1.19

Chicago, May 2013.

Hannah crouches on a concrete wall, hands hugging her knees. With a smile on her face, she looks at the landscape in front of her. Accompanying her is her sister, who has been ignoring calls from her boyfriend the whole time. She is angry with him, they had a fight earlier, and she is not going to forgive him so quickly. Danielle has a complicated character and is difficult to get along with. She can be very selfish, and her ideas are usually crazy. She doesn't realize how much she is hurting people. Despite this, Hannah is enamored of her and has recently started to become more like her. She even came up with the idea to bleaching her hair and thus became blonde like her twin.

— I still can't believe you found me. I had no idea you existed. — Hannah's eyes begin to sparkle as she recalls the day Danielle stood on her doorstep.

— I had been looking for you for a long time, as soon as I heard from my mother that we had been separated. You were the first to be taken from the orphanage. Apparently your mother considered for a long time whether to adopt us both, but your father was against it.

— How do you know about this? — Hannah is outraged by his decision. Not only that he later found another woman anyway and stopped being interested in her, but because of him, she was separated from her twin sister.

— The caretaker at the orphanage was a terrible gossip.

Both girls laughed out loud.

— Does your family know that you are in Chicago? — Danielle nods her head.

— My mother knows everything. I asked her to keep it to herself for now and not to tell her partner anything. I don't trust this guy, and I know he doesn't like me.

— What do you mean? — Hannah doesn't understand what she might have to do with it.

— I'm going to get away from them and move to Chicago to be close to you. I have a friend who will help me do that.

— Are you serious about this?

— Yes, I will do it after I graduate in June. Since my mother is happy with him, let them get married. I will separate myself from them, and most of all from Jin.

Hannah can't understand how planning and making important decisions can come so easily to her. Is she just going to leave her family and the boy she loves like that?

— Is she going to break up with Jin? — She pulls her eyebrows together as her sister shrugs her shoulders.

— I'm sixteen years old. At that age, it's not some great love.

— But you told me so much about him... So much that I know literally everything about him. After these stories, I'm convinced that he loves you very much, and you're just going to dump him like that? Do you even care about him?

— Of course he does. — He senses no sincerity in her answer. He understands that Danielle has been toying with the boy all along. — I feel something for him there, but he guesses that I'm the playing type. I enjoy playing.

Hannah is shocked by her answer. If only she could meet him... she would never let him suffer through her sister.

— And are you really going to run away from home to be closer to me?

— Currently, I care about you the most. Before I met you.... you don't even know how excited I was when I learned of your existence. So much so that when I learned your name, I wanted to lend it.

— Why? — The girl is unable to understand this.

She shrugs her shoulders in response.

— It made me feel like I was closer to you. — At this point, Danielle sounds like a madman. — Now you think I'm weird, don't you? — She laughs, putting her hand to her mouth — What if we both inherited it in our genes? How can we know what family we come from?

Hannah rubs her hands on her knees.

— Stop. You are healthy. The fact that you coveted my name doesn't prove anything yet. I, too, would like to be called something else. For example, Rosalie. — Her sister croaks at this name.

— Horrors! I associate it with a ninny I bullied at school.

— Hey! You didn't tell me about it. What do you mean, you oppress other girls?

— I'm a queen — she claims, tossing her hair over her shoulder. — I like to rule myself and watch others lie at my feet. It's exciting in a way.

Danielle has a terrible temper. Although the girls are twins, their personalities are entirely different. One comes from heaven, while the other comes from hell.

— What is your dream? — asks Hannah unexpectedly, out of the corner of her eye, looking at her sister. Danielle thinks about the answer for a moment. — Do you know what mine is? — The twin plunges her curious eyes into it. — To get into the best school in New York. The smartest students attend there. It would be an honor for me, that's why I decided to submit my papers there in June. I'm an exemplary student, learning comes easily to me, so I can try, right?

He sees that Danielle is crooked.

— Don't tell me you dream of Horace Mann boarding school? I hate that place. Everyone is stupid-smart there. They consider themselves geniuses. — He snorts with contempt.

*

Just as Danielle promised, she returns to Chicago in June. She's running away from home, her family, and her boyfriend. She arrives with her best friend, who is older than she. The boyfriend decides to find a job in the new place and support her. Hannah sees that her twin is cruelly taking advantage of him, but she doesn't intend to interfere.

The 16-year-old tells her about how she was chased by Jin on the way to Chicago.

Over the coming days, the boy writes her messages, accusing her of being the reason her parents split up. Instead of helping them, Danielle led the woman to accuse her would-be husband of running her daughter away.

Danielle admits that this is precisely what she had in mind. She hoped that their wedding would not happen.

She throws away the card with the previous number and replaces it with a new one. When she is sure that her mother no longer has anything in common with that man, she calls her and informs her that everything is fine with her. He explains to her that she has decided to stay in Chicago for a while to be with her twin. He promises to return to her soon.... and after a week she goes to New York. Unfortunately, it is an unfortunate day that takes the girl's life. On the way back she dies in a car accident.

After the funeral, Hannah cannot recover for a long time. She tells those closest to her that everything is fine, although internally, she suffers a lot.

Her mother is a workaholic that has been devoting less and less time to her daughter lately. Hannah has become so attached to her twin that she has become the closest person to her. Losing her makes everything change. She tells herself that Danielle has not left her. She is sure that she comes to her at night and talks to her about every subject... that it is the same as it was before.

This makes her reconcile all too quickly with her death. That's what she thinks because these events lead to Hannah starting to change.

This is the last day before the sixteen-year-old leaves for New York. The girl got into her dream school, so she intends to boast to her sister.

The room is dark, but she doesn't mind. She knows that if Danielle is to come to her, then only late at night.

— I still can't believe it.... I got into my dream school. Do you know how wonderful it feels?

— Is this a reason to be happy? You'll quickly find out how tacky this place is. — She hears Danielle whisper. She can't see her sister, but she can sense her presence.

— You will welcome me to a new place, won't you? Aren't you going to leave me?

— My foot will not step there...

— But you have no feet. — A long, apprehensive silence falls in the room. Hannah's words are inappropriate.

— This is our last meeting.

— Danielle! — yells to the empty room, being disappointed by her words. — So if something falls off the shelf in the middle of the night, will I be visited by another ghost?

— Apparently.

The girl flinches in fear.

— But I don't believe in ghosts... they don't exist.

— So I don't exist either, Hannah — she claims in a low voice. — Remember that every person has a hidden dark reflection, and it is this reflection that can appear in a new place. It certainly won't be me.

— What do you mean by a dark reflection?

— It is all only in your head, so don't trust it. It can make you destroy your life.

Hannah squints her eyes.

— Do you want to make me realize that I will never see you again, and I should weigh my decisions?

— The dark side of a person can be powerful and persuasive under certain circumstances, which is why people succumb to it so easily. Don't let it take over your mind.

The girl is confused. She understands that these words are a warning against the trap set by the human mind.

— What if I succumb to it?

— This is a one-way road. From there is no escape. You will fall into your trap.

She gets the impression that the temperature in the room drops by a dozen degrees. A pleasant melody sounds in her ears.

— I know it — Hannah announces, smiling cheerfully.

— It's a song our mother used to listen to when she was pregnant. I met her, Hannah. She is here with me. — The 16-year-old carefully looks around the dark room. A shiver runs through her back.

— Is she here?

— Yes. She also warns you about the darkness of the mind. She wishes to protect you from it.

Hannah turns on the lamp and jumps to the suitcase she prepared earlier for the trip. She grabs the box and from inside pulls out a white handkerchief who has a golden flower embroidered on it. It is the only memento of her biological mother.

— This piece of cloth will make sure that no matter what, you will always be close to me.