My girlfriend (24) and I (26) have been dating for almost 5 years. I’ve met her family, she met mine. I wouldn’t say she has the most normal family, but let me explain. I don’t mean they’re some sort of supernatural family—although that would be super cool—but I mean they’re all just—odd..? She’s one of four siblings. Two younger siblings, and an identical twin sister. The only way I have ever been able to tell them apart is the earring and necklace set that I bought my girlfriend on our first anniversary dinner. She never takes—took—it off…
My girlfriend, Alyssa. Her sister, Chloe. The two of them, from what I’ve heard, have always been close. Alyssa couldn’t go anywhere without Chloe, and the same could be said about Chloe. They were inseparable. I knew that from day one. But it only began to get weirder and weirder.
On our 4th year anniversary, two years after moving in together, we decided once again to go out for dinner. But for some reason, Chloe insisted on joining us.
“You’ve taken her from me, I need to be near her…” she said ominously on the other side of the phone. Disregarding her comment, I hung up and finished getting ready, in hopes Ally wasn’t upset with me for taking long on this lovely night.
She looked beautiful. She wore a nice silky white dress, cut just above the knee. It had a nice silver chain that went around the neck, matching with the necklace and earring set. Her hair was in a half up, half down style, curls galore. The only other white dress I could imagine her in, was a wedding dress. I had planned to propose after year six. It was an—unofficial tradition that my grandfather had started. All the men in my family got married after six years, no longer than eight if they were forced to wait. Thankfully, they had the charm and managed to make it to their sixth year. This ties in, trust me. If you’re confused now, it only gets worse. I never did think that would be possible.
“Alright love, are you ready to go?” She looked content but slightly uneasy. It was almost a haunting expression. But she just brushed it off like nothing happened, as if anything did happen. “Yes.” She said quietly, walking right through the front door.
That right there should have been a red flag. She could sense something bad was going to happen. Whatever it was, Ally knew deep down that she was okay. Mind you, this was around 8-9 at night. It was sprinkling outside, and the air was humid. I told her if she wasn’t feeling well, we could stay home and rest.
“But that would mean I did my hair and makeup for nothing.” she said. I leaned over and gave her a hug before starting the car.
Skipping to dinner.
We get to the restaurant, and she’s losing it. Practically in hysterics. I try to calm her down, but the second I turn to look at her, I see Chloe. But she’s not normal. Like I mentioned earlier, her family’s a bit off. She’s one of the only normal ones, beside her dad. Chloe is standing by the door, watching through the passenger window. She’s staring blankly, but no, not at her sister. She’s staring at—me. The second I go to point at her, she changes her expression. From a haunting, devilish smile. To a somewhat ‘natural’ smile. One you’d expect her to have when seeing her sister.
I wish I had a picture. Maybe even a video. The last year that I truly knew Ally, she would never believe me. Alyssa calmed down right after. Almost as if a switch had been flipped. Some sort of twin sense maybe? I tried looking into it but I couldn’t find much. Anyways, when we got into the restaurant, Chloe sat across from us. Each time Ally wasn’t paying attention, Chloe would glare at me, with a slight smile. I should have known then and there that something was off. I mean she was never right in the head, but that night—something was way off.
Almost halfway through dinner (which was going great by the way), Chloe asked Alyssa to chat in the bathroom. I won’t say I was worried, but I did have a pretty nasty gut feeling something was going to happen sometime soon. When they came back, the girls seemed ready to go. Once I paid for dinner, Alyssa grabbed my arm. She had a more than frightened expression, but kept her cool because her sister was right behind her.
“Do you think you could—give her a ride home? Mom dropped her off and… Won’t answer her calls…” I should have known right then that something was off. Number one, Alyssa was never afraid to ask for favors, even if it was for a family member or friend. I would typically give her and her friend a ride to work no questions asked. And number two, the star of the show. Chloe. She was staring at me.
I was tired of looking at her. She creeped me the fuck out. Sorry if any kids are reading this. Chloe was like a witch in disguise. Every one of her movements sent chills up my spine. Oh to be her sister. Ally was never bothered by her twin’s creepy antics. Unlike her, her younger siblings, who we’ll call Jessie and Lonnie. Those two never liked Chloe. They would tell me all these stories about how she drew away everyone’s partner, and how I’m the only one she hasn’t tried to push away. Lonnie even brought up the fact that she might—like me… I couldn’t imagine choosing her over her sister. Not to make that sound weird.
After dropping her off at her parents, and returning to my place. I took Ally into our room to try and talk about her behavior. She was being super strange and I had little to no idea why. I thought it was some sort of mental illness, but she already denied any of that. I thought she was sick but wanted to push through for her sister but it wasn’t that either. She wasn’t giving me any hints. She just got into her pajamas and got ready for bed, hardly speaking even as she laid down. Something was clearly wrong, but I wasn’t going to poke the bear. Instead, I laid awake in bed beside her. There was no point in sleeping. Every single time I closed my eyes all I would see was Chloe. I couldn’t stop thinking about her creepy stare. It was like she was obsessed with me. She wouldn’t stare at her sister, only. Me.
Fast forward to the last time I truly saw my girlfriend. She told me (halfway through year five of the relationship) that she was going to go spend time with her sister, who she felt could use the mental stimulation. I watched as she put on her sweater and Jeans. Her matching jewlery set. Threw her hair up into a messy bun, put on her comfy shoes. Brought her bag with yellow and white flowers on it with her. I remember that outfit specifically. I’m only writing this because everyone I know keeps denying it. I even have a video of her leaving on our security cam.
When she came back, there was something off about her. The main part being everything that she was wearing, as well as not wearing. I knew something was off immediately when I saw she wasn’t wearing any jewelry. Her sweater was wrong, jeans wrong. Hair, even the damn bag was wrong. She was only gone for three hours and yet everything about her had changed.
“Where’s your jewelry? You never take it off…” I asked, watching as she changed into her pajama’s again. She had her back towards me the whole time. She didn’t turn to look at me until she was finished changing.
“Chloe liked them so I said she could wear it until mom bought her a matching set. You aren’t mad are you?” she asked, looking innocent. I couldn’t hurt her feelings, so I figured I’d comply.
“No, of course not Ally, that makes sense, I mean. Chloe does look good in silver. Guess that’s the twin aspect right?” Her face lit up. It was an unnatural glow. I don’t mean literally, but she looked overly excited to hear me say that. Alyssa was always super kind and generous, so this wasn’t unusual I suppose.
We decided to watch a movie, but halfway through, she got a call—from her mother. Right away I knew something was off. Her mother was frantic and hardly comprehensive. I had to ask her to calm down in order to make anything make sense.
“Ally! It’s Chloe! She’s—she’s… Oh my god you’re sister’s dead!” I looked over at Alyssa, who was just as shocked. She was at a loss of words. I couldn’t even tell if she knew what she just heard.
“W-what are you talking about? I was just over there.” Ally replied, hardly getting words out herself. Her mom was still going off, sounding more and more distraught as the call went on. It was quite hard to listen to.
“She was stabbed in the neck, there’s a note beside her.” I had never seen Alyssa hang up so fast. For a split second I could have thought she smiled.
Now in our sixth year of dating, it’s almost as if the death of her sister hasn’t phased her. She hardly cried at the funeral. She just laughed at all the memories. Even during her speech, she didn’t seem all that upset. I managed to get an audio recording of it.
*Recording begins, it starts with clapping then silence.*
Ally: “I’d like to thank everyone who showed up, in honor of my wonderful sister, Chloe. I know everyone, though they found her to sometimes be weird or annoying, as I did. That’s just inevitable between siblings. I know you all miss her. She was my rock. She kept me out of harm, showed me the dangers of dating and let me see the true intentions behind the men I thought loved me. But the one she let stay in my life, has loved me for six years now. I know this may seem sudden, but let’s let her rest. She’ll need energy if she’s going to look after us all. I’m sure she misses each and every one of us just as much as we miss her. I love you Chloe. I’ll see you again someday. Watch over me please. For old time sake?”
*Recording ends.*
The whole time she was bubbly and excited. Calm when she needed to be. Almost as if she had written this in advance. I knew something was off, but I was too stubborn to convince myself that she was no longer the same girl I met six years ago. Death can change a person, but it changed her a little too much…
Almost a year later, she seemed to change again, but in a good way. I thought she was getting better, so I decided to propose. Make the good situation even better. Thankfully she said yes.
The wedding was perfect. Ally was perfect. This was finally a good time to give her the new jewelry set I had bought. Seeing her walk down the aisle was a dream come true. It was almost sad to see her sister’s chair empty, waiting for her to arrive. I knew deep down she was there, watching. Or did I? Never once did I think to question Ally about what really happened the day her sister was found dead. Never once did I bother to push the boundaries and ask why she was in something completely different than what she left in. Never once did I ask how her sister managed to be found dead only an hour after she left. I just assumed she was telling the truth. But our wedding was no place for confrontation.
“If anyone has any objections, speak now or please forever hold your peace.” There was silence. I was so close to marrying the girl of my dreams. Only my dreams turned out to be nightmares. As she surveyed the crowd, she smirked, watching as people’s faces either filled with tears, or horror. Her younger siblings were in the horror category. Both Jessie and Lonnie were too afraid to say anything, they just stared at me.
It wasn’t until I turned back towards Alyssa, did I finally realize—it wasn’t her. The same smile and glare Chloe had during our 4th anniversary dinner. I shouted with fear, contorting the expression off her face as she looked at me like I was the deranged one.
“I’m sorry, I can’t… That’s—that’s not the girl I want to marry. I don’t know what you did with Alyssa, but you’re not her!” All hell broke loose. My family filled with panic, her family exploded with fury.
“I don’t get it! I’m Alyssa! Chloe’s dead!” Chloe shouted. I could see the panic in her eyes as she tried desperately to control the situation.
I don’t know when I’ll have more updates, but for now. I’ve decided to keep my distance from that family. I’ve spent one solo year away from them so far, trying my best to look into what happened with the real Alyssa. I apologize for anyone who is confused. I’ve been trying to wrangle my thoughts around this for a while now. I know something happened while Ally was there visiting. I know it was her body who her mom found. This is as much as I’ve been able to comprehend within the two/three years it’s been on my mind. If I find anything, I’ll let you know.
R.I.P Alyssa. 1998-2023