"Hello?" Sarah listens to the silence on the other phone line. Sarah slams the phone down on the hook, cursing. Mrs. S just wouldn't listen to her. Sarah knew she had a good reason for it but, fuck, that was her daughter. She needed to get Kira back. She was the only thing that mattered anyone. Not drugs, not alcohol, not Vic, nothing. Kira was it. Her one thing she needed to start living her life for. Sighing, Sarah dug in her pocket counting her change. Growling, she slammed her fist into the wall next to the phone. People walking by shook their heads at her in disgust.
Sarah was used to it. People always judge her by her appearance. They were right to, for the most part. Sarah was a con-artist, a thief, a former drug addict, a single mother who doesn't even have her child. Sarah was a shitty person in a shitty life, but she wanted to change that. She needed to change. Sarah looks down at her bloody knuckles and shakes her head at herself. She stretches her hand out, feeling that nothings broken, and walks towards the bathroom. There was another problem of hers, aggression. Her record said assault and battery on it, and it was right. Sarah has always fought. Growing up in the foster system, she got in a lot of fights with the kids she lived with. Then Mrs. S got her, she was always strict with Sarah, but Sarah fought anyway. She didn't fight with the ones she could knock down easily. She went for the challenges. If she didnt come out with some blood shed then it wasnt worth it.
Walking into the train station bathroom, she runs her bloody knuckles under the water from the sink. She hisses slightly from the initail stinging sentation, then turns the water off as it turns into a dull throb. Grabbing a paper towel, she wraps her hand with it and heads into one of the stalls. Right after she flushes the toilet, she hears heels clicking on the floor. The woman goes into a stall a couple down from her. Sarah opens her stall door and walks back to the sink. Sitting against the wall on the counter, is a very expensive looking purse. She stares at it for a few seconds, considering her options.
Sarah turns the faucet on and silently grabs the womans purse. She calmly starts to walk out of the bathroom. She makes it just outside the bathroom when she hears the toilet flush. She starts to walk faster to the exit of the train station. Sarah hears the bathroom door open and a yell of 'Hey!'. Sarah panics and starts running, hearing the rapid clicking of heels behind her. Sarah thinks she should make it out in time. She has the advantage of wearing combat boots instead of heels. She gets close to the exit when she hears the woman getting closer. Swearing, Sarah goes through a crowd, pushing people out of the way. She pushes her legs to go faster and sweat starts running down her face.
Suddenly a weight crashes against her back and knocks her to the ground, her head hitting the ground with a sickening crack. Blood starts gushing from her nose and she groans. "Gotcha." A voice husks in her ear. The woman straddles her thighs and pulls her struggling arms behind her back. Sarah feels cold metal enclosing around her wrists and stops struggling completely. She feels embarrassment hit her as she lays on the floor of a gross train station, getting arrested. "Didnt know you were robbing a cop did you? Congrats on that achievment." The woman chuckles and stands up, hauling Sarah to her feet.
The woman turns Sarah around and Sarah's mouth falls open. This woman, this cop that just put her in handcuffs, is completely idenical to Sarah. The woman herself is only surprised for a moment before she runs her hand down her face. "Shit." The idenical face says. "Let's go." She grabs Sarah's arm and leads her out. "Put your head down, I dont need questions about this." The woman tells her. Sarah drops her head to look down at the floor. They walk for a minute before the woman leads Sarah into a car. Sarah sits uncomfortably in the back seat of the car, that is definitely not a standard cop car. Which makes sense considering this woman is not in uniform. The front door of the car opens and the woman plops herself down in the drivers seat.
"Who are you?" Sarah asks staring suspiciously. The woman looks back at her.
"You're british." The woman states. She sighs and runs her hand down her face. "Sarah Manning." The woman says. It's not a question and Sarah looks at her in alarm.
"How do you know my name?" Sarah demands. The woman shakes her head and starts the car.
"I knew you were trouble." The cop exclaims. Sarah glares at her.
"And just how did you know that?" Sarah demands.
"Criminal record. You have quite a rap sheet. Assult, battery, fraud, shoplifting, shall I go on?" Idenical eyes bore into hers through the rearview mirror.
"Look, you don't know me, so you don't have the right to judge me." Sarah spits at her.
"You just attempted to rob me, so I think I have a pretty damn good reason." She fires back.
"God, who are you anyway? Did I have a twin sister I didnt know about or something?" Sarah demands.
"If only it were that simple." The woman mutters. "I'm Beth."
"Beth who?" Sarah inquires.
"Just Beth." She says sternly.
"Whatever. It's not like I'm going to steal your identity." Sarah snaps.
"Wouldnt put it past you." Beth snaps back.
"Look, can you just stop being a bitch, take these handcuffs off and leave me on the side of the road? I have things to do." Sarah growls, baring her teeth like an animal.
"So you can go steal something else? No." Beth doesnt look at her as she talks.
"Oh piss off." Sarah slouches down in the seat. "You gonna walk me into the police station and explain how we're identical?"
"No. I'm going to take you to the others." Sarah raises an eyebrow at her.
"What others?"
"You'll see." Beth focuses back on the road. Sarah stays quiet, looking out the window. Sarah tries her best to not look at the cop, but she can't help it. This woman looked just like her. She even has the freckle that Sarah has on her right cheek. They were completely idenical, only Sarah knew that they were polar opposites. Sarah was a criminal, Beth was a cop. Sarah wore her hair wavy, Beth wore hers straight. Sarah loved heavy makeup and dark eyeliner, Beth went for the natural look. Sarah dressed in crop tops and leather, Beth wore a pants suit. Beth caught her eye in the mirror and Sarah immediatly looked away. "It's surprising with all your run ins with the law, that we didnt run into eachother at some point." Beth comments randomly. "But I guess since you only did minor things, you never had to go to my area."
"Wheres your area?" Sarah looks back up at her.
"Homicides." Beth answers grimly. "It's not always fun, but I do enjoy my job."
"Well, I havent murdered anyone yet. Came close last night though." Sarah chuckles. Beth shoots her a displeased look. "What? I said almost! I just hit him with an ashtray, a couple of stitches and he'll be fine." Sarah shrugs. "So if you're a cop, why arent you wearin a uniform?"
"I'm a detective, worked a long time to get here." Beth reaches with one hand and shows Sarah her badge. Sarah leans forward to try and read Beth's last name, but Beth puts it away before she gets the chance. Sarah slumps back down in the seat and looks back out the window.
"Don't tell me you live in the suburbs." Sarah scoffs. Beth didn't look like the family, soccer mom type, but looks can be deciving.
"Nope, not me." Beth comments as she pulls off to the side of the road to park. "I'm going to get back there and check you and your bag for any weapons."
"Why don't you just check me and stay away from my bag?" Sarah asks defensively. "It's not like I'm carrying it with me where ever we're going." Beth shakes her head and gets out of the drivers seat, immediatly opening the back door and sitting next to Sarah.
"I want to make sure that when I let you out of those cuffs, you arent going to have anything to try and hurt me with," Beth turns towards Sarah and starts patting her down. After Beth checks all her pockets and her boots, she runs her fingers through Sarah's tangled hair. "You're clear, now the bag."
"Why don't you just leave the cuffs on and leave my stuff alone." Sarah offers. Beth shoots her a suspicious look. "What? That's my personal stuff."
Beth sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. "What exactly is in this bag that you don't want me to see, Sarah?"
"Just my personal items." Sarah's eyes skip to every possible exit, trying to figure out how she was going to do this handcuffed. Beth could practically see the thoughts running through Sarah's mind. "Ya know, the R-rated toys." Sarah felt a hand close around her upper arm and her eyes met Beth's.
"You're full of shit." Beth informs her. "And you're not running. I know a bit about your background and I know that is the first thing you usually do." Sarah narrows her eyes and tries to yank herself from Beth's grip. "Listen to me. You can't run now. Not just from me. You're a part of something now and theres no turning back."
"What are you talking about? You sound insane." Sarah's limbs shake, they tell her she should be moving, leaving whatever this is behind.
"You're about to find out." Beth promises. "I just need you to tell me what you're hiding."
Sarah sighs and leans her head back, squeezing her eyes shut. "The person I hit yesterday was my abusive boyfriend. I needed to get out of there and get some money to live on for a while, so I stole from him." Sarah lifts her head and nods to the bag. "Theres a bag of cocaine in the front pocket of my backpack. I was planning on selling it."
Beth nods and unzips the front pocket. Looking down at the bag she sighs. "You know I'm going to have to flush this right?" Sarah opens her mouth to protest but gets cut off. "That's not open for discussion. In the position we're in, we can't risk any criminal activity."
"You keep saying all this we stuff and I have no idea what you're talking about!" Sarah exclaims. Beth zips the backpack back up and throws it over her shoulder.
"Turn around." Beth motions. Sarah turns her back to her and feels the cuffs loosen, then fall off her wrists. "Put your hood up." Beth orders as she pulls hers up. Sarah does as she's asked and follows Beth out of the car. They walk up the street and around the corner silently. "This way." Beth points as they go around to the back of someones house. Beth stops in the back yard and grabs Sarah's shoulders to make eye contact with her. "When we go in here, you have to stay with me. No bolting." Sarah nods as she wonders what she got herself into.
Beth walks the rest of the way to the back door and knocks twice. Sarah hears a few clicks of a lock and the door swings open. Sarah looks up to be met with her face...again. Sarah stands and examines the girl infront of her. Glasses, dreads, and tattoos are they only things that separates them. Sarah feels a hand on her back and lets herself be led into the house. "Who's this?" The other girl asks.
"This is Sarah. We sorta ran into eachother." Beth tells her. Sarah notices that she leaves out the whole theft part. "I havent explained everything to her yet."
"I could tell." Her glasses move slightly as she chuckles. "Hey, I'm Cosima." She gives a slight wave.
"Cosima, is Beth here?" Sarah hears footsteps and looks to the staircase in time to see another woman walking down them. This one had her hair in a pony tail and bangs covering her forehead. The face ,once again, matched hers. Her outfit screamed 'soccer mom' and Sarah quickley realized this was her house. "Oh, whose this?" She asks stiffening for posture as she examins Sarah.
"Sarah." Beth answers. "We met on accident." Sarah's eyes travel between the three woman franticaly. Before she realizes shes doing it, Sarah is slowly backing towards the door. Beth turns and snatches her arm again. She pulls Sarah to sit on the couch in the middle of the room. "No running, remember?" Beth says softly.
"What's going on?" Sarah asks softly, overwhelmed by the shock of seeing her face three times over. Having a twin, she could deal with, but there are three woman in this room who looked exactly like her. Sarah bounces her leg rapidly and runs her hands through her hair. Beth glances at Cosima, silently begging her to explain.
Cosima crouches infront of Sarah and tries to catch her eyes. "We're genetic identicals." Cosima states. She sees the confusion on Sarah's face and sighs. "We come from an illegal human cloning experiment."
"Clones?" Sarah says it slowly, like she's trying to decide if she likes how the word tastes. "Just us?" Sarah questions.
Cosima shakes her head. "There are more from all around the world."
"Who made us? Are we actually human?" Sarah inquires.
"Yes." Cosima smiles. "We are one hundred percent human. We dont know who made us yet. We know that we were made and planted in women who didnt know about the experiment."
"My birth mother might have known. Maybe that's why she abandoned me." Sarah comments softly. "This has been one hell of a day."
"You get used to it." Cosima shrugs. She stands back up as the soccer mom puts a plate of cookies on the table. "That's Alison by the way."
"Nice to meet you, Sarah." Alison politely smiles and sits stiffly in a chair. Sarah offers her a half smile.
"Sarah." Beth calls making Sarah look up at her. "We need to do what I mentioned in the car." Beth nods her head in the direction of the steps. Sarah sighs and stands up to follow Beth up the stairs and in the bathroom.
"Do we have to flush it?" Sarah's eyes lock with Beth's, and she can see the desperation in them.
"We have to Sarah. If you got caught and brought to the station, it won't take long for somebody to recognize my face." Beth tries to explain. "I'm actually surprised that that hasnt happened yet."
"But the money." Sarah looks down at her boots. "I need the money." She states quietly. Beth watches the worry crossing her clones face as Sarah loses herself in her thoughts.
"What do you need the money for?" Sarah snaps out of her thoughts at the sound of Beth's voice. "I can tell it's something important. I just need to know what." Sarah sighs and shifts her weight restlessly from one foot to the other.
"Kira." It comes out of Sarah as a small whisper. Beth stays silent, knowing that theres more to the answer. "Kira is my daughter."
"How did you adopt with your criminal record?" Beth watches a look of confusion wash over Sarah's face.
"I didn't." Sarah states obviously. "She's mine." Sarah's confusion only grows as Beth starts pacing back and forth in the small bathroom.
"She's yours?" Beth checks again.
"Well I carried her around in my belly for nine months, that usually points to motherhood, doesnt it?" Sarah replies. Beth has her hands on her head and her mouth hanging open as she processes this new information. Sarah looks at her dumbfounded. "What am I not getting?" Sarah finally asks.
"Follow me." Beth starts to quickly walk back down to the basement. Sarah follows and finds herself pushed right infront of Cosima. "Tell her what you just told me." Beth demands, the shock still evident in her voice. Sarah's eyebrows furrow as she looks from Beth to Cosima.
"I have a daughter." Sarah states plainly, having no idea what is going on at this point.
"Oh! You adopted like me?" Alison smiles at her and Sarah tries to ignore the fakeness of it.
"No." Sarah spits out, getting frustrated at this point. "She's mine, came right out of me! I should know, I was there." Sarah grumbles. "Now will someone tell me what the hell is going on?!" Sarah throws her hands in the air.
"Okay, okay." Cosima slowly reaches and grabs Sarah's hand. Pulling her gently to sit on the sofa next to her, Cosima turns toward the punk. "Beth, Alison, and I have all been told that we couldn't have kids. That's why Alison adopted." Cosima reaches up and adjusts her glasses. "After studying, we thought that none of us were able to conceive."
"But I can." Sarah states. "Why? What makes me different?"
"I dont know." Cosima shrugs. "But it gave me more homework. Do you mind if I do a few medical tests on you? I'm a scientist, I've been studying us. It might help to understand how we're made."
"Yeah, sure." Sarah shrugs. "Anything to help, I guess." Cosima smiles and gives her a thumbs up. While Cosima grabs her laptop and starts to look up more info, Sarah stands and walks over to Beth.
"How're you holding up?" Beth asks lightly. Beth remembers when we found out about all this. Katja, a clone from Germany, got in contact with her one day while she was at work. It was strange how her life completely changed in under a minute. First she was having a boring, normal Monday at work, and then a couple minutes later, she's apart of an illegal experiment and has doubles all around the world.
It threw Beth off at first. She was scared and lost with no one to tell. She tried to ignore it for a while. She would drink her weight in whiskey and pop whatever perscription drug she could find. After she faced the truth and started really getting into the self-aware investigation, things didn't really get any easier. She had to find people and break the news to them. When she told Cosima, she was shocked for a few, then she was excited, the science side of her taking over. Alison, however, was petrified. She came from a normal, wealthy family, and had the perfect suburban life. Finding out that she started out as a lab rat did a number on her psychological health.
Sarah, Beth thinks, has probably had a rough life. She knows her from a criminal stand point. Know's all her charges and her basic background. She was an orphan in the foster system in England, adopted at eight, and moved here at nine. Beth can tell that Sarah keeps all her walls up, and wonders what happened to make her put them there. Beth didn't contact Sarah after seeing her record because she assumed the worst about the clone. She figured Sarah was just another punk running around, wrecking havoc for no reason. Now that she's met Sarah, she can't help but feel that she was wrong. Sure Sarah has her walls up, but Beth saw through them a couple times tonight. Sarah is just as scared as any of them.
"I don't know really." Sarah sighs. "It's a lot to take in. I got into town today already knowing I was going to have a rough time. I had to get money, find a place to stay, convince my foster mother to let me talk to Kira, and make up with my foster brother. So far, none of those things have happened. Mrs. S shut me down and Felix barely said anything to me. I've got a lot of shit to deal with already." Sarah turns her head away from Beth and blinks her tears away. "I've always been a freak. Now I'm even more of a freak, surrounded by a bunch of other freaks, but some how I still manage to be the biggest freak in the group."
"Trust me, you're not the biggest freak around here." Beth tries to send her a sympathetic smile. Sarah just nods and shakes her head, her mask coming back on.
"So, if you want to drop me off back at the train station, that's okay. I'll find a place around there to sleep for the night." Sarah grabs her backpack off the floor, avoiding looking at Beth.
"Sarah, you can't sleep on the streets. That's not safe." Beth puts her hand on Sarah's shoulder and feels her tense up. Sarah gently shrugs her off.
"I'm used to it. I know where I can set up." Sarah's foot taps impaitently on the floor.
"It's too cold. You'll freeze." Beth argues. Sarah snaps around to glare at her.
"It's not like I have anywhere to go, is it?" Sarah yells. Cosima and Alison freeze what they're doing and stare at Beth and Sarah. "You don't seem to get it. I have nobody. I'm an orphan. My foster mom hates me, my foster brother hates me, I abandoned my own kid for ten months, and I just got out of an abusive relationship. I fucked up my life, like I always do, so now I have to deal with it, okay?" Sarah opens the door, and walks out.
"Sarah!" Beth calls running after her. From behind Beth can see her aggresively wiping the tears from her face. "Sarah stop!" Beth reaches her and spins her around to face her. "You don't have to deal with this all on your own. You have us now." Sarah opens her mouth to protest. "No. Just listen. I know we are strangers to you right now, but you've just entered a family. We have the same blood." Beth grabs Sarah's hand and puts their fingers together. "Look, we're exactly the same." Sarah nods at her and sniffles.
"I'm sorry." Sarah apologizes. "I'm just overwhelmed. I don't know how I'm supposed to do all of this."
"I'll help you figure things out. My boyfriend is gone for about two more weeks, so you can stay at my place for now." Beth offers.
Sarah shakes her head. "I cant. I don't want to be a burden to you." Beth puts their hands together again.
"Not a burden." Beth nods to their hands. "Family, remember?"
Sarah smiles and nods. "Okay. I've got a family."
-END-
Just a small story about Sarah becoming a part of clone club and having a friendship with Beth. Please let me know if you enjoyed it!
Also, I suck at naming stories.