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
