The Truth About My Doppelganger

BY KB HURST

I had been having the dreams since I was about sixteen. I was in the woods running from someone chasing me. Fueled by anxiety, when I finally caught up to him, he looked exactly like me, only he was an old man. The first time I encountered what you’d call a “doppelgänger” was back in college. It was a seemingly innocent mistaken identity.  

I worked in the kitchen at our University to help pay for my tuition when, one afternoon, a guy came in asking me if I still had the yellow Bug for sale. I corrected him, telling him I didn’t even own a car. I was living on campus, so I didn’t need one; I was too poor to buy one then, and I rode my bicycle when I needed to go off campus.

The guy seemed genuinely confused.

“I just talked to you Sunday in here – you told me how bad the pizza was, and if you sold your piece of junk Volkswagen, you could afford a decent pizza off campus.”

I smirked. I explained I didn’t even work in the cafeteria on Sundays because I had basketball practice. He seemed confused but let it go.

I didn’t think anything more of it. Shit like that had been happening to me most of my life; only now, as a fully grown adult, did it become an issue.

It became clear to me the morning I received a call for a job interview. I was so excited because this job would be twice my salary now if I got hired.  

The interview was at 8 the following morning. It seemed super early, but I was prepared. I didn’t sleep well. I had begun having those old nightmares again recently since I was a teenager. Me-night- running through a forest- there were candles- black cloaks everywhere- men in the shadows watching me. 

Then bam! The alarm went off. The following morning, I woke up, but when I looked at my alarm, the clock read 10 a.m. I panicked, rushing to call the company to apologize for my rudeness.

The woman on the other end of the phone laughed. I said I didn’t understand what could be so funny. She then proceeded to enlighten me.

“You were so great in the interview that Mr. Jennings told me to call you to offer you the job.”

“But I didn’t come to the interview. I think you must be mistaken.”

“Talk, dark hair, you wore a blue suit?” she laughed again.

I looked at the suit I had hanging up. It was my blue suit. So unless I blacked out and came home to sleep after- I had no recollection of this interview.  

Then, she continued with her description. “You have a slight scar over your left eyebrow that you joked about when we met. You also mentioned you had a cat named Johnny.”

I had all those things. I then played it off and told her I was interested in the job.  

She advised me to report the following Monday, and I was hired on the spot earlier that morning.

Unless I had blacked out, someone who looked exactly like me and had everything of mine had done the interview and gotten me hired.  

The following Monday came, and I thought that I’d get a notice that I had been Punked when I arrived at my new job. 

Yet, I entered the facility and was given a new badge, a lovely new cubicle fit, and a plush ergonomic chair. I was astonished at how welcoming all the staff were at this company. I took my seat after a long meeting with the man who would be my new owner and took a deep breath. I made it. I kept thinking perhaps I was dreaming, but I knew when I took a sip of the perfect coffee that I was not dreaming. 

The first month went smoothly, although there were a few oddities here and there, like the fact I was constantly mistaken for the other version of myself whenever I went out to the front of the building to order breakfast from the food truck.  

“Didn’t you just come down here? Wow, you must be hungry.”

It needed to add up. I kept telling myself that it was all a coincidence.  

Then it happened.

I went home one evening after a night with friends; I met a girl named Tracey. We hit it off, and one thing led to another. We had sex in my kitchen on the floor in a burst of passion I had no idea I possessed. 

I passed out quickly. In my dreams, I saw them. Black-cloaked men in a dark forest. Again, I was being chased, and again, I was in fear for my life. When I got to the forest’s edge, the man caught up to me. I pulled off the cloak of the man and saw it was me.  

I woke, rolling over; blood was next to my body. I scoured my apartment trying to find the source, thinking it was Tracey, but then I got a text from her asking me to refrain from ever reaching out to her again. 

What the hell? Last I recall, we had the time of our lives. The blood was a bit off.

I was hesitant to text her, but I had to know. “Why am I bleeding? I am sorry, but I have no recollection.”

“Seriously?” she asked me.

“Yes.”

“Wow, dude, you need to refrain from drinking so much. It was blood from punching your fist against the bed repeatedly. You seemed to think it was funny. I left. Seriously, dude, get some help.”

I didn’t recall any of this. 

I made it to work on time, and everyone cheered when I entered the office. I was completely confused as to what the hell was going on. 

“Hey, what is this about?” I asked, genuinely confused.

“How do you not remember that dude at the bar last night?” My coworker Jake asked. He then began to explain the prior night’s shenanigans to me. “He kept telling you to stop pretending to be him. I figured it was your twin brother. You guys looked alike, but he had this beard, and then you began to attack him. We all were amazed at how easily you took him. Then you got that hot chick to go home with you. How was that anyway?” Jake asked, patting me on the back.

“I gotta say, man, I don’t remember most of this stuff.”

“Right on, hey, we all have those nights, right?” he laughed.

I figured I had drunk too much. Yet, the fact I apparently went ape shit on some guy gave me the creeps, especially after everything that happened to me.

I finished my day with no incident and went straight home.  

When I got inside my apartment, I realized it was a mess. Someone had broken inside my apartment. 

I was about to call the cops when I saw a shadowy figure holding a knife in my kitchen.

“You!” the man screamed.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“I’m YOU. Or I should say you’re me. You are an imposter.”

I looked at the shadow as I couldn’t make out his face.

I looked at the man, but he would not come out of the shadows.

“You’re trying to ruin my life. It is my fault. I kept wishing I was a better version of myself.” 

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“No, of course, you wouldn’t know. How could you? You were only maybe a decade old. I did it – the ritual. When we were kids. We all gathered in the woods using some book on black magic. We evoked you into reality. I wanted you to take over my body- make me better. I wanted to be someone I’m not. So I did a spell to reinvent myself, only it backfired. You have been slowly taking over my life since. Thanksgivings, Christmases, girls, and Jobs.”

I looked at him, trying to understand.

“There is only one way out of this. Only one of us can live.”

I backed away from the crazy man, and then he entered the living room where I stood. I turned on the light, and there in front of me was a thinner, paler, dirtier version of myself. I didn’t know what to think. This guy, who looked exactly like me, had been through hell. You could see it on his face. That is how I knew it was me or him.  

Suddenly, flashes of memory began to surface. I recalled crawling out of the ground the night of the “ritual,” I was faster, wiser, and better equipped for life than my predecessor. I was the better version of him- of me. 

He ran at me with the knife and nearly got me. I grabbed a lamp and hit him over the head with it. 

Before I knew it, the wiry man was on top of me with the knife inches from my face. 

Then a knock at my door. 

He turned to look, and I pushed him onto his back and stabbed him. 

I cut him right into his throat. The knocking at my door was still going. 

I got up, blinked a few times, and ran to the door.

It was my neighbor, Dan. 

“You okay? I heard a” that is when he saw the body.

“Thank god you saved me,” I said. “The knocking caused this maniac to turn away long enough for me to defend myself.”

My neighbor, Dan, helped me call the police as I was a bit of shock. The cops came and took the man away. They saw the evidence of the struggle and the broken window – which is how he got inside my apartment.   

I wasn’t charged with anything. It was a clear case of self-defense.  

The following day, a considerable concern had been lifted. No more did I have to worry about this doppelganger. The truth was- I was the doppelganger, and I had now successfully taken over the life of my look-a-like. 

No more would I be unsure of myself, have worries or anxiety. No, I was the better version of ME.