The Other Evelyn
1628 Words
The phone line went dead.
James stared at the screen. No signal. No bars. Just emptiness.
"Turn around," he told David. "We're going back."
"To the church? That's two hours."
"Then drive faster."
---
The church looked the same from the outside. Quiet. Dark. Peaceful.
But James knew better.
He drew his weapon and approached the front door. David flanked him, rifle ready.
The door was unlocked.
Inside, the main hall was empty. No children. No Evelyn. No guards.
"Downstairs," James whispered.
They moved to the basement stairs.
A light glowed from below.
James descended slowly, his heart pounding.
The basement was a mess.
Chairs overturned. Blankets scattered. Toys crushed.
And in the center of the room, two figures.
Evelyn lay on the floor, unconscious, a bruise forming on her temple.
Standing over her was another Evelyn.
Same face. Same hair. Same clothes.
But her eyes were different. Cold. Empty.
"James," the clone said. "I was wondering when you'd arrive."
"Where are the children?"
"Safe. For now. Hidden where you'll never find them."
David raised his rifle. "Step away from her."
The clone smiled. "You won't shoot. Not while your friend is bleeding at my feet."
"Who are you?"
"I'm Evelyn. Just not the one you know. I was activated when Vance's laboratory was destroyed. A fail-safe. A backup."
"You're a clone."
"I'm an improvement. Stronger. Smarter. No emotions to get in the way."
The clone stepped over Evelyn's body and walked toward James.
"Your Evelyn is weak. She loved you. She betrayed her father for you. I have no such weaknesses."
"What do you want?"
"The children. The antidote. And your cooperation."
"My cooperation for what?"
"To continue the research. To perfect the Eclipse Variant. To create a world without pain."
"That's not a world. That's a prison."
The clone shrugged. "Same thing, really."
---
James looked at Evelyn's body. Her chest was rising. She was alive.
"The children," he said. "Where are they?"
"Hidden. Somewhere you'll never find them."
"Then why are you still here?"
"Because I need you to make a choice."
"What choice?"
"Between your family and the world. The children will be returned to you if you help me. Otherwise, they'll be taken somewhere far away. Somewhere you'll never see them again."
James felt cold. "You're bluffing."
"Am I?"
The clone reached into her pocket and pulled out a small device. A screen lit up, showing Chloe, Lily, Emma, and Grace, huddled in a dark room.
"They're in a bunker outside Baltimore. Armed guards. Food and water for a week. You have until then to decide."
"Or what?"
"Or they die. Slowly. Painfully. And you'll never know where they are."
David raised his rifle again. "Tell us the location, or I'll put a bullet in your head."
"You won't. Because if I die, the children die. Dead man's switch. Very effective."
The clone smiled.
"You have seven days, James. Use them wisely."
She walked toward the stairs.
"One more thing. Your friend Harper? She's not who you think she is. Ask her about Subject 28."
The clone disappeared into the darkness.
---
James knelt beside Evelyn.
"Evelyn. Wake up."
She stirred. Her eyes fluttered open.
"James? What happened?"
"A clone. You were attacked."
"A clone? Of me?"
"Of you. She took the children."
Evelyn sat up, wincing. "Where?"
"We don't know. Somewhere outside Baltimore. She gave us seven days."
Evelyn looked at her hands. At her clothes. At the bruise on her temple.
"How do you know I'm not the clone?"
James hesitated.
"You don't," Evelyn said. "You can't be sure."
"I know. But I'm choosing to trust you."
"Why?"
"Because the clone had cold eyes. Yours are warm."
Evelyn smiled weakly. "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."
---
They searched the church.
No sign of the children. No clues. No tracks.
Harper arrived with Steven, her face pale.
"James, I need to tell you something."
"About Subject 28?"
Harper's eyes widened. "How did you know?"
"The clone mentioned it. She said you weren't who you seemed."
Harper sat down heavily.
"My real name isn't Harper Vance. It's Helena Vance Jr. I'm Dr. Vance's daughter."
James stared at her. "You're the daughter of the woman who created the protocol?"
"Adopted daughter. She took me in when I was a child. Raised me. Trained me. Used me."
"Used you how?"
"To infiltrate your group. To gain your trust. To report back to her."
Harper pulled up her sleeve. A small scar marked her forearm.
"She implanted a tracker. I cut it out months ago. But the damage was done."
"What did you tell her?"
"Everything. Your plans. Your locations. Your weaknesses."
James felt betrayed. "Why are you telling me this now?"
"Because she's dead. And I'm free. And I want to help you find the children."
"Can we trust you?"
"No. But you can trust my guilt."
---
David wanted to kill her.
James stopped him.
"She's more useful alive than dead. She knows Vance's networks. Her contacts. Her safe houses."
"And if she betrays us again?"
"Then we kill her. But not until we find the children."
Harper nodded. "Fair enough."
---
The search began.
Harper led them to a warehouse in Baltimore—one of Vance's old staging grounds.
Empty. Cleaned out.
But Steven found something.
"Financial records. Vance was funding a bunker in the mountains. West Virginia. Near the old mine."
"That's where the children are."
"Probably. But there's a problem."
"What?"
"The bunker is designed to withstand a nuclear blast. We're not getting in without the access code."
"The clone has the code."
"Then we need to get it from her."
James looked at Evelyn. "Where would the clone go?"
"The same place I would go. Somewhere safe. Somewhere familiar."
"Her father's mansion?"
Evelyn shook her head. "Too exposed. Too many memories."
"Then where?"
"The cabin. The one where Morrison kept Lily. It's isolated. Easy to defend."
James nodded. "Let's go."
---
The cabin was dark.
No lights. No guards. No sign of the clone.
But the door was unlocked.
Inside, a fire burned in the fireplace.
And on the table, a note.
I knew you'd come here. The children are safe. For now. But you're wasting time. Seven days. Remember.
—E
James crumpled the note.
"She's playing with us."
"Then we stop playing," David said. "We find the bunker ourselves."
"Steven, any progress on the location?"
"Working on it. The financial records are heavily encrypted. It'll take time."
"We don't have time."
"Then we make time."
---
That night, James couldn't sleep.
He walked outside, into the forest.
The stars were bright. The air was cold.
He thought about Chloe. About her smile. About the way she said "Daddy."
He thought about Emma. About the daughter he had lost, and the one he had found.
He thought about Grace. About the child created from his DNA, who called him by his first name.
And he thought about Evelyn. About the woman who had lied to him, betrayed him, but also saved him.
"James."
He turned.
Evelyn stood behind him, wrapped in a blanket.
"You should be resting."
"So should you."
They stood in silence, watching the stars.
"Do you think we'll ever have a normal life?" Evelyn asked.
"No. But we'll have a life. Together."
Evelyn took his hand.
"Together."
---
The next morning, Steven found something.
"The bunker is in the Allegheny Mountains. About fifty miles from here. The access code is tied to the clone's biometrics."
"Can we fake it?"
"Maybe. If we had her fingerprints. Her retinal scan. Her voice pattern."
"We have her. She's you."
Evelyn frowned. "The clone is identical to me. Fingerprints. Retinas. Voice. Everything."
"Then you can open the bunker."
"Assuming we can get to it before she changes the code."
"Then we go now."
---
They drove to the mountains.
The bunker was hidden beneath a hunting lodge, accessible through a trapdoor in the kitchen.
No guards. No alarms. No signs of life.
Evelyn placed her hand on the biometric scanner.
The door opened.
Inside, the bunker was clean, well-lit, and empty.
No children.
But footprints in the dust. Recent.
"They were here," David said. "But they're gone now."
"Where?"
Steven checked his laptop. "The clone's phone signal is pinging from an airport. Private airstrip. She's taking the children somewhere."
"Where?"
"Europe. Maybe. Without a flight plan, we can't know."
"Then we stop her before she leaves."
They raced to the airstrip.
---
The plane was small, a private jet, engines running.
The clone stood at the bottom of the stairs, the children behind her.
"James. You're persistent."
"Let them go."
"Can't. They're my insurance."
"For what?"
"For the research. For the antidote. For my survival."
The clone raised a hand.
Guards appeared, weapons drawn.
"Walk away, James. Live to fight another day."
"Not without the children."
"Then die with them."
The guards raised their rifles.
Shots rang out.
But not from the guards.
From the forest.
Zero stepped out, a smoking rifle in her hands.
The guards fell.
The clone ran for the plane.
James chased her.
She climbed the stairs.
He grabbed her ankle.
She kicked.
He held on.
They struggled.
The plane's engines roared.
James pulled her down.
They fell together, onto the tarmac.
The clone was stronger. Faster. She pinned him down.
"Goodbye, James."
She raised a knife.
A shot.
The clone's head snapped back.
Zero stood over them, rifle smoking.
"You saved me," James said.
"You saved yourself. I just helped."
---
The children were safe.
Chloe ran to James, crying.
"Daddy! I was so scared!"
"It's okay. I'm here."
Lily, Emma, and Grace huddled together, frightened but unharmed.
Evelyn gathered them in her arms.
"It's over," she whispered. "It's finally over."
- Writer
