Stolen Hope 3

Diane stood shivering at the door of an old lodge and checked her wrist watch nervously. It was slowly heading towards 6pm and she needed to get back home before it got too late. She rubbed her arms furiously against the cold and looked worriedly at the darkening sky. Her sense of self-preservation had increased since she was now nurturing a little life inside her. She knocked on the door again, this time more urgently, but still, no one came. She stepped back and frowned, wondering if she was at the right place. Before she could question her whereabouts any further, the door swung open and before her stood Isabel. Diane reeled in shock as her gaze slowly took in her sister’s form. It was as if she was looking into a mirror. Growing up, people had always asked what it was like to have a twin. Was it like having a mirror image? Diane had never really thought about it, thinking that the obvious answer was yes. And so that was what she would reply. But as she looked at her sister now, she realized that having a twin wasn’t supposed to be like having a mirror image. There was always some form of individuality. Independence. And right now she didn’t like what she was seeing. Isabel, from tip to tail, was dressed exactly like Diane. Not only that, but she was also pregnant. And from the looks of it, they were in the same semester too. Of course they had often worn the same outfits, but that was a thing of childhood. And when Isabel had returned after two years of disappearing, she had gotten the same outfits as Diane, but she had never worn them. Diane had passed it off as Isabel's psychological need to hold onto something happy from her childhood. And being abused, wearing matching outfits with your twin sister was her only happy memory. Or so Diane had thought.

“Isabel…” she managed to choke out. Isabel smiled serenely at her sister and opened the door wider to indicate invitation inside. Once inside, Isabel led Diane into a drab looking lounge and gestured towards an old couch. Diane sank into it, still dazed by how much Isabel not only resembled her physically, but also in her mannerisms.

“Hello Diane.” Isabel murmured, unsurprisingly in a tone of voice much similar to Diane's. Then she laughed delicately when she saw Diane’s eyes nearly pop out in surprise.

“You can talk!?” Diane exclaimed. She couldn’t remember the last time she had ever heard Isabel talk.

“I’ve always been able to talk.” Isabel murmured. She was still standing as if she wanted to impose on Diane just how much they looked alike. Diane swallowed nervously, wishing now that she had chosen to ignore Isabel's text message summoning her hither where no one knew she was, or in the very least that Matthew was here with her. But truth was she had been worried about Isabel. After Diane had announced her engagement five months ago, Isabel had disappeared yet again. No one had noticed for a while, and that had made Diane feel guilty and was part of the reason why she was here now. She hadn’t heard from Isabel for so long, that when she got the text she had hurried over without even thinking of telling anyone. And now, her phone had no service. Typical. There was a long silence in which Isabel just looked placidly at Diane with an unfaltering smile on her face. Diane found it both irritating and worrisome, and she raked her brains to find something to break the silence.

“So… you’ve been living here the whole time?”

“Yes.” Isabel replied still smiling.

Diane looked at Isabel's protruding belly, “All by yourself?”

“Yes.” Isabel intoned again.

Frustrated with Isabel just standing over her giving monosyllabic answers Diane huffed “Well aren’t you gonna sit down!?”

“No.”

“I liked her better when she didn’t speak at all” Diane thought to herself, her patience wearing thin. “Why are you dressed like me? In fact, why do you look exactly like me?”

This time Isabel didn’t reply, choosing instead to continue with her irksome smile.

With her hormones in the extreme, Isabel's behaviour was enough to get Diane to her feet. But before she could open her mouth, Isabel pushed her back onto the couch.

“Sit down.” She said coolly.

Diane stared up at Isabel in shock and protectively wrapped her arms around her belly. “Wh-why did you call me here Isabel”

Isabel took a step closer and said “Because it’s time for me to take what’s mine.”

Diane shook her head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Your life Diane.”

Isabel waited for the severity of her words to sink in before she started laughing. Diane's hands gripped the sofa until her knuckles turned white. The color had drained from her face, and her other hand clutched her tummy as she felt fear cause a mild contraction in her womb. She looked up at Isabel and received a devilish smile from her twin sister. She finally understood why Isabel looked like her. She intended to take her place. And she could very well pull it off. She looked like her, she talked like her, and she acted like her. She had even gotten herself pregnant just like her. Diane felt bile rise up in her throat. Dear Lord, how long had Isabel been planning this?  Almost as if she had heard Diane’s thoughts, Isabel began pacing the room slowly.

“You’ve always had everything Diane. Everything I’ve always wanted. You were always the prettier one, even though we were twins” Isabel spat out bitterly, “That monster chose me instead of you, and why? We both killed our mother. But no. He. Chose. Me.” She gave a maniacal laugh. “That was the only time I was ever chosen for anything. She’s strange. Why doesn’t she smile? What the fuck do I have to smile about?” she whipped around so viciously to face Diane that Diane reeled back in alarm. “Please Diane; enlighten me, what the fuck do I have to smile about?” Isabel gripped Diane’s arm so tightly that Diane yelped out in pain.

“Isabel... I” Diane started, but Isabel didn’t give her a chance to finish.

“Exactly. I have nothing.’ She carried on vehemently. “But not anymore.”

Her features softened suddenly and for a second, Diane saw a glimmer of the old Isabel she had known as a child as they played hide and seek in the sunshine and forgot about the horror of the abuse. Isabel closed her eyes and gently rubbed her stomach with a smile.

“Not anymore” she whispered. “Because now I have Matthew’s child growing inside of me.”

Diane felt a wave of nausea grip her. She shook her head in denial. It couldn’t be true, Matthew would never do that to her. He would never willingly sleep with her twin sister… unless he had thought it was her. Diane’s head whipped up to look at Isabel.

 “You deceived Matthew into thinking it was me he was sleeping with?”

Isabel didn’t answer. The proud smirk on her face was answer enough. Diane stood to her feet so abruptly this time that it was Isabel's turn to look shocked.

“You vile, treacherous BITCH!” she screamed grabbing Isabel by the arms and giving her a bone-jarring shake with a strength she didn’t know she possessed. But it was short-lived, for all of a sudden, Isabel let out a blood-chilling screech and slapped Diane hard across the face. Diane felt fury rise within her, and she slapped Isabel with a livid back-hand. Isabel fell onto the floor, taking Diane with her. They tumbled on the dusty grit, with hair pulling and yelps of pain. Somehow, Diane managed to get on top of Isabel and managed to pin her hands down. She looked down at Isabel's face morphed into an ugly grimace as she struggled to get free of Diane’s grip. When had Izzie become this monster, Diane wondered sadly, but deep down she knew the answer. Isabel had never been the same after the first blow she had received as a child. She was a result of the horrible things she had suffered through. But instead of rising above, she had chosen to give in. She was her father’s child.

Without any warning, Isabel kneed Diane hard in the stomach. Diane cried out, weakening her hold on Isabel, and Isabel took the opportunity to strike a hard blow to the side of Diane’s head. Her vision out of focus, and a sharp pain emanating from her tummy, Diane rolled onto the ground and drew herself into a ball. She was fading fast but with the little strength she had left she felt an instinctive need to protect her unborn child. Pain gripped her as she felt a wave of contractions rip through her womb from the kick she had received from Isabel. Her arms went around her stomach protectively and she started praying fiercely while tears ran down her cheeks.

“Please Lord not my baby, not my baby”

Through her haze of tears, Diane saw Isabel get up slowly and walk over to the mantle where she took something. When she came back to stand over her, Diane saw that it was an injection.

“Please Izzie” she implored in an aching whisper, “Please don’t do this…”

“It’s too late Diane.” Isabel murmured as she crouched down next to Diane and slowly injected the debilitating drug into her sister’s arm. “You have what I want, and so I have to keep you as far away from the life you had, so that I can take over and live in peace.” Diane tried to make sense of Isabel's words but her brain was getting fuzzy and her vision was fizzling out. Isabel's last words echoed and reverberated in her mind as everything went black.

“This is your new home now.”

The End

By Wilhelmine Wachter