Twin For Now

Mention of death, killing, etc

Linn had two hours before she had to kill herself again, but she couldn’t sleep.

It wasn’t the inconsistent, wavering glow in her room, since she had gotten used to the flickering light of the fire that was burning outside her window.

It wasn’t the feeling of anticipation and fear in her stomach, since she had slept with that multiple times before, and couldn’t remember a time when she didn’t feel that uneasy flight-or-fight ball of nerves. 

It wasn’t the fact that she wasn’t tired. The bags under her eyes spoke for themselves. 

She had set the timer on her watch… hadn’t she?

Linn checked. Yep.

A stair creaked outside her room. 

Alarmed, she shot out of bed and opened the window. The body was still in the center of the fire, roasting and smelling terrible.

That meant that the person in her house was another survivor. Most likely one who brought their double right to her doorstep. 

She sighed, annoyed, then crossed the room to open the door. A person was standing on the other side, their hand just touching the doorknob. Before they could react, Linn had a knife to their throat. 

“Show me your wrist.” She hissed.

The shaking stranger lifted their arm. Linn grabbed it and flipped it over. It was blank as paper. She pushed it away from her and loosened the grip on her knife, still keeping a wary eye on the person.

“Okay, intruder. You’ve got thirty seconds to tell me what you’re doing here.”

The survivor was a teen, maybe sixteen or seventeen. They had long, matted hair, but their clothes were in fair condition.

“M-my group and I were looking for a place to shelter. They sent me ahead to scout when we saw the fire. We’re not looking for trouble.” They assured Linn.

“Group?” Linn narrowed her eyes.

“There’s eig-seven of us now.” 

“You’ve brought seven people and their evil twins to my house?” Linn shoved the stranger out the door. “If you’re not looking for trouble then leave. Immediately.”

“Ev- you mean the copies? We killed all of ours.” The teen said.

Linn paused. “You found a way to kill them permanently?”

“What are you talking about? What do you mean, ‘kill them permanently’?”

Linn’s eyes widened. “Nope, nope, nope. I am not about to have a bunch of angry Thing Twos on my property because you and your pack of idiots had the dumb luck to avoid meeting them for a second time so far. Goodbye!” 

She herded the teen out the door, but shouts from outside met them as soon as they left the room.

The stranger stopped dead. 

“When you said the second time…” They turned around slowly.

“They come back! After the first time, they come back after a day or so. I’m guessing you guys kept on the move after you killed them, so they hadn’t caught up to you yet?”

The scout nodded, slowly. 

“Darn it!” She pushed past the teen, pulling another knife out of its sheath. “Are you coming or not?”

“I-”

Before they could finish their sentence, the door downstairs slammed open. The stranger’s double came charging up towards them. Linn drove her boot into the double’s chest, then sunk her knife into its arm. Her boot came down on its head with a crushing force, and it lay still. Its arm flopped over to reveal a black dot on the inside of its wrist.

“Woah.” The teen said in awe. 

“Do you have a weapon?” Linn asked.

“I have…” They pulled a tiny pocket knife out of their bag, then smiled sheepishly.

Linn sighed heavily and handed them one of her knives.  

“I have to get the copies off my property. You don’t have to follow me, the knife is just in case someone comes. My stunt double is indisposed for the time being, so don’t kill me if I come in. You can attack anyone else though.”

“What if they’re my friend?” The intruder asked.

“What if they’re not?” Linn stomped down the stairs and out the door.

Outside, she was met with chaos. The original survivors were fighting with makeshift weapons, including, Linn noted, her rake. They were swiftly losing since their copies had the element of surprise. Close to the house, a young girl was on the ground, while a snarling duplicate was pinning her down. Linn stabbed the version that was restraining the other girl but quickly turned her knife on the other. 

“Wrist.” She demanded. 

“What?” The trembling child asked. 

“Idiots,” Linn grumbled as she grabbed the girl’s wrist. It was clear. 

She hustled the child into the house and grabbed the broom handle that was coming for her head. 

“It’s me, Einstein. I also gave you a knife for a reason.” 

“I don’t want to kill my friends.” The teenager said defiantly. 

“Fine, but that was barely hard enough to give me a bump, let alone knock me unconscious. Here’s one of your friends.” She shoved the girl towards them. 

“Noah!” The child’s high-pitched voice exclaimed. 

“I gotta go.” Linn slammed the door shut. 

She rammed into someone that was trying to come in, then hooked her leg around their ankle. Flipping her over, she saw the black dot on their wrist. She buried her knife into their chest. 

Surveying her once well-kept lawn, she saw bodies littered all over her property. Only two people were still fighting: a grizzled old man and a young woman. Moving quickly, Linn forced the men apart just long enough to see their wrists. She tripped the copy and crushed his throat. Ignoring the other, she ran over to the woman and intercepted a blow from her rake, which allowed the original to overpower her double. Walking away from the panting woman, she inspected the bodies around her. Only one had a clean wrist, but the rest were the duplicates. Over to the side huddled a small group, tending to a kid with a long gash in his arm. 

The screen door slammed behind her. The teen-Noah- and the little girl ran outside, rushing over to the group. 

“Noah?” A girl who looked to be about his age embraced him. 

“We thought you were dead!” 

“Where’s Maisie?” He asked, scanning the group. 

The girl hunched her back and pointed to the yard. “Noah, I’m so sorry. She saved Thomas, but…” 

Noah’s back stiffened and he blinked his eyes. “She was like a sister to me.”

“I know.” The girl let him lean into her, and the rest of the group came over and surrounded them. Linn caught murmurs of condolences. 

She walked away and grabbed the arm of one of the corpses, and started to drag it over to the fire.

“Hey!” Someone from the group had seen her. “Who are you?”

Noah quickly came to her rescue. “She’s the person who lives inside the house. Saved me from my double.”

“I would’ve preferred to not have to save anybody. I told him to leave.” Linn dragged the body to the edge of the lawn. “Now the least you can do is help me burn the bodies. You better be outta here right after, though.”

The young woman whom Linn had saved stuttered in protest.

“Noah’s best friend just died, and Thomas is injured. You want us to leave?”

“Help me burn the bodies, and then leave.” Linn corrected. 

“I-” The woman started.

In a flash, Linn was at her throat, brandishing a knife. “In case you forgot, I saved your life. You’re not the only person to lose someone, and the world isn’t centered around you. Since you owe me the great debt of numerous lives and disturbing my slumber, I think I’m being perfectly reasonable when I ask you to help me and then get out of here.”

“Why do you want us to leave so badly?” Noah interjected. “The doubles only hunt the people that they’re copies of.”

Linn took a deep breath. “They only hunt them, yes. If someone gets in their way, it’s game over. Besides, I am not about to burn seven other people on my fire. Do you know how big it would have to be to do that?”

“What do you mean, burn people?” Noah asked.

“It’s the best way to get them to stay away for more than a day.” Linn gritted her teeth. “Please help me, and I won’t kill any of you.” She dug her knife a little deeper into the woman’s throat. 

Noah nodded, keeping his eyes on the knife. 

Linn stepped back. “The corpses need to go near the center of the blaze. You can bury the one with a clean wrist, but not the others.”

“Clean wrist?” Another member of the group spoke up.

Linn’s teeth clenched tighter. “The people with the black marks on their wrists are the doubles.”

“Really? I never noticed that!” The girl who had greeted Noah said. 

“Because you haven’t had to kill them every other day. Please get to work.” She turned away and started pulling the body to the fire that burned on the side of the house. After a second’s hesitation, the others followed suit. 

An hour later, the bodies were on the crackling fire and the band had set out. 

Linn gave one last glance towards the burning pile and entered the looming house. She walked downstairs and was greeted by a slumped figure in the corner. They popped up and grabbed for her, only to be held back by the chains that tethered them to the wall. She grabbed a can of beans that sat by the doorway and cranked it open. 

“Here you go.” She murmured softly, over the snarling that the person emitted, and slid the can over. 

They ate hungrily but launched the can towards Linn’s head when they were done. She caught it easily. With a howl of rage, the person lunged forward, revealing a dirt-smudged face. Their arm reached out, and the dingy lightbulb that sat in the center of the room illuminated a black dot on their wrist.

“I’m sorry, brother.” Linn sat down on the floor, and a tear trickled down her cheek.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.” She let out a shuddering breath and looked up at her brother’s double. “I know you aren’t him, but you’re the closest thing I’ve got.”

“You can be my twin for now, okay?”