I will kill him. I haven’t told anybody this. But if this doesn’t end my way, I want the world to know that HE isn’t me, and he’s responsible for all the blood.
When I say he … I mean my twin. I didn’t grow up with him. I never knew him until a few months ago. I always thought he was dead because my parents chose to save me instead of the both of us. We were conjoined in my mother’s womb, and he was siphoning nutrients from me trying to stay alive, but he was also killing me in the process. The doctors said there was a possibility we would die if we were separated, but since I was the “stronger” one, I had a higher chance of living.
And I did survive. And my brother died.
Or so I thought for years. I got strong. Some of my organs were donated to me. I pushed my body to the limits every day in high school by going to the gym and running track. I joined the Army once I graduated and met my wife, Faren.
I thought my life was set, so I got out of the military, and we started a family: one boy and one girl. I got a nice job while I worked on pursuing becoming a best-selling author.
Everything was fantastic. Until my mom called…
I had just pulled into the driveway of our little house in our clean suburban neighborhood.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Thank you for the get-well card. I don’t remember telling you I was sick.”
“You’re sick? Are you okay?”
“Boy, stop playing. You signed the card. But yes, just a little cold. These are my favorite flowers.”
I was confused, but who was I to rain on my mom’s parade? Maybe Faren found out. Our moms were best friends.
“Oh yeah, yeah. You know what, I remember now. Work’s just been so busy. You want us to stop by tomorrow? I can have Faren make that soup of hers you like—”
My mom coughed over the phone. “No. Don’t want the kids catching what I got. Give them a hug and kiss for me. I was just calling to say thank you. Love you.”
“Love you too, mom.”
We ended our call, and I went inside. Anime was blasting on the living room television. I think my son Xavier was rewatching World Trigger. I took off my shoes.
“X, turn that down, man!” I shouted.
“Okay!” he called.
My sweet princess, Femi, scribbled in a coloring book on the kitchen table. She didn’t even notice me until I snuck behind her and scared her.
“Daddy!” she turned, lunging at me.
I picked her up, kissed her on the cheek, and swung her around the air.
“What’s up, princess! How was school?”
Dimples galore. “I got an A on my paper about how cells clone themselves.”
“Really?” I put her down as our glass sliding door opened. “You’re the smartest in our family.”
“I know.” Femi sat back down and focused on her coloring book.
I shook my head as I spun toward Faren, light-skinned, with dark hair and green eyes. She was slim and short but had a firecracker soul. She merged into my embrace, kissing me, pink lips tasting like strawberries.
“You hungry?” she asked.
“Always.”
Ten minutes later, we were around the table as a family. The four of us. The perfect number. Xavier was on his phone and Femi was still coloring. Faren scolded both of them, and finally, they began to eat. I forked asparagus into my mouth as I looked across at Faren, who was scowling down at her plate.
“Asparagus is a bit tough. Is this week a win for me?” I smirked.
Faren’s shoulders deflated.
“Dishes or laundry?” I said.
She sighed. “You already know my answer.”
“Got you. Hey, did you send my mom a get-well card?”
“She’s sick?”
The look on Faren’s face told me she had no idea. And Faren wasn’t the type to lie about that sort of thing.
“Yeah. She said I had sent her a card. I assumed you sent it because maybe your mom told you my mom was sick.”
Faren shook her head. “I had no idea. I’ll call my mom later.”
In bed that night, Faren’s mom told both of us over the phone that she didn’t know my mom was sick either. What the hell?
“That doesn’t make any sense,” I said.
“I wouldn’t worry about it. Maybe someone at work is playing a trick on you.”
“The people at work barely know you exist, let alone my mother.”
“Baby, stop worrying. We have a busy weekend with the kids.” Faren sank into the blankets and switched her lamp off, turning her back to me. “Now, cuddle me. My feet are cold.”
I obliged my wife’s commands, and for a time, I forgot about that weird incident. Weeks went by, and then something else happened—something I absolutely could NOT ignore. I was working late when I got an email around six from one of Femi’s teachers thanking me for my attendance at the Parents’ and Teachers’ Conference. She said I gave an amazing speech about extracurricular activities. I checked my phone. No missed calls or texts. I told Faren I would be working late tonight, so how did I give a speech? Faren was supposed to be at Femi’s school alone. But that wasn’t the case.
I called her phone, and it rang.
And rang.
“Shit!” I jumped up from my desk.
I rushed home, speeding and swerving around other vehicles. Dread suffocated me. I felt like my chest was going to split open. By the time I got home, the kids were already gone with my dad for the weekend. The house was dark.
All the lights were off.
I checked my phone. I had left Faren with twenty missed calls and forty texts.
She always responded.
There was this gnawing in my gut. I’d felt this same sensation countless times before. I followed my instinct and grabbed my gun from my car. I didn’t enter in the front but through the back sliding door. There was soft music playing upstairs.
Was Faren cheating on me?
I crept across the tiled floor, down the hall, and turned to place a foot on the stairs—
Something crashed into my face, and I fell back, hitting the back of my head on the wooden floor. I tried to lift my gun, but someone stomped on my wrist. My vision was blurry, but I saw him.
Another me.
The doppelganger kicked my gun across the floor and sneered at me.
“She’s all primed and ready to go,” he said.
“What the hell are you doing in my house?” I scooted back, leaning against the wall.
“Your house? So possessive.”
My doppelganger stepped closer to me, kneeling to my level. He was wearing khaki pants and a dark short-sleeved shirt with white polka dots.
He tapped me in the face. “Focus there, guy. Listen. I’m going to tell you something, and you better listen good, or this will get a lot worse for you.”
“Please, man—”
His fingers curled around my throat. His eyes were black holes, sucking every ounce of warmth from me.
“Don’t start crying. You had a perfect life. All you need to do is shut your face and listen. Got it?”
I nodded.
He let go of me and stood. I thought about tripping my clone and forcing him into a fight on the ground, but something told me he was stronger than me. And to be honest, I was scared shitless.
“You’re going to go upstairs and finish pleasing your wife. You don’t mention me. To anyone. If you do, I promise you; you’ll see Hell a lot sooner.”
“Who are you?”
The other me frowned. “It’s a shame you forgot about me so easily. We spent seven months together.”
A pang right under my heart reverberated through me. The scar was still there. I clutched it. When the pain stopped, I looked up and knew. I couldn’t believe it. How could I? There was no way what I was seeing was possible?
My twin smiled as if we were meeting for dinner or something.
“Hello, brother,” he said. “Nice to meet you.”
And then he booted me right in the face, sending me to blackness. I think I woke moments later—maybe minutes.
He was gone. And Faren was coming down the stairs.
“Oh my god!” she screamed and ran to me.
I reached up and clung to her. What was I supposed to do?
“What happened?” she asked.
“Fell down the stairs.”
Faren giggled. “What, did you see a ghost or something?”
I reached up and grabbed Faren’s soft face. I kissed her. I just wanted what had happened to not exist for a moment. I wanted it not to be true. If Faren knew how true her statement was, maybe we could have done something. But I was horrified.
My twin could have been watching us. Listening. Anything. Was he going to hurt my kids? He’d already been fucking my wife!
“Did you change clothes?” Faren asked as we broke apart.
“No,” I lied.
I couldn’t tell her what had happened. She could never know the truth. It wasn’t her fault. It was my twin’s. I was convinced then that I was going to stop him.
Somehow, some way.
I wouldn’t let him ruin my life. I’d kill him again.
But back then, I didn’t know that it was already too late.