Doppelganger

(Doppelganger definition: An apparition of a person not yet dead; the ghostly double of a living person that haunts its flesh and blood counterpart.)

It was a warm summer night in New York. A young Maya Bennett was having trouble sleeping. It wasn't unusual for her to have odd dreams from time to time, but this night was different, this night the dream boarded on terror. For the past few months she'd been having vivid dreams or hallucinations, she didn't know which. They were so disturbing that she forced herself to stay awake most nights.

Something, that didn't bode well, considering she was half asleep most days. If she hadn't been experiencing this herself she would have never believed it. It sounded more like a ghost story or some crazy folklore or urban legend that they recited around a camp fire to scare the hell out of you. But Maya Bennett knew different, Maya Bennett knew the truth. She'd seen it, and because of it, would never be the same.

Her horror story began one morning after she'd had a horrific night. In the dream she was standing on a crowded freeway trying to escape getting hit by a car. She looked over and found that her favorite cousin was standing near the road on a grassy hill screaming to her. She would have shouted for help but she was too paralyzed to move. When suddenly he ran toward her and tried to help her, a second later she awoke in a cold sweat, only to hear a knocking on her bedroom door. When she opened it, it was her mother informing her that her cousin had passed in a freak freeway accident.

The details were exactly as she'd seen in the dream but refused to believe what she was hearing. A few days later she'd gone through some articles that took into account the events surrounding his death. It read in accurate detail of a young girl with long brown hair calling out for help as she stood in the center of the freeway. The boy had run out to try and save her when he'd been struck.

So terrified and shaken by the incident, Maya couldn't bring herself to tell her mother about the dream. It was a fluke, something that happened once in a full moon, or so she hoped. Another incident occurred that made her take notice just before she arrived on the S.S. Tipton.

She was standing on the deck of a ship overlooking the water as the stars filled the skies indicating the closing of the day. It was a cold evening and she shivered. She suddenly felt two arms wrap around her and a content and happy feeling over took her petite frame. She turned smiling up at the person who looked back at her with glazed eyes and an expression of shock and terror on his face. She couldn't figure out what happened until she looked down at her hand which held a very sharp knife coated in blood.

She awoke in a panic again searching her surroundings. She was safe, it was only a dream. The next few days found her as a student on the S.S. Tipton and she was happy to get away. She began work at the Easy Squeezy the following Thursday when she ran into the familiar face of the boy in her dream. Telling herself it wasn't real, that she had left the dream at port and it wouldn't follow her on board, she turned to say hello.

She was instantly attracted to those beautiful hazel eyes and that warm smile. Pushing the dream to the back of her mind she refused to give it any merit. The next few weeks went by without incident and the dream was all but forgotten until one night it came back in a furry.

She was standing on the deck, which she now knew to be the Sky deck and again she felt two familiar arms wrap around her. She leaned into the embrace and closed her eyes in contentment. When she opened them again a terrified looking Zack stared back. She hadn't remembered even turning around. His eyes were glazed over and his expression was one of shock and terror. Only this time he wasn't looking at her but just beyond her shoulder. When she looked down there was a knife once more but she wasn't the one holding it.

Slowly she faced his attacker and a terror she'd never known before took over. She knew that face, she'd lived with that face. Her own eyes stared back, but these eyes were dark and were void of emotion. She woke up with a start and a slamming on the door. Trying to compose herself she stepped out of bed and answered it.

On the other side was a very angry looking group that consisted of Mr. Moseby, Captain Lunsford, and a very stern older man who wore the name tag of Chief of Security Jackson Ferris on his jacket. Behind them were a couple of armed security officers. She wondered what had happened and who they were looking for. Nothing seemed to make sense at the moment.

"Maya we need you to come with us."

"Is something wrong?" she asked suddenly terrified of the answer she might receive.

"We'll give you a few minutes to get dressed and we suggest you hurry," Mr. Ferris ordered. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

"Mr. Moseby what happened?"

The older man didn't give her an answer so she did what was asked of her and gathered a few articles of clothing and walked into her bathroom. While changing she stood up and glanced into the mirror at her reflection. She grabbed the brush and started to run it through her hair when she froze. She felt strange all of a sudden. As she continued to look at her reflection she almost didn't recognize it. It was almost like she was seeing herself through someone else's eyes. She dropped the brush and began to gasp.

She was having trouble breathing while the room began spinning around her and she felt ready to faint. She could hear her heart beating in her chest and she had trouble focusing as the room became a flurry of blurry images. She sat down for a minute on the edge of the bathtub with the hope of relieving some of her symptoms.

"Maya are you finished in there?"

She thought someone was talking to her but it was hard for her to figure out anything. Was she having an anxiety attack or maybe it was a heart attack. As she fell to the floor she looked up and saw the image she had seen in her nightmares staring down at her with hatred. A few seconds later she blacked out.

She awoke to a small white room she didn't recognize. She did however recognize the voice currently hollering so loud it pounded against her eardrums.

"I don't want her in there with him."

"Cody, I'm sorry we have no choice. They both need medical attention and we have nowhere else to put her. Zack will be safe we have two security guards in there with them."

"I don't care," he shouted. "That bitch tried to kill my brother."

"What did he just say?" Maya's head hurt so badly and was so jumbled she thought she was hearing things.

"The door opened and there was more shouting and a voice demanding that she be taken out of here."

She heard a moan somewhere close by and she opened her eyes. Lying in the bed next to hers was her boyfriend. He looked a bit pale and in pain. She wondered what had happened, and was about to ask, when Cody said something she couldn't understand. She looked up and into those eyes and all she saw was hate, pure unadulterated hate. She shivered at the realization that someone could harbor such feelings toward her.

"Why?" Was all she heard, before her eyes drifted shut once more.

She didn't know how long she had been asleep, minutes, hours, days, she only knew that when she awoke once more, she was in a different room. This room seemed cold and isolated. She looked around and noticed the four walls, the one port hole and the metal bars keeping her entrapped. Instantly she was on her feet calling for help. To her surprise a man showed up growling for her to keep it down.

"Where am I and why am I locked up?"

"You don't remember?" he questioned skeptically.

"I don't remember," she cried. "Now I'm asking you again, what happened?"

"You stabbed your boyfriend."

Maya collapsed onto a nearby bench. "What?" she asked. "That's not possible. I would never do something like that."

"Tell that to the young boy who's still fighting for his life."

"Oh no, Zack…" she whispered. "He's going to be okay right?"

"What do you care?" Came a voice out of the shadows. "You did this."

"No I didn't," she exclaimed as the man in front of her looked a bit confused.

"Yes you did," he replied. "You stabbed him."

"I didn't, it wasn't me."

"Sure it was."

Maya kept glancing around him but she couldn't see anyone else. She wondered if she was going crazy. The man shook his head and finally left her alone as she sat back down and pushed her knees up under her chin. This can't be happening, why is this happening?

"You don't know?"

"Who's there?"

"Come on Maya don't pretend like you don't know who I am."

"Show me who you are."

A figure came out of the shadows and walked up to the bars. Her exact double stood before her and she recoiled at the sudden shock.

"Surprise."

"Who….who are you?" she asked frightened. "And why…why do you look like me?"

"I'm you."

"No you're not," she whimpered.

"What's a matter," she snickered. "Feeling a bit crazy are we."

"I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy."

"Who are you talking too?" the man from before asked her.

"Don't you see her…" Maya looked around but the image was gone. "She was just here."

"Who was just here?" he asked her shocked. "Missy, I've been sitting outside that door this entire time. It's the only way out and in. Trust me, if someone had come in I would've known about it."

"But…"

"No buts," he replied irritated. "I don't want any more trouble from you or I'll have to have the nurse come in with a sedative. Now go to sleep."

"I want to know what I'm being held for."

"You know what the charge is," he looked into her confused eyes and sighed in frustration. "You're being held on attempted murder charges. Now go to sleep." With that, he left slamming the door behind him.

"I'm confused. Do they still hang you or do they just electrocute you?"

"Go away!"

"Now now, no need to get upset."

"Get Out!"

The figure began laughing, a noise that echoed like nails against a chalk board to Maya's ears. Her cries of anguish fell on deaf ears as the guard outside the door simply turned up his ipod and ignored all other sounds.

A couple of days later Maya found herself in Mr. Moseby's office surrounded by two men that introduced themselves as homicide detectives, as well as the ships manager and captain. She was told that Zack was alive and would make a full recovery, which she was thankful for. Still that meant she would be held on attempted murder charges.

"Look young lady," Detective Phillips stated. "We need you to be honest with us."

"I am being honest," she sighed on the verge of tears yet again. "I didn't do it."

"We have the surveillance tape to prove it," Detective James added. "Also your boyfriend implicated you."

"He did, but why I didn't hurt him."

"Zack you have to go back to bed," an urgent shout could be heard outside the door just before it opened. "Zack this isn't going to help anything."

"She's innocent."

"What?" Everyone asked at once.

"Zack we have…" Mr. Moseby began only to be interrupted.

"I don't care what you have," the older twin replied. "She didn't stab me."

"But, Zack when you came into my room and collapsed into my arms, you said…"

"I know what I said," he replied. "But, it wasn't her. I don't know how to explain it."

"Alright, take a seat and take your time."

"I don't think this is a good time to do this. Our parents will be here any minute and he needs to rest."

"Cody," Zack turned placing a hand on his brother shoulders. "I love you bro, but you need to sit down and shut up."

"Hurtful," Cody muttered under his breath but took a seat next Zack so that he was in between he and Maya. Sending her a warning he let his brother begin.

"I know this is going to sound crazy," he took a breath before continuing. "Maya didn't stab me, but someone who looked a lot like her did."

"What!" Moseby asked. "Zack maybe you should go back to bed."

"Let him finish," one of the detectives spoke up waving a hand for Zack to continue.

"Maya and I were standing by the railing just enjoying the cool night breeze. We were talking and laughing one minute and the next minute I'm standing in front of her and looking over her shoulder at a figure coming toward us. I was shocked as hell to see that the figure was actually identical to the girl I held in my arms. I don't know how to explain it but the apparition seemed off somehow."

"Wait, the apparition?" Detective Phillips asked.

"I know it sounds strange," he continued. "But, I could see right through her."

Everyone stayed quiet unable to comprehend what he was telling them. Their faces frozen in confusion until Zack continued.

"I know what this sounds like," he replied. "But, I saw her, it or something like that. She held a knife in her hand and the next thing I know I felt a burning pain in my side. I placed my hand to where the wound was and found blood. I don't know exactly what happened next, I think I may have passed out or something because when I came too, Maya was gone and so was her doppelganger. That's when I made my way over to Cody's cabin. I was thinking of Maya and I guess I must have said her name but I can't be sure because everything was hazy and it all went dark again."

"So what you're trying to tell us, is that you were stabbed by a ghost?" Detective Phillips asked. "Is that right?"

"Yes, that is what I'm trying to say."

"Come on Zack, a ghost?" Cody asked. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Is this like the time you claimed to be haunted by the captain from the Jesse Belle steam boat. The same one that died over a hundred and fifty years ago."

"This is serious," the blond boy told his brother.

"Get the surveillance tape," Mr. Moseby stated. "I think we should watch it one more time."

"Alright," one of the security guards rushed out of the room and returned a few minutes later with a copy of the disc in hand.

"Thank you, let's pop this sucker in," Zack announced.

The disc was played several times over within the next hour with no change in opinions. That is until Maya noticed something. "Zoom in," she exclaimed forcing everyone to look a bit closer.

"The knife?" Cody looked stunned. "It's suspended in mid air."

"I didn't touch it until after it happened," she remarked. "Also Zack was right he wasn't looking at me. He was looking behind me."

"There's one more thing," Moseby stated. "There are three shadows on the floor."

"What?" Everyone looked a bit closer and he was right.

"How is that possible?" they asked. "Two people and three shadows."

Nobody wanted to say what they were thinking. It was too bizarre and too farfetched to even consider. Maybe the old saying was true, fact could indeed be stranger than fiction. Later the charges were dropped against Maya, partly because the evidence they had wouldn't hold water in a court of law, and partly because the victim refused to press charges. The obvious question now lay with Maya and what the hell had actually happened.

That night as everyone lay in their bed no one wanted to talk about the strange occurrence. But everyone knew that it would be something not easily forgotten, especially for a certain brown eyed girl.

The cabin was empty as Addison was leery of sharing a room with her now, and she quietly tucked herself in.

She heard a noise and for a split second opened her eyes only to see nothing. Sighing in relief she closed her eyes once more and snuggled a little tighter underneath the blankets. She heard a noise again but decided to ignore it until she heard that familiar laughter. Instantly the hair on the back of her neck stood on end and she looked up just in time to see her ghostly double hold a knife above her.

Maya let out a strangled scream before the knife was plunged into her chest.

The End!

AN: Okay this one shot was on my list of contributions for the 2010 halloween collection. Unfortuantely, i didn't get a chance to finish it before the deadline. I got this idea from watching a couple of movies on lifetime as well as looking up an old movie with Drew Barrymore by the same name. I'm sure it will be confusing, but hopefully worth reading. :D Please read and review! ;)