Doppleganger

[Ran Yoko]

DOPPLEGANGER

 

They say that everyone in this world has a doppleganger, a person that looks exactly like you. And if you ever see your doppleganger, you'll die. But that's just a myth. . .isn't it?

 

Lightning split the sky, highlighting the many raindrops momentarily. The boom of thunder almost drowned out the cry of a baby.

Outside of the mansion, the older of two gardeners shook his head as he stepped inside. The younger gardener followed him, shaking water off of his jacket.

In the kitchen, the cook poured a cup of tea for them both as they came in. "A baby's just been born!" she exclaimed happily.

"Don't bode well," the older man muttered, sitting at the kitchen table. He was a grizzled veteran of yardwork with a bushy beard that was starting to turn white.

"What's that mean, Pa?" the younger man asked, taking a seat as well. He was a much younger version of his father, just beginning to get the start of a beard.

The old man pulled a pipe from his pocket and started filling it, talking as he did so.

"They say that a child born durin' a storm is strong, for they survived not only th' womb, but th' elements. But if th' child's first cry is at th' same time that th' lightnin's flashin' and th' thunder's boomin', then that child is cursed."

The roly-poly cook, who had just taken a drink of her tea, coughed and spluttered on it. When she got her breath back, she snapped, "Now don't you go sayin' things that'll jinx the childbirth, old man!"

The gardener lit his pipe, completely unruffled. "All I'm sayin' is, that baby's cry lasted through both th' lightnin' and th' thunder." He blew a smoke ring into the air. It rose to the ceiling, where it hovered for a few seconds, a perfect ring of blue-grey smoke, before dissapating.

The younger gardener rolled his eyes at the superstitions of his elders. He then stood up and went to get himself something for supper.

 

A man paced back and forth in the hallway, ignoring the constant patter of rain against the hall windows.

The doctor stepped into the hall, closing the bedroom door behind him.

"Well?" the man demanded, walking over to him.

"Well, Mr. Takuma, your wife is fine," the doctor started, but was interrupted by Takuma grabbing his shirt.

"The child! What about the child!?" he shouted.

"A-actually, you have two children," the doctor said. "Twin girls, but it looks like. . ."

Takuma let go of the doctor's shirt and dashed into the room. He went past the bed where his exhausted wife was lying, and straight to the bed where the children were.

The one girl looked perfectly normal, but the other one was smaller. Instead of having dark hair like her sister, her hair was pure white, and she looked at him with black, lightless eyes. The lightning flashed again, and in that split second, the pale yellow light shone eerily only on the white-haired girl.

The doctor said from behind Takuma, "It looks like the one girl was born completely blind. I'm sorry."

Takuma quietly said, "So the seer was right."

 

Sorry, out of time. More to come later. . .

Edited August 28, 2008 by Sora Hikari

[Ran Yoko]

He walked out of the room, muttering to himself almost like a madman. The doctor watched him wander down the hallway, before gathering up his tools and his bag. He gave specific instructions to the maid and the housekeeper about care for the mother and the babies, then went downstairs, shaking his head.

"I've called for your car to be brought around, Doctor," the butler said. "Might I be so bold as to inquire after the mistress and her child?"

"Mrs. Takuma should be fine as long as she gets plenty of rest," replied the doctor. "The babies are perfectly healthy. It's Mr. Takuma I'd worry about."

The butler escorted the doctor out to his car, holding an umbrella over their heads in an attempt to ward off some of the rain. As the car pulled away from the mansion, the doctor glanced back as lightning lit up the front of the building, and he sighed heavily.

17 years later . . .

"This is Amelia Goodwinter, reporting to you live from outside ******* Church, where the multi-millionaire, Seiichi Takuma, has just married Victoria Widehardt, a famous movie star and a millionaire in her own right. And. . . Ah! Here come the happy couple themselves!"

Reporters mobbed the bride and groom on their way down the church steps. They had to push their way through the crowd and to their limousine, climbing in and driving away.

Takuma sighed as he sank back into the seat cushions.

"To the airport, sir?" the chauffeur asked.

"Yes," Takuma answered. He thought, Well, that's over and done with. The seer said that marrying Victoria would bring more money to my business. So I should be feeling happy. But why do I feel like something bad is going to happen?

"So where's your daughter?" Victoria asked.

"Carmen? Oh, she's at home."

"Are you sure she'll be fine by herself while we're on our honeymoon?"

"Perfectly fine. She is 17 after all."

Victoria gazed shrewdly up at her new husband. She knew perfectly well that he had married her only for her money. But she still intended to have some fun with his money.

 

Carmen was standing in front of a Japanese-style house, with sliding paper doors and a koi pond in the yard. She could see someone by the koi pond, their back to her. Long white hair hung down their back, and they wore a black Japanese kimono.

"Excuse me, but. . ." Carmen started to say, but was cut off by a huge gust of wind.

"Why?" a female voice asked. The words were quiet, but heard over the wind. "Why was it only you?"

 

Carmen suddenly sat up, wide awake. She looked around before she finally remembered why she was asleep in the middle of the day. She had come back after the wedding and fallen asleep after a hot shower.

That evening during dinner, she asked the housekeeper, Mrs. Fergus, "Do we have a summer home or something like that? It'd be Japanese-style.

"Yes, your family owns a summer home in the mountains," Mrs. Fergus replied. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm gonna stay there for a couple weeks. It's summer vacation, and Father's on his honeymoon, so he won't miss me."

"Are you sure it's wise to make that decision without your father's permission?"

"Yes, I am!"

And with that, it was settled.

 

Carmen stared in awe. The house looked very similar to the one in her dreams. The red-tiled roof sloped down to overshadow the walkways that wound around the house. A pebbled path led from the house to the koi. A bamboo fence was around the yard, boxing it in. A Japanese maple stood in the yard, while trees surrounded the house, spreading to the evergreen forest that covered the mountain.

As Carmen wandered over to the pond, she caught a glimpse of something white out of the corner of her eye. She turned quickly, but it was only the dress of one of the maids.

 

As she lay awake in bed that night, she heard the wind blowing outside. She rolled over, then she saw it. The silhoutte of a person with long hair against the paper doors.

Carmen jumped out of bed and hurried to the door, yanking it open. There was no one on the walkway, but the person in her dream was standing by the pond.

A sudden gust of wind caused her to raise her arm to protect her eyes from the dirt that was blown up. When she lowered her arm, the person was gone.

 

The rest of the week passed without event. On Sunday, it was raining the whole day. Carmen sat on the walkway, watching the raindrops casting ripples on the pond. She sighed.

"Miss?" a maid asked, approaching her with a tray. "Would you care for some tea?"

"Yes, thank you," Carmen replied. She accepted a china cup full of dark aromatic liquid. After taking a sip, she asked, "I was wondering, near the back of the house, there's a room with a padlock. What's it used for?"

"I'm not really sure, miss, but I'm told it was an old storage room that's become unsafe. So they keep it locked up so no one will get hurt."

"I see."

The maid was called back to the kitchen, and Carmen was left alone again. She finished the tea, and set the cup to the side.

She suddenly turned her head, for she saw someone at the end of the hall. Someone with long white hair and dressed in a black kimono.

Carmen leapt to her feet, and ran after the person. Always several steps ahead of her, the person led her through the halls. After turning a corner, she stopped.

The person had disappeared. The hall dead-ended at the pad-locked door, but the padlock was lying on the floor, and the room was ajar.

Swallowing hard, Carmen reached out, took hold of the doorknob, and pulled the door open.

It was a large room, with smooth white clay walls and tatami mats on the floor. There were no windows, only a single light in the middle of the ceiling. Several boxes were stacked in a corner, and that was were Carmen went.

She knelt down by the first box and opened it. It was filled with kimonos, but all of them were black. All of the boxes, save one, had clothes in them. The last box was small and shallow. It contained only a cheap-looking hairbrush and comb, and a few hair ribbons.

"What is all of this?"Carmen wondered aloud.

"It's my things," a voice said from behind her. She spun around to see the person in the kimono. Now that she saw them from the front, she could tell that it was a woman.

"Who are you?" Carmen demanded, standing up.

The woman walked towards her, saying, "The name I was given was Ryoko. Who I am, however, is something different."

In the dim light, Carmen could see a pair of black, light-less eyes staring at her from a face exactly identical to her own.

The breath caught in her throat. Her vision was blurring as her lungs screamed for air. . .

 

Carmen's body fell to the floor as the light faded from her eyes. Ryoko walked over to her and touched her cheek. Carmen's skin began to glow faintly. Ryoko slowly grew a few inches, her hair turned black, and her eyes changed slightly. Carmen's body dissolved to dust and vanished.

Ryoko looked around the room slowly. "So this is what the room looks like. The room where they locked me in every night for 13 years!"

She pulled out a switchblade from inside her kimono sleeve and held it in her right hand while she took hold of a handful of hair in her left hand. She sliced through her hair, letting it drop to the floor. Several minutes later, there was a large pile of hair on the floor, while Ryoko's hair now hung at about shoulder-length.

"I always hated having long hair, but they never would let me cut it," she said as she took off her kimono. She changed into the T-shirt and jeans that Carmen had worn, which were the only things left to prove that she had been there. She left the room, her kimono and cut hair still on the floor. Closing the door, she padlocked it again.

"Miss, what are you doing here?"

Ryoko turned to see the maid, and smiled. "I just needed to use the bathroom." She gestured to a door close by.

"Oh, I see. Excuse me, please," the maid said, turning and leaving. Later, she wondered why Miss Carmen hadn't used the restroom closer to the walkway. And had her hair been quite that long?

 

Two days later, Takuma stormed into the house, Victoria close behind him.

"Carmen, just what did you think you were doing, coming here without my permission?!" he shouted at Ryoko, who was standing by the koi pond.

Ryoko stepped up onto the walkway and turned to Victoria. "Victoria, not to be rude or anything, but could I ask you to wait in the car? I'd like to speak to Father in private."

"Sure thing, kiddo," was the reply as Victoria left.

"Carmen-" Takuma stopped mid-sentence, as Ryoko smiled at him, a smile that for some reason, sent a chill down his spine.

"I wanted to show you something very interesting that I found. Come this way."

Ryoko led Takuma through the halls, back to the pad-locked room. She opened the door and walked into the room. Takuma, however, froze in the doorway as soon as he saw the room.

"Carmen, how did you?"

"Is this why you never wanted Carmen to come here, even after four years ago?" Ryoko asked. "You were afraid she would find out that she had a twin sister."

Takuma gasped. "Ryoko!? But how?! You're supposed to be dead!!"

"Yes, I know," Ryoko said, putting her hands in her pockets as she smiled. "Four years ago, just after Mother died, I came down with a cold which steadily got worse. And I did die. But one thing I've always wondered: why did you separate me and Carmen just after we were born? And why was I raised here, while Carmen was raised as your only child and heir?"

"Because of the seer!" Takuma blurted out. "She told me before you were born, that the child who was born blind would kill me one day. She said that the child was cursed, and that I should have it killed! But I didn't want the blood of my own child on my hands, so I decided to let you live. . ."

"How was this living!?" Ryoko shouted. "A life without being able to make one choice by myself! A secluded life in a secluded house! A room where the caretaker locked me in every night! A yard with a tall fence so I couldn't wander away into the forest! I couldn't do anything on my own until after I died!"

"Then why aren't you dead!?" Takuma yelled.

"Because of Carmen," Ryoko said. "As long as she was alive, I couldn't properly die."

"What have you done to her?"

"Would you like to talk to her?" Ryoko smiled. She blinked and said, "Hello, Father."

Takuma sighed. It was Carmen's voice!

"Come on, Carmen. Let's go home," he said, holding out his hand.

"Y'know, Dad, I didn't really notice until the past couple years, but my life has been rather similar to Ryoko's," Carmen said. "You raised me strictly, never letting me out of your sight for very long. I was never allowed any friends, or the opportunity to make many choices of my own."

"She's brainwashed you!" Takuma declared.

"No. All Ryoko did was fix a mistake. We were supposed to be one person, not two."

"What?"

"We're not quite sure how it happened, but somehow, the one child that was supposed to be born separated into two people. Ryoko fixed that. It might have happened sooner, if it wasn't for your fear that kept us apart."

"How dare you talk to me that way!" Takuma shouted.

"I'll talk to you any way I like," Ryoko said, coming to the surface as she pulled her switchblade from her pocket and flipped the blade out. She charged at Takuma, shouting, "After all, you're the one who made our lives hell!"

Before he could react, the blade plunged into his gut. Takuma slumped to the floor, blood pooling under him.

Carmen came to the surface, and padded silently down the hall and to a hall closet. The house was quiet, as she had sent the servants away that morning. She pulled a gasoline can out of the closet and smiled.

 

Victoria leaned against the limousine. She was bored, and simply wanted to go home and take a nap. But no, Seiichi just had to come here and fight with his daughter, she thought. Carmen's 17 now, for crying out loud! She's basically an adult! Come to think of it, when Seiichi heard she was up here, his face turned white. He looked like he had seen a ghost of something.

An explosion cut off her chain of thought. From where she stood, she could see flames licking at the roof of the house.

"Call 911!" she screamed at the chauffeur, who was scrambling for the car phone. She ran a few steps toward the house.

"Seiichi!! Carmen!!" she shouted. "Are you still in there!?"

 

Carmen sat against the wall, feeling the heat from the flames that were in the doorway of the room.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked. "If we hurried, we could still get out. And with time, our souls could become one again."

"No," Ryoko answered. "Do you?"

"Not really. Just thought I'd ask. In all honesty, I have made a few decisions of my own. But the only one I think was really important was the decision to come here."

"I fell into the pond in the middle of the winter on purpose." Ryoko chuckled sadly. "And I only pretended to take the pills for my cold. As soon as the caretaker turned her back, I hid them under the tatami mat. I guess I was just so tired of living here. But I still couldn't die. Not fully, anyway."

Carmen smiled. "Still, I'm glad I got the chance to meet you again, sis. And we'll be together again."

"I'm glad, too."

She closed her eyes, as the ceiling caved in.

 

With a terrific bang, the house exploded as the flames reached several gas cans hidden under the house.

 

". . .the burnt remains of the bodies of multi-millionaire Seiichi Takuma and his daughter, Carmen Takuma, have finally been identified. Victoria Widehardt Takuma, movie star, and the recent bride of Seiichi Takuma, has been named the new president of Takuma Inc. . ."

Victoria switched the TV off. She had definitely not expected something like this, but this didn't mean that she wasn't going to run the company. She glanced at the clock. It was time to get ready for the meeting of the executives.

As she walked past the mirror, she stopped short. Out of the corner of her eye, she had seen someone. Someone with long white hair and dressed in a black kimono.

 

FIN

[Ran Yoko]

finally, my first chance to get on the internet since November!! well, here's the rest of the story. hope you enjoyed it. anyone have an idea for the name of the church?

[Wyvern]

Nice story, Sora Hikari. :-) The concept of a spirit or undead twin assimilating the identity of her counterpart was interesting and original, and the manner that the switch was revealed to Takuma was nicely done. The imagery involving the white haired, black kimonoed twin was also well-incorporated and worked well in giving the story a kind of horror feel to it. The involvement of the seer in the story felt out of place to me for some reason... why would Takuma trust the fortune-teller to the point of isolating one of his daughters? Does the seer have a reputation of some sort, or has the seer accurately predicted the future for Takuma before? Since the story seems to take place in a modern setting, I'd guess that fortune-telling would be considered a thing of superstition. Also, if Takuma is aware that his white-haired daughter died from her cold, why would he be afraid of the other daughter visiting the estate? Is he aware that the daughter haunts the place as a spirit?

 

Anyway, just some food for thought should you choose to expand the piece at some point in the future. :-) In terms of possible church names, I wouldn't choose a name that relates to any element of the story since that might be too blunt... how about a church bearing the name of the place where Takuma and Victoria were married? Or maybe the random name of someone for a memorial church.

 

Nice stuff, Sora. :-) Thanks for sharing it here.