The Fault in Her Scars [DISCONTINUED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE]

[15]

The girl's face -oh, so similar to Dani's- held a tint of surprise. "Hello."

Her voice was identical to Dani's, just without her recent found raspiness. I might as well be talking to Dani herself.

"Dani? I-I don't understand."

The girl gave a musical laugh. "I'm Rachel."

The name rang a bell in my head. Rachel.. Rachel.. Where have I heard that before?

Then I jolted back as if I'd been electrocuted. "Oh my f-" I stopped myself before I could curse. "You're Dani's twin. Her.. Her dead twin."

"I'm very well alive, thank you." Rachel was smiling.

I stepped back a little, startled. Like, she was identical to Dani, just that she was around the same height as me, but.. To see someone looking exactly like Dani and having the same voice, just holding herself in such a grownup way and speaking with such poise and gracefullness.. It was overwhelming.

"You're supposed to be dead," I blurted out before I'd realized what I'd said. "I mean.."

"Demi!" I heard Marissa yell behind me. "Jayden made p-"

There was a loud gasp, followed by the sound of glass shattering.

I turned behind. "Mar, please tell me you see what I see."

Marissa looked even more shocked than I did. "I see.. I see Dani. H-How is this possible? I just left her in the kitchen!"

My head was spinning from the effort of trying to figure this out. "Rachel." The name felt foreign on my tongue as I addressed Dani's twin. "Rachel, just come in."

I led Rachel to the couch. My head was having difficulty grasping the fact that Rachel was alive and in my fucking living room.

"Mar, please bring Dani out." My voice sounded slightly strangled when I spoke.

Rachel looked slightly anxious. Her features were almost identical to Dani, apart from the fact that she had several freckles scattered over her nose and her cheeks. Impulse wanted me to treat her the same way I treat Dani, but common sense had me stay put.

Dani came running out, first heading for me. Then, she caught sight of Rachel and her eyes lit up.

"Dani!" Rachel yelped automatically, standing up at the sight of the child.

Dani squealed her sister's name before running into her arms. She didn't seem to have any confusion over the fact that her supposedly dead twin sister was alive.

"I told you she would come back," Dani said triumphantly to no one in particular. I guessed she was talking to one of the hallucination-produced voices and people around her.

I held my arms out to Dani. "Dani, baby, please come here."

They honestly looked so identical that beside each other, they would have looked exactly the same, if it weren't for the height difference, the freckles, and the fact that Rachel never burst into giggles or random crazy fits the way Dani did.

I hugged Dani tight to myself as she ran into my arms, breathing in the scent of shampoo that lingered in her hair to keep myself grounded.

Dani definitely felt real; this couldn't be a dream, could it?

"Uh, so, Rachel, please explain."

"Rachel is dead," Dani suddenly blurted out, as she started laughing.

Rachel looked startled, and when Marissa -in hushed tones- told her about Dani's schizophrenia, she appeared even more shocked.

Yeah, I feel you, girl.

"I thought Dani said you died in the crash?" I asked, curiosity getting the best of myself.

Rachel took one look at Dani, who was attempting to break a plastic spork into half because they were 'aliens' creations and never meant to be used on earth', before speaking. "I almost did. I threw my body in front of Dani's to save her, and while our dad died and Dani came out entirely unscathed, I had broken some bones and everyone thought I was going to die. It was predicted that I would die in three days flat.

"After the doctors did operations on me, repairing my bones and such, I laid on the hospital to die. My mom couldn't afford medicine and additional surgeries to help me, so she just left me there. Luckily for me, there was a nurse there who took pity on me and adopted me, paying for all my medical fees. Obviously, now I'm alive."

The fuck just happened.

"Okay, wait." I tried to organize my thoughts. "So you almost died, your mom left you because she couldn't afford the fees, some nurse adopted you, and you lived?"

Rachel grimaced. "Yeah, I guess you could put it like that."

I looked down to Dani when I felt her spork poke my arm. She was pouting as she held the utensil up. "It won't snap."

"All right, baby, hold on." I took the spork from Dani and easily broke it into two before handing it back. "Better?"

She nodded excitedly.

My hand automatically intertwined with one of Dani's as I continued questioning Rachel. "How did you find where we lived?"

Rachel didn't skip a beat. "My mom is a nurse and my dad a teacher. They're constantly at work, so I spend most of my time walking or skateboarding around and going to playgrounds. I kinda.. Followed you home from the park yesterday," she admitted. "It was late then, so I decided that I'd make a visit today."

Jesus. What was I supposed to say to that? The only thing that was holding me back from treating Rachel like Dani because she looked so much like her was that the actual Dani was in my arms.

"Dan- Rachel. I'm just.. Still confused. I'm glad you're alive but this is overwhelming. I don't know how I'm supposed to react."

Rachel looked slightly embarrassed as she stood up. "Well, I don't know what I expected to achieve, but it was nice meeting you and seeing Dani again."

"I didn't say you had to leave!" I said quickly. "It was nice meeting you too, even though you look so much like Dani, I feel like I'm talking to her."

The girl laughed, but she didn't have the chance to speak before the door bell rang for the third time this morning. God, I was getting sick of that sound.

"I'll get it," Jayden's voice came quietly from behind before he went to open the door.

Max appeared in the doorway. "Are you ready, Demi?"

What, no hello?

"It's, like, ten am, Max. What would I be ready for?"

He strode into the room. "Your concert!"

"Uh, again, Max, it's ten am. What kind of concert starts at ten in the morning?"

"You're performing on GMA, Miss Diva Lovato. Since the show's name in itself is 'Good Morning America', naturally, it would be in the morning."

And it was just my luck that I didn't have a sassy comeback to that.

Then, Max seemed to notice Rachel for the first time. "Who the hell is that?"

I smacked him. "Don't say that word in front of the kids. This is Rachel, Dani's twin."

Max seemed stunned for a minute, then began for the door. "Yeah, well, I'm tired of trying to make sense of your life, so I'll be in the car. You have five minutes. You'll be doing wardrobe and makeup there, by the way."

Rachel stood up as well. "I should be going too. It was nice meeting you. My best friend is a big fan. She's actually going to see you at your concert today."

"Well, if she's a big fan, I'd love to hang out with her for a little while before the concert backstage." I suggested, as I set Dani on her feet and stood up.

"That would be great!"

"Tell her I'll see the two of you backstage at half past ten, okay? You look like Dani so they'll probably let you in."

I held my arms out. "Now, what about my two girls giving me a hug?"