Chapter 3 - The Impossible Doppelgänger
The silence in the study was broken only by the hum of the computer tower fan. Marcus slowly turned his head away from the glowing monitor, his dark eyes fixing on Elena with a terrifying new brand of suspicion. The rage from a few moments earlier had transformed into something colder, sharper, and far more calculating. He took a slow step toward her, his posture defensive and coiled.
"Explain that," Marcus commanded, pointing a trembling finger at the screen. The paused video showed the other Elena frozen mid-smile, her blonde hair framing a face that was identical in every microscopic detail to the woman standing in front of him.
Elena shook her head frantically, backing away until the back of her legs hit the edge of the leather couch. "I don't know, Marcus! I swear to God, I don't know! I was downstairs in the kitchen making formula when Clara came down to change the diaper. I didn't go upstairs until I heard the scream!"
"The footage is timestamped twenty minutes ago, Elena," Marcus said, his voice dangerously low. "High-definition, unedited, direct from our own hard drive. That's you in the red top. That's you pushing the nurse. Are you telling me there's a ghost running around our house?"
"I don't have a twin!" Elena cried, tears finally spilling over her lashes. "You know my history! You know my family! There is no one else!"
Marcus ignored her plea, grabbing his smartphone from the desk. He dialed a quick sequence of numbers, holding the device to his ear while pacing the length of the study. He glared at Elena the entire time, making sure she couldn't move toward the door. The line rang three times before a gruff, familiar voice answered on the other end.
"Detective Vance," the man on the speakerphone announced. "Marcus? It's late. What's wrong?"
"Vance, I need you to get over to the house right now," Marcus said, refusing to break eye contact with his wife. "Someone broke in. Or... someone copied my wife. We have a serious security breach."
"Did someone hurt the baby?" Vance asked, his tone instantly sharpening.
"The baby is fine, but there's footage on our home security system that defies explanation," Marcus replied, his jaw tightening. "My wife is claiming she was downstairs, but the camera caught her—or someone who looks exactly like her—assaulting our nurse in the nursery."
Elena opened her mouth to argue further, but she stopped dead in her tracks as a sudden, loud crash echoed from the front hallway downstairs. The sound of splintering wood and heavy footsteps reverberated through the open study door. Marcus dropped his phone onto the desk, his hand instinctively sliding toward the bottom drawer where he kept a heavy steel flashlight.
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Before either of them could move toward the doorway, the study lights flickered violently twice and then went completely black, plunging the room into absolute darkness save for the harsh blue glow of the computer monitors.
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