Darkest Dawn by Katlyn Duncan

already known there was a girl who resembled me in this town, causing the mix-ups. For Bri, this would be a shock. I was prepared to figure out what the hell was going on though. And Bri was the one I had to do it with.
    Bri whirled around and stuck her finger close to her eye. Mine started to water. She moved the contact lens away from her iris. The matching pale blue shone through. “Not all the same.” She replaced the lens and stared at me, as if I’d done this to her. “You don’t cover yours.”
    “Why would I?” As much as I hated the questions about my abnormality, I always thought it made me who I was. Mom had always encouraged me to embrace my differences.
    “More importantly,” she pushed past her own question, “how did you know about me?”
    “I didn’t.” I didn’t want her to think I’d come here to find her. Even though I sort of had. “I was—” Sent here? Summoned? I couldn’t pinpoint the word I needed without sounding like a total weirdo. “Here.” I opened my jacket and Bri flinched. Did she think I was going to hurt her? Every part of my body vibrated with the need to protect her. I pulled out the letter and handed it over. She glanced at the letter then back at me. I shoved it at her until her fingers pinched the paper and I let go. I turned to the sink, giving her privacy. I leaned on the cool porcelain with my hands, remembering only twenty minutes ago how I’d stared into my pale reflection.
    I looked over my reflection’s shoulder at Bri. Her hands gripped the letter tight enough that I feared she’d rip it. My palms broke out into a sweat at the thought. An eternity stretched and I counted the seconds until she was finished.
    When she finally looked up she spoke in a low, clear voice, as if she was steadying her own nerves. “What does this have to do with me?”
    “I don’t know.” I didn’t need accusations from her. This situation was already getting stranger by the second. “Do you think it’s odd that someone asked me to come to a place where my—” I shrugged “—twin is?”
    Her eyes squinted. “How can we be twins?”
    The question hung in the air. “Well, whatever. We look identical. And I thought…”
    “You thought that I sent this?” As if she’d plucked the words from my brain.
    I stared at the ground. “I don’t know. The person I was supposed to meet never showed up and then I came across you. What would you think?”
    She bit her lip. “Probably the same thing.”
    “It can’t be coincidence. Can it?”
    “Bri?” a girl’s voice called from outside the door making us both jump. Her eyes met mine for the first time since the hallway. She glanced at the door then back to me as if I had all the answers. I wished I did. I didn’t want anyone else involved in whatever insanity we’d found ourselves in.
    I moved away from the door, unsure if whoever was looking for Bri would open it. “Do you have to go?”
    Bri shifted her weight from foot to foot. “I have a ride home. If I don’t go my friends will ask why.” She licked her lips. “Where are you staying?”
    “Willows Lake Motel.”
    She nodded quickly. “Do you have a phone?” Her eyes moved to the door.
    I rolled my eyes. “Are you serious?”
    “There’s a patch of woods behind the motel that leads straight to my complex.” She rattled off her phone number. “Meet me there in an hour.”
    I typed her number into my phone and called it. I’d tricked a few guys by giving them fake numbers, so I wasn’t a fool. Her phone rang from her bag.
    The door to the bathroom opened and Bri’s eyes widened to big round circles. I stepped back, plastering myself against the wall, hidden from the view of whoever had come into the room. I recognized the voice right away. It was the girl who’d mistaken me for Bri earlier that day. “One hour,” I mouthed and then she was gone.
    “You know this is the guys’ room?” the girl’s voice grilled Bri.
    Shuffling feet moved away from