Who is Alice?
“Was you father an alien? Because there's nothing else like you on Earth!”
I was at the movies with my best friend Susan when this random guy starts to hit to me again. I swear this guy has tried to ask me out about ten times in the last two weeks and it is always with these really cheesy pick-up lines. Really I don’t know who he thinks he is. I already even told my parents about him and they are thinking of going to the police.
Anyways, my name is Joyce Day. Yes, that is my real name, not some weird nickname that I happened to make up. Believe me if I did it would not be anything like my name. I was named after my grandmother who died before I was born. Not that I have told anyone this, besides everyone calls me Joy. I love hanging out with my friend even though we don’t get to hang out much anymore because we are really busy with school and other stuff. My friend Linda is on the soccer team, the swim team, and track and field. Katie is in the marching band so she is always at practice and football games. Susan is always working because her parents say that she has to pay for most of her college, so she has two part time jobs. And I am in drama club and do the fall play and the spring musical. But as it is winter I don’t currently have a play to practice and Susan has a day off from work, so we went to see a movie. But the only movie that we could get in to was a sappy romance movie, were the love interests come from different worlds and everything turns out in the end. Susan is totally into things like that but I am not. Not that I will say anything because we rarely even see each other.
After we get a large popcorn and two drinks, we head in to the theater. We are chatting during about the trivia questions that are on the screen. When the lights go dark we quiet and watch the opening credits. Then I get a really weird tingling at the back of my neck. Turing around to see him. The stocker is here and he is staring straight at me and not the movie. I hit Susan with my elbow. She stares at me. I point and whisper “He’s here.”
“Why don’t you wait outside for the movie to end and I will join you in ten minutes. Just say loudly that you are going to the bathroom. He won’t suspect anything from that” Susan whispers.
“Good idea” I whisper back and then say a little louder “I have to go the bathroom. Be right back.”
I get up and went into the lobby. While I am waiting for Susan I decided to read the advertisement that were on the walls. Suddenly there were footsteps behind me. So I turned around expecting to see Susan who decided on spur of the moment to come out sooner. But before I turned fully around something was over my mouth and nose. It smelled really sweet. My eyes clouded and through a haze, I saw my stalker grinning. Then nothing.
When I start to come to, the first thing I notice is that I am on something that is really soft. Then I notice that there is something rough around my wrists and ankles. Then I try to open my eyes but all I see is black. I am blindfolded. It was then that I started to freak out, and I started to trash but the restraints around my wrists and ankles are strong. I don’t care though because I want to get out. I trash around enough that I feel the blindfold start to slip, so I keep it up. It takes a while but the blindfold finally is high enough that I can see. My eyes start to water from the light, but after a minute they are clear, so that I can see. Very carefully and slowly I push myself into a sitting position and look around. The first thing that I see is the bed that I am laying on; it is a canopy bed and is pink and very fluffy. Then I look around more I see a white dresser with flowers on it. Then I see a smaller chest of drawers, also with flowers on it. There are posters that are covering the walls of different celebrities. Also a desk with a pad of paper, a pen and some picture frames.
A though went through my head as I looked at the picture frames. The picture frames have glass in them. Slowly I eased to my feet and hopped to the desk. I stopped when I got to the desk. There is something wrong with the pictures. They are pictures of the stalker and I, but I don’t remember ever taking those pictures. It looks really creepy because I also don’t recognize half of the places in the pictures.
The door creaks behind me and I twist around. To fast! Down I go.
Footsteps hurry to my side as a voice says. “I am sorry Alice. I had to restrain you because you ran away. You ran across the street and disappeared.”
“M...my name is not Alice. My name is Joy.” I say as I twist trying to see who it is that is speaking. It is my stalker.
“Yes it is. You just don’t remember it any more. You imagine my surprise when I saw you in the park one day and you no longer laughed at the pickup lines like you always did when I said them to you. You changed so suddenly.” He says.
“I am not Alice. My name has always been Joy, and I don’t know who you are.”I said slowly and carefully so not to anger him because in my position that would probably be really bad.
“Alice have you really forgotten me? I am your older brother Alex. Remember me?”
“No”
“That saddens me. I hoped that being in your room would help you but I guess not.”
“This is not my room because I am not Alice.”
“You really think I would believe that.”
“B…but I am not Alice.”
“YES YOU ARE” Alex yells at me as he slaps me across the face. It hurts so much that tears come to my eyes. He leaves then and I hear the lock click. The noise brings my attention to the door, there is no doorknob. What kind of door has no doorknob on one side and a lock on the other? Then a chill runs down my spine. He must have been planning this for so time. Franticly I look for some sort of exit. There are no windows. There is one other door but currently I can get there since I am tied up on the floor. On a bed is a different story because you can ease yourself on to your feet but not so much when you are on the floor.
So I just lay there. I know that I should so something but what can I do. I wonder how long it has been since the movie. Do my parents even realize that I am gone? No Susan would tell them. Oh God, what if he did something to Susan. Is she locked up like me or did he not pay any attention to her because he thought that she didn’t matter. Please be the second one.
My stomach growls. I can’t believe that the sound startles me so much. I almost is nice though to hear a normal sound in the insanity that is going on right now. Is he going to feed me or am I just going to starve. The lock clicks. Alex is back and he has a knife. And food! Don’t look at the food. Concentrate on the knife. Is he going to kill me? Is that why he has a grim look on his face too. Oh God, he is going to kill me and just because my name is not Alice. He comes closer and the fear builds up in my chest. He kneels next to me and puts the tip of the knife on my wrist. “Your name is Alice.”
“Yes.” I whisper, fear constricting my throat.
“Good” He cuts the restraints on my wrists. “You will do good to remember that.” He hands me the food and walks out.
The food he gave me is a bundle of grapes. I eat them greedily and when I am half way through I realize that I have no idea when he will freed me next, so I should save them. I get up to start to explore the room. First I go over to the door that has a knob and turn the knob. It is not locked! Quickly I open it. It is a closet. There is a lot of pink in it and a lot of dresses. The last time I were a dress is Katie’s Bat Mitzvah. I shuffle through the clothing look for a pair of jeans or any pants. All the way in the back is a pair of kakis. The sizes on the clothing are actually my size that would mean that this Alice was my size. Creepy.
In the dressers there are PJ’s or more accurate nightgowns, socks, underwear, T-shirts and skirts. Really who can live in just dresses and skirts? I am not changing clothes yet for sure. What if there are cameras here. I glace around and don’t see any cameras. Wait, where is the bathroom?
Panicked I run around looking for a door for a bathroom. I can’t find one. I look in the closet for one and there on the side is a door. It is small but there. I crawl to it and open it. It is a small bathroom with a sink, toilet, and shower. Above the sink was a cabinet filled with toothpaste, a toothbrush, soap, conditioner, shampoo and clear nail polish. There are towels above the toilet and they are pink. I go back into the bedroom just as Alex comes back.
“I see you found the bathroom.” He says with a smile. “I hope the towels are alright, your favorite color is pink.”
“My favorite color changed while I was gone, Alex.” I say trying to get an apologetic tone in voice.
“That’s ok Alice. What is it now?”
“Green.”
“I will get you some green towels next time I am out. Why don’t you get changed in to something less dirty? There is a basket in the corner to put your current clothes in.”
“Do you know what happened to the girl that I was seeing the movie with?” I ask even though I know it will push me on to thin ice.
“No, she must have gone home.” Alex replied with a shrug.
“How long ago did you get…home?” I ask because I have to know.
“It took you three hours to wake up Alice.”
“Ok”
“Get changed now.” He said as he left
I walk over to the closet and shuffle through the dresses. I pick out one that is purple with blue ruffles at the shoulders and bottom. I get changed and fold my clothes and place them in the basket. They do fit perfectly. It feels strange though because I am wearing someone else clothes and standing wear they should be. I wonder what Alice was like and how she lived her life. If this was really her bedroom? Did she know what her brother was capable of? Was she even real? If she was what happened to her?
With nothing better to do I sit at the desk and start to open the drawers. Stationary and stuff are arranged neatly in most of the drawers. There is one drawer at the bottom that is a mess. I start to dig through it and find a dairy. I open to the first page and see on the name line is Alice. I feel really bad about holding it and maybe reading it because it is personal, but I am going to need to survive her brother, so I need to find out all I can about her and him. Franticly I read thorough the entire volume. Not really because only the first twenty or so pages are filled with writing. I do learn that she did actually like the color green, not pink, but her parent thought that she still really liked pink so they would buy her everything in pink. Also she called her parents Mommy and Dad. Her brother’s full name is Alexander but she only uses his full name when they fight, which is rare. She is 15 years old (me too) and she was born on July 17. The creepy thing is that is also my birthday. Though I am sure that I am not named Alice because I don’t think my parents could make up some story about being named after my grandmother that was false, I mean no one would do that. But then again if someone could kidnap someone because they look like their sister, people can do anything. What a minute he said that it took me three hours to wake up and it was eight o’clock movie that means that it is at least eleven if not midnight. I should probably try and get some real sleep.
I wake up to the door opening and the smell of food. It is Alex and he has scrambled eggs with ham in it. My mouth starts to water. “Alice I brought you breakfast”
“Thank you Alex” I say staring at the food. As he starts to leave I ask “Alex, where are Mommy and Dad?”
“When you ran across the street and disappeared they ran after you and they were hit by a truck. They are currently in the hospital and have yet to wake up.”
“Oh” I say feeling kind of sorry for him.
He comes over and puts his arms around me. At first I tense and then lean in to him on instinct. I wonder where the real Alice is and if she knows what happened to her parents? “Do understand why you can’t go outside, Alice? I don’t what to lose you. After all, after the car passed by you were gone. I didn’t think I would ever see you again. I have to go. Be good while I am gone.” He leaves.
This family is screwed up. But what he said about Alice stuck in my head. She crossed the road. She disappeared. A car passed. Wait. I think that means that she was hit by a car. I wonder why he can accept the truth about his parents but not Alice. Maybe Alice is dead and that is why. Since he didn’t say how long he was going to be gone I decide that I might as well take a shower.
When I get out of the shower and dry off I pick out a new dress and fold the old one up and put in the basket. Afterwards I decide to try and escape. First I go along the door to try and pry it open. It doesn’t work do I go along the walls looking for something. Then I stare at the ceiling trying to find so exit. There is none, so I very calmly walk over to the door and start to punch and kick it trying to get it to open. It wouldn’t budge but I continue until I am exhausted. I just collapse on the floor and start to cry. I just want to go home to my parents. I miss then so much and my friends. How long am I going to be here? What about school? Am I going to be able to make up the work that I am missing and how long is that going to take. I just want to go back in time and convince myself not go to the movies. Then I wouldn’t have to be in this situation or convince my parent to report it to the police before. I am still on the floor when he comes back. “Alice are you alright?” he asks soothingly.
“I just miss mommy and dad” I say.
“That’s alright. I am sure they will wake up soon. They will be so happy to see you when they do.” Alex says smiling “I got something for you while I was gone. It is home schooling material for tenth grade. So that you can still get some schooling while you are here.” He hands me some books. “If you have any problems with them just ask me”
“Thank you Alex” I say and he leaves.
I am relieved that he left because it means that I don’t have to deal with him but that also means that I am completely alone because I don’t see anyone else during the day. I look at the books that he give me and realize that he just gave me a gift and an escape. Not in the literal sense because I will still trapped here but in the figurative sense because my mind will be free. I can’t wait to get started on them.
I start with the math because it is my favorite subject and I find that I already know the problems in the beginning of the books. Most of the beginnings of the books I already know so by the time I do about ten pages in three of them he comes back in. He see me at the desk, sets down the food and walks out. Lunch today is cold pizza and a cookie. The cookie brightens my mood as I realize something very important. When he comes in the door is unlocked, and he can’t lock it because there is no lock on the inside. Also he would not be able to get out if the door locked behind him. That means that I might be able to escape then and get away. I just have to wait until next time that he comes in and escape then. I should do at dinner time. I go through the dressers and try to find something that is better for running. There really is not anything of the sort but I do find a pair of slippers that I slip on. I walk around pacing the room for a while. I am getting nerves. What he can guess what I am thinking? Does he know that something is up?
The door opens and he comes in. He is bring food with that smile that he always wears. Dinner is grilled cheese but I don’t look at it for very long. As soon as he close enough I bring my hand back and hit him in the head. He falls down as I run towards the door. I throw it open as I run out.
I have no idea where I am headed but I know that I have to get out. I see window and one of them is open. I jump through it and keep going. I reach the end of the driveway as he comes out the door and yells “ALICE!” I don’t pay any attention and keep running, a car almost on me as I reach the other side of the street. I step right in front of it prying that it will stop in time. It does. I yank open the door in the back and plead with them to take me to the police station.
They took one look at me and ushered me in and speed away from the house. I looked back to see Alex standing in the road staring at the car. We arrive at the police station pretty quickly. I can already tell that there are tears on my face before we even walk through the door. When we do I can’t hold it back any more and they start flowing. One of the officers takes a look at me and the couple standing near me and takes us into the back. We pass by a lot of other police officers when I hear “Joy!” Oh how good it feels to hear my name again. I look up to see my family’s friend, Officer Tanner, running to me. I am sobbing into his chest as I stumper “They helped me... They took me away...from him…they rescued me.”
“It’s ok Joy.”He whispers to me and says to someone else “These people rescued Joy from who ever took her. They should probably stay until they tell us where they found her, I am sure her parents will want to thank them. Call her parents.”
After a while he sits me down in a chair and then someone says “Her parents are here.”
They walk in and I get up and fling myself at them crying into my mom’s shirt as they hold me. Officer Tanner tells them that I should go to the hospital to get checked out and they come with me. I will never let go of my mom’s hand ever again. I fall asleep on the way there. When I wake up, I am lying in a hospital bed. The ceiling is white and I can hear soft voices coming from the hallway. They are talking about me, I can just feel it. I close my eyes and the world goes dark.
“Come on and walk up.” I hear a voice. I open my eyes and see my dad’s face above me. “Good you are awake. Now what did I give you for your last birthday?”
“You gave me a new pair of green earplugs, a green notebook, The Lord of the Rings first book: The Fellowship of the Ring and a cross necklace.”
“Good girl.” He said patting me on the head and called out into the hall way “This is Joy.”
“Dad why did you just say ‘this is Joy’” I ask dreading what the answer might be.
“Because there is another girl in this hospital that looks just like you.” He answered
“Alice” I breathe.
“Who is Alice?”
“A girl who looks just like me. Her brother is the one that took me. His name is Alex. Their parents are apparently in a hospital as well. They got hit by a truck.”
With a startled look at me he goes out of the room and into the hallway. While I am waiting for something to happen I turn on the TV. After surfing through the cannels I settle on the local new channel. After all that has happened I feel out of touch with reality. The first part is about the President election how there is going to be a conformance in our town or something. After that ends there is a picture of me in the corner and the reporter is talking about how I was found and am currently in the hospital. I turn the TV off half way through the piece.
The next day my parents take me home and the first thing I want to do is call Susan but my parents say that it can wait for a while and that they have something to tell me. The first is that the police were able to find Alex with the info that I gave them about his parents. Also they were able to move Alice to the same hospital that her parents are in. Next that the police have arrested Alex for kidnapping me and that there is going to be a trial, so I should get prepared for that, because I will I will be called as a witness at it. Last is that I am adopted.
Yeah. That is when they finally tell me the truth. There was one more thing that they told me. At the hospital they had the doctors take a sample of my blood and asked them to compare it o Alice’s blood. From the results found out that Alice and I are twins and that Alex is biologically our older brother. I should have seen that coming. What I didn’t see coming is according to the records he and Alice were adopted together and I was not. So basically, my who life has been a lie and I don’t know what to do next.