Forlot - Books 10-12

Chapter Eleven

I could feel my heart beat fast and clutched my shirt. Scarlett ran to my side and put a hand on my back.

"Margie? Sis?" she said. "Are you alright? Should I get a doctor to check on you? Better yet, I will let Dr. O'Fallon know."

I tried my hardest to say something, to reassure her that it was nothing but a mini panic attack, but I could not get my mouth to move. It was as if I had tape, invisible tape, over my mouth.

My sister wrapped both of her arms around one of mine and led me to one of the rows of chairs. She forced me to sit in the chair that was the closest to us and stood in front of me. My head was spinning, and my vision became a little blurry, and even though that those were the cases, I could tell that my sister had a concerned look on her face.

Poor Scarlett. How I wished to inform her that what I was having was an anxiety attack. But I guess that I was too shaken up to find that urge to speak.

From the corner of my eye, I saw my boyfriend Stanley rushing towards me and my sister and plopping in the seat next to mine. I was still clutching the fabric of my shirt and had my free hand on my knee, and Stanley slid his hand between my knee and hand and wrapped his fingers and thumb around my soft, warm hand, gently squeezing it.

"Margie, what happened?" he asked me.

"I believe that she is having a panic attack," Scarlett guessed. "At least, that is what I hope that it is."

He brushed back strands of my hair that were covering my eyes with those tender fingers of his. "Margie, speak to me." He motioned to himself and my sister. "Speak to us. Please."

If only I could, Stanley. If only I could.

The only thing that I could do for now was listen in on Dr. O'Fallon and Mr. Hawk's conversation.

"Why do you want two of your adopted daughters to get a test?" Dr. O'Fallon questioned his son.

"I told you," Mr. Hawk said. "I need to find out if two of my girls are indeed twin sisters."

"I heard that part loud and clear, Mitchell. I am asking why you want to know if they are twin sisters. Unless...they look somewhat alike."

"They look exactly alike, Dad. With some minor differences thrown in here and there."

"You do realize that there are people out there who have someone looking like them, but the two are not at all related, right? We have a name for that, and that would be a doppelgänger."

"There is no need to explain to me what a doppelgänger is. I am fully aware. And I know. It could be possible that Margie and Margaret are doppelgängers and not in the very least related. Heck, it could be a coincidence. But..."

"But what?"

"The name Margie is short for Margaret, and both of the girls have the same last name. Morgan."

"Different families can share the last name."

"Yeah, but..." Mr. Hawk rubbed the back of his neck. "...it has to be pretty rare that doppelgängers share the same last name. Plus..." His eyes moved in my direction, and then back at Dr. O'Fallon. He lowered his voice to a whisper because there were hardly any noises in the waiting room at the time. "...she reminds me of her. Margie reminds me of Margaret."

My eyes bulged. I could not believe what he had just said.

Did he adopt me and Scarlett just because I reminded him of his lost daughter? If I did not look anything like Margaret...would he still have adopted me and my sister anyway? I had doubts.

"Mitchell, I assume that you adopted all three girls at the time," Dr. O'Fallon said.

Mr. Hawk let out a heavy sigh. "I did not, Dad. Years after we became separated—"

He interrupted. "After you disappeared, which you still have to explain that part to me."

Mr. Hawk continued. "I was at my mansion and living with my friends."

"You own a mansion? And you have friends? This reunion keeps getting better and better."

"One day, I decided to do some research."

"Why, Mitchell?"

Mr. Hawk had not yet admitted the whole 'Monster Protector' thing to him, and I guessed that he wanted to keep it that way. "You know. To learn about Forlot."

"I told you everything about this town before your disappearance."

"Sorry. What I meant to say was that I was doing more research about the town. Anyway, I stumbled across information about Margaret. I grew curious and decided to invite her to my home. She did not live that far from Forlot."

"Wait a minute. You invited a stranger whom you barely knew—"

"I did plenty of research on her before and after I contacted her. She even accepted my offer. Plus, she is a kid."

"Yes. Merely a kid." He poked the clipboard a few times. "A kid who, according to this paper, is mentally ill."

His son shook his head. "She is not mentally ill. She is just confused. Scared."

"Also, according to this piece of paper, she almost tried to murder your other daughter, Margie."

"She thought that she was replaced, and...in a weird way...she kind of was. She could not handle a job that I had given her, and now that Margie has taken over that particular job, Margaret feels like that she is a nobody." He gripped his father's arms. "Please, Dad. "Let me take her home."

"Uh, would you not think that she should be at a mental asylum for now? She needs to learn to be stable."

"I can help her, Dad. I am the only one who can get through to her. Just please. Release her and let me take her."