They’re Us (Ch 1/5)
PP Horror Week Day 3 - [Evil] Doppelgangers
Summary: When the enemy looks like your friends, how do you know who to trust?
Word Count: 2.5k
Rating: M (for horror themes, not for smut.)
AO3 and FFN
They moved in at night.
No one noticed, no one heard. It was ideal for them.
Their eyes, amber in the moonlight, found the house, taking in its darkened windows and quiet demeanor. They thought of its occupants, sleeping right now, completely oblivious to the outside world.
They grinned at one another, exchanging anticipatory looks. This was going to be fun.
----------------------------
It starts small.
Chloe’s felt it for a few days. She’s felt it on her walk to and from campus, while on campus between classes, and even at the grocery store. She’s sure it’s all stress—it has to be—what with midterms coming up and preparation for Worlds in the spring. It’s stress, and stress alone. It’s gotta be.
It’s not like anyone is really watching her. That’d be insane. No one would have any reason to just… follow her all day.
She’s imagining things. She’s sure of it.
Still, she doesn’t particularly enjoy the (totally imagined) feeling that someone, once again, is watching her as she walks across the campus quad. She should be able to blame the chill running down her spine on the cool fall air. She should be able to blame the prickling of the back of her neck on the cold dampness of the rain/fog mist combination enveloping campus. She should be able to blame her unexplained skittishness on some assignment she’d forgotten to turn in.
She tells herself these things as she walks, tries to force her heart rate into a slower, steadier pattern than its current rapid flutter.
It doesn’t work.
Unease rises in her chest as she once again feels the weight of eyes trained on her. She glances over her shoulder, only seeing other bedraggled-looking students following her, headed to their own classes. Most of their eyes are trained on the ground, or at nothing in particular ahead of them. No one is following her too closely, no one stands out from the crowd, and no one is watching her. She looks ahead again, scanning her surroundings and seeing nothing—not one thing—that should be making her this anxious.
She walks faster.
Her skin crawls at being out in the open in the quad. Her last class of the day isn’t far away, but the idea of being so visible for any further length of time is unbearable.
She veers left sharply without warning, cutting off several people on the sidewalk who bristle immediately and glare at her, but she pays them no mind. She speed-walks off the quad, taking a path that deposits her between two tall brick buildings that act as security blankets, enclosing her with a relative feeling of solitude that the wide-open quad could not provide. However, it doesn’t make her feel any better, and she walks faster, breath starting to come in short bursts. If anything, the feeling of being watched, scrutinized, examined only intensifies, growing and developing until it starts to weigh on her lungs, crushing the air from them until she’s walking so quickly she’s nearly running, and she doesn’t care that people are looking at her now, because they’re not the ones she’s afraid of—who is she even afraid of?—and her heart is pounding so violently that she can feel it trying to escape from the confines of her ribs and can hear its every pump in her ears. Her head swivels, eyes scanning, always scanning for anything, any sign of real danger that could make her feel this panicked but finding nothing. She rounds the corner of a building at top speed—and stops dead.
She registers bright blue eyes trained on her own and red hair, but her brain can’t comprehend what she’s seeing. Who she’s seeing, standing only twenty feet away, watching her. Her stomach jolts, flips, tries to throw itself from her mouth and she doesn’t know what to do.
A huge group of people walk in front of her, disrupting her line of vision, cutting between her and the person who’d been staring at her, and Chloe knows she should run or turn away or something, but she’s rooted to the ground. The mob passes and Chloe braces herself but—the stranger is gone.
“No, no, no, no, where…” Chloe mumbles to herself, looking around wildly, searching for the bright eyes, unable to find them. She stares uncomprehendingly at the spot the stranger had occupied. Gone. She spins on the spot, getting even more weird looks from the students walking around her, but she doesn’t find who she’s looking for. The agitation in her chest is fading, though, draining away, and she knows that whoever she’d seen is gone.
With one more pivot on the spot, she catches a glimpse of Cynthia Rose walking past, headed in the opposite direction.
Relief floods Chloe’s veins, rolling through her and leaving her weak at the knees. She’s stressed and imagining things and Cynthia Rose will make everything better.
“Cee!” she shouts, voice cracking. “Cynthia Rose! Hey, Cynthia Rose!” Chloe calls, moving towards her, but Cynthia Rose doesn’t look up. She walks quickly and must have her earbuds in or something because she gives no indication of having heard Chloe’s shouts.
With an exasperated huff, Chloe starts to follow, intending to tell her all about her hallucination—it was most definitely a hallucination—but then Chloe’s phone vibrates in her pocket.
Distracted, she pulls the phone out and glances at the screen: call from Aubrey.
She looks up—Cynthia Rose has already been swallowed by the crowd—and answers the phone.
“Aubrey?”
“Hey! This is super last minute, but are you doing anything in, like, half an hour?”
“I—uh, what?” Chloe asks, still searching half-heartedly for Cynthia Rose but unable to spot her.
“I… asked if you were free soon?” Aubrey repeats, her voice turning uncertain.
“Oh, sorry, I was just… um…”
Chloe can hear Aubrey’s intake of breath, can sense her concern through the phone. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Yes,” she answers more fully, forcing herself to focus on Aubrey and Aubrey alone. “Sorry. Um, weird day. So, uh, yeah, I’m free!” There’s no way she’s going to her last class of the day if she’s hallucinating. “Why, did you want to talk about anything?”
“Actually, I’m in Barden!” Aubrey says, sounding happy and excited and so normal that it sets Chloe at ease instantly. “Had to run kind of a last-minute errand with the lodge, so I’m here and wondered if you had a sec to meet up for coffee or something.”
“Oh… oh, wow, sure!” Chloe exclaims happily. It’s unusual for Aubrey to stop in randomly, but she’d done it before, and Chloe can definitely use the company. “Where were you thinking?”
“Um, how about the Smiling Goat?” Aubrey suggests, and Chloe grins; they went there often before Aubrey had graduated, and she’s missed the friend-dates.
“Awes! I guess I’ll see you there in…”
“Twenty?”
“Great. I’m just on campus, so see you soon!” Chloe says before hanging up. The sound of Aubrey’s voice had completely calmed her down. With one last look around, she starts making her way toward the cafe on the edge of campus, only walking a little more quickly than she usually might.
--------------------------
Twenty minutes later, she’s seated across the table from one of her favorite people in the entire world. Aubrey sips at her usual hazelnut latte while Chloe admires the heart the barista had created on the surface of her caramel one. The warm drink in her hands grounds her just as much as Aubrey does, and Chloe feels more relaxed than she has in days.
“I’m really happy you were free this afternoon,” Aubrey says. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I’ve missed you, too,” Chloe says, meaning every word. “And, yeah, I’m glad it worked out.”
Something in her tone must give her away; Aubrey narrows her eyes suspiciously. “You were free, right? No classes or meetings or anything?”
Chloe shifts somewhat guiltily.
“Chloe!” Aubrey gasps, scandalized. “Are you skipping class right now?”
“Just Russian Lit!” Chloe exclaims defensively. “I’ve taken it a ton of times already, so it’s fine!”
Aubrey shakes her head reprovingly, but she’s smiling. “Are you actually going to graduate this time? Since a certain someone is graduating?”
“For your information,” Chloe says flatly, “that someone has nothing to do with my graduation.”
“Uh huh. She’s single now, right?”
Chloe hesitates. “Yes, but—”
“But still an oblivious little hobbit?”
“Aubrey,” Chloe chides gently.
“What? It suits her,” Aubrey huffs.
Chloe hums. “For the record, I stayed because the Bellas—”
“Would have been fine if you’d graduated with me,” Aubrey says gently, reaching out to rest her hand on Chloe’s. “But I know you wouldn’t have it any other way. You know,” she adds, leaning across the table. “Sometimes, I wish I’d had the idea to stay, too. Or the guts,” she says, shifting back into her chair and taking another sip of her drink.
“I wish you’d stayed, too,” Chloe sighs wistfully. “We could have had so much fun.”
“I have the lodge,” Aubrey shrugs, rubbing at the corner of one eye. “Maybe the Bellas need some bonding time before Worlds?”
Chloe ponders that for a moment. “You know, that’s a good idea,” she says. “I’ll probably take you up on that sooner or later.”
“Definitely,” Aubrey nods. “Just let me know.”
It’s easy to talk to Aubrey like this, to fall into rhythm as if it’d only been hours since they’d seen each other instead of weeks. They’ve always been able to do that, and Chloe knows it’s a testament to the strength of their friendship. They talk about each of the Bellas some more—with Aubrey displaying far too much interest in Beca’s newly single status and what Chloe might do in response (“Nothing, Aubrey,” she insists)—and also about the Worlds competition in less than six months. Aubrey talks about work, Chloe talks about classes, and when Chloe’s phone chimes and she automatically reaches for it, they see that nearly two hours have passed.
“Oh, wow,” Aubrey sighs, “I should probably go soon before it starts getting dark.”
“Already?” Chloe asks, hearing the whine in her own voice but not caring. She feels safe with Aubrey there, and had temporarily forgotten all about the stress and worry of the last few days.
Aubrey hesitates, apparently sensing that something is wrong. “You okay?” she asks, her eyes flicking between both of Chloe’s. “You seem… I don’t know. But earlier on the phone things were kinda—”
“Just stress,” Chloe sighs. “I think my mind has been playing tricks on me lately. Maybe I just need some sleep.”
“What kind of tricks?” Aubrey asks, absently rubbing at her eyes again. Chloe wonders if fall allergies are bothering her.
“Um, nothing major,” Chloe says, shifting in her chair. She doesn’t want Aubrey to worry about her. “Just, like, seeing things every now and then. Probably just need sleep,” she says again in response to Aubrey’s raised eyebrows.
“Okay, if you’re sure…” Aubrey trails off. “But call or text me if you need anything, okay? I mean it,” she says seriously.
“I will,” Chloe promises. “Thanks.”
Aubrey studies her for another long moment before again checking the time. She glances out the window as if checking the rapidly darkening sky. “I really should go,” she says. “I don’t like driving through the woods after dark. It gets creepy.”
“Okay, well,” Chloe says, standing as Aubrey rises from her chair. “In that case, drive safe! I’m really glad we could meet up.”
“Me too!” Aubrey says, pulling Chloe into a warm and solid hug. “This was so nice.”
“Yeah,” Chloe breathes, squeezing Aubrey more tightly for just a moment. “I’ve missed you.”
When the hug ends, Aubrey picks up her purse—it looks new, Chloe notices—and says her goodbyes. Chloe hangs back, intending to use the cafe’s Wi-Fi to email her professor and make up some excuse for missing class. Aubrey waves at her just before passing through the door, and then she’s gone.
It takes Chloe maybe five minutes to type up what she deems an acceptable email; she hopes her professor won’t ask too many questions about a sudden bout of food poisoning. As soon as the email sends, Chloe slips on her jacket, grabs her bag, and heads out the door with a friendly wave at the barista.
She doesn’t get more than ten steps from the cafe before she again feels eyes on her back.
Steeling herself with a deep breath, she looks over her shoulder, but doesn’t see anyone.
She pulls her jacket more tightly around herself and keeps walking, flipping up the hood of her jacket. She almost immediately lowers it again; the hood restricts her peripheral vision, and she wants to be able to see everything. Just in case.
It starts to rain lightly, and she wishes she’d brought an umbrella. The chilly drizzle seeps into her supposedly rain-proof jacket, making both it and her jeans cling to her as she walks. The noise of the raindrops hitting the pavement around her sounds like footsteps to her paranoid ears, which strain for anything unusual.
Chloe picks up her pace, jumping when a gush of rain from a nearby gutter startles her. She can’t wait to get home.
“Hey, wait!”
A hand lands on her shoulder, scaring Chloe so badly that she makes some strangled scream, twisting around to face her attacker.
The barista from the cafe, already drenched from rain, recoils in surprise.
“Sorry!” Chloe gasps, knowing she must seem hysterical. “I—you scared me.”
“I didn’t mean to!” the barista rushes out. “Just—your friend left her umbrella at your table,” she says, holding up Aubrey’s purple umbrella, all wrapped up. “I saw it when I was cleaning. Though... it looks like you could use it,” she adds, eyes flicking down Chloe’s sopping outfit.
“Oh,” Chloe breathes, taking Aubrey’s umbrella from her. “I’m glad you spotted it. Thanks for bringing it to me.”
“No problem.”
“And, uh, sorry for… yeah, that,” Chloe says, waving her hand in the air in reference to screaming at the barista.
The barista shrugs. “No problem,” she repeats. “Have a good day.”
“You too,” Chloe says as the barista turns and jogs back to the cafe to escape the rain and return to her job.
Without thinking about it, Chloe unfurls and opens the umbrella, holding it up to counter the downpour. She’s still soaked through, but at least she’ll keep the cold rain off her. She pulls out her phone as she walks back toward the Bella house, hoping she can get to Aubrey before she drives too far out of town. Maybe Aubrey will even take pity on her and give her a ride home in the rain.
The phone rings three times and Chloe almost ends the call, not wanting to bother Aubrey while she’s driving, but then Aubrey picks up.
“Chloe? What’s up?”
“Oh, nothing, you just left your umbrella,” Chloe answers.
“What?”
“Your umbrella?” Chloe says, raising her voice to be heard over the rain. “You left it at the cafe just now.”
There’s a pause, and Chloe wonders if Aubrey still hadn’t heard her properly. “You left your—”
“Chloe, what are you talking about?” Aubrey asks, sounding concerned. “Are you okay?”
“What?” Chloe blinks, confused. “Aubrey, just now, when we met for coffee. You left your umbrella.”
“My… are you sure?” Aubrey definitely sounds lost now.
“Of course I’m sure!” Chloe says, that sense of disquiet returning, threatening to cut off her voice. “We—I was with you!”
Another pause, this one longer.
Chloe’s heart is once again beating uncomfortably hard. “You’re kidding around, right? Aubrey, that’s not—”
“Where are you right now?”
“I’m still close to the cafe, just walking home. You could meet me—”
“No, no, I mean—” Aubrey cuts herself off sharply.
Pause.
Chloe walks faster.
“Aubrey?” Chloe asks. Her voice seems very, very small to her own ears. “You were just here. Just now.”
“I… you said we met for coffee?” Aubrey sounds as scared as Chloe feels.
“Yeah! I—I just saw you. Aubrey, I just saw you.” Chloe’s pleading with her.
Aubrey takes a deep breath, one that makes the phone crackle in Chloe’s ear. When she speaks again, Chloe can tell she’s fighting to control her voice.
“Uh… Chloe, I’m—I’m at the lodge right now. At work. I haven’t been to Barden in… weeks.”
