Prologue

Remus

She took her last breath staring up at the green eyes that had haunted her dreams for over a decade. The eyes she thought were meant to be her salvation, but ultimately ended up being her demise.

The end.

“Wait, what?!” I yelled, “Charlie dies?!”

“Ah, you finished it,” my sister, Reggie, said from the doorway. I looked up to find my fraternal twin leaning on the wall with her arms folded across her chest. Her chestnut hair was cut short, just brushing the tops of her shoulders. Today, she was wearing a white, short sleeved t-shirt and light jeans, with brown knee high boots and a brown leather jacket. She actually looked pretty good today, considering she usually left her house wearing sweat pants with her hair a mess.

Jesus, now I’m talking about her clothes.

“You made me read a stupid romance novel, said how amazing it was, how awesome it was, but it was utter bullshit! Charlie dies! How is this a romance novel?!” I yelled again, “‘You gotta read this, Rem!’ she said, ‘It’s a romance novel, but it’s so good!’ she said.” I threw the book at her, but she just ducked and started laughing.

“It is a romance novel, you ass!” she laughed again picking up the book. “Charlie finds love, but has to die to save the world, ” her golden brown eyes stared down at the cover of the book, as she stoked it lovingly. I was ready to toss her out of my bedroom window. She looked back up at me with a huge grin.

“Aren’t romance novels supposed to have happy endings?” I asked, throwing my hands up in the air. I got up from my bed and paced, while I ran my fingers through my hair.

“Not all of them have them, Rem. Just like real life, not everything can end with an HEA.” When I gave her a questioning look, she just chuckled. “Happily Ever After.”

With that, she took her book and sauntered out of my room. I could still hear her in the kitchen somewhere, but I wasn’t paying attention anymore. I was thinking of ways I could change the ending, maybe pull a Misery/Stephen King style stunt, but I wasn’t sure I was up for a kidnapping. I didn’t want to go to jail, I just wanted Charlie to live.

For some reason, I felt her deep in my bones. I connected with her in a way that I never had with a fictional character. I’ve never read romance before, usually sticking to my tech journals, but Reggie had convinced me to read this one. She wanted to talk to me about something other than the newest technology.

I walked out of my room, still in my sweat pants that I slept in, into my office and sat down at the desk, my brain going a thousand miles a minute. I put my head in my hands, elbows resting on my desk, as I stared emptily at the wall where the display for the computer was. As I started sorting through different articles that appeared on the projection, one article caught my eye.

“New technology proves alternate universes exist! Not just sci-fi anymore!”

Alternate universe? Could Charlie be in one of them?

Chapter 1

One month later…

Charlie

Ding dong!

“Coming!” I yelled, racing to the door.

Ding dong!

“Jesus,” I muttered, “I’m coming!” I yelled louder. I stepped over Reggie, my lazy golden retriever who wouldn’t even bark if my entire living room was on fire, and opened the door.

“Woah,” I whispered looking at the man standing on my door step. He was at least six feet tall, which compared to my five foot frame, I considered to be giant status, and had broad shoulders like a football player. His chestnut hair had golden highlights in it that my mother would have paid hundreds of dollars for, but looked natural on him. His eyes were a golden color, not brown. He had a pair of black glasses that were rectangular, and didn’t take up too much of his face, but looked kind of odd since he looked like a linebacker, and the glasses made him look almost nerdy. He had a big smile on his face, and showed his perfect white teeth, as he stared down at me and I looked him over. He was wearing an olive green polo, which looked really good with his light complexion, and brought out his eyes even more, tucked into a pair of khakis.

Although this man was a complete stranger, he seemed oddly familiar.

“Charlie?” his deep timbre shook me out of looking him up and down, and I looked back up into his eyes. I tilted my head in confusion.

“You know my name?”

“My name is Remus Montgomery, but you can call me Remy, and although we’ve never met, I do know you.”

He smiled again and I shook my head, my hair falling in front of my face. Don’t let a pretty face beguile you Charlie. When I heard a laugh, I looked back up and could feel my cheeks heat.

“Did I say that out loud?” I whispered.

“Yup,” he chuckled again.

“Look, bud, I don’t know you, and I’m not sure how you know me, but it’s quite frankly freaking me out, so there is no way I am letting you into my house. You could totally be an axe murderer or something,” as I started to close the door, his name finally registered in my head, and I whipped the door back open. “Wait, did you say Remus Montgomery?”

This time, his head tilted in confusion, “Yes?”

I left the door open, as I turned around and went into the living room to get my favorite book, which was still sitting on the end table since I had just finished re-reading it, yes, re-read because I like to re-read my books. Don’t judge me. I picked up the book and walked to the front door, flipping through the pages until I reached the description of Remy. I tripped on Reggie, since she had apparently decided to move without me noticing, and put my hands out in front of me to catch my fall. I felt two strong arms come around my waist, catching me before I fell flat on my face.

“You alright?” he asked me, his hands lingering on my hips as I straightened my self.

“Yeah,” I said, clearing my throat. “Reggie,” I said turning to the laziest beast I had ever met, “when did you move, girl?” I swear she just rolled her eyes at me.

“Did you just call your dog Reggie, and did she just roll her eyes?” Remy asked from behind me. See! Dogs can totally roll their eyes.

“Yes, her name is Reggie. Why?” I said looking back at him.

“No reason,” he said, his eyes on the dog, but I swear I heard him whisper, “Reg is gonna love that.”

I opened the book again, since I hadn’t dropped it when Reggie tried to kill me, and flipped back to the part I was looking for. I read the description out loud,

“Remus Montgomery, known as Remy to his friends, was barely listening to his sister Reggie as she prattled on about some book he didn’t care for. He was too busy trying to get into the hard drive of a computer that the local police department had sent him. Although he was a technical genius, he was built like an athlete, and it usually surprised people to find out he was not a lacrosse player, but spent his time creating the newest technology out there, and spent his free time working on cases for the police department. His glasses slipped down his nose again, for the thousandth time that day he wished he had gotten the surgery to just fix his eyes.”

I paused looking back up at Remus, and he had his mouth hanging open.

“Can I see that?” he asked, holding out his hand. I put it in his hand and watched as he read the back of the book.

“How is it, that you look exactly like the Remus Montgomery that I’ve always pictured when I read this book, and you just showed up on my doorstep?”

Remy cleared his throat as he looked up at me.

“I read a book my twin sister, Reggie, convinced me to read, and you’re the main character. Charlotte Rose King, also known as Charlie, and I didn’t like the ending of the book. I was thinking of going Anne Wilkes on the author when I found out that alternate universes were real, and tried to find you. So here I am, trying to change the ending.” Remy looked at the book again, and checked the author. “Whoever wrote this book, wrote the book in my universe too,” but it sounded like he was talking to himself more than anyone else. “Quick question,” he said looking back at me. 

“Yeah?”

“Did you name your dog after my sister?”

I could feel my cheeks heat again. 

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