The Twin

Regina woke up and so did the parasitic twin beneath the folds of fat in her stomach, squeezed somewhere between her spleen and lower intestines. She could feel her there, the creature whose thoughts sometimes crept up into her own mind, indefatigable, throbbing like a sore.

Yesterday, she had whispered to Regina during one of her routine late nights at the office. It would be simple (so simple) just to siphon a bit of money off from one of their investors. To taste the yolk of some eighteenth nest egg, sitting fat and un-shelled in a Cayman Island hideaway. And so Regina did, cracking a CEO’s retirement fund to transfer a modest amount into one of her old bank accounts she rarely touched anymore. She licked her fingers after the act, feeling full and satisfied.

The day before that, her twin had told her that Stephanie’s boyfriend was fair prey. Her best friend had never held onto a relationship for more than three months and this one was nearing his expiration date. He was curious, attracted, and brushed the small of her back when they were trying to get through the club’s crowded dance floor to the bar. Stephanie excused herself to the bathroom, and she and the boyfriend (prey) shared a drink, a kiss, a night of debauchery against rumpled sheets.

Regina felt her toes curl as she recalled those sinful pleasures.

But now her twin was more than stirring. She was demanding, craving the smell of brewing coffee and the sizzle of fried eggs. Regina ignored the wailing voice and opened a window in her studio flat.

The Twin

She bathed in the grimy light of an October morning and felt the wind caressed her nude body. Anyone in the apartment complex across the street might look out their window and see her goose-pimpling flesh. Anyone.

Regina smirked as her twin quieted, grew afraid and watchful as Regina padded to the kitchen. She pulled out one of the drawers to retrieve a knife and kissed her own reflection in the blade. She was sharp obsidian now, stronger than her twin, and the only throbbing in her body she would tolerate from now on would be that of her own desire.