My Doppelganger Kills

A short horror story by Javier Berrellez

Victoria tried ignoring it, hiding from it, and then killing it. None of it worked. Victoria sits across from it, stares at it, and wonders why it's here. Its eyes are black. Its expression is lacking. Its appearance makes Victoria tremble, but she's grown attached to it. She stares at it, an almost perfect carbon copy of herself. At the feet of this entity was a dead woman, dismembered. After learning who the dead person was, Victoria smiled.

Victoria remembers the day it first appeared. It wasn't a usual day. A strange noise woke her from a deep sleep at three in the morning. She's normally a hard sleeper - raising her from her sleep takes a lot. She took a deep breath and looked around her quaint room. She peered beyond the windows into the yard. Nothing stirred but fleeting leaves whipped by the wind and swaying bare branches. She looked around her bed and even peered underneath it: nothing. She pulled the comforter off her body and stood. Victoria walked to the door of her room and pulled it open gently. She stared down the long hallway and saw nothing but darkness. As she turned, a shadow caught her eye. Her heart jumped a beat and began pulsating hard and fast. She could feel her heart beating through her chest and blood pumping through her jugular. She stared down the hall, but there was nothing. At the end of the hall, she saw her reflection in a wall mirror. She stared at her dark, long, wavy hair that was spun in all directions. She focused on her oversized sweater and pajama bottoms exceeding the length of her limbs, hiding her fingers and toes. She looked down at her chest and saw her beating heart pulsing through her sweater. Victoria turned, shook her head, and jumped back on her bed. She pulled the covers over her head and took a deep, calming breath. Her mind raced for a few minutes, but soon after, she was in a deep sleep.

At five thirty in the morning, Victoria's alarm went off. She peeled her eyes open and felt them dry and irritated. She pulled her comforter off and stared at the ceiling. After thirty seconds, she reached to her bedstand and slammed her fist on the alarm clock. Victoria jumped out of her bed and ran into the shower. She felt pelts of water slam against the top of her head and back of her neck and watched the water flow down her body. She stared at her toes and watched as water pooled all around them. Within minutes, she was out and drying her hair. Victoria stared at the picture on her bathroom wall. Her sister, Evette, smiled ear-to-ear as she graduated from nursing college. Both her parents are by her side, also smiling like kids in a candy shop. Victoria hadn't seen them in almost a year and hadn't spoken to them in months. It wasn't for a lack of trying; she had tried, and none of them returned her calls.

Victoria was dressed just as quickly as she showered. She was almost out the front door when she saw the shadow again. It was in the same location - the hallway. Her skin crawled with ants, her stomach turned, and her heart sped up like a hummingbird's wings. She slammed the door and took another deep breath as she locked the door. She turned to look at the window into her living room and again saw the shadow. She turned and ran to her car, jumped in, and sped off to work.

Victoria was normally the first person in the office. As she strolled in, she turned all the lights on and opened the door to her corner office overlooking downtown San Diego. She was used to the breathtaking skyline and ignored its beauty. Her office window faced the east side of town and would get showered by the rising morning rays. She pushed the button on her desk and watched the shades close. She opened her emails and saw that she had almost fifty unread items. She had no appetite for emails - she walked out of her office and strolled through the empty office space and entered the restroom. Victoria sat in the first stall and started doing her business. She pulled out her phone and scrolled through social media. She stopped at pictures of her sister. She adored Evette and missed her tremendously; sadness grew in her heart, and her throat tightened up. Victoria checked her voicemail to see if she had missed a returned call from her sister. She had called her at least fifteen times over the last three weeks. She knew though that Evette wouldn't be returning her calls anytime soon. The two were best friends, up until a man got between them. "I'm a fucking idiot," Victoria whispered to herself. Victoria's senses peaked to attention at a noise. It was a slow rustling or shuffling directly outside her stall. She was surprised to hear anyone in the office - most people started showing up after eight in the morning; it wasn't even seven.

Victoria pulled her designer jeans up, stepped out of the stall, and looked around. There was nothing but cold white walls and sterile linoleum floors. The large mirror reflected her agitation and an outfit needing adjusting. The lapel on her black sports jacket was turned inside out, and her black jeans had a white stain. She reached into her purse and fumbled for a wet wipe. After wiping the stain clean, she looked back up at the mirror - a dark shadow stood right behind her. Victoria dropped her purse. The contents flew across the floor. Victoria's stomach tightened, and she balled her fists. Her heart was racing, and her hands were trembling and sweating as the shadow floated closer. When the shadow was an inch from her face, Victoria's back was against the stall door. The shadow engulfed her body.

Lindsey, the office administrator, entered the restroom and saw her boss on the floor. She ran to her, dropped to her knees, and began shaking Victoria: she wouldn't wake. Lindsey ran out of the restroom and returned with her phone in hand; she had 911 on speaker. Victoria was conscious, but barely. She was sitting up and grabbing her head. Victoria waved at Lindsey to hang up. She refused to hang up, but Victoria was now looking angry. Lindsey knew better than to anger her boss - she had been on the wrong side of her wrath on more than one occasion. She didn't care enough about Victoria to argue.

A few hours later, Victoria was getting ready to go home. Most of the staff was gone, except for Lindsey and a few other managers finishing up. Lindsey stuck her head into Victoria's office and asked, "Need a ride home, boss? It's on my way - won't be an inconvenience?"

Victoria turned to Lindsey and waved her in. "Thanks for the help earlier. Most people would have probably walked over me and continued on." Lindsey laughed.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Good thing you weren't wearing those fancy Prada shoes, or I would have just taken them and ran." Victoria laughed at Lindsey's comment and the two smiled at each other like when they were colleagues. "So? Want the ride?" Lindsey asked again.

Victoria's phone suddenly started ringing. She was surprised to hear the ringtone; it was the one she used for Evette. "No, I'm good. Thank you." She dismissed Lindsey and looked back at her ringing phone. "I have to take this." Lindsey nodded and walked out quickly. She was glad she didn't have to give Victoria a ride.

Victoria picked up the phone and didn't have a chance to say hello. Her sister was yelling before she could even say hi. "Why were you at the hospital today? I told you I didn't want to talk to you! Ever..." yelled Evette through the phone. Victoria tried to interject, but she couldn't; Evette was angry and yelling. "I told you I didn't want to see you! What about that don't you understand?" Evette kept yelling.

Victoria had enough and yelled back. "Shut up! I did not go to your hospital! In fact! I haven't left the office all day. I lost consciousness earlier this morning." Evette went quiet on the other end of the line, allowing Victoria to rant.

When Victoria was done, Evette calmly said. "Check your phone. I just sent you a video." Victoria pulled her phone away from her ear and checked her messages: new message from Evette. Victoria opened the message and played the video; she lost her breath and her mind was paralyzed. She zoomed in and couldn't believe her eyes: a video of herself, staring blankly into the camera as Evette attempted to talk to her and ask her to leave. Victoria looked down at her clothes: they were the same clothing. Every detail matched, even the small white stain on her black pants.

Victoria wanted to throw up. Every time she tried speaking, her stomach turned. She couldn't finish a single word.

"Don't come back here," Evette said over the phone. Victoria could tell Evette was crying; she heard a crack in her voice. Victoria was about to apologize for the hundredth time, but Evette hung up before she could say anything.

Victoria was now the one crying. She reached into her desk drawer and found the picture of Ryan, the man who stole her heart. She cursed at the picture and tore it in two. She reached back into the drawer and retrieved out a lighter: she lit both pieces on fire, dropped them at the center of her office, and stomped on the two pieces until they were nothing but ashes. Victoria couldn't believe she allowed this man, Evette's fiancé, to take advantage of her.

Victoria grabbed her belongings and walked out of the office. She got in her car and looked down at her hands and cried while the car idled. After a few minutes, she wiped her tears and put the car in drive. She looked over her steering wheel and couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was herself: a replica. It stood there with an emotionless stare. Victoria rubbed her eyes and looked again. It was still there. She was stunned and paralyzed with fear. She couldn't move. The thing took a step forward and walked over to the car. It grabbed the passenger door handle. As it pulled it open, Victoria pushed her foot on the gas and sped out of the parking lot. She sped down the street, blew through stop signs and red lights, and almost ran a cyclist off the road. Her heart was beating as hard as a heavy metal drummer, sweat rolled down her face, and her limbs trembled uncontrollably. After breaking about fifty traffic laws and almost murdering someone, she pulled over by the side of the road.

Victoria was hyperventilating. She tried calming her breathing, but the visual of that thing, that replica of herself, wouldn't leave her mind. The feelings were so overwhelming that she started to feel dizzy. Before she knew it, she was unconscious.

Victoria's alarm went off, and like she does every morning, she rolled over and slammed the alarm clock with her fist. She opened her eyes and instantly realized she wasn't in her car; that was the last place she remembered being. She looked down at her body and saw she still had her work clothes on, including her shoes. She instantly jumped out of bed and looked out her window: it was morning. How did I get home, she wondered.

"I brought you home." Victoria jumped at the sound of her voice coming from somewhere beyond her body. That's when she saw it, the replica of herself. It was standing in the hallway. Victoria didn't scream this time. Instead, she walked up to it. She was standing just five feet away. This thing, this copy of her, was almost like her. She noticed its eyes were larger and darker. There was no white around her eyes; her face was completely expressionless; she didn't breath either. Victoria walked around it and looked at it from every angle head-to-toe. It was her, but it wasn't.

"What are you?" Victoria asked.

"You." The thing replied.

"How?" Victoria mumbled.

"I'm here to deal with the things you can't deal with alone."

"Like what?" asked Victoria. The expressionless copy of Victoria took a step back and turned. It walked into the living room and asked Victoria to follow: she did.

Victoria's copy pointed at the center of the living room floor. There, lying on the ground, was Ryan. The side of his face was caved in, his left arm twisted unnaturally, and its clothes shredded. "What did you do?" Victoria yelled.

"What you wanted to do: kill Ryan."

"I never said I wanted him dead." Victoria lamented as she walked up to Ryan's body and kneeled next to it. She looked at him from every angle to confirm it was him: it was. Victoria wasn't angry; she was relieved. She didn't understand the feeling. "How?" Victoria asked.

"When you burned his picture. I felt the deep rage you had for him. I had to extinguish that source of rage, just as you did with the picture," the thing replied. Victoria looked up at her replica and didn't object to anything it said. "The things that give you pain, give me pain." Victoria shook her head, confused at everything.

"What now?" Victoria asked.

"Show me your pain, and I will extinguish it," the entity replied.

Victoria stood, walked around her room, and nodded. "What about the body? What will you do with it?"

"I'll get rid of it," the entity replied.

"What do I call you?" Victoria asked.

"Nothing," the entity replied. "I don't need a name. I'm you. You don't even have to talk to me. I know what you're thinking."

Victoria turned back to her room and shut the door. She was asleep in minutes. She woke up to her phone ringing. Lindsey, her employee, was calling. She let the call go to voicemail. She knew why she was calling - it was ten in the morning, and she wasn't in the office yet. She fell back to sleep. Her phone rang once again, this time it was Evette's ringtone. Victoria was up instantly, but she didn't answer. She stared at the phone and wondered if she already realized that Ryan was missing. The phone went to voicemail. Victoria ignored it and covered her head with the soft, silky sheets. The phone continued ringing and ringing until it stopped.

A few hours later, Victoria got out of bed and walked to the living room. Ryan's body was gone, and so was the replica of herself. The room looked clean. Victoria got on her knees and checked the floor for any signs of blood: it was all gone. She stumbled back to her feet and walked into her dining room and sat at the table. Victoria wondered why she had no remorse for Ryan's death or her sister's feelings - this wasn't like her. All she wanted was her sister's forgiveness and the two to speak again. Instead, she was indifferent about everything that had happened - this wasn't like her.

Victoria pulled out her computer and dug through the internet. She found something interesting: doppelgangers. According to numerous sources, mystics, religious leaders, native medicine men, and crazy internet people, doppelgangers are considered to be a double - a metaphysical counterpart to a person. Many people report doppelgangers to be benign beings just hanging around, others share traumatic stories of entities trying to replace them, kill their original, or kill others. Victoria shut the computer and jumped in the shower; she knew at least one of those scenarios was true. Still, it didn't affect her psychologically - that she recognized, but didn't understand.

Victoria finally got dressed and made her way to the office. When she walked in, she passed by Lindsey who stared at her confused. Lindsey stood up from her desk and followed Victoria to her office. She followed close behind, but not too close. When Victoria opened the office, she froze at the doorway. Lindsey stopped as well and was just a few feet away. She could see why Victoria was frozen: someone who looked exactly like Victoria was sitting at her desk. The person was identical to Victoria; she even wore the same clothes. There were slight differences though that Lindsey could see from her vantage point: the person at the desk had a deadpan face - there was no expression of emotion.

Lindsey let out a strong sigh driven by a flood of fear coursing through her body. Victoria instantly turned and saw Lindsey. Victoria extended her hand. Lindsey, nervous and afraid for her boss, extended her hand. Victoria grabbed Lindsey tightly, pulled her into the office, and shut the door. The doppelganger stood up and raced to Victoria's side. The pair grabbed Lindsey forcefully and covered her mouth. The doppelganger removed the belt from her jeans and wrapped it around Lindsey's neck. She pulled on the belt hard until Lindsey lost consciousness. The two quickly grabbed Lindsey and threw her in the coat closet in Victoria's office.

Victoria and the doppelganger stepped toward the center of the office and stared at each other - both expressionless. Victoria reached for her double's hand and put it against her face: it was cold and lifeless. The doppelganger grabbed Victoria's hand and did the same: Victoria's hand was warm and full of life. The doppelganger slapped Victoria's hand away - it was jealous of the life inside Victoria. The doppelganger pushed Victoria to the floor and started choking her. The two struggled. Victoria grabbed the double's thumb as it choked her and twisted it in an unnatural position. The double released its grip on Victoria and stopped its aggression. The two stood and stared at each other. Victoria was unsure of what to do; the doppelganger knew what it wanted to do, but knew that if it killed its original, it would die as well.

"Why are you in my office?" Victoria asked in a hushed tone.

"You had to work. I came in and took care of the work," it replied seriously.

"Did you speak with anyone?"

"No. I came in early. Closed the door and started working."

"Do you even know what you're doing?"

"Of course. I know everything you do. I'm your exact copy," it replied as it closed the closet door with Lindsey's lifeless body and sat on Victoria's desk chair.

"I feel different, almost emotionless. It's like my feelings have been drained out of me..."

"By half," the doppelganger interrupted. "I need those emotions to navigate this world. Without them, I'd be no different than a robot."

Victoria sat in the chair across from her desk and her doppelganger. She knew this arrangement wouldn't work long term. This copy would have to go. Victoria bent forward in her chair and reached for the letter opener on her desk. In one quick motion, Victoria jumped over her desk and stabbed the doppelganger. She stood and stared at the doppelganger. The letter opener was stuck to its chest. The doppelganger looked back at Victoria and pulled the instrument out. The entity didn't react to the attack. Moreover, the cut wasn't bleeding. The rip on its shirt from the stabbing mysteriously came back together; the doppelganger merely stared at the weapon and smiled.

"What do you want from me?" Victoria asked in a trembling voice, showing what little emotion she had left. "You can't just be here and take over my life."

"I need to be alive," it replied. "You were an easy target. Your emotional pain gave me an easy way in. I'm here now, and I'm not letting go." Victoria stared at the doppelganger; she knew what it meant by the emotional pain. "Don't fight me. It'll be a fruitless exercise. Instead, use me. I can go away and be here whenever you need me."

Victoria stared at it. "Why would I ever need you? I survived long enough without you."

"You were merely surviving, not living."

Victoria wanted to kill the doppelganger, but she tried that to no avail. Calmly, she stood up and walked around the chair she sat on. She grabbed the chair by the backrest and lobbed it at the window with all her might. The window blew right open. Victoria ran and followed the chair out the window. She watched as the parking lot beneath her came quicker than she imagined. She braced herself for pain and the end of her life.

Victoria never felt her body hit the floor. Instead, she woke up and looked around a dark spacious area with five doors. She looked around and stood up trying to understand where she was and wondered if this was the afterlife. Victoria grabbed her skin and pinched herself; she flinched at the pain. I'm alive - she thinks to herself. She walked around the dark room and found that the only place to go was through one of the doors. She didn't know what to expect behind any of the doors. She put her head and ear against each door but heard nothing on the other side. She reached for a doorknob to the nearest entry, slowly turned it, and pushed it open ever so slightly.

She stared at the hallway, it was her hallway, the one to her home. She walked through the threshold and felt the familiar air and smell belonging to her home. After seeing that her house was empty, she went back through the magical portal and was back in the dark room. She tried the next door; she recognized this place - it was her sister's home. Carefully, she walked through the home and explored one room at a time. The living room and kitchen were empty, and the guest bedroom was too. She walked down the hallway and heard something coming from the master bedroom: crying. She walked to the door and placed her ear against it. The crying wasn't coming from a TV, but from her sister. She instantly recognized Evette's voice and pushed the door open. On the bed was her sister crying hysterically. She cowered against the headboard of her bed when she saw Victoria - she had seen her take her fiancé the evening before. She yelled and told her to stay away.

"Please don't kill me," Evette yelled. "You already took my fiancé."

"That wasn't me! Believe me!" Victoria replied emphatically as she approached her sister. Evette pulled out a knife and pointed it at her sister as she leaned back as far as she could on her bed. Victoria jumped on Evette and wrestled the knife out of her hand. Victoria stood beside the bed with the knife in hand, while Evette frantically cried. Victoria tossed the knife towards the opposite end of the room, grabbed Evette by the hand, dragged her out of bed, and pushed her through the portal.

Evette was still crying, but she was now also confused. She wiped the tears from her eyes as she tried to muffle her cries. "Where are we?" Evette asked.

"I don't know exactly," Victoria replied in all seriousness. "The thing, that copy of me - a doppelganger, which took Ryan, I believe uses this to go from one place to another."

Evette looked at her sister confused, and unsure of what to believe. What she did know is that this room, this massively dark area is not part of her home. It can't be. "Where...or how do we get back?"

Victoria grabbed Evette by the arm, said, "follow me," and pulled her through another door. They were back in Victoria's office. Victoria stopped as she saw her doppelganger. Evette stopped as well and instantly let out a yell. Victoria grabbed her sister and covered her mouth. "Don't! It won't hurt us." The doppelganger looked at the two coming out of a portal in Victoria's office. The doppelganger was confused; it had just seen Victoria jump out the window. It turned and then stared at Evette.

Evette fell to her feet. Her brain couldn't understand how her sister was in two places at once, she almost lost consciousness. This time, the doppelganger turned and jumped out the window. It too disappeared before it hit the ground. Victoria and Evette both stared out the window confused.

Victoria turned to Evette and said, "help me". Evette followed Victoria to the opposite end of the room. Victoria opened the coat closet and saw Lindsey's body. Evette almost fell to the ground again.

"What is happening here?" she whispered to her sister. "Why is your Executive Assistant dead in your closet?"

Victoria just shook her head and replied. "I'll tell you later. No time now." The two pulled Lindsey's inert body from the closet and dragged her to the window. "We're tossing her out." Victoria grabbed Lindsey's body by the legs and lifted her over and out the window. The two watched as the body fell. Before it hit the ground a bright light consumed Lindsey's body, and it disappeared: nothing hit the ground. The two sisters just stared out the window... speechless.

For the rest of the day, people in the office looked everywhere for Lindsey. People had sworn they had seen her enter Victoria's office and never come out, but there was no evidence. As for the broken window, Victoria and Evette could not tell facilities management how the window broke, nor how her chair ended up in the parking lot down below broken in pieces. The police came and investigated the scene to see if there was any wrongdoing, but they found nothing. They did though find that Lindsey's purse and wallet had been left behind. They made a note in their case report and promised to visit Lindsey's home.

Victoria drove home quietly as Evette sat in the passenger seat lost in thought. Victoria could see that Evette's hands were trembling: the evening's events had terrified her into silence. Victoria reached to Evette's closest hand and grabbed it softly. She tried to reassure her sister that things would be okay. Evette pulled her hand away.

"Did you know that Ryan was cheating on me?" Victoria wasn't shocked at the revelation from her sister but didn't acknowledge it. "Yeah, I guess I was never enough for him," Evette said it with tears streaming down her face. "First he tried to get with you, then he got with another nurse at our hospital."

Victoria turned and calmly asked, "And you were still planning to marry him?" Evette just shook her head, disgusted with herself. The two were quiet the entire way to Victoria's home.

Victoria got out of the car and ran to Evette's side and helped her out. She put her arm around her sister and tried to comfort her. Victoria pulled the keys out of her purse, opened the door, and entered the dark home. She tried flipping the lights on, but they wouldn't turn on. Victoria walked into the house and strolled into the living room. At the center of the room was Victoria's doppelganger. At the doppelganger's feet was a strange woman. She was dead - very dead. Her head and arms were cut off from the body.

Evette instantly started laughing. "That's the person who Ryan cheated on me with!" Evette said with a loud laugh.

Victoria turned to the doppelganger and nodded - implying approval of the action. The doppelganger stood and placed her foot on top of the woman's severed head. "Evette is my sister too." At that moment, Victoria realized that having a doppelganger may not be all that bad.

Evette walked up to the dead body and spit on it. "Go have fun with Ryan in hell, bitch." 

The End!