The Doppelgänger: A Psychological Thriller (22 page)

I could only think of one thing. Darcy’s image was fresh in my mind. The light transformed to darkness. I closed my eyes.

Chapter 26

Darcy’s sleepy eyes clouded with fear. The tape was over. Silence filled the car. It was late night. She was still in the car. The scenery became clear. She couldn’t speak. The road was dark and winding. Darcy’s eyes looked at the rapidly changing scenery. Her hands were tied. Her mouth was covered.

“What-what does this mean?” she asked, hesitant to hear the reply. 

Her eyes immediately darted to the steering wheel. Moonlight and shadows became a person. The transient street lights revealed her face. Darcy’s eyes remained fixed on her face. Her doppelgänger.

Darcy tried to say something but the piece of cloth that covered her mouth absorbed the sound. The doppelgänger turned. Her penetrating brown eyes fell on Darcy. Shadows passed over her face. The car moved a few more meters through the never-ending concrete road. They were on a national highway. There were few cars on the highway at that hour of the night. The doppelgänger made a sharp turn.

“Who are you?” Darcy asked. The woman didn’t turn. Reflections of street lights fell on her face. Darcy’s eyeballs didn’t budge.

“Where are we going?” Darcy persisted. In the distance, she saw a sign that read ‘Skokie’. A chill travelled through Darcy’s body. Her hands moved to the steering wheel. The doppelgänger shot her a chilling glare. Her honey eyes were intense with hatred. Darcy’s hands pulled away. Darcy continued to stare at D, unable to break the magnetic gaze that drew her in. She was real. Flesh and bone. The proximity made Darcy realize how close she was to death. A choked whisper escaped her mouth. The doppelgänger slapped her hand away. Darcy felt electricity where the doppelgänger’s hands brushed hers.

“Who-who are you?” Darcy asked, sinking against the leather seat of the car.

“Darcy Godfrey.” The words were clear and terrifying.

“You-you couldn’t be,” Darcy pushed the words out of her mouth. “I’m Darcy.”

The doppelgänger shot her a momentary glance. Her honey eyes sucked Darcy in.

“Why are you here? What do you want to do to me?”

“You-” she left the sentence unfinished. Uneasiness churned in Darcy’s belly.

A few moments of silence passed. Darcy turned to the doppelgänger. The doppelgänger turned her face. Her eyes looked into Darcy’s.

“Let me tell you a story,” D began. She turned away and focused on the long road ahead. “Once upon a time, there lived a girl named Darcy Godfrey.”

Darcy suppressed a grunt. “I’ve heard that story.”

“Then, you know why both of us can’t live together.”

“You’re lying. There’s no reality in that story. My mother…I’m not you. What happened to you didn’t happen to me.” Even as she denied it, Darcy knew she was wrong.

“I’m sitting before you. Right here, right now. That’s all the proof you need.”

“Why did you kill those people? Why did you kill your own mother?” Darcy asked.

“I- I,” she paused. Darcy saw conflicted emotion flicker in her eyes. Was she feeling guilty now? Darcy cleared her throat. “I’m just as crazy as you. I can’t see them. I can only see shadows, hear voices and…my emotions blur everything.”

Darcy wanted to say something, but she remained silent. It was exactly what she felt. As much as she denied it, she and D were bound together by an invisible thread. However, it was time to break that thread now.

“But I didn’t do those things,” Darcy said. “I didn’t kill those people. I didn’t become the person you did.”

The doppelgänger looked at her. For a moment Darcy saw sympathy flicker in her eyes. Before she could decipher what she had seen, D spoke.

“The red barn,” the doppelgänger said, turning to the road. “What do you think happened there?”

Darcy was silent.

“You know you’re a murderer too. You killed those men just like I did. That’s why nobody talks about it. No matter how many times you ask, they won’t tell you. They can’t. But you can see it in their eyes. That’s why they look at you that way.”

“No!” Darcy screamed. The images passed in her mind, making her more desperate.

“What do you think will happen when Detective Jones finds out?”

“It’s you, not me that he suspects.” Darcy said.

“He doesn’t know I exist. Do you think he’s going to believe your story?”

“You appeared on the CCTV at Dr. Williams’ apartment building.”

“But you were the one that was inside.”

“How do you know? We look the same.”

“There’s proof of you being there but you don’t remember anything,” The doppelgänger said.

“I wasn’t there.” Darcy said. 

“We both know your memory isn’t reliable.”

“I know everything now.”

“No. You don’t,” the doppelgänger muttered.

“What’re you going to do now?” Darcy asked, staring at the dark road ahead of them.

“If he finds either of us, we’re in trouble,” D said. “Do you know what that means?”

Darcy’s eyes enlarged, but she was quiet.

“Is that why you….”

The doppelgänger’s eyes softened.

“Let me tell you another story,” Darcy didn’t believe what she was hearing. She couldn’t die- not when she was so close to the truth. She strained her eyes and looked at her phone which was in her pocket. She strained her hands, but they didn’t reach the pocket. “Long ago, there lived a girl called Darcy,” D said.

“Which Darcy?” Darcy asked, her gaze steadfast.

“All stories begin like that,” D said, her arms firmly planted on the steering wheel. “But they don’t end in happily ever afters.”

Darcy backed off. It was a warning. She made an effort to breathe. D continued her monologue.

“When I came here, I didn’t want to go back. It was like a fairytale. Nobody knew me. I could be anybody I wanted. It was like a dream. I didn’t have any skeletons in the cupboard. I was free,” D continued. “Then, I saw you. You were the problem.”

Harsh lines formed around her nose and jaw. The car took a sharp turn. The force disoriented Darcy. The seatbelt rubbed into the skin between her breasts.

“It’s not the same anymore. My mother loves you, not me,” she said, brushing away a ghost of a tear. “People think I’m a criminal. I don’t belong here.” 

Darcy made muffled noises. She had only a few minutes to go. She had to tell somebody. She had to call Detective Jones and tell him about this crazy woman. She was innocent. She wanted the whole world to know. D’s eyes remained on the road. She brushed her tears away.

“You don’t know what I’ve been through. It took a lot to get here. It took a lot to get here and see her again. I got a second chance, and it was surreal. But now, it’s gone.” D said, a deep sense of despair underlying her words. Darcy didn’t understand the sudden shift in mood. D’s emotions were genuine but her words made no sense. Her head cast a circular shadow on her hands. The moon moved an inch in the sky. The car didn’t stop. Darcy let out a choked question.

“I didn’t stop her. I didn’t talk to her. I was silent. I let her suffer,” she said. “I killed her.”

Darcy’s exhaled with an inhuman force. The silence rang in her ears. She couldn’t believe what she had heard. The doppelgänger had killed her mother. She confessed.

“When I got your message asking to meet me, I felt alive. It was like I got a second chance to live,” D said. “I searched for her. I made a mistake once but I wouldn’t make it again.”

Darcy’s heartbeat grew louder. Darcy’s breaths became shallow. She couldn’t tear her gaze from the doppelgänger. Her steel seatbelt buckle shone in the moonlight.

“I envied you. You had a mother. You had a peaceful life. You never made the mistakes I did. Your mother was still alive. You never went to jail,” she said. “You had the chance I never got. That’s why you need to die. You need to die so I can live again.”

Darcy struggled in her seat. The tight seatbelt restricted her movement. She squirmed like a worm, trying to break the rope that constricted her hands. The car made another turn. The number of cards outside the window dwindled. Darcy’s paranoia grew. The scenery blurred as death inched closer. The car was rapidly headed to a cliff. As D sped up, Darcy struggled to control her emotions from taking over.

“How does it feel to be here?” she asked, turning to face Darcy. Darcy saw the hopelessness in her hazel eyes which were mirrored in her own. She didn’t answer. The car drove through rocky terrain. The slope of the road grew steeper. The angle of the road elevated her tension. They were going to die. Together. This couldn’t be happening. After all that she had done, this couldn’t happen. She finally knew the truth.

“I killed Dr. Cleo and your mother,” D confirmed. Darcy’s eyes stared at her in disbelief. Fear vibrated in the core of her body. Her eyes lost the ability to blink. The burden of the truth crashed on her skull. “Dr. Cleo tried to make me forget her. He wanted me to forget what happened fifteen years ago. But, I couldn’t. He left me with memories much worse than the ones he wanted to erase. I wanted to inflict the pain he inflicted on me. I lived a miserable life because of that.”

Darcy’s eyes slid to the car door. She needed to get out. This woman was mad. D’s fingers clutched the steering wheel tighter. Darcy’s breaths died. The hatred on her face transformed to tears. Her watery eyes navigated the roads.

“I killed my mother by accident,” she said. A teardrop traced its way along her cheek. She wiped it with the sleeve of her sweater. “I wanted to be with her forever. That was all I ever wanted. I just wanted to live. But, she left me. She abandoned me. She sent me to that vicious man and forced me to forget her. I couldn’t do it.”

Another tear fell to her sweater.

“Every time I went to meet her, she rejected me. I wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t you,” she said. “She was frightened. I asked her why she left me. She looked at me, disdainfully and turned away.”

D turned the steering wheel.

“I felt…disgust…hatred…and…I- it happened before I could realize that I was doing,” D’s eyes closed and opened within three seconds. “When I opened my eyes, she crumbled to the floor, dead. I saw the blood. I didn’t have the courage to shriek. I killed her. Again.”

Darcy listened to the disturbing account. The woman was delusional. She was a psychopath.  Darcy shivered – D was a cold-blooded, delusional psychopath.

“That’s why you need to die,” she said. “If you didn’t exist, she’d still be alive.”

Darcy signaled her to remove the tape. She looked away.

“You want to know how I came here?” she asked. She let out a sharp laughter. “I came here to replace you.”

Darcy’s suspicions were confirmed. The startling revelation troubled her.

“I wrote the blog. I wanted to expose you to the world. Darcy Godfrey is crazy. That’s what they said to me. That’s what they’ll say to you.” she said, her speech harsh and venomous.

D’s eyes were filled with revenge. The lights ahead cast a dull glow on her brown eyes.

“But you took the posts down,” she said. “I began writing about the past. You don’t remember it. I didn’t either. I found out. Your mother was crazy. Just like us.”

Us. Darcy’s mind rebelled at the word. She didn’t want to be associated with the woman in front of her.

The car stopped. Darcy saw the steep cliffs. They were on top of the hill. The winding road made her nauseous. She wanted to puke but her mouth was taped. The car neared the edge of a cliff. It was a short countdown to death. She was heading straight for the sea with the car. Darcy closed her eyes, summoning the courage to produce a sound.

“Our journey ends here,” D said. The car slowed down. “Goodbye.”

Darcy’s hands flew to the car. To her surprise, the car door opened. Darcy yelled, but the sounds swallowed her voice. The wind was strong. The car headed straight toward the sea. The car and Darcy were headed straight to the sea. Darcy struggled to break free. The doppelgänger moved closer to her. Only a few meters lay between the road and the fence.

D’s hands fell on the seatbelt accidentally, clicking it open. Darcy’s was free. Breaking away from the doppelgänger, she jumped out of the car. Darcy fell out; her butt hit the concrete road. The rough concrete shredded the superficial layers of her skin. Blood clotted in the exposed skin.

The door closed. She saw a shocked expression on the doppelgänger’s face who was still in the car. The car raced into the lake, moved by the momentum. D rammed into the fence, breaking it open. The car lost balance and began its descent into the lake. The car rubbed against the sharp edges of the cliff and ignited. It broke into pieces and Darcy screamed. Her eyes streamed with tears. She watched helplessly as pieces of the car caught fire and drowned in the lake.

Darcy heard the sound of the car crashing into the sea. She closed her eyes. It was over.

A distant beam of light moved toward her. History was repeating itself. A car moved toward her at full speed. The lights grew brighter until their blurred. Darcy lost consciousness.

Chapter 27

“Are you all right?” Detective Jones asked. His eyes examined her with skepticism. Darcy opened her eyes fully. She noticed her body was covered with a blanket. Detective Jones stared down at her. His eyes were filled with concern. Darcy stood by the river where the car had fallen. It was still dark. The police car with noisy sirens stood near her. The other detectives

“You disappeared. We looked for you.”

“How did you know where I was?” Darcy asked.

“You sent me a message.”

Darcy’s eyes widened. She didn’t remember sending him any message. 

“I found out where she lived,” he said, turning to the police. “She’s been living in a house in Evanston two blocks away from your mother’s.”

Darcy met his gaze.

“We found the revolver at her house,” he said. “The bullet size fits Dr. William’s perfectly.”

“You mean….”

“That’s not the only thing I found,” he said. “She left a video confessing her crime.”

“What!?” Uneasiness churned in Darcy’s empty belly. Why would the doppelgänger do that? An odd feeling overtook her senses. Detective Jones went on about the evidence he found at the doppelgänger’s house. Her eyes trailed to the sea. It extended to nowhere.

“Well, that means you’re off the hook,” he said. “I spoke to your lawyer. He’ll contact you soon.”

Darcy wanted to breathe with relief but the discomfort in her stomach made it impossible.

“Why did she do it?” Darcy asked.

“She said she wanted revenge. It seems she always envied you.” he said.

“But I don’t know her.”

“She seems to know you, though,” he said. “She’s been stalking you for a year.”

“But why Dr. Williams?” Darcy asked.

“He was her psychotherapist,” he said. “She blames him for her psychopathic tendencies.”

“She’s a…psychopath?”

“That’s what I concluded from watching her video. She made detailed plans for all those murders…she must’ve been planning this for a long time,” Detective Jones said. “And that’s not all. She even had reports of her diagnosis in her drawers.”

“Do you think I was her last target?” Darcy asked.

“Yes but luckily, you escaped,” he said. “Did she say anything during the drive?”

Darcy swallowed. “She admitted to killing my mother and Dr. Williams.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“She said she wanted me to know the truth before we died.”

“We? She was planning to kill herself?”

Darcy nodded. “She seemed to think we had the same destiny.”

Detective Jones’s eyes widened.

“She was delusional. She saw things that didn’t exist.” Detective Jones’ voice dropped to a whisper.

“She was schizophrenic?”

“Not just that. She was also paranoid, bipolar and depressed.” he said. A policeman waved from the distance. Detective Jones waved back. His words made Darcy uneasy.

“Did you confirm-”

“Yes. I checked up from old hospital records.”

“What was her name?” Darcy asked, to her surprise.

“Darcy,” he went on. “She even took your name. She must’ve been obsessed with you.”

“What about her childhood?”

“Childhood? She graduated from a high school in Chicago.”

“Chicago, huh?”

“We found her high school and university transcripts.” he said.

“Does that mean I’m free?”

“It will be official once I close the case. I still need to confirm a few details.” He said.

Darcy’s eyes skimmed over the body that had been pulled out of the river. It lay under a white bedsheet. The bed sheet was wet. She closed her eyes. For a fleeting moment, she felt sympathy. What a miserable life.

She blinked and took in the sunlight. After many grey days, the sunshine was finally visible.

But, Darcy’s heart was uneasy. She hid her uneasiness behind a smile. Everything was fine. Everything was the way it was supposed to be. Except her mother. Her mother was gone forever. Remnants of the scene pricked her mind. Now, she knew everything. All the pieces of the puzzle came together. She knew the truth- all of it. Yet, the picture before her eyes didn’t seem convincing.

Monday morning arrived. The rhythm of life droned on. Darcy found a new solace in her routine. She stepped out of her apartment at 7:20 AM clutching her brown tote.

She marched past the row of apartments and shops. The Red station was filled with strangers. Darcy passed the crowd. Her eyes glazed over the crown, her lips curving into a smile. They were busy waiting for the train. An eye turned toward her. Paranoia pricked her. 

When Darcy reached the library, Jillian was already there. Jillian’s head rested in her palm. Her eyes were closed. The opening of the door woke her up.

“Good-good morning,” she said, half asleep.

“You didn’t sleep last night?” Darcy asked.

“I was really excited about Mike’s article. I stayed up all night and looked at it.”

“How does it look?”

“Really good. I’m sure it’ll change the magazine’s fate.”

“Optimism,” Darcy remarked. 

“Hmmmm…” Jillian said. “By the way, they found the killer in the Dr. Williams case.”

Darcy stiffened.

“There was no photo of her but her name was Darcy too. Isn’t that strange?”

“It’s a common name…” Darcy said, hanging her coat up on the stand. 

“Maybe that’s why the detective came around here and asked about you.”

“It’s all sorted now…” Darcy said, coughing.

“That’s good. They say she was a psychopath. She also murdered a woman in Evanston who lived to blocks down her house. This city isn’t safe anymore.” Jillian muttered.

“Hmmm… be careful on your way home.” Darcy said.

She got on with work. In the afternoon, she got a text message from her lawyer saying he wanted to meet her that evening.

Darcy took the Red line to his office after work that evening. Paul Adams’ office was located in a swanky building in the Loop. Darcy took the elevator to his firm, Adams & Associates, on the tenth floor. Darcy waited at the reception for five minutes before Paul Adams came for her. He escorted her into his room. It was a spacious, modern room that overlooked the cityscape. The glamorous skyscrapers of Chicago rose against the sky. Darcy placed herself on an egg shaped white seat that faced the desk.

“As detective Jones told you, we found the real culprit,” he said. “It seems like the woman, who looked like you and shared your name was stalking you. She was a psychopath and came up with this notion that she wanted to destroy everything around you.”

“There were two of us in the camera footage.”

“We all thought that the one who signed the guestbook was you but in fact, it was her. It was you that was at the window.”

“How do you know that?”

“The DNA on the murder weapon matched hers,” he said. “She also knew where each of the victims lived and their schedule. You mother registered a stalking case before she passed away. We found out that she was behind it. The CCTV ourside your mother’s building captured her on multiple occasions. Her neighbors said she was…ummm….a little off.”

Darcy was quiet.

“Anyway, this means you’re free. I will handle the formalities.”

“Thank you for helping me.” Darcy said.

“That’s my job.” Paul said, with a shadow of a smile. “I’ll get the paperwork done for you. You just need to sign a few things I mail you.”

“Thank you.” Darcy said, rising up. Adams flashed a weak smile as he escorted her to the door. She turned abruptly.

“Ummmm….do you happen to have a copy of the recording?” she asked.

Her raised his eyebrows.

“I wanted to look at the both of us together.” Darcy said, nonsensically. Paul Adams cleared his throat.

“It must be here somewhere,” he said. He opened the drawers. “Here it is.”

He came toward Darcy with a CD. He gave it to her. Darcy thanked him again before leaving. She took the train back home.

Darcy reached home at 8:30 pm. She made dinner and ate it while watching TV. She headed to her bedroom next. Her eyes fell on the drawer which contained the image of her mother. She didn’t open it. 

Instead, she headed to her bag that lay on the couch and dug into it. The DVD that Adams had given her was in the bag. She pulled it out and stared at it blankly.

With trembling fingers, she inserted the CD into the laptop. A loud, winding sound followed. The scene became clearer. Random people walked in and out of the apartment building for almost five minutes.

She remembered the dark night, the never-ending road and the tragedy. Goosebumps broke out on her flesh. She closed her eyes. The doppelgänger was dead. She had nothing to fear.

The first scene came on. D. Her familiar honey eyes looked up at the CCTV. They looked just like Darcy’s. Memories were rewound by the tape. This would be the last time Darcy would see her face. The truth was in the video that she had never seen.

The first scene continued to play. Clad in a familiar dark hoodie, the person in the movie walked into the apartment building. She headed to the reception. The receptionist said something. The doppelgänger nodded.

The man behind the counter pushed the guestbook toward her. She picked up the pen and signed.

Darcy’s eyes froze. Unable to tear her gaze away from the screen, her shallow breaths came in a slow rhythm.

She rewound. The ugly scene played again. Her heartbeat grew in crescendo and exploded when she signed. She saw fingers curl over the red pen. She wrote down her name. She paused the movie. The image froze. Darcy’s eyes hung over the image.

It was her right hand. She signed with her right hand.

She sucked her breath. Her fear-laced eyes remained on the image. It wasn’t the doppelgänger. It was her.

Darcy’s fingers trembled violently. It couldn’t be. D told her she had committed the murders. Was she lying? The dark cloud of doubt expanded in the pit of Darcy’s stomach. It sucked in her organs.

Her eyes trailed to the frozen image. It was the right hand. Again. Darcy slammed the laptop screen shut with a thud. The screen hit the keyboard and blanked out. She took some time to re-adjust her breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

Nothing changed. The laptop was silent but her mind was noisy.

Her sharp heartbeat played in the background, stifling her deep breaths. She opened the screen again. She minimized the movie and typed the name of the blog in the search engine.

My Diary opened. A large notice hung over the website. It was going to be taken down by the end of the week.

Notice

I thank you all for joining me on this journey. I feel it is time for this journey to end. I have decided to shut down this blog permanently. I hope you understand. It is time for me to move on to another life.

Thank you again for all your support.

D

The message stung her. D knew. D knew she was going to die. D had all this planned out. She planned to take down the blog in advance. She knew. She knew the truth.

Darcy opened her mailbox next. Nestled in a flood of spam messages was an e-mail from D. Darcy gulped. She clicked on it.

A long letter followed. Her eyes moved from left to right, reading each word of the letter.

Dear Darcy,

If you’re reading this, it means I’m dead. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you the truth when I was alive. I wanted to.

Numbness enveloped Darcy. Tears streamed down her cheeks, without her realizing it. She wiped them with her bare hand.

I assume you’ve seen the video footage. That means you know the truth. I’ll start from the beginning.

You asked me who I am. I am another you. I am your mirror reflection in another world. Though my right hand is your left, our destinies are entwined- hopelessly entwined.

Why did I come to this world? To protect you. That is my answer. I wanted to stop you from making the mistakes I made.

But, that didn’t happen. And, I saw it all happen before my eyes. You made the same mistakes I did. I couldn’t stop you just like I couldn’t stop myself.

Why did I write the blog? I wrote it to help you. I couldn’t meet you so I had to find a way to talk to you. I wrote the lies you saw. When you deleted the first post, I knew you had found me. I followed you. I made sure you learned of the truth slowly.

I followed you everyday. I hung outside your house. I went inside while you were gone. I wanted to stay by you and stop your delusional mind from taking over. The only way I could do that was by staying close to you.

You probably know by now that your Schizophrenia relapsed. That’s why you began seeing those visions again. The divide between reality and your delusions disappeared. That’s when you committed the first murder.

While I was away, he came. He was the trigger your paranoia needed to explode. Your memories of him were stained with blood and pain. You didn’t know the truth. When he came around the second time, you lost it. You wanted him to be gone because the voice in your head said it would be either you or him that lived.

So, you followed him home. You wanted it to be over. You wanted your pain to be over. I know because that was what I wanted too.

You know what happened there.

When I reached your house that night, you were missing. I immediately rushed to Dr. Williams’ apartment.  I stuck my face on the window and saw you coming out. When I saw you, I knew what had happened. You had the same expression I had when I did not too many years ago- guilt, confusion, hopelessness and freedom.

So, I began exposing the truth. The red barn. Your illness. Your memories. I wrote the truth so you could find it and alter the course of your life. I had to be quick. It was a countdown to the second murder.

I did the next best thing I could do. I got the police to look for you. You couldn’t find out about your mother if you were preoccupied with the first murder. 

Again, I underestimated destiny. You fled and found out the truth. You met her again. Her coldness aggravated you like it aggravated me.

I began to follow her after your disappearance. I never thought I’d see my mother again-the mother I killed. This time, I wanted it to be different.

Then you began looking for your medical records. I was relieved. I thought you’d piece it all together and figure out how much your condition had worsened. When you left for New York, history began to repeat itself all over again.

I knew you would find out the truth there. I wanted to be sure you wouldn’t do anything. So, I stole your money to keep you off track.