SHADOWS OF THE SECOND SELF
Prologue: The Man Who Died but Didn't
They said Jonathan Hale died in Afghanistan.
The blast tore through his unit, shredded metal, burned sand into glass, and left bodies that couldn't be recognized. Hale should have been one of them. But he walked out with half his memories gone and instincts sharpened to an animal's edge.
He retired early—"medical discharge" they called it. The truth was worse: the war never left him. It built a second Hale inside him, a version of himself that acted without hesitation, without fear, without remorse.
A version of himself he could not remember.
Chapter 1: The First Death
Jonathan Hale wanted to die.
He whispered it every morning as he stared into the cracked bathroom mirror of his tiny Washington apartment. "Let this be the day. Let it finally end."
The city outside buzzed with life. Cars. Horns. Voices. None of it reached Hale. He tied the noose with steady hands, placed the chair beneath it, and stepped up.
For one beautiful second, he felt weightless.
Then—
Snap.
Not the rope.
His mind.
His posture straightened. His breathing slowed. His pupils shrank to needle points.
Jonathan vanished.
The Captain took over.
He lifted the rope, tested it, cut it clean, and dismantled the chair. Movements precise. Efficient. Silent.
When Jonathan woke the next morning, the rope lay neatly coiled on the counter. The chair was back under the table. And his neck didn't hurt.
He dropped to his knees and cried.