Alex turned around and saw someone who looked exactly like him. "It's time," they said. "Start running and never look back."

He didn't stop to ask questions. He didn't goggle like an idiot at the person who had stolen his face. Instead, he did the only reasonable thing he could do in the situation.

He ran, not daring to look over his shoulder. Adrenaline surged through his body as he entered full flight mode.

He wasn't going to wait around to see what happened next; he wasn't an idiot. Having seen enough movies, played plenty of games, and read numerous books, he recognised the situation. The moment he saw it, he knew it was 'in media res', and we're all probably wondering how he got here. At this point in the narrative as he sprinted down the street in a panic, he was supposed to catch the audience up on current events. Record scratch. Freeze frame.

He, too, was wondering how he got into this situation. Dropped in the middle of a story with no clue of what was happening, he only had the instructions of the Other Him to guide him along.

Had he gotten out of bed on the wrong side? Maybe he hadn't gotten out of bed at all but was in a very strange dream. He had a wild imagination for someone his age.

Alex felt a sudden pain in the left side of his chest. If this were a dream, he wasn't supposed to feel pain. What kind of reality was he in?

As he ran down the sidewalk, mentally blaming himself for failing sports lessons at school despite attending every class, he racked his brain for possibilities. Alien invasion? Unlikely. If the aliens wanted to replace him, he would have been taken away by now. Cloning experiment? Possibly. But even if that was a possibility, he had no way of knowing if he was the original or the duplicate. Unknown twin? Possible. The possibilities were endless—false memories, alternate dimensions, plastic surgery, and even time travel were on the list here. With nowhere to start, he had no idea what kind of story he was in. Until he pieced everything together, he had to assume the warning was real and that he was in danger.

So he kept running as fast as his legs could carry him.

Alex heard a sudden squeal of brakes, and half a block ahead of him, an unmarked black van screeched to a stop. Its side door slid open, and three bodyguard-looking men in black suits emerged, continuously surveying the surroundings. Each man was donned in impeccably tailored black suits, creating an ambiance of authority. Dark sunglasses concealed their gaze, adding a touch of mystery to their presence. One of them spotted Alex and raised a hand.

"Alexander Johnson!" he yelled. "We're here to help! Come with us if you want to live!"

"Alexander Johnson? How did the man know him? No one called him Alexander instead of Alex, unless he had done something wrong and was in trouble," Alex wondered.

Having watched enough movies, Alex knew men in black suits were never to be trusted, especially if they drove a van. He barked out a manic laugh just before ducking into a nearby alley. He heard the man cursing behind him, then the sound of heavy boots on the pavement as the men in black began chasing after him.

Alex nearly tripped over a trash can as he started running, making a quick recovery and kept sprinting down the unfamiliar alley he now found himself in. Alex began piecing together the first elements of the story. Some sort of sketchy government subplot was definitely involved, and he was the target. So far, the only thing he knew was that the person with his face had told him to run. Alex trusted the Other Him a little more than he trusted the men in black with the kidnap van. He had to rely on his gut instinct.

Continuing to sprint to the other side of the alley, Alex heard a low popping noise from behind him. As something shot over his head, he yelped, ducking as he ran. He had just enough time to notice a silver dart quivering in a nearby trash can as he passed by it—a tranquilliser dart, no doubt.

He hated it when his gut instinct was right.

Reaching the other end of the narrow alley, a black SUV blocked the exit, leaving Alex with no way out. He leaped onto the car without stopping, running up the hood first and over the roof, before launching himself off the trunk without slipping. As he landed on the road, he nearly lost his footing but managed to regain his balance at the last moment, just in time to keep going. Behind him, Alex heard more cursing as the men in black tried to scramble over the SUV in pursuit of him. Only one man managed to make it over the SUV without falling on his face.

"He's headed down Thirteenth Hunter Street!" shouted the man who had made it over the SUV. "Everyone, head that way! Approach with caution; he might attack."

"How could I be stupid? Of course, there'd be more than one van. These men in black always travel in packs," thought Alex. "Approach with caution? He might attack? Attack with what? I didn't even know how to defend myself, let alone attack anyone to save my own life."

Alex needed to get away from these men before they got any more crazy ideas about him. There was no way he could lose these men on foot in the street. He needed to think fast—the rooftops of buildings.

Alex climbed up the rungs of a fire escape ladder to the rooftop of a nearby building. He was now running across the rooftop. Spotting a series of interconnected rooftops, he bounded across the gaps, moving from one rooftop to the next. Quickly looking down, he laughed at the men who were now looking up in frustration, watching him make his escape.

"The kid's on the rooftop heading toward Holland Street," shouted a man in black over his comms.

The men in black stayed connected to each other through their advanced communication devices. Earpieces and discreet communication devices were part of their ensemble, highlighting their preparedness for unexpected situations.

As Alex continued to sprint over the rooftops, a deafening helicopter noise echoed through the air, drowning out the city noise below. A sudden spotlight shining from beneath the helicopter appeared on the rooftop. The beam was directed to pinpoint Alex with accuracy. In the broad daylight, Alex found himself surrounded by the penetrating gaze of the spotlight.

"Of course, they would prepare for all scenarios. Stupid me!" thought Alex, blaming himself.

Alex quickened his pace, adrenaline coursing through his veins. He was being surrounded from above and below. He needed to find a way out of this situation that he had been dropped into unwillingly.

"What did I do to get into this mess?" thought Alex.

Alex racked his brain for any clue about how he might have ended up here. There were many possibilities—bait for someone else, ethnic tension, activist-related activities, lab guinea pig, a social media post that he accidentally liked, his vast knowledge. With no idea why he had suddenly become a target, he needed to find somewhere safe to lay low.

Alex never thought that he meant anything in this world. He usually compared himself to a speck of dust—microscopic and insignificant. Yet somehow, he meant a great deal to these men in black. Whatever he had done, he had made himself visible to the government. Was that good or bad? What if it was the latter?

As he continued to move swiftly from rooftop to rooftop, he grabbed onto the rail of a nearby fire escape ladder that he came across. Alex slid down the rungs. He disappeared so quickly that the men in black were confused about how their target had vanished into thin air. He had disappeared from the men in black's line of sight.

Ducking into an empty alley, he found a teenage boy, a few years older than him, looking around frantically. When the boy spotted Alex coming down the alley, his eyes widened as if he had discovered a treasure trove of gold.

"Alex, follow me!" he called out to Alex.

Alex hesitated for a moment. Seeing no weapon in the boy's hand, he decided to follow him. If he was going to trust someone and pick a side, he was going to trust the side that was not trying to capture him or shoot tranquilliser darts at him.

"Alexander Johnson!" called one of the men in black on a megaphone. "We know you're in the alley. We've surrounded the place. For your own safety, come with us."

Alex's legs were now giving in. How long could he keep this up? He pushed his strained legs to their limit. Up ahead, on the side of the alley against the wall, a heavy metallic door materialised. The boy he was following heaved the heavy door open, and Alex sprinted the last meter until he stumbled past the boy through the door. With a heave, the boy closed the door.

Alex collapsed to the ground, disoriented, his vision blurry. He had no idea where he was. All he knew was that the place was brightly lit. Was he dead?