“What do you want now?” The voice sounded so much like mine, that I had to take a step back to remind myself that there was a real person outside of my head who sounded like that.
Nolan stepped back and signaled for me to move forward. “You should do this.”
With my heart in my throat and shaky hands, I reached up and turned the doorknob.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Are you all coming in with me?” I glanced over my shoulder.
“Only if you want us to,” Adam said. “We could leave the door open in case you need us and wait for you here.”
“I’d like that.” I took one last deep breath and let it out as I stepped inside.
She was reading a book, perched up on a bench beside a window when she looked up and spotted me. She shut the book and stood quickly, blinking as if unsure what she was seeing was true. She took a step forward. I took one toward her. It was like looking in the mirror and being seen for the first time in my life. Her hair was much shorter than mine, her curls looping around the frame of her face perfectly. She reached up and it took everything in me not to flinch as she set her hand on my face and caressed it softly.
“You’re . . . me,” she whispered, her hand moving from my face to my hair. “Your hair is straight.”
“I straighten it.”
“You even sound like me.” Her eyes jumped to mine. “Are you in my imagination?”
“I’m not.” I reached out and pinched her lightly, smiling at the way her eyes widened.
“You’re really here.”
Her voice was so soft, so kind, that I had to fight to remind myself that this was the same person who showed up at Karen’s house pretending to be me. This was the same person I was taking the fall for at The Manor. The one who’d set me up for . . . I wasn’t sure what exactly, but whatever sacrifice they had in mind for me. Rape. Pregnancy. Death. I wasn’t sure.
“We need to talk.”
She nodded, dropping her hand and stepping back toward the bench. She didn’t turn around and give me her back though; I wasn’t sure if it was out of fear that I might disappear or because she thought I’d attack. With the way my heart was beating, I wasn’t sure which I wanted to do more. She sat down on one side. I walked forward and sat down on the other, my knee bent all the way to the glass beside us. I glanced outside.
“You have the nice room.”
“Are you stuck in here too?”
“No. I snuck in.”
“Oh.” She stared at me. “To get me out?”
“Can’t you leave on your own will?” I frowned, looking at the door, remembering she was locked in. I’d never been locked in. Not that I could remember, but then, I hadn’t been in the B-Wing for a long time.
“I can’t leave on my own anymore.” She glanced down at her wrung hands. “Not for a while.”
“Why?”
A shrug. “They think I’m having an episode. Imagining things.”
“Because you told them about me?”
“Probably.”
“How did you know about me?”
“I found your file.” Her head snapped up.
“Why did you go to my house and pretend to be me?”
“Because . . . ” she glanced outside briefly. When she looked at me again, her eyes were filled with tears. “I needed to make sure you were being treated okay. I had such a good life and you . . . that neighborhood, that house, that . . . woman.” She wiped her face. “She was mean. I’m sorry.”
“Well, I was pretty awful to her.” I smiled sadly. “And we both ended up here, so your life wasn’t so perfect after all.”
“My father did everything he could to protect me.”
“So why are you here now?”
“Because I need to be.”
“According to who?”
“I was hallucinating.” She brought her feet up and hugged her knees. “I keep seeing you everywhere.”
“I’m not a hallucination. I’m real.”
“That’s what you say every time.”
“When?”
“When you come here.”
My heart pounded harder. “What are you talking about? When do I come here?”
“On nights like these.”
“Stella, I’ve never seen you before. This is our first time meeting face to face.”
“Sure.” She pursed her lips. “Next you’re going to tell me you didn’t cut my hair this short.”
“What?” I frowned. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I put my hands up. “Let’s start over. Why did you go to Karen’s house and pretend to be me?”
“I already told you why.”
“How did you find out about me?”
“I told you that as well. And they say I’m the crazy one.” She huffed out a laugh. “Last time you were here, you cut my hair against my will. I told you I didn’t like my hair this short.”
“You’re sure it was me?” I inched closer. “Stella, look at me.”
She did, her eyes scanning my face before nodding. “It . . . well, she looked like you. Like me. But no. I guess it wasn’t you. She had longer hair and her skin was lighter. Her mouth wasn’t full like ours.”
Stella nodded.
“How did you get my address?”
“I told you. I found your file.”
“How did you know I existed?”
“I saw you. I’ve seen you before, but the night of the party here I really saw you. I confronted my father about it.”
“You were the one Aisha saw arguing with him,” I whispered.
“After, I went to Dr. Maslow’s office.”
“She must have countless patients. How’d you find mine?”
“It’s the only file they keep in their top right corner, in the locked drawer. Neil does the same with mine.”
“How’d you get the key?”
“I took it from Debbie’s keyring.”
“And then you went to Karen’s?”
“I tried to explain it to her since my own father didn’t believe me, but she didn’t believe me either, and the minute she realized I wasn’t you, she flipped out, got a gun, aimed it at me. I hightailed out of there.”
“Did you get into a car accident?”
“I don’t remember.” She frowned. “I think I went straight home.”
“And then?”
“Then I told my dad everything again. He called Neil. They brought me here. I’ve been here since.”
“So you didn’t go to The Manor?”
“I did, to escape this.” She waved around the room, “But Neil greeted me outside.”
“Outside The Manor?”
“I guess he had someone following me.”
“Was he inside or outside of the gates?”
“Inside. Why?”
“I think they’re all in on it.” I swallowed. “Where’s your dad now?”
“Home, I assume.”
“Has he visited you?”