unraveled. Perhaps only those myriad gods and goddesses might understand it, those whose fantastic exploits exist only as stand-ins for the failure of words.”

She stood, clapped her hands twice.

“We have so much to do, Violet. Without each other, we can neither plan nor act. This must always be our shared mission. You are me; I am you, even more so than ordinary twins. Even if I were successfully excised from your spine, it might make no difference. But if it did, what would you be? Do you think you’d be free? Why bring the curtain down when there is so much to accomplish, real justice to deliver?”

“I don’t think I can walk.”

“You must eat something, Violet, and I must go, before Mark decides to pay a visit. You know what’s coming. I don’t think he’ll have the heart to take you into custody though.”

Once again, I obeyed.

This is how most people make their way through their stunted lives, dazzled by the spectacle, sleepwalkers, hypnotically entranced, mouthing jargon—words of comfort and blame. All the while doing untold damage, jerked this way and that by puppet masters whose faces remain obscured until they, too, are finally sucked down and replaced.

I stumbled to the kitchen, set the switchblade on the counter, and opened a cabinet, searched for something I did not want. I watched, disoriented, as Khalika glided toward the window, her black-booted feet not making contact with the floor. There, she paused, smiled at me, waved. Then, like the willful figment she was, merged with the glass pane and reappeared briefly on the other side of it.

“I’ll be back soon to help you pack, and to help dispose of any incriminating items. Tell Mark, if he shows up before you leave, that you must go on an extended trip and that you will call him when you get there. Be brave, my sister.” Then, an afterthought: “You know, if this were a series, it would have long since jumped the shark. It’s the same with life.”

And with that, she was gone. She’d succeeded in making me laugh though—right to the bitter end.

There was a knock at the door. I ignored it. In all of this, it was the hardest thing I could remember doing. There was not even time to say goodbye, to find Mercutio and Nimrod a new home. We can never know when any of our meetings might be our last. We rarely say what needs saying, do what needs doing. I hoped that, somehow, Mark might see to it.