Chapter 18 — Cassandra Has a Twin

"Let me go! I am not crazy! My daughter is waiting for me. I am Cassandra Wilson, and I am stable!” she screamed while they put her inside the ambulance to be sent to the asylum.

***

Lucy and her family are having dinner when they received a call that made them shake. 

“What? Cassandra has a twin?” she asks Damian on the other line. 

"Yes, Miss Mason. Her name is Carolina Hermes and she's living as a patient at and the Mandaluyong mental center. " The couple started to get nervous again.

Meaning, Cassandra is still out there!” the detective added. 

Lucy's hand trembled to the sudden news. She has no idea that Cassandra has a twin and the one she treated as her dear friend was the crazy Carolina. 

"No! You're lying, sir! It's impossible!” she told him, but Detective Damian confirmed it with the hospital report, and also Cassandra's husband confessed about his wife's twin. 

“Just be careful. We just transferred Carolina, Cassandra's twin to the asylum. I order you to stay inside your house. Did something strange happened today?” he asked Lucy. 

Lucy stared at her husband and put her phone in a loudspeaker mode. Kent heard everything and he was surprised too. 

"When are they going to stop messing with our life?” he mumbled. 

Lucy holds her husband's hand and presses it. 

“We can get through this,” she said. 

After Detective Damian informed them about the situation Kent decided to check their terrace if any strange person is roaming outside. 

No one was around so he quickly closed all the windows and check their door if it's lock or not. He was about to get back to the dining room when someone stabs him on his back. 

"Ahhh!” Kent groaned in pain. 

He quickly saw who stab him. 

“Cassandra? Are you the real Cassandra?” he struggled to utter a few words because of his deep wound. His blood started to pool down his cut. 

Cassandra sneered after taking off the hoody that covered her face. He saw also the bright sharp knife in the light. 

"Yes, and the one you sent to jail was my sister Carolina! You're all fooled by me. All of you must die especially your son Austin!” she said and landed another stab at Kent's shoulders. 

“No, don't kill my family! Please, no!!! Honey, run!” Kent shouted as he laid on the ground covered with his blood. 

Lucy and Austin are still at the table when Cassandra came. She was still holding the knife in her hands with blood on it. Lucy's eyes widened to see the blood.

She quickly pulled Austin to her side. 

"Cassandra? Is that you?” she asks her because she put back the hoody again to her head covering half of her face. 

Austin looks scared and his legs are shaking.

“Mom, I'm scared. Where's dad? He hasn't come back yet,” he said to his mom and Lucy noticed that Kent is not around until she saw the blood on the knife. 

She stood up and Austin walking away from her. 

"Hey, who are you? Answer me! Where is my husband? What did you do to him?” Lucy asked her but when she started to laugh that's when she realized her voice. 

As Cassandra falls down the hood from her head, Lucy's eyes widened. 

“Yes, it's me Cassandra and I will take Austin with me. You can't save him!” she said and raised the sharp knife in the air.

She ran to stab her, but Lucy and Austin flew inside their room. Lucy locked it. 

"Baby, don't make any noise, okay. We will be okay,” she told him while holding pushing heavy things near their door until Cassandra came and slammed it with a chair. 

She seems angry. 

"Open this Lucy, and if not, I will destroy this myself!” she yelled from the other side. 

Lucy tightened her grip from the lampshade she was holding. She had a plan. She would hit her on the head, and they could run to call for help. 

“Okay, I will open it but promise me not to hurt my child. Just kill me instead!” Lucy almost cried in fear. 

Cassandra didn't reply. She seems speechless. Lucy took everything that blocks the door and slowly twisted the doorknob, but she is now ready to attack her. 

She takes all her courage inside her and as the door creak and widely opened, she raised the huge lampshade and hit Cassandra's face. It leaves protracted deep cuts on her skin. 

She stumbled on the floor as she gets dizzy. 

"Cone, Austin, let's go!” she pulled her son out of the room and ran, but Cassandra grabbed her feet. 

"Ahhh!” Lucy fell on the floor with her. 

Cassandra looked like a devil. Her hatred devoured her whole sanity. 

“Where do you think you're going!” she said and climbed on top of her. 

Lucy saw Austin just standing frozen and crying. 

"Austin, just run and find your dad. Help him. I will take care of her!” she ordered him, but Austin isn't moving. 

“No mam. I will stay here. You can't die,” he said but Lucy forces him to go. 

While Cassandra is trying to stab her, she stops her arms and keeps struggling not to hit her neck with the knife. 

"Baby, save yourself. Just go!” she shouted at him one last time, so Austin has no choice but to ran. 

Lucy gets back to fight with Cassandra. She used all her strength to push her over her and she succeeded. She stood up and ready to run again when Cassandra shouted at her.

“One more move, and I’ll blow off your head, Lucy!” she said. 

Lucy heard it so she halts and turned herself to face her. Cassandra is not joking. She was pointing the gun at her head. 

"Okay, you got me but calm down, I won't run. What do you want? I will listen.", she said trying to understand her friend but now her enemy and her killer. 

Cassandra shook her head like she doesn't like anything. She's crying and her hands are trembling. 

“I don't need money and you know that. My sister was there inside the asylum but she's not sick, but they treated her like an animal. She only has symptoms of schizophrenia but she's stable. I want you to free her to the asylum and let her go,” she ordered Lucy but for her, this might trigger the additional chaos only in her family. She needs to punish Cassandra and she didn't let her do her decisions. 

She tightened her jaw and told her that she can't do it. 

"Why? Do you want me to kill you now?” she asked her, but Lucy saw Kent crawled on the staircase coming for her. 

Lucy didn't know what to do. Kent has his gun too. She has to buy her time. She tried to move but Cassandra yelled at her. 

“I said stop! Just surrender now Lucy because you have nowhere to go!” she said but Lucy didn't listen and ran. A gunshot echoed and Kent heard it. 

Cassandra has no idea that Kent was still alive. His wounds turned out like a scratch. Fortunately, she didn't hit his vital parts. 

“Cassandra!” Kent callee her, and when she was about to point the gun at Lucy's head, he hastily pulled the trigger and hit her on her hands and another shot at her shoulders.

"Ahhh!” she screams in agony and let go of the gun. Kent took it away from her and pulled Lucy to go. 

“Are you okay? Honey, it's fine. I hit her. Come on, let's go. We're safe now," he told his wife, but he noticed the blood dripping from her belly. 

Lucy was shot.

"Hon, just take Austin. Just leave me here. I'm weak and she got me," Lucy's voice was hushed in Kent's ear.

"Mom!” Austin called. The police were with him. 

He quickly walked beside his dad, who was supporting his wife's head. 

“Dad, what's wrong? Mom isn't breathing. Mom, wake up!” Austin crouched but he saw the stain of blood in her belly. 

"Help, call the ambulance!” Kent screamed while on the other side, Cassandra left unconscious too. 

Police arrived and put them in the ambulance. Eloisa and Gale hurriedly went to the hospital to check about Lucy's condition. They saw Kent and Austin waiting outside the emergency room. Kent cupped his face feeling down and problematic while Austin cried. 

“What happened? I thought Cassandra was in jail?” Gale asks his brother Kent. 

Kent takes off his hands from his face and slowly shifted his eyes to them.

“Cassandra didn't go to prison. She didn't go to the asylum. She just stayed outside." Kent notified them and both of them started to get confused. 

They went closer to confirm what does Kent mean about it. 

"Wait, will you elaborate?” Eloisa asked him. 

Kent took a deep breath. 

“Because what we saw inside the prison and at the asylum wasn't Cassandra. She's Carolina and she was Cassandra's twin sister!” he said and started to grieve again. 

After hearing it, Gale and Eloisa stared at each other with their jaw dropped. They can't believe Kent's revelation. 

"Really? That bitch, she's unbelievable. Anyway, did they catch her? What about Lucy? What is she doing inside the ER? Don't tell me—" Eloisa's voice began to crack. 

Just then Kent and Austin cried again. 

“Cassandra shot her in the belly and she's critical. I'm scared, Gale. I don't want to relive those tough days when she pretended to die and had to hide her identity from me," he said, and Gale came closer to comfort him. 

"Relax. Let's all pray that everything will be okay,” he said and tapped his shoulder. 

“Mr. Stone?” the doctor called his name. 

Kent hastily got up from his seat and walked closer. 

"Sir, I'm her husband. How's my wife? Did the operation went well?” Kent asks him. 

The doctor took a deep sigh after taking off his mask. He looks exhausted and his sweats started to stream on his face. The operation seems very risky. 

“Mr. Stone, the good news is the operation went well but the bad news is she's still not awake,” he informed him. 

Kent didn't know what to do. 

"So, sir, when will my wife woke up? Is there any assurance that she will wake up?” he said but deep in his heart, he's going crazy if something bad will happened to Lucy. 

Doctor Trevor impatiently shook his head as a no. 

“We can't guarantee it. I don't know but for now, she's fine. We just have to wait for her to wake up," he told Kent. 

Kent just accepted it. Gale and Eloisa came beside him and comforted him. 

"At least Lucy survived. We just have to help her stay strong for a fast recovery." Eloisa uttered. 

Austin holds his dad's hands beside him. 

While Lucy survived the operation, she was still unconscious. Cassandra just woke up in the hospital too.

***

Cassandra POV:

I rubbed my eyes as my sight was blurry. My gaze cleared, and I looked around and found that I was inside the hospital. My head throbs and I tightly close my eyes to think about what happened last night. When I opened them, I finally remembered why I was inside the hospital. 

"Shit, I have to get out of here!” I mumbled and about to get up from my bed, but I winced when I felt the pain in my right hands and my right shoulder. 

And my eyes widened when I saw my hands and feet in chains. 

“What is this? Hey, let me out of here! What are you doing to me?” I screamed but no one heard me. 

My voice echoed inside my room. I keep struggling from the handcuffs. 

I screamed again. "I'm not crazy! I will kill all of you!” I whispered with my vicious gaze.