Chapter 2

Chapter Two IN WHICH the Grace Twins Are Triplets Jared couldn't move from the doorway. He heard the clanging of swords and cheering, but the sounds seemed to come from far away. He watched in horror as the coach confronted his double. The man got red in the face, and some of the other players looked at Jared's double in shock. "Great." Jared grimaced. There was no way he could explain this.

第二章格雷斯双胞胎是三胞胎贾里德站在门口动弹不得。 他听到了剑的铿锵声和欢呼声，但这些声音似乎来自很远的地方。 当教练面对他的替身时，他惊恐地看着。 那人脸红了，其他一些球员吃惊地看着贾里德的替身。 “好了。”Jared扮了个鬼脸。他无法解释这一切。

The coach pointed toward the large gym door, and he watched Not-Jared stalk toward it—and toward him. As Not-Jared got closer to Jared, it smirked. Jared clenched his hands into fists. Not-Jared passed Jared without a single glance, slamming through the double doors. Jared wanted to find some way to wipe that smile off its face. He followed after it, into a hallway lined with lockers. "Who are you?" Jared demanded. "What do you want?" Not-Jared turned to face him, and something in its eyes made Jared go cold all over. "Don't you know me? Am I not your own self?" Its mouth curled into a sneer. It was strange to watch it move and speak. It wasn't like watching Simon, with his tidy hair and the smear of toothpaste on his upper lip. And it wasn't quite himself either—the hair was messier, and the eyes were darker and... different. It took a step toward him.

教练指了指体育馆的大门，他看着非-贾里德大步朝门走去——也朝他走过来。 当“非杰瑞德”靠近杰瑞德时，它傻笑起来。 杰瑞德紧握双手握拳。 “非杰瑞德”一眼也没看就从杰瑞德身边走过，砰地关上了两扇门。 杰瑞德想找个办法抹去它脸上的笑容。 他跟在后面，走进一条摆满储物柜的走廊。 “你是谁？”杰瑞德问道。 “你想要什么？”“非杰瑞德”转过身来面对他，它眼中的某种东西让杰瑞德浑身冰凉。 “你不认识我吗？”我不是你自己吗？”它的嘴卷成一副冷笑的样子。 看着它移动和说话，感觉很奇怪。 这可不像看西蒙那样，头发整齐，上唇上涂着牙膏。 而且也不完全是他自己——头发更乱了，眼睛更黑了，而且…… 不同。它朝他走了一步。

Jared took a step back, wishing for any kind of faerie protection, and then he remembered the pocketknife in his jeans. Faeries hated iron, and steel was at least part iron. He opened one of the blades. "Why don't you all just leave us alone?" The creature threw back its head and laughed. "You can never get away from your own self." "Shut up! You're not me." Jared pointed the knife at his double. "Put that toy away," Not-Jared said, its voice low and harsh.

杰瑞德往后退了一步，希望能得到精灵的保护，然后他想起了牛仔裤里的折刀。 仙子们讨厌铁，而钢铁至少有一部分是铁。 他打开了其中一个刀片。 “你们就不能让我们静一静吗？”那家伙仰起头来笑了。 “你永远无法摆脱自己。” “闭嘴!你不是我。”贾里德用刀指着他的替身。 “把那个玩具收起来。”不贾里德说，声音低沉而刺耳。

"I don't know who you are, or who sent you, but bet I know what you're looking for," said Jared. "The Guide. Well, you're never going to get it." The creature's grin widened into something that still wasn't really a smile. Then suddenly it shrank back as though frightened. Jared watched in amazement as the Not-Jared's body shrank, its dark hair paled into a sandy brown, and its now blue eyes went wide with terror. Before Jared could fully comprehend what he was seeing, he heard a woman's voice behind him. "What's going on here? Put that knife down." The vice principal rushed up, grabbing Jared's wrist. The pocketknife clattered to the linoleum floor. Jared stared at the blade as the sandy-haired boy ran off down the hall, his sobs sounding a lot like laughter.

“我不知道你是谁，也不知道是谁派你来的，但我敢打赌我知道你在找什么。” “指南。好吧，你永远不会得到它。” 那家伙咧开嘴笑了，但仍然算不上真正的微笑。 然后它突然缩了回去，好像受到了惊吓。 杰瑞德惊讶地看着“非杰瑞德”的身体萎缩，深色的头发变成了沙棕色，原本是蓝色的眼睛因恐惧而睁得大大的。 杰瑞德还没来得及完全明白自己看到了什么，就听到身后有个女人的声音。 “这是怎么回事？”把刀放下。” 副校长冲上来，抓住杰瑞德的手腕。 小刀落在油毡地板上发出咔哒声。 杰瑞德盯着那把剑，沙头发的男孩顺着走廊跑开了，他的抽泣听起来很像笑声。

"I can't believe you brought your knife to school," Simon whispered to Jared as they sat together outside the vice principal's office. Jared shot him a look. He had explained several times—even once to the police—that he was only showing the kid the knife, but they'd never found the other boy to confirm the story. Then the vice principal had asked Jared to wait outside. Their mother had been in the vice principal's office a long time, but Jared couldn't hear what was going on. "What kind of faerie do you think that thing was?" Simon asked.

“我不敢相信你把刀带到学校来了，”西蒙小声对贾里德说，他们一起坐在副校长办公室外面。 杰瑞德看了他一眼。他已经解释了好几次——甚至有一次向警察解释——他只是给那个孩子看了刀，但他们一直没有找到另一个男孩来证实这个故事。 然后副校长让贾里德在外面等着。 他们的母亲在副校长办公室呆了很长时间，但贾里德听不见发生了什么。 “你觉得那东西是个什么样的精灵？”西蒙问。

"What kind of faerie do you think it was?"

“你认为那是个什么样的精灵？”