Mirror Image

AN: Chapter 3 of this bizarre saga, submitted for your approval. I realize the story's off to a slow start, but stick with me folks. I have to lay down Alessa and Heather's backgrounds before getting into the good stuff.


Chapter 3 - Midnight Ponderings


It was a quarter past midnight. The lights were out in the spacious home that served as the Summers’ residence. Alessa’s parents had retired to their room, leaving their daughter to do the same.

Alessa sat on her bed with her legs folded. The lights and the TV were off; she didn’t feel like watching or playing anything right now. Unfortunately, she couldn’t get to sleep either. Too much was on her mind. So she opted to simply sit there, staring at nothing in particular. She didn’t mind the near pitch black darkness – it gave her a chance to think; to focus her thoughts on what was bothering her without any distractions.

The conversation with her mother that afternoon kept replaying in her mind. She had dodged a bullet with that one. Unless of course, her mother had gone outside and checked her car anyway despite her wishes. If she had, then Alessa was in trouble. She was too old to get grounded anymore, but she was probably going to get a stern lecture on being responsible with one’s property. Ugh.

Still, at least that was better than the barrage of questions she would have gotten, had she revealed the truth. Being grilled on losing a cell phone was nothing compared to the issues that would probably arise from the statement that she had met her identical double. Would her parents even believe her? There were only two options, really. Either they would and be amazed at the sheer coincidence, or else, they would think their little girl had finally snapped.

Maybe she had. It would certainly be about time, after everything she’d been through.

Alessa frowned to herself. She wasn’t crazy and she knew she wasn’t imagining things. That unsettling encounter in the mall had really happened, leaving with it a stack of question she wasn’t sure she was ready to address. She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly feeling uneasy about the situation. She had done the right thing not telling Julie about what happened, right? This was none of her mother’s business. It was her double she encountered, and chances were that it would never happen again. So why did she feel so guilty about the lie?

Maybe it was the cell phone. It was one thing if she had high-tailed it out of there scot-free. The chances of this ever happening again were next to nil. But dropping that cell phone had been a huge error on her part. All her info was on there, and her parents’ numbers too. Their numbers were unlisted for a reason. They also made sure not to advertise the location where they lived. She knew all too well the types of people that were out there loose in the world, many of them hiding under the guise of some benevolent cause.

Was her double one of them? She certainly hoped not, but there was no rule that said your double had to be exactly like you. And then there was Alessa’s own past. She had renounced the destructive force in her home town long ago, after it annihilated her life. What if her other self had not?

What if said double picked up her cell phone? Alessa was almost certain she had – it’s what she would have done in the exact same situation. Hell, it was what anyone would have done were they confronted with such a bizarre occurrence. On first glance, it seemed like a relatively harmless possibility. But what if it wasn’t?

Hell, her name was written on the back of her cell phone. Maybe not her full name, but how common was a name like hers in this city? There couldn’t be too many of them. How hard could it be to track her down using her phone number, especially if her double had the access to some helpful sources? With the resources of the Order at her disposal, her alternate could track her down in no time.

But the Order didn’t exist in this place…

Did it?

Alessa shook away the paranoid thoughts. Now she was just getting silly. She didn’t have a great impression of the girl, but from what she saw, she didn’t look like anything more than a normal teen. She’d had some bad luck in her life…very bad luck…but there was no way she could be this unlucky.

Right?

Alessa sighed, lying down sideways on her bed. She was so confused. She didn’t know whether to be excited she had met an exact duplicate of herself or terrified at what that duplicate could be. Her father would know. He could look up info on anybody. But Alessa wasn’t sure how he would react to this. She had lied to him, after all, just as she lied to her mother.

“God, I’m paranoid,” the raven-haired woman muttered. She was making this incredibly huge deal over someone she didn’t even know. But was it warranted here?

Alessa tried to focus on the other side of the coin. She was only looking at the negative; the dangers that this person being her alternate could bring. What about the positives?

She assumed that her double was malevolent, or at the very least, not to be trusted. But the opposite could just as easily be true. This…mirror image could turn out to be a lot like her. She could share her values, her goals, her love of books and movies and video games…

…And her hatred of the Order, if it ever existed here.

Alessa stared down at her right arm. The skin was fine now – all nice and healed, if a little pale. It wasn’t always so. She remembered a time when it was charred and grotesque, the victim of a despicable crime that should never have been allowed to happen. Not a day went by that she wasn’t reminded of it in one form or another. The flicker of the stove lighting up, the mention of a house fire on the news…every time she saw something relating to fire, she remembered the way the flames had ravaged her body.

She had tried to talk to people about it, of course. Nobody ever really understood. How could they? As much as they loved her, the fact remained her parents hadn’t experienced what she had. And burn victims usually healed to some degree. They received treatments, came out with some scars, and then they moved on with their lives. They didn’t languish in a coma with their skin blackened to a crisp while no one so much as gave them a pain killer.

Her thoughts turned to what the other girl’s life might have been like. Had she gotten the same raw deal as her? Alessa wondered. Had she felt the same agony inflicted on her body as the Order put her through one horror after another? And what about her parents? Were they the same on this place, or was it possible she had ended up being raised by someone else?

Were they even alive?

A shudder ran through her as she thought of what it would have been like to end up in Dahlia’s care. Her blood almost chilled at the thought. Regardless of whatever happened or didn’t happen to her parents on this world, she prayed her double had been lucky enough not to end up in that twisted old hag’s supervision. Nobody deserved that type of punishment.

So many questions…and only one way to get the answers for them.

Alessa wasn’t a cruel person. She prayed with all of her heart that her double had been able to avoid that hell.

But if she hadn’t…

If she hadn’t, Alessa realized, then she may have finally found the one person in the world who could truly understand what she’d been through.

Yes, this could be a blessing in disguise. Here she was assuming that her double’s appearance had some malevolent purpose to it, when the opposite could just as easily be true. This could be one of the best things that ever happened to her.

Alessa marveled at her sudden change in thinking. How had she gone from dreading what her double represented to wanting to meet her in the span of a few minutes? Yet she could not deny that it was true. She wanted to meet this girl, more than she had ever wanted to meet anyone before.

There was just one thing she had to do first.

Alessa stood up from the bed and headed for her parents’ room. There was a chance she would be disturbing them if they weren’t asleep yet, but this couldn’t wait. Unless she got this off her chest right now, she wasn’t going to fall asleep for another two hours. She was neurotic like that sometimes.

She knocked loudly on her parent’s door, just in case they were doing something she that shouldn’t intrude upon. Alessa smirked as she considered that. Most people shuddered at the mere thought of their parents having a personal life of their own. Not her. Alessa prided herself on being more mature than that.

Well, most of the time, anyway.

A few moments passed before she heard her mother respond.

“Alessa?”

“Mom, can I come in? I need to talk to you.”

Silence.

“…It’s one a.m. Can’t this wait?”

“Please?”

“All right. Come in,” came her resigned answer.

Alessa opened the door and stepped inside. She smirked when she saw her parents’ state of undress and Julie’s tousled hair. Apparently she had interrupted something. Her parents sat up tiredly on the bed, giving her a puzzled glance. They were curious as to what necessitated a talk with them at this late hour, though they had a feeling they already knew.

“All right Alessa, what is it?” Julie asked, arms crossed over her chest. She gave her daughter a slightly annoyed glance. The blond haired man next to her remained silent.

“I have something to tell you,” Alessa admitted. “I hope you won’t be mad at me for not telling you sooner.”

The two parents looked at each other. “Oh, I hate stories that start like that,” her father muttered.

“I lost my cell phone,” Alessa said quietly.

Her guardians shared another look. “We know,” her mother replied.

“You know? Figures,” Alessa said, realizing Julie must have checked her car.

“I went out and searched your car after our little talk this afternoon. You were acting more than a little suspicious,” Julie said. Alessa merely nodded.

“How did you lose it?” Chris asked her.

“I dropped it by mistake in the mall,” Alessa said. The others picked up on her reluctance.

“But that’s not all that happened, is it?” Julie asked knowingly.

Alessa shook her head. “No, it’s not,” she said. She took a deep breath. “I met my double today.”

There was a pause. “You what?” Chris exclaimed. He shared a glance with Julie, who looked equally taken aback.

“I met her at the mall,” Alessa said quickly. “She just came out of nowhere and I didn’t know what to think.”

“Tell me everything,” Chris stated.

Alessa told her parents the story of what happened to her at the mall. She left out none of the aspects, explaining in full detail the eerie nature of the encounter. When she was finished, Chris and Julie sat back, stunned at the incredible event that had happened to their daughter in such a short period of time.

“Are you sure it was her?” Julie asked. It was trite, but she had to ask the question.

“Yes, I’m sure. You don’t meet someone like that and not recognize them as being connected to you.” She paused. “It was more than just the appearance, Mom. There was…a feeling. Some tangible gut instinct that told me this was her. This was my alternate.”

“I see. Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I was scared,” Alessa admitted, looking down to avoid their gaze. “I’ve never had anything like this happen to me. The closest was when I met Cheryl, and that was years ago. I…I wasn’t sure how to deal with it. So I panicked. I just ran right out of there. That was when I dropped my cell phone.”

The older Summers were silent, absorbing everything Alessa had told them.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do. Please don’t be mad,” Alessa pleaded quietly.

“You should have told us,” Julie reiterated.

“I know.”

Her mother let out a sigh. “But we’re not mad.”

“You’re not?” Alessa asked, surprised.

“No, of course not,” Julie replied. She threw a glance at her husband, who shook his head in response.

“We’re not mad, dear. We’re just…concerned.”

“I am too.”

“Why?”

“Because…she’s my double! My other self! What if…what if she’s dangerous? I don’t know anything about this girl!” Alessa ranted, giving voice to her fears.

“Honey…”

“And what about the cell phone? Who knows what information she could get out of that?” She stopped to take a deep breath. “We should change the numbers. Right away so she can’t trace them back to us.”

“Alessa!” Julie interrupted. The teenager ceased her rant and stared. “Honey, as…incredible as this all may seem, I don’t think this girl is a threat to you.”

“I know,” Alessa sighed.

“You do?”

“Yeah. I mean, I know in my head that the odds are against it. But, I can’t help but worry. What if she is?”

“Well, let’s look at it this way. Did she say anything nasty to you when she approached you? Did you get any sort of vibe from her besides the obvious? Something that told you she was a danger? Did she threaten you in any way, or follow you out to the parking lot when you rushed to leave?” Julie asked. Each and every time, the answer was the same.

“No,” Alessa answered to all the questions.

“Then she’s probably just curious, the same way you were. I know I’d sure be if I saw someone who looked exactly like me at the mall. I wouldn’t go as far as following them, but…”

“Dad?”

Alessa’s father, who had been silent up until the point, considered what his daughter was asking. “You mother’s right. It doesn’t sound like she’s a threat. Just the same, I’d be careful if I were you. I assume you want to know more about her?”

“Yeah,” Alessa nodded. He could read her all too well.

“Then there’s only one way to know for sure, and satisfy your curiosity,” Chris replied.

“Track her down,” Alessa finished the thought.

“Yep. It might be difficult. There’s no way to tell for sure what her location is. She might not even have the same name. But if you know for sure that she’s you, then there’s probably some way to find her,” Chris stated.

“Okay,” Alessa said. She wasn’t sure what to think; she was too relieved that they weren’t mad at her for keeping this from them.

“Why don’t you get some rest? We can talk about this in the morning if you want,” Julie suggested. “And yes, we’ll keep that phone thing under suggestion,” she added knowing her daughter was still a little worried.

“Okay. Goodnight Mom, Dad,” Alessa said, giving each of them a hug. She went back to her bedroom to call it a night, hoping she’d be able to sleep now that she had gotten this whole weird mess off her mind.

Once she was gone, her parents shared a serious look. Had she been around to hear them, Alessa would have worried at the words that were exchanged.


~


It was a quarter past midnight. The lights were out at the modest apartment that Harry and Heather Morris called home. Both Harry and his daughter had gone to bed for the evening. Being considerably older in age, Harry surrendered quickly to the day’s exhaustion and was enjoying a peaceful, dreamless slumber.

Heather was not. She tossed and turned on her bed, trying repeatedly to settle into a comfortable position. It was no use – something was off tonight. The bed that was usually so comfy felt hard and lumpy, as if the mattress springs were poking into her back. She rolled to the side again, only to swear an annoyed curse when her hand met the wall on her right.

When Heather and her father first moved into this apartment, Harry offered to let his daughter have the larger bedroom. Harry knew that his little girl was growing up and would soon need her space as she entered the age of adolescence. To his surprise, Heather would have none of it. Harry tried several times to convince her to take the larger room, but Heather refused each and every time.

At the time, she thought nothing of it. Her dad worked so hard to make sure she had a decent life; he deserved to have the bigger room. But every so often, on nights like this, she sometimes wished she had just taken the large room when she had the chance. Maybe then she wouldn’t feel so confined in her own bed.

She knew of course, that the problem wasn’t her room. It wasn’t with her bed either. No, the problem was with her.

She had tried everything to take her mind off what happened that morning at the mall. Watching TV, reading, playing some board games with her dad; she even tried going out with him for ice cream. Nothing worked. No matter what she did, she just couldn’t get over the embarrassing incident with that mysterious girl.

And it was embarrassing. Why did she have to do the first thing that came to mind like that? She must have looked like a psycho to the other girl; like some stalker looking to kidnap their unknowing victim. God, what was wrong with her? Once again, she’d let her stubbornness get in the way of her better judgment.

She’d tried looking up the girl online. Contrary to what she’d told her father, Heather wasn’t that averse to the idea of finding this ‘Alessa’. If it were anyone else she would have just forgotten about the incident and be done with it, but a person who looked just like her? And who sparked some kind of instinct inside her? This was just too interesting to pass up. She hadn’t gone far, though. The early results weren’t encouraging, but Heather knew she could find this person given enough time. Yet for some reason she didn’t understand, she was also a little hesitant to do so. It boggled her, that she could be so intrigued by this mystery girl, yet at the same time, be the slightest bit reluctant to find her.

Heather wondered why she was taking an interest in this girl. What was the connection there? And there was a connection here, she was sure of it. The only question was what.

Again shifting positions on the bed, she turned her thoughts to the mysterious beauty’s name, so elegant in its simplicity. Alessa…what a pretty name, she thought. It was simple and understated, but exquisite; not at all plain. She wished she had a name like that, as opposed to the more forgettable one she had chosen years prior.

“Alessa,” Heather whispered aloud. She had never heard it before, and yet the name rolled off the tip of her tongue with surprising familiarity. She almost didn’t care about the girl’s last name. Something about that first name, Alessa, sparked a vague feeling in Heather’s mind that she couldn’t quite pinpoint.

What was her life like? The curious brunette wondered. Where did she live? What was she like? What about her family? Did she have both a mom and a dad, or just one caring father like Heather? For that matter, did she even live with her parents, or was she taken care of by another family member?

Most perplexing of all, why did she look so much like her?

Heather sighed. She knew what she had to do. There was so much she didn’t know, so much she wanted to know, and only one way to find out.

There was just one thing she had to do first.

Heather got up off her bed and headed for her father’s room. This late at night, she was sure she would be disturbing him. Then again, it was Harry who often told her not to hesitate to come to him when she had a problem. They had learned that lesson well early on in Heather’s high school years.

The younger Morris didn’t bother knocking on the door before she opened it. One of the benefits of having a father who never dated was that Heather never had to worry about Harry bringing home any friends, which meant she never had to fear interrupting something private at times like this.

“Dad?” Heather called out softly. Harry was sound asleep, snoring softly into his pillow. He didn’t stir, so Heather tried again, much louder this time.

“Dad!”

This one did the trick. Harry startled awake almost immediately, grumbling to himself as he realized what, or rather who, had woken him.

“Heather?” Harry mumbled, squinting at her blurry features. He took a look at the clock on the nightstand. “It’s one a.m.”

“I know, Dad. I need to talk to you.”

“Can’t it wait?” Harry asked, tiredly rubbing his eyes.

“Dad, it’s important,” Heather insisted. As he expected, Harry stared at her for a moment before his face softened.

“Okay. Come here,” he said, patting a spot next to him on the bed.

Harry sat up and straightened himself as Heather took a seat next to him. The young woman briefly felt her face warm as she caught sight of Harry’s muscular chest with only a hint of excess weight. For a fifty year old guy, Harry wasn’t in bad shape. He rarely wore much to bed, just a pair of boxer shorts and a thin undershirt sometimes. He had foregone the latter tonight, leaving Heather with a close up view of his bare torso.

Heather didn’t mind – she wasn’t one of those teenagers who fretted about their parents’ physical appearance. Her father was a handsome man and she was quite willing to acknowledge that, albeit with the occasional blush. The only thing was, it did make her wonder about her father’s reluctance to date. It wasn’t like she was eight years old anymore, she was nineteen and perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Why was he so afraid to approach women when he had such good looks? It had to be more than simple shyness.

“So, what do you have to tell me?” Harry asked his daughter.

“Okay,” Heather began leisurely. “I did some thinking and I realized that you were right. This afternoon I mean, when we talked about what happened at the mall.”

Harry’s interest suddenly peaked. “Really?”

“Yeah. I realized that you were right, I am interested in meeting this girl. There’s something there I’m not quite sure of, and I want to know more about what it is.”

“I’m glad you realize that,” Harry nodded. “Is there anything else?”

“Yeah. I, uh, I’m sorry for being so stubborn earlier. I was just weirded out by what happened,” Heather said.

“It’s okay. Who wouldn’t be?” Harry replied, softly patting her shoulder. “Besides, you weren’t really stubborn. Just a little…persistent.”

“Oh, is that what you call it?”

“Yep. My persistent, thick-headed little girl,” Harry stated.

“Gee, thanks Dad,” Heather answered sarcastically, though she had to smile at that.

“What are you going to do?” Harry asked, referring to Alessa.

Heather shrugged. “I’ll figure it out later. Right now, I just want to get some sleep.”

“Okay. Goodnight Heather,” Harry gave his daughter a warm hug.

“Goodnight Dad,” Heather said back, thankful to have such a caring person in her life.

With Heather gone back to her own room, Harry tried to settle back into a state of unconsciousness. For a while he simply lay there with his eyes open, staring at the bedroom door. Heather was a good kid. She was smart and kind and generous, with a bit of a sharp tongue that made for some very amusing moments at times. When Harry’s wife passed away sixteen years ago, he wasn’t sure he was up to the challenge of raising a child by himself, especially a daughter. Yet he had to admit, Heather had turned out pretty well.

If only Jodie had been there to see it…

Suddenly, for some reason he couldn’t quite explain, he found himself wishing he had chosen not to isolate himself for Heather’s sake. He may have done an adequate job of proving his daughter with the love and support she needed, but there was no denying Heather could have used a mother in her life. Someone to hold her and love her the way only a mother could. As close as he and Heather were, there were some things a father and daughter just couldn’t talk about as openly as a girl could with her mother.

Jodie wouldn’t have wanted him to cling to the past. She would have wanted him to move on with his life, to find happiness not in spite of Heather, but because of her. So why hadn’t he?

But even as he pondered that question, he already knew the answer.

Because of Heather.

Everything he did was in Heather’s best interests. Her safety and well-being came first, even at the expense of his personal life. That was what a father did, and Harry considered himself to be a good one.

Smart, kind, generous…those were some of the terms he thought of to describe his precious little girl. And yet, he could not help but wonder. How would she react if she ever uncovered some of the things he had kept from her? He knew she would be shocked. The real question was, would she be thankful for everything Harry had done for her, or would she be angry and resentful that her father kept such an important secret from her? Harry preferred to think it would be the former, but he couldn’t rule out the latter possibility.

That scared him more than anything. And as he lay back against his pillow, trying to drift back into sleep, Harry Morris couldn’t help but wish he had someone else to share this burden with.


~


Miles apart from each other, two teenage girls laid asleep on their beds, deep in blissful slumber. Their rest was a dreamless one, their subconscious minds too anxious about the day’s events to yield to the illusions that came so naturally. Neither had any idea how much their lives were about to change.


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AN 2: Alessa's a paranoid little thing, isn't she? But as you'll see, she has plenty reason to be.