– Chapter One –

"Dr. MacPherson to Exam Room Eight."

The voice that echoed slightly over the aged intercom system made the brunette look up from where she stood, cradling a cup of coffee. There was never a dull moment in the A&E department. She'd seen everything from cuts and bruises to full on head trauma just this morning alone.

She set her coffee aside and grabbed her white coat, looking herself over in the staff room mirror. She adjusted her stethoscope and put on her name tag, which read 'Aila MacPherson, PHD' in bold, black letters.

Nodding to herself, Aila disposed of what was left of her drink and made her way out into the hallway. She was often the main person dealing with the lesser injuries and illnesses in the A&E department during the day shift, even though she hadn't been an official doctor for very long.

Walking through the crowded hallways, Aila smiled brightly at the doctors, students, and patients she saw. She believed having a positive attitude was just as important to medicine as the medicine itself.

The brunette grabbed the clipboard off of the door as she entered Exam Room Right, and quickly scanned it to get an idea of what she was helping with. The patient was twenty-one year old David Bruel, who was apparently having head pain and confusion.

Aila smiled. "Good afternoon Mr. Bruel. My name's Dr. MacPherson," she said, her thick Scottish accent making her slightly difficult to understand to anyone who wasn't used to hearing it. "What seems to be the trouble today?"

The young man glanced up at her, and the first thing Aila noticed was the subtle bruising on his face. The second thing she noticed was the unfocused, dazed look in his eyes. He tilted his head and shrugged. "Dunno Doc. Me mates just dropped me off here," he spoke.

Aila nodded, already suspecting what might have been wrong. "Well lay back and we'll have a look, aye? Better safe than sorry," she said with a smile, and she was pleased to see David obey the order. It always made things easier when patients didn't fight or argue with simple commands.

Aila gave the patient a basic check over, testing his breathing, reflexes, and blood pressure before taking out a small flashlight. She quickly and skillfully shone it into one eye, and then the other. She asked David questions about the bruising, but he didn't seem to remember much about the night before.

"Well Mr. Bruel," Aila said, nodding, "I believe you may have a minor concussion. We'll do further testing, though I'd advise staying here overnight for observation. We'll get you set up in a room and go from there, alright?"

"Sure doc…cheers," he said, still looking entirely out of it.

Aila smiled and stepped out of the room. She informed a nurse to move her patient up to one of the overnight rooms. The afternoon moved quickly from there, and when the clock hit four, Aila made her way to the front of the hospital after hanging up her coat for the evening.

Stepping outside with her bag slung over her shoulder, the doctor smiled at the feeling of the cool air. She walked down the long flight of stairs and made her way out onto the street. She could drive, but often didn't due to living reasonably close by. She knew the area could be dangerous in the evenings and especially at night, but she never had any problems.

Aila knew the route by heart, and fifteen minutes later, she walked up the steps to her apartment. It was a small place, but very homey. She threw her bag on the table and started on dinner, throwing some flavored tofu and pre-chopped vegetables into a pan for a quick stir-fry. She had the day off of work the next day, and so rather than having water, she decided to pour a glass of red wine and settled down on the sofa to watch TV.

Aila awoke the next morning to the sound of her alarm clock, signaling that it was half past five. Normally, she wouldn't have a problem getting up and going for her morning run, though this morning her limbs were heavy, and she felt groggy. Mornings like this had started happening once every few months, and over time, the doctor started to notice something strange happening.

She would have odd dreams about men in hazmat suits coming into her room to give her strong sedatives before the dream faded off into a blur of darkness, though somewhere in the back of her mind, she felt like there was something strange going on.

Aila tried confiding in one of the professors at the hospital. He'd been Aila's friend since she'd started working there, though he convinced her she was paranoid, and wasn't talking sense. Aila had a feeling that wasn't the case though, after waking up one morning and finding a piece of a syringe on the floor beside her bed.

She kept her suspicions to herself though, and tried to get on with it day by day. She had no idea why anyone would want to come into her house at night and do goodness knows what...but on her next paycheck, she decided she'd invest in a small camera to prove she wasn't paranoid or coming up with crazy conspiracy theories.

Grunting, the doctor swung her legs over the bed and stood to make her way into the bathroom. Under the bright lights in front of the mirror, she looked down at her arms and noticed what looked like track marks.

This wasn't the first time this had happened, further solidifying her convection that something wasn't right. The marks were faint, barely visible, though her eyes had been expertly trained to spot small marks made by needles.

Aila took photographs of the marks before getting into the shower. The hot steam helped clear her thoughts, though she struggled to come up with a logical explanation for these bizarre events.

It wasn't as thought she was anyone special. She was just a woman who worked in A&E. Most of the patients she saw were just everyday people who had gotten themselves into accidents and needed stitching up. While her work was never boring, it wasn't exactly the definition of a job that would warrant whatever it was that was going on.

Aila sighed and shook her head, wondering if she really was being overly paranoid. The conflicting thoughts didn't offer any answers though, so she carried on with her morning, determined to keep looking on the positive side of things.

The heavy feeling in her limbs wore off relatively quickly, and Aila soon felt like herself again. She went out for her run, and spent the rest of the morning reading by the window.

Later on, Aila's phone rang. The brunette didn't recognize the number on the caller ID, so she shrugged it off as a sales call. A few minutes later though, her phone rang again, showing the same number.

Aila rolled her eyes, but picked it up to answer. "Aye? Who is this?"

Rather than a sales pitch though, she was met with silence accompanied by quick breathing. The line went dead shortly thereafter.

Aila blinked slowly. "What the friggin' hell was that about?" she muttered to herself.

The doctor shook her head and turned her attention back to her book. When her phone went off for a third time, she tried not to appear spooked, but she was feeling uneasy now. Aila ignored the call, but moved away from the windows to keep hidden and make sure the doors were locked.

She walked into the kitchen and sat at the table beside her block of cooking knives. She took one knife out and placed it in reach. She set her phone on the table and eyed it cautiously, though as the minutes passed by, she started to feel rather silly. First she had weird theories about people entering her house at night, and now she was being paranoid over a weird phone call.

Aila had just decided to finish reading when her phone rang yet again. The doctor took the call, picked up the knife, and braced herself...but she was prevented from talking by another voice on the line.

"DON'T hang up, OK!? You're Aila, right? Aila MacPherson?"

The voice was female, and sounded British, though the weirdest thing of all was the fact it sounded a lot like Aila's.

"Aye, I am. Just who the flaming hell is this? If this is some kind of weird prank, it's a pissing bad one," Aila shot back. She walked around her apartment aimlessly as she gripped the knife in her hand.

"It's NOT a prank! Just shut up and listen! God, you have no idea how hard this is for me!" the mysterious woman snapped. "Look, I can't tell you much here. They might be listening in on your phone. We need to meet somewhere. It's important! I have reason to suspect you might be in danger."

Aila raised an eyebrow. "As if I'm meeting someone I don't know who just called me out of the blue," she snapped, bewildered. Was this chick for real? 'They' might be listening in? She might be in danger? This was sounding like something out of a bad horror movie.

The woman on the line huffed and sounded angry. "Look, I'm TRYING to help you here! Pick somewhere public if it makes you feel safer, but we've GOT to meet. You'll understand when we do."

Aila sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She felt like she was going to regret this, but she nodded. "Fine. Meet me at Arcaffe in City Centre in a half hour," she instructed, knowing that the place was always packed. If nothing else, at least they had good salad and coffee.

"Yeah, fine, I'll be there," the voice said hurriedly. "Wait, shit...where is that? Oh sod it; I'll look it up online. See you soon."

The line went dead.

Aila sighed and shook her head. What the hell had she just agreed to? Still, that chick said she was in danger. It was all crazy and confusing, but she figured there was only one way to find out what was going on.

Grabbing her coat, the doctor took her keys and walked out of the door, quickly sprinting to her car in case someone was waiting for her. She felt stupid and paranoid again, but this day was proving to be weird. She was allowed to feel paranoid.

Checking over her car, a small red hatchback, Aila turned the engine on and made her way towards Glasgow City Centre.

Leigh stood staring at the phone in her hand after she hung up. She found herself unable to move for a few minutes, unable to believe all she had managed to do in just a few days.

She had checked into a small B&B in Glasgow the previous night after sneaking away from her home in London without a word to anyone. She still wasn't sure what exactly compelled her to access Rachel and Leekie's files at DYAD while disguised as Rachel herself and then go on the run; she didn't even know these other clones. Why should she care so much?

"Oh shit," Leigh said to herself, still staring at the phone with wide eyes. Then her gaze travelled up to meet her reflection in the bathroom mirror before her, and she remembered the pair of scissors clasped in her right hand.

She'd been cutting chunks out of her own hair (which was now an auburn colour as opposed to dark brown since she thought a major change of appearance would make it harder for DYAD to find her) while debating making the call to Aila. When she finally plucked up the courage to speak, she absently took more off the length than she intended. Not only that, but she'd never attempted to cut and style her own hair before. It was harder than she thought it'd be.

"Oh shit," she muttered again.

This was bad.

But there were more important things to worry about than her botched haircut. She had to meet Aila in just under half an hour, she had no clue how to get to the location they agreed to meet, she wasn't even dressed yet, and massive chunks of hair littered the bathroom floor and sink.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," Leigh continued to scold herself while desperately and quickly fixing her hair as best she could. She gave herself a few layers and decided to go with the scruffy look. She could get some hair product later on to give it more texture and style it better; maybe she could neaten it up with scissors when she had more time, but for now it'd have to do.

Finally willing herself to turn away from the mirror, Leigh fled to the bedroom, seized the small suitcase she had brought with her, and emptied its contents onto the bed. She chose the first outfit she saw and dressed as quickly as possible, and threw everything else back into the case. She zipped it up and threw it under the bed.

Then Leigh turned her attention back to the phone she had called Aila on. She'd left her own mobile phone at home, along with her laptop and any other personal items, apart from a few sets of clothes and as much money she could take from her bank account using a cash machine. She had planned to go into the bank and make a larger withdrawal, but that could take a while, and Leigh didn't feel as though she had time. She was worried about using her card while in Scotland. She knew DYAD was perfectly capable of viewing her bank transactions and tracking her location, so using cash was probably the safer option for now.

She'd purchased the phone from the first phone store she found upon arriving in Glasgow. It wasn't a particularly good phone; it was a rather old model, but Leigh didn't care. She didn't need to be spending a lot on something that was supposed to be convenient and keep her hidden from DYAD. It was just good enough to give her internet access, so while she hastily tidied up and disposed of as much loose hair as she could, she loaded the browser and searched for directions to Glasgow City Centre.

And then came the hard bit.

The very thought of meeting Aila face to face made Leigh sick to her stomach. She had no idea what to expect. She had no idea what she would even say. She'd already freaked out and hung up before speaking to Aila, so how was this going to go down? How was she going to tell the doctor someone was out to kill her and expect things to go smoothly?

Leigh double-checked she had everything she needed. Phone. Money. Files from DYAD. Oh God, Rachel would never forgive her if she found out Leigh had made copies of the files. She could just picture Rachel's blank, disapproving robot bitch face...

Leigh locked the door to her room and exited the B&B quickly, pulling up her hood over her head as she went. She gripped her bag firmly with one hand, and stared furiously at her new phone in the other. When at last she figured out which way she was going, she wasted no time and headed for the nearest bus stop.

Leigh spotted Aila almost instantly. She arrived at their meeting place late; her new phone decided to take her in the wrong direction upon arriving in the City Centre, or Leigh simply had trouble reading the map…she wasn't sure which. But when she found Arcaffe at last, there was no mistaking the recognisable face of the clone sitting at an isolated table eating salad.

Leigh felt sick again. She absently pulled her scarf over her face to cover herself. Something about Aila reminded Leigh of Rachel at a first glance; the Rachel Leigh knew before the proclone underwent her transformation. But after a few seconds, it was clear Aila was nothing like Rachel at all. She didn't have that unnerving look in her eyes as far as Leigh could tell. It simply took her a bit of time to notice it.

Heart pounding rapidly, Leigh took a few steps closer to Aila. She was aware of the doctor looking up and around occasionally for signs of the mystery caller, but she hadn't appeared to notice Leigh watching her yet, so Leigh held her breath and stepped into clear view before nerves got the better of her.

"Aila?" Leigh spoke, voice muffled behind her scarf.

The doctor looked up at the sound of her own name, and stared at Leigh with a look curiosity and surprise. She looked Leigh up and down.

"Aye? Who are you then? Look like a desert nomad with that getup," Aila said after a few minutes in her thick Scottish accent.

Leigh thought she sounded very cautious. She could only stand and stare though, shaking a bit as she took in the reality that there really were others like her and Rachel; clones who didn't know. Even though she'd been told about them, and had read about them, it was a whole different experience to meet one in person.

Aila glanced up again and raised an eyebrow. "Well sit down at least."

Leigh hesitated for a second or two before pulling up a chair. "Look, I'm not dodgy, OK? Honest. I just can't risk showing my face in here. This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I really think we need to go somewhere quieter."

Leigh's eyes remained wide while Aila observed her. The doctor brought her fork up to her face to finish her off her salad and then placed it down on her dish.

"I'd prefer to stay where we are," she told Leigh, uneasy at the idea of leaving with a stranger who looked like a dangerous thug. "So who are you? What's your name?"

Leigh swallowed hard. She almost gave her full, real name, but a mix of paranoia and instinct told her that would be a bad idea. "Leigh," she decided on. Rachel's stupid nickname for her would be useful after all.

"Leigh what?" Aila urged her to elaborate.

"Just Leigh," Leigh insisted. "It's not safe to tell you my full name; not now at least. That way they can't get anything out of you if they come looking for me and find you instead. Plausible deniability."

The doctor frowned in confusion and remained silent for a second or two. Leigh was starting to sweat under her many layers, but she refused to remove the scarf and hood.

"What do you mean 'they'?" Aila asked at last, trying to get some sense out of the girl.

Leigh sighed. "You're in danger, Aila," she said seriously, forcing eye contact from underneath her hood. "We all are."

Aila raised an eyebrow; a look Leigh noticed was common for her. She looked unimpressed, but interested still. "'We?' I think you've got the wrong girl. I'm not involved in anything dodgy that would warrant anyone to come after me; I'm just a simple doctor," she said, becoming more skeptical by the minute. "And furthermore, what proof do I have that you're not just trying to bait me for whatever reason? To be blunt, you're the most suspicious person I've seen all week."

Leigh froze in shock while Aila waved a waitress over to collect her plate and deliver the bill. This was completely frustrating, but if the tables were turned, the rational side of Leigh knew she'd give the same reaction.

"There are things you don't know about, Aila," Leigh said a little desperately, impatience clear in her tone. "Things I didn't know about myself until…until…"

Leigh stopped. God, she was starting to sound like Rachel. How humiliating. She mentally cursed to herself for letting her thoughts distract her, and looked up at Aila again, who seemed thoroughly disgusted in Leigh's opinion.

Leigh threw back her hood quickly, revealing her messy reddish hair. She raised her hand to her scarf, and paused. "Don't freak out," she demanded, sounding sterner than she intended. She didn't want to have to do this here, but she could think of no other way to get the doctor to take her seriously.

The scarf came down. She sat up straight, allowing Aila to get a good look at her.

"Like I said," Leigh spoke before Aila could get a word in. "There are things you don't know."

Aila blinked slowly, staring at Leigh in silence for several minutes. Leigh let her take it in, preparing for some type of outburst as time dragged on. Truthfully, she didn't know how she would contain it if it happened. She hadn't pictured revealing her face in such a public place.

"Well…" the doctor started slowly, surprising Leigh with her calm voice. "You definitely have my attention now. Alright…so what is this then? I have a British twin? Someone else dear old mum couldn't be arsed with and threw into foster care?"

This was the most logical thing to assume. Leigh remembered it had been her first thought as well, when she'd met Rachel for the first time all those years ago. She guessed anyone would assume that was the case before knowing the much darker truth.

"The thing is it's a hell of a lot more complicated than twins. I only wish it were that simple, Aila, but the truth is, we're not the only ones. There are others."

Leigh could tell this must be getting too much for Aila, however calm and collected she appeared on the surface. Again, Leigh was reminded of Rachel. It was an ability Leigh envied. She had never been any good at keeping her cool and controlling her temper.

"Aila," Leigh spoke again urgently. She closed her eyes, suppressed a sigh, and covered her face in confusion while she tried to figure out what to say. "We can't talk here. You might be being watched. We can't risk anyone overhearing. What I need to tell you is going to take time, and it's dangerous. But you need to know the truth about who you are and the dangers you, me and the rest of us are about to face. Will you please meet me in a quieter place? It doesn't have to be now. You can come to the B&B I'm staying at later if you need time, but wherever we go, you need to make sure you're alone."

Leigh wanted to tell her about monitors; Aila was bound to have one if Rachel was right that even the unaware clones were being watched. How did Leigh know Aila hadn't accidentally brought her monitor with her? She could only hope the doctor would agree to her request and say a word to nobody else about what had just happened.

Aila tilted her head to the side, taking it all in. She nodded after a few minutes. "Fine. I'll admit you have me interested, even if it's probably not the smartest thing I've ever agreed to." She smirked and leaned back in her chair. "Give me the address. I'll stop by this evening."

Relief swept over Leigh, however little it was. She scrambled around for something in her bag and pulled out a pen someone had left behind on the train to Scotland, which she pinched for herself. Aila watched as Leigh scribbled the address of the B&B on a napkin lying on the table.

"Here. DON'T call me from your own phone, land-line or mobile. If you need to get in touch, use a public phone, and make sure nobody is following you. If not, see you tonight."

Leigh stood up and recovered her face, eager to get out public view as quickly as possible. She glanced back over her shoulder at Aila one last time before exiting the café and disappearing into the crowd.

Aila watched as the mysterious woman who shared her face left as quickly as she'd arrived. She held the napkin and looked at the address. She'd never heard of the place, but she figured it wouldn't be too hard to find. She'd lived in this city for ten years, and by now had a pretty good idea of where things were.

She remained sitting at the table to let everything sink in. This was by far the most bizarre thing that had ever happened to her. That woman, Leigh, said there were others and it was more complicated than being twins. How many more could there possibly be?

In her years as a doctor, Aila had encountered identical twins before. She'd even encountered identical triplets once, but something about the way Leigh said 'we' and 'us' made it sound like there was a huge group of them. Aila knew this wasn't impossible, but it was highly improbable. She didn't know how many identical siblings could exist in a single set, but there couldn't be that many, surely.

Sighing and running a hand through her hair, the doctor paid for her meal and stood slowly. She made her way out onto the street and paused to look around for Leigh...but it seemed the other woman was long gone.

Aila shook her head and made her way to her car, making sure the napkin was safely in her pocket. The drive home was slow and full of thoughts that didn't make much sense. It was like she'd been given the pieces of an incomplete puzzle that she had no way of putting together until she was able to find more pieces.

Leigh said she was in danger, and that 'they' might be watching. In the back of her mind, the doctor wondered if 'they' were the same people she suspected were coming into her house at night. As freaked out as she was feeling about this, it was the only thing that made sense so far. That thought wasn't much of a comfort, though.

"Holy shit. What've I been dragged into?" she muttered. The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt.

As she pulled up to her apartment, the doctor began to feel restless. She looked around, as if the mysterious people could be around every corner. She hated feeling so jumpy and paranoid, and wondered if this was all just some big sick joke.

Walking into Apartment Four, the doctor went straight for the fridge and poured herself a small glass of wine. The brunette slowly let out a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding as she settled on the sofa and looked up at the ceiling. She sipped at her drink quickly, feeling more at ease as she did.

Aila walked over to her closet after setting down her empty glass, and dug out a code-locked box containing photographs she'd taken over the past few months. She retrieved broken syringe she'd found that morning as well. She wondered if she should take them along to show Leigh. Maybe the other woman would have some answers for her.

Aila sat on the floor of her bedroom and thought about Leigh, and how shocked she'd been to have seen the other woman's face. She always wondered what it would be like to have a sibling.

The doctor was abandoned at birth and spent the first thirteen years of her life in the foster care system. She was thrown from house to house like a stray animal, and each new place seemed to be worse than the last. Never once did she consider the possibility of actually having a sister. It was strange and intriguing and overwhelming, but she wanted to know more. Glancing at the clock, she realised it was nearly six at night already. She figured she should eat something and get ready.

Aila put together a quick meal and ate in silence, watching as the sun began to set, bathing the room in a deep golden glow. After eating, she took a quick shower and changed her clothes before taking her locked box and walking out of the door.

Aila debated between taking her car and finding a taxi. She supposed the taxi might be better, because she didn't know exactly where the B&B was, and also because of Leigh's warnings about being followed.

While silly to think about, the doctor had seen enough movies to know how easily cars could be tracked. There really wasn't anything wrong with taking a taxi. She had enough money for one.

"Aila?"

Aila froze and looked around, seeing a familiar man in a white coat. She smiled, even if it was a little bit forced. "Dr. Burns, hello. How are you?" she asked politely, holding her box to her side tightly.

Dr. Joshua Burns was a fellow A&E doctor, as well as a hands-on teacher at the hospital. He'd become Aila's friend fairly quickly after she started her residency four years ago. Joshua was around her age, and had tried asking her out several times despite always being turned down.

"Good, good. Just got off shift," Joshua said with a grin. "We missed you today," he added with a wink.

Aila smirked and rolled her eyes slightly. "I'm sure," she said. "Where are you headed? I thought you lived on the opposite side of town?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Café up the street just opened," he answered, pointing at the small building up the block. "Um…you wanna join me, or..?"

"Sorry, I can't. I was just heading out to do some errands, but thank you," Aila said, maybe a bit too quickly as she subconsciously held her box closer.

The other doctor eyed the box with an odd expression. "What's that?" he asked.

"A box," Aila answered dryly, rolling her eyes slightly. "Look, I've really gotta go. I'll see you at work, OK?"

Aila hurried away without giving her friend a chance to respond. She knew she had been a bit rude, but she wanted to find the B&B and get more answers about what exactly was going on.

Aila paused and glanced back over her shoulder when she felt like she was being watched. She didn't see anyone. She didn't even see Dr. Burns, even though he couldn't have possibly made it to the café yet. Shaking her head, Aila decided she couldn't be doing just standing around, and continued on down the street.

She flagged down a passing taxi and gave the driver the address of the B&B where Leigh was staying. As the taxi drove by her house and stopped behind another car, Aila caught sight of a person in a huge, green coat in the alley beside her building; bleach blonde hair blowing in the wind from underneath the hood.

Aila wouldn't have paid the person any mind if it wasn't for the unmistakable streaks of red along their hands and clothes. The doctor could only stare with wide eyes, looking back in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the blonde's face. The taxi rounded the corner though, blocking Aila's view.

"It's official," she muttered to herself. "I'm in a fucking horror movie."