Unmade

There were always two; there always had been. They were never seen together.

One had been born, had a mother and father, the other, well, that was shrouded in mystery and darkness.

Often, people would tell him that they had seen him in certain places, which he always denied because he had never been there. He knew that, but they didn't, and he knew they had seen the other, but he could not tell them who the other was, because he did not know either.

He was good and worked with a charity, feeding the poor and homeless, but the other was a dark shadow on his character.

Some said the other was a lost dark twin, or even a golem, but that was nothing but speculation and fantasy.

Very often, when he was out with friends, they would say, "he looks just like you, have you got a twin or doppleganger?" but when he looked the other was gone.

More and more, the other was involved in bad things, starting with shoplifting, then stealing from charity boxes, and then stalking, well, following men and women home. The other was becoming more and more of a threat to parts of society.

A few times, he was brought in for questioning because of what the other had done, but each time, he was released, because while he was in custody, the other had perpetrated some other bad deed.

His life became worse as the other perpetrated worse and worse crimes, including arson, and nearly killing a family when the other set fire to their house. The fire brigade saved the family and the house, but once more, he was taken in for questioning, while the other was allowed to roam free.

The police knew of the other, but to them, he was a ghost, always evading capture after whatever the latest atrocity was committed.

Then, and this was always going to happen, the other committed a horrific murder and was caught on camera. He was again brought in, but DNA testing showed a lot of similarities, but there were things that proved that He was not the murderer; he had been talking to the police about the situation at the time.

Then, out of the blue, the other was hit by a police car as he ran across the road trying to escape from another theft.

The other was brought in, and He was also brought in and asked if they were related, as their DNA did match. He said no, he was an only child, and the other would not talk. Either he was unable to talk or he just refused, but after a physical examination, it was discovered that the other had no vocal chords.

He then told them that several years ago, he had taken part in some stem cell testing, and he needed the money at the time. He went home and found the documentation relating to the tests and gave it to the police.

The other was taken into a secure unit as it (it rather than he) could not be put on trial.

Investigations revealed that the company had been closed down as it had been attempting to create human clones. The owners and employees had all been prosecuted and were now in prison, but it was found that some of the clones had either escaped or been released by the company.

The clones that were caught were hardly human and were a danger to society, so they had to be destroyed.

The other had survived and had somehow been attracted to its stem cell source, but now was in a controlled environment, and the decision was taken to terminate it.

He could now get on with his life; the other was gone.

But were there any more out there?