Cloned against her will

If you look at me, you’ll think I’m twenty-two years old, but the truth is I’ve only been alive for two years now. Why is that? Well, it’s quite simple. I’m a copy. The correct word is clone.

The real me, or the original, whatever the word describes her. The point is, I only exist to keep Penny Holtz alive. Yep, that’s the name we shared once.

Now I’m nothing but a number–Thirteen.

Like her, I have brown hair; the only difference between us is the color of our eyes. That’s how I know I’m the duplicate. Hers are light blue, while mine are teal with a blue tint.

My father, the great scientist that he is, created me for the purpose of saving his precious daughter. In a way, am I not his daughter as well? I guess he can make the difference between us since I am like his Frankenstein monster.

About five years ago, Penelope fell ill. The diagnosis was leukemia, and her body was gradually shutting down. It was slowly killing her. By then, it was too late to conceive a sibling who could serve as a donor. That’s when my father had the brilliant idea of creating me. If she needed a blood transfusion, they took it from me. If they needed a bone marrow transplant, they didn’t hesitate to perform the necessary procedures on me to give it to her.

Father told me that she was unaware of my existence. He informed her that the donation she received to stay alive came from anonymous donors.

I still remember the first time I opened my eyes. I was lost—afraid, even terrified. For a moment, I thought I was her, because her memories filled my mind as if they were my own.

Even though we shared the same blood, Father never saw me as his daughter. To him, I was nothing more than a means to an end—a tool to keep her alive.

“Wake up! It’s time for you to eat,” Victor, my personal guard, shouted.

I groaned. “Do you need to be this loud?” I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, trying to adjust to the harsh light.

His expression softened as he looked at me. “I’m sorry, but I have to go along with this, or they’ll become suspicious of me. If you don’t want a new guard on your deck, we have to handle it this way. We’ve already discussed this.”

Only two people in this hellhole disapprove of the great scientist’s method: Victor and Doctor Delilah.

I sat on the bed, messing with my hair as I sighed. “What’s on the menu for today?”

“The usual, darling. You have to eat, train, give some of your blood—usual shit.” Victor gave me a look that said he didn't like it any more than I did.

Fantastic!

I lifted my head to look at him.

“What?” Victor arched his eyebrows.

I scoffed as if he didn’t know. “You have to step outside so that I can change.”

Victor cleared his throat. “Sorry!”

I covered my mouth with my fingers to hide my laugh as Victor almost ran out of the room in embarrassment.

After I had changed my clothes, I knocked on the door to let Victor know that I was ready.

“Bring your wrist together out front.” He took the handcuffs in his hands.

I frowned. “Is this really necessary?”

“You know the rules, darling.” He said to me.

Ah, yes, the nickname ‘darling’ Victor calls me. I was a number here, thirteen. When it is just the two of us, he uses the word ‘darling’ instead.

Victor once asked me, “If you could choose a name for yourself, what would it be?” I hesitated in answering because I realized that if I chose a name, it meant that the real me would have the same answer.

He promised me that one day he would choose a name for me.

“I hate these stupid rules!” I exclaimed, turning around and bringing my hands behind my back so Victor could attach the handcuffs to my wrists.

“You tried to escape. What did you think would happen? If there had been another way, you know I would have chosen it instead.”

I sighed. “I know.”

When I tried to escape, they locked me in a compartment where the ceiling suddenly pressed down. I threw my hands up to stop it, but then the floor rose as well, forcing me into a painful bend, nearly folded in half. They kept me like that for four days.

I still remember Father’s words after they released me: “If you think that having her face will stop me from making sure you know your place, you don’t know me very well.”

This was the same man who raised me. I have fond memories of how he was when I was little. He was a caring father. The reality now is that I am not Penelope, and he is not truly my father, but I still love him for the man I remember from my past.

One thing that always bothered me was that if I was Penny’s copy, how come I wasn’t sick like her? I never had the courage to ask.

“Let’s hurry before they start questioning why we’re taking so long,” Victor urged, his grip on my arm firm but not painful as he pulled me along.

He had to show the others that he didn’t care about me.

I can understand the position he is in. If anyone got wind of how he interacts with me, Father would assign someone else to watch over me, and I wouldn’t want that. After all, I am just a prisoner here and nothing more.

That was my reality.

I didn’t ask for any of this.

I didn’t ask to be created just to serve as a tool to save someone’s life.

They always served me healthy food to maintain a good metabolism. I had to follow a strict diet to make sure my weight stayed the same as hers.

Today it wasn’t any different.

On my plate, I have some eggs, with berries, kiwis, and half a banana on the side. They never give me bacon, and I miss having it for breakfast.

I remember my mom always putting bacon on my plate. But she wasn’t my mother—she was hers. Those memories weren’t mine, and I had to forget them. Yet forgetting didn’t stop the pain. It cut just as deeply.

Victor removed my handcuffs as I took my place to eat. He took the seat beside me, sipping his coffee.

“Look who we have here.” I cringed as I heard his voice.

No, not him.

Can’t he for once leave me alone while I’m eating.

“Piss off, Eddy, let her eat in pieces," Victor warned him.

I don’t know what Eddy had against me. Maybe it was the fact I wasn’t a real human being, and he liked to mess with me. I saw the way he was looking at me. The only problem was that I didn’t know if it was disgust or lust. Either way, he was giving me the heebie-jeebies.

Eddy snorted. “Why should you be the only one guarding her? If she’s too much trouble for you, I can handle her.”

“And that’s precisely why he will never allow you to be alone with her. I don’t know why they keep you around.”

I tried to eat as best as I could to distract myself from what was happening.

Eddy reached out his hand toward me, but before he could touch me, Victor shoved him away. “That’s why I’m assigned to her side—to keep people like you away from her. This is your final warning. If you try something like that again, I will handle it myself.”

“Hoo-hoo! Look at you so eager to come to her rescue. One day you’ll slip, and he’ll see how much you care about her, and I’ll be there to take your place.” He smirked before his eyes landed on me. “I can’t wait for that day to arrive.”

I wanted to vomit my breakfast, hearing his words.

“Go do the fucking job that was assigned for you!” Victor gritted his teeth at Eddy.

Proud of himself, Eddy walked away, laughing.

I wanted to thank Victor, but I couldn’t. If I did, they would become suspicious, and I could lose him. I couldn’t afford that; he was my rock in this place. Without his friendship—or whatever the right word is to describe our relationship—I would feel even more lost.

I couldn’t afford that.