A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates last week, I had to rush out of town and things got a little crazy, so I didn't had the time (or the energy) to write. Anyway, here it is. Sorry for the mistakes, and any comments are much appreciated. Thanks!
Chapter 3 (Keep Your Eyes Open by Needtobreath)
So tell me you're strong, tell me you see
I need to hear it, will you promise me to
Keep your eyes open
The cold morning air kissed her cheeks. A welcome opositor to the heat blasting inside her veins, making her blood boil.
Delphine didn't knew why she was so angry.
She had helped a random stranger in a tough situation, but that didn't implied any bound of loyalty or friendship between them. The girl had every right in the world not to tell her anything, or even to tell her all that bullshit about gardens and clones, for that matter.
It wasn't appropriate but if she wanted to make fun of Delphine by inventing stories, it was her right.
She picked up her pace to cross the street. The logical thing to have done would have been call the police or bring the woman down to the police station with her, and not leaving her alone at her appartment. But logic wasn't something she had at the moment.
The only thing she could do now was hurry to her destination and hope she still had her things intact when she got back home.
The noise of phones ringing and footsteps crashed into her as soon as the double glass doors opened to allow her passage. Delphine took a step foward, submerging herself into the atmosfere of the precinct and it's smell of coffee and cigarettes blended with the scent of cleaning products.
She walked to the front desk, where a skinny man sat with a phone clued to his ear and a pen between his fingers, scribbling fiercely on a notepad. He noticed her, indicating with a small gesture a few chairs on the far corner where she should wait.
Delphine occupied one of the seats, watching the people in blue uniforms walk in and out of the building, adding to the movement she could see from behind the glass panels on the front desk.
She didn't remembered having ever entered a police station before, not in France and not in the US, suddenly, all she had ever seen about it in movies and TV shows came to her mind and she started to compare reality and fiction to pass the time.
And not to think about the stranger in her apartment.
Or the things she could be doing.
Alone.
In her apartment.
Risking a glance at the skinny man, she sighed and leaned forward, passing her hands through her locks with elbows resting on her knees. She turned her head slightly to stare at the police officer, hoping she could somehow rush his phone call, but before her eyes could fully rest on him something else caught her attention.
Someone else.
She was half sitting on a desk inside the precinct, with a mug on one hand while the other one rested on her lifted knee. Delphine could see she was talking to someone, but she didn't bother to see who it was. She couldn't divert her gaze from her face.
The same face she had first seen the night before.
The blond closer her eyes for a moment, fearing her mind had begun to play tricks on her, but when she opened it again the woman was still there.
It wasn't possible, and, still, it was real. She was staring at a perfect copy of the brunette she had left behind.
A copy.
A clone.
The conversation she had had with the woman a little over an hour ago sounded in her ears, causing a strange felling to bubble on the pit of her stomach. Despite her initial shock, though, Delphine chuckled to herself. She was a scientist, for Christ sake, she knew there were more plausible explanations for the resemblances.
She had just found the girl's twin sister. At the very least, she could return the brunette to her family and go back to her life without any complications.
Delphine hadn't forgotten about the situation she had met the woman, but now things had become more easy. Or so she hoped.
When the man finally hung up the telephone, signaling for her to come closer, she stood up, never allowing the woman to be out of her sight.
"How can I help you, ma'am?"
"Who is that?"
Frowning, he turned on his chair before replying a little confused.
"That's detective Childs." He sat at the edge of his seat, studying her closer. "Do you know her?"
"No." Delphine finally looked back at him. "But I think I know her sister."
She saw his eyes widening as he began to shake his head lightly.
"What? I'm sorry, ma'am, I think you're mistaken. Detective Childs doesn't have any siblings."
It took a moment for Delphine to register his words, it seemed as it the world had come to a stand still. It wasn't possible. He was mistaken.
She had seen it. She had a woman who looked exactly as this detective staying at her house. They were sisters, the other possibility...there wasn't another possibility.
"Are you sure?" Delphine asked again, hoping that somehow his answer would have changed in the few seconds that had passed.
"Yes, I know her whole family. They are all in the police force." She gasped as the color drained from her face. What on Earth was going on? "Is everything ok?"
She saw him getting up on the other side of the table and forced her mind to calm down. There was na explanation. A logical and scientifical explanation.
It had to be.
But the only person who could give it to her wasn't here.
Delphine swallowed hard and forced a half smile at the worried man.
"Yes, yes I just I need to go."
"But you didn't even..."
"It is ok I just...I need to go." She dismissed him with as wave, starting to walk towards the glass doors.
"Are you sure?"
Delphine could only nod as she steped out of the building and into the street. On the moment, she wasn't sure of anything anymore, only that she needed to get back to her appartment.
Back to the only person who could shine some light into the darkness her mind had become.
Delphine didn't knew how long she had spent outside her own door, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to turn the doorknob. The metal numbers fixed against the dark wood stared back at her, bringing back the sound of the brunette's voice as she had recited that code.
324B21.
Delphine shook her head to herself before closing her eyes and rested her forehead against the door. During the entire way back from the police station, she had allowed her feet to carry her throught the streets while her brain tried to form explanations for what she had just experienced.
As a biologist, she knew it wasn't impossible for two people to look alike without having any kind of blood conection. A quick search on the internet could show as much, putting, side by side, pictures of celebrities and historical figures or bringing together people who had nothing in commun besides their similar features.
Despite this knowledge, however, Delphine wasn't convinced.
Maybe she was still shaken from the events of the night before, maybe it was because of the things the woman had talked about earlier that day, but she was having a hard time believing this was all a simple coincidence.
But then again, look alikes was a idea way more plausible than clones, wasn't it?
Straightening her back, Delphine ran a hand throught her golden locks before grasping the doorknob once again. Her heart was beating fast and her palms were sweating.
Delphine was torn between entering the apartment and running the other way. She remembered having read once that from a point onward in life there's no turning back. As much as she wanted to believe that this was the "zero hour", the moment to where everything had led to, though, Delphine knew it was a lie.
Thing had already been in motion from the second she had laid eyes on the brunette.
She was way past the point of turning back.
Delphine inhaled deeply, ignoring the icy feeling in the pit of her stomach, before turning the doorknob and walk into her home.
As soon as the door opened, she saw the woman sitting by the window at the same spot she had occupied that morning and Delphine wondered if the brunette had even moved since she had left. She looked at the woman for a moment before closing the door behind her, loud enough so she could acknowledge her presence but not enough for her to be startled by the intrusion.
The brunette's head snapped up and Delphine could swear that she saw the ghost of a smile passing through her face.
"You're back."
She got up instantly, taking two eager steps towards the blonde before stilling her movements as if she had remembered her outburst from earlier. The action made Delphine's eyes burn and she focused on the task of taking off her coat, ignoring the hesitation she had noticed on the other woman.
"Are you...are you ok?" The voice sounded closer and when she look up again the stranger's worried gaze was on her.
"No." Delphine held her eyes walking to sit on the couch. "No. I..."
She exhaled, getting rid of all her preconceived ideas. If she was going to do this, she had to keep na open mind. That had never been a problem before, it couldn't be a problem now.
She wouldn't let it be.
"Tell me again."
The woman seems confused by her request, but, despite the uncertainty still visible in her eyes, she took a wavering step forward.
"What?"
"Tell me that...story...your story tell me again." Delphine spoke more softly, leaning over her knees. "And now, I want you to start from the begining."
This time, the smile was visible.