The Clone Returns
1323 Words
Chloe's words hung in the air like smoke.
The man with your face was here today. He said he's coming back.
James knelt beside her bed. "Chloe, when did you see him?"
"Today. When you were gone. He came to the window and tapped on the glass. I thought it was you, Daddy. But his eyes were wrong."
"Wrong how?"
"Colder. Like the bad men."
James's blood ran cold. "Did he touch you? Did he say anything else?"
"He said to tell you that he's not finished. That he'll take what's his."
James kissed her forehead. "You did the right thing, telling me. Now go to sleep. I'll make sure he doesn't come back."
Chloe nodded, already drowsy.
James walked out of the room and closed the door.
---
Evelyn was in the hallway, her face pale.
"I heard."
"We need to find him."
"He's been hiding for months. Why show himself now?"
"Because the treaty was signed. Because he thinks our guard is down."
David joined them. "Steven is pulling up the security footage."
They gathered in the command center.
The cameras showed the clone approaching the house at dusk, moving through the shadows. He was faster than a normal man, more fluid.
He reached Chloe's window and tapped.
She looked up. Her face showed confusion, then fear.
The clone spoke. Then he vanished.
"Where did he go?" James asked.
Steven rewound. "He walked around the side of the house. The cameras lose him there."
"Check the perimeter."
The perimeter cameras showed nothing. The clone had disappeared.
"He knows our blind spots," David said.
"He knows everything. He has my memories."
---
James walked the property, flashlight in hand.
The clone could be anywhere. In the trees. In the barn. Underground.
He reached Sarah's cabin.
The door was open.
Inside, Sarah was tied to a chair, gagged.
James cut her free.
"He was here," Sarah gasped. "He wanted to know where the children sleep. I didn't tell him."
"Are you hurt?"
"Just scared."
James helped her stand.
"We need to get you to the main house."
"No. I'm staying here. If he comes back, I'll be ready."
"Sarah—"
"I'm not helpless."
James nodded. "Take this."
He handed her a pistol.
"I know how to use it."
---
The rest of the night was quiet.
No sign of the clone.
At dawn, James gathered everyone in the main room.
"He's playing with us. Testing our defenses."
"Then we change our defenses," David said.
"Steven, I need a full sweep of the property. Every blind spot. Every weakness."
"Already on it."
"Harper, inventory our weapons. Make sure we have enough ammunition."
"On it."
"Evelyn, stay with the children. Don't let them out of your sight."
"What about you?"
"I'm going to find him."
"Alone?"
"Alone. He wants me. He won't hurt anyone else if I'm the target."
---
James walked into the forest.
The clone had left a trail. Broken branches. Footprints.
He followed.
The trail led to an old fire tower, abandoned for decades.
The clone was sitting on the top platform, waiting.
"James. I knew you'd come."
"You killed my men. You threatened my family."
"I wanted your attention."
The clone stood up.
"I'm not here to fight. I'm here to talk."
"Talk, then."
"I want a life. Not your life. Mine."
"You're a copy. You don't have a life."
"Neither did you. Until you made one."
The clone climbed down the tower.
"Morrison created me to replace you. But I don't want to replace you. I want to be my own person."
"Then go. Be someone else. Far away from my family."
"I can't. Because I have your face. Your fingerprints. Your DNA. Everywhere I go, people will see you."
"Then change your face."
"I've considered it. Surgery. Disguise. But I'd always know who I really am."
"That's your problem. Not mine."
The clone stopped in front of James.
"I want you to help me. Give me a new identity. New documents. A new life."
"And why would I do that?"
"Because if you don't, I'll have no choice but to take yours."
---
James stared at the clone.
His own face. His own eyes. But colder. Harder.
"You're threatening me?"
"I'm negotiating."
"Threats aren't negotiation."
The clone's expression flickered.
"I'm desperate. I've been hiding for months. No friends. No family. No purpose. I can't live like this."
"Then surrender. Turn yourself in. The authorities will protect you."
"The authorities will dissect me. I'm not human to them. I'm a specimen."
"You're not human to me either."
The clone's face twisted.
"Then I have nothing to lose."
He lunged.
---
James was ready.
He dodged, punched, kicked.
The clone was stronger, faster.
But James was smarter.
He used the terrain. The trees. The rocks.
The clone stumbled.
James tackled him.
They rolled.
James pinned him.
"Give up."
"Never."
The clone's hand reached for a knife.
James grabbed his wrist.
The knife fell.
They struggled.
James headbutted the clone.
The clone's eyes went blank.
Unconscious.
---
James stood up, breathing hard.
He dragged the clone back to the ranch.
David met him at the gate.
"You caught him."
"He'll be out for a while. Tie him up."
"What are we going to do with him?"
"Figure that out when he wakes up."
---
The clone woke in the barn, tied to a chair.
James sat across from him.
"You should have killed me."
"I'm not a killer."
"You've killed before."
"When I had to. To protect my family."
"That's what I'm trying to do. Protect myself."
"By threatening my family?"
The clone was silent.
James leaned forward.
"I'm going to give you one chance. Tell me everything you know about Morrison's remaining assets. Facilities. Clones. Money. And I'll help you disappear."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then I turn you over to the authorities. They'll lock you away forever."
The clone looked at his hands.
"Morrison had a backup facility in Antarctica. Hidden beneath the ice. It contains his final clone army. Thousands of soldiers, waiting to be awakened."
"Where exactly?"
"The coordinates are in my memory. I can give them to you."
"In exchange for what?"
"A new life. A new face. A chance to be someone else."
James nodded. "Deal."
---
Steven recorded the coordinates.
A team was dispatched to Antarctica.
The facility was found, dormant. The clones were destroyed before they could be awakened.
James watched the news reports from the ranch.
"You did a good thing," Evelyn said.
"I did a necessary thing."
"And the clone?"
"He's in a safe house. Steven is arranging new documents. New identity. Surgery to change his face."
"He'll never be able to come back."
"That's the point."
---
Months passed.
The clone's surgery was successful. He looked like a stranger now. No resemblance to James.
James received a letter, postmarked from Australia.
Thank you. I'm starting a new life. I'll never forget what you did for me. —M
James burned the letter.
"Who was that from?" Evelyn asked.
"No one. Just a ghost."
---
The ranch was quiet.
The children grew. Rebecca took her first steps. Chloe started school.
James worked the land, fixed fences, raised animals.
A simple life.
The life he had always wanted.
One night, he sat on the porch with Evelyn.
"Are you happy?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Really?"
"Really."
She leaned against him.
"So am I."
---
His phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
The Antarctica facility was the last. Morrison's empire is gone. You've won, James. Rest well.
He read the message twice.
Then he deleted it.
"Evelyn."
"Yes?"
"Let's go inside. It's getting cold."
They walked into the warm light of the ranch house.
The door closed behind them.
---
In the darkness outside, a figure watched from the trees.
Not the clone. Not Morrison.
Someone new.
She smiled.
The game wasn't over. It was just beginning.
She disappeared into the night.
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