Story - Glass

This is a *REALLY* old story.  I would guess that I wrote it well over 10 years ago though I don't really remember anymore.
If you've read any of the stories I've written you've probably already read this one.

It is Jessica's story. About living with her Mom and the visits they would go on every week to see Vincent, who lived behind glass.

Story after the Jump



Glass

I'd never seen vincent unless he was behind glass.
once a month on saturday for as far back as I could remember my mom would make me dress up and we would both get on the number 9 bus and travel downtown to The Hospital.
Thats what mom always called it anyway.  I never believed her much. to me a hospital was a place with shiny floors and bright white lights and doctors always roaming around.
"The hospital" wasn't like that.  I never saw a doctor in The Hospital.  Just nurses, and sometimes a guard.  Big Burly looking guards that always had one hand on a nightstick and jumped at loud noises.  That was another reason I never liked the place.  The noises.  Not like a normal hospital.  In a normal hospital there are beeps, and blips, and talking, and moving, and the sounds of television in rooms, and the sounds of families talking and laughing and sometimes crying.  That never happened in The hospital.  Just whispering, and sometimes, if you were really unlucky you'd hear a bloodcurdling scream, always just beyond the end of the corridor you were in and never in any tangibly identifiable direction.
Sometimes We'd get there and Vince would be ok.  he'd meet us behind a glass wall and he and my mom would talk and talk and talk through the little holes in the glass.  On those days my mom would move over and let me up to the glass and I'd talk to vince.  He'd ask me questions, about home, and school, and what I liked to do on my weekends, and who my friends were and whether I liked boys yet and almost anything else we could think of.  I'd always answer anything he asked, because mom insisted you have to be polite.
Some days it wouldn't be so nice.  some days we'd go and it'd be a different room and Vince would be sitting there staring, and his eyes would look all sparkly, and he'd blink alot and frown.  Those lights made him look like a short skelton in a display case.  It was like being at the mueseum.
On  those days mom would talk to the person who lived in the room with vince.  His name was carson.  He always talked in a low voice I couldn't hear and he never wanted to talk to me at all.  Mom would tell him things to tell to Vince later and Carson would nod and take it all in.  I never took notice about what they talked about either.
Other Days it would be worse still.  One day we arrived and vince was screaming loudly, yelling my mothers name and calling her all sorts of words that made me nervous.  That day we could only see vincent through the glass from a dark room next door, a small room that held just the two of us and a guard, his nightstick ever ready.  Vince lunged around the room and banged hard on the glass until it shook back and forth again and again.  I remember the guard leant over to where I was and said not to worry.
"its a mirror." he said.  "he can only see himself."
But when he hit it in front of me I swore he looked straight into my eyes, his wild red eyes shattering the glass and screaming "I'm coming for you!"
It didn't matter what the visit was like they would always end the same.  Mom would lean over and hug me tight and tell me how much she loved me and then we would go outside and we would walk over a block to the main road and Mom would call us a cab and we would take the long drive home along past the beaches while she would stare out at the ocean looking worried until we got all the way home.

Our house was a really nice big house, that was up the top of a winding road on the top of the hill with a view of the entire city.  We were the only house in the street, a fact which mom adored and I sometimes found lonely.  But it was a fantastic house.  we had the oceans and the beaches laid out before us one way but we were still close enough that we could walk down to the shops and the buses.  Mom liked the buses.  she always said that cars were just dirty expensive hassles.  Not that it really mattered, mom had more than enough money to pay for fifty of them, and there was always the BMW parked in the garage(but I never saw her drive it).
I asked once if we were rich, and she said we were just "well off", but she ran her own company and even though I never got envolved in it I could tell that it made alot of money whatever it was.
Once I asked mom about vincent.  she told me it was a long story.
"vincent was a genious" she said.  "He used to invent things all the time.  when I first met him he'd just managed to invent some new chemical.  Governments all around the world were crawling all over each other to get it.  He had a place manufacturing the stuff in no time and it made heaps of money.  More money than he could ever spend." She sighed.
"Then when you were about 3 he had his breakdown.  I wanted him to go in to a special home for care but after the.....incident......" she shifted uncomfortably. "well the police made him go to the hospital.  I'm in control of his whole business until he gets out.  thats why we have to go and visit him every week.  you understand?  you and I both owe everything we have to vincent.  I have to keep him up to date all the time even if sometimes he doesn't seem to care.  its important.  Vincent gave us what we have.  Vincent is always taking care of us and we can never forget that."
Mom hugged me tight at the end of her story.  I asked her what the incident was but she wouldn't tell me.  I asked what vincent's factories made and where they were but she said it was better I didn't know.  The government wanted them kept top secret.  I asked about carson and she told me he was a creep and that I should never talk to him.  she told me carson had been to university with Vincent and then they'd met again in the hospital.  She said that carson didn't really like us anyway and that he wanted vincent's money, and that he'd do almost anything to get it.  She said I should never trust carson.
I didn't mind that very much to be honest.  I never trusted carson anyway.  he was bony like a skeleton and creepier than anyone I could imagine.

It was two nights before my 17th birthday that I first talked to Carson.  We said maybe a half dozen words but his voice chilled me to the spine.
Mom had been busy at work that afternoon so I'd been forced to catch the bus home after cheerleading practice.   Practice had been really good that afternoon too.  We'd were learning a new routine that was really cool so I was pretty hyped anyway, but then afterwards Tiff and a couple of the others let slip on a secret.  They were planning a surprise party for me on sunday night.  I forced them to tell me the truth and they all admitted it was true.  I left feeling on top of the world.    I remember thinking on the way home that I'd have to show the new routine to Vincent next time we were at the hospital.  Vincent liked it when I showed him my routines.  Then I started thinking about the party and I was even happier.  I didn't think anything could spoil that mood.
It was almost dark as I came in the front door, just that hazy twighlight that managed to outline the doorframe from the darkness inside.  I was selfconsciously aware of just how bright my white cheerleading sweater would have looked to anyone inside as it contrasted with the darkness.  there were no lights visible from the front door, but once I was inside I could hear raised voices in the back of the house and I could vaguely make out the orangy light of a lamp on somwhere in the direction of the voices.
I followed the light and the closer I got the clearer the voices became.  It was mom's voice and another voice.  Deeper.  more menacing, but not as panicked.
Carson's.
Mom was almost in tears.
"No.  He promised.  I've done everything he asked.  Its all there.  all he has to do is come back."
a muffled reply.
"but that's not fair!  He's not allowed out!  the police! they...."
I was closer this time.   I could hear his voice.
"Forget the police.  I'm here to make sure he can get out.  Everything will be legal.  I've already been to the factory.  I just need you to give me the papers."
I could hear mom's voice become angry.
"don't think I don't know you've been playing with his mind in there.  He'd never let you have control if he was really fine."
Carson chuckled.
"we'll never know that will we?  why bother with things we cannot control?"
By now I was in the doorway.  Mom noticed, I could see her eyes widen in panic.  Carson could obviously see her eyes too, cos he turned to look at me.  He grinned widely, but only with his mouth, not his eyes.
"don't worry, we'll take good care of her."
mom almost screamed at me.
"GO TO BED JESSICA.  Carson and I have to talk alone"
It was early, but I went.  I just didn't want to hear his voice anymore. 

The next day I missed mom in the morning.  algebra class was an early one and the bus came before she was out of bed.  When I came home there were police everywhere and mom was at the front door talking to two of them.  She looked worried.  I could hear the taller officer talking:
"we have 6 officers patrolling the area, and there will be two inside all the time just in case."
mom looked abit less worried, but I could still hear her voice trembling.
"I'm more worried about jessica than me.  can you make sure someone always looks after her?"
the two officers suddenly noticed I was there.
"oh no problem.  We'll make sure she always has two bodyguards."  mom smiled abit at that.  I was glad.  She looked so stressed.
When we got inside I asked why the police were here.  she explained it was about carson.  he'd escaped the night before to get to here.  Carson was dangerous.  the police wanted to make sure he didn't hurt us. 

It didn't take long for us to adjust to the police being there.  By Dinner time mom and I were already treating them as part of the furniture.  Not that it made Dinner any easier.  If anything the police being there made it more strained.  There were long periods where mom and I would just stare at each other but you could tell we were both still scared.  It would only take one of the police officers to move the slightest amount and mom would jump in fear.  And then I would jump in fear because she had.  I didn't eat much that night, and I don't think I saw mom eat anything much either.  It was just too tense.  I don't know whether we expected carson to be back or not, but it was impossible to concentrate either way.  In the end we just went to bed early, the police still roaming around the living room and the gardens outside.

Sunday was Different.  You could tell that from the beginning.  When I got up there were 4 policemen sitting on the couch watching the sunday morning cartoons.  They obviously thought the crisis was over.  mom had perked up abit too, she was still abit nervous and you could tell, but life was returning to normal.  I wandered into the kitchen to see mom putting away coffee mugs.  It struck me that both the police and mom had obviously been up for alot longer than I imagined if they'd had time for coffee and washing up.  The other thing that struck me was that Mom had her no nonsense business suit on.  I knew my mom was still in really good shape for a woman her age, but that power suit made it so much more obvious.  I was thinking about how good she looked when she turned around and smiled at me, letting me see that she already had her makeup done ready to go out.
"happy birthday Jess." I smiled back, but my face obviously showed my curiosity because she looked down at her suit, shifting her weight a little nervously from one of her stiletto heels to the other.
"yeah.  Well life must go on right honey?"  She smiled to try and reassure me but it didn't work.
she moved over and hugged me tightly.
"Its ok.  Police say you shouldn't do anything out of the ordinary.  I'm going over to the hospital to see vincent.  We'll have your birthday when I get back."
She leant over and kissed me gently on the forehead.
"I promise."
Then she clicked her way off down the hallway into the carport and I heard the BMW start up and drive off down our long driveway.

For a while I just walked around numbly.  I'd never had a free sunday before.  I ended up sitting for maybe an hour just.....well......sitting.  I thought about ringing some of my friends and inviting them over but it just felt too weird.  My life was always differnt on sundays, everyone understood that.  It just didn't make sense for me to ring them.
Instead I tried to just kill time.  I knew the party would be later tonight so there wasn't much else for me to do.  I wandered into the living roomand sat down to watch TV with the Police that remained.  There were 6 of them now and while I sat there another two wandered in to join us.  I figured that left maybe 2 outside patrolling.
It felt like we sat there for days, I don't even remember what was on the TV (a baskteball game maybe?). 
The Clock in the Hallway tolled 2:00 when I finally heard mom's BMW grind its way back up the gravel driveway.  I waited.  I heard the door to the carport whirr open, but it was soft and far off and somewhere in the middle it dissolved into the sound of the car motor as it rolled its way in and idled to a stop.
The carport door backed straight on to the living room so I could hear Mom's heels as he she stepped out of the car and click clacked her way across the concrete.  The police were all completely focussed on the TV and I was doubting whether they even noticed the car arriving back.
I listened carefully to the staccato beat of mom's heels as she crossed the carport and I was surprised to hear them stop.  it was like she went halfway around the car and stopped.  I waited for them to resume but instead I heard her voice call out.
"Jessica.  can you give me a hand out here?"
I stood up with a groan.  It was one thing to be bored out of your skull watching nothing at all with a bunch of cops.  It was another thing entirely to want to help out in doing some actual work.  I wandered out into the carport, the cops barely even noticed that I'd moved.  When I got there mom was around behind the car with the trunk opened. 
"I promised you we'd celebrate your birthday when I got back so I stopped on the way back and got you a surprise."
she beckoned me around to the back of the car where she was standing.  My day was suddenly much better.  I rushed around the car excited just to see what mom had for me. 
It turned out to be a letdown though, because when I got there it turned out there was nothing in the trunk except for clothes.
"But mom....." I whined. "I already have a dress like that one."
She smiled.
"I know dear.  I took it out of your closet this morning while you were still asleep.  the same with the underwear and the shoes.  they're all yours.  Its not the clothes that are the surprise silly."
I looked up into her eyes.
"Then what is the surprise mom?" I asked trying not too sound too excited.
"here's the surprise." I felt a quick sharp pain in my side and then almost immediately felt the whole world begin to spin and blur.
"We have to take a quick trip honey." said mom's voice.  still perfectly calm as though nothing had happened.  the corners of my eyes, although still without any real vision were alert enough to notice the now empty syringe as she carefully placed it back into her handbag.
"be a good girl now.  Mommy's going to help you into the trunk.  don't worry.  the drug you've taken is just a little sedative.  Mommy won't let you fall asleep.  We just need you to stay awake and be a quiet good little girl.  Thats right."
Her voice was soothing and it was all I could manage to focus on.  I could see things fine, well ok it was a little blurry at the edges, but I was really having trouble focussing on things in my mind.  before I knew it I was in the trunk and the world was dark.  I could feel the car move and then later I could hear mom's voice as she talked to the police outside, but there wasn't much I could do.  things were just so hard to concentrate on.  it was like I was about to fall asleep, but yet not at all tired.
The car moved on its own as far as I was concerned.  time ceased to matter and I doubt I would have been able to figure it out if I'd had a watch.
Some indeterminable time later I felt the car stop.  The click of mom's heels seemed to come from all directions at once and then suddenly I was staring out at her face outlined by a blue sky.
"come on now jessica.  mommy has to take you inside here.  We have someone special to meet."
the building was one I had never seen before, though It could have been anywhere for all I knew.
It looked run down and abandoned, but the second we were through the door it was obvious I'd evaluated it wrong.
Inside it was empty.  but clean, shiny, medical looking.  I guessed the place was used during the week but unused on the weekend.
vincent was there, standing in the centre of the room, smiling, pointing to a couch over against the wall.  For the first time ever I saw him without glass.  Just the air seperating him from me. And I knew he was the scariest person I would ever see.

Mom Led me slowly to the couch, trying to guide my barely functioning body to a resting position.
I didn't resist.  I couldn't resist.  I was having enough difficulty convinving my body to do what it was being told to do let alone trying to resist.
The couch sat below the level of the table over where vincent was.  I couldn't see the top of it.  What I could see was hanging from the side.  It was a hand. Well a glove really.  a long thin translucent glove with five hollow empty fingers hanging over the edge.  I could see it as far as the wrist part of the glove which dissapeared onto the table beyond my line of site. 
Mom sat on the couch end near my head.  I watched her carefully cross one silky leg over the other and then lean back as though preparing to watch a show.
The way I was laying meant that for a while that was all I could see.  Moms tanned, pantyhose encased legs folded provocatively right in the centre of my line of sight.  Obviously it wasn't the real focus because I heard vince curse something from over near the table and in a moment mom's hands came down and I felt them gently on either side of my head.
"don't be naughty Jessica.  Mommy brought you here to watch vincent.  he wants you to look over that way."
And then my head was turned, and there was no choice but to look at the table.
The glove wasn't there now, but vince was.  he'd moved around to my side of the table and in his hands I could see that the glove was attatched to a bigger full body catsuit.  It was an odd colour, almost see-thru and it looked pretty stiff and inflexible from where I was laying.
The suit itself reminded me of a clear plastic raincoat, but sewn together in the legs so it made a suit rather than a jacket, and with the opening in the back, complete with zipper to close it properly in cases of heavy wind.
the flex of the rubbery substance made a noise loud enough to hear as vince pulled the back open wide.  He lowered it down to below his waist, and raised his foot high to pull it on.   Left leg first, the rubber flexed and bent as he pushed his foot through and out the bottom.  I was surprised at it really, While I'd expected no movement in it at all it clearly had quite a bit of bend and flex within it.  Watching him push his right leg into the suit reminded me of once when I'd been to the beach, watching all the surfers pull their wetsuits on and off.  It looked the same except for his feet.  this suit came down lower, his toes stuck out the front and probably part of the balls of his feet, where it seemed to thin out at the ends and just curve into the instep of his foot.
He looked up at me with half the suit hanging limp from his waist and seemed to read my mind:
"my feet are too big to fit inside, so we had to improvise.  Some things just can't quite be the same.  It's ok though, your mom promised to buy me a whole new wardrobe of shoes.  As well as replacing the old ones in a bigger size.  so that things are the same of course."
The comment didn't seem to make much sense, but my mind still wasn't comprehending much.
Vince returned to his show, and I returned to watching it as he pulled the chest part up across his abdomen.  Focus was now entirely on his arms, and the parts I had earlier assumed were gloves.  from the ouside it looked like a balloon slowly inflating, his right arm slowly pushing its way down the length of the glove and shaking a little as each of the fingers lined up into their little finger slots.  His left hand slid along the oustide of the rubbery glove at the same time as his right hand slid through the inside of it, the left smoothing the subber as it went so that when he was done he could flex the entire right arm without causing ripples.  He took longer doing the left arm, but in the end the result was the same.  soon both arms were the same, shiny, rubbery, with vince's black armhair clearly showing through the transparency of the skintight suit.  He bent at this point, and took a great deal of care to repeat his smoothing process on the legs he had already dressed, carefully gliding his gloved hands up and down the whole length of his legs, working at every little crease until it dissolved into the suit, and finishing only when his legs matched his arms.  a grotesquely hairy creature, encased in cellophane.  In my mind I was waiting for the logical next step.  where he would reach behind his neck and slowly pull the zipper shut, encasing himself in his own rubber lovesuit, but it didn't come.  instead he moved toward the wall, pulling out two small tubes from something beyond my line of sight and attatching them to the clear nipples of his rubberised chest.
Vince turned and grinned at me.
"and people say these are useless."  Mom giggled.  I didn't understand why.
a Whirring started, then a peculiar slurping sound, and I noticed the chest of the suit start to expand, almost inperceptably at first, then slightly more, swelling its way out until the small swelling it the rubber chest became a pert, sexy, and eventually rather full set of very female breasts.  Once this was done, he disconnected the hoses, and moved back across to be centre of my attention.  his walk had a subtle sway about it this time, and looking closer, I realised it was in the suit.  The nipple attatchments had obviously added not only to his breasts, but also provided some extra "padding" to the rear of his suit, leaving it no doubt now that the flexing and moving clear rubber monstrosity that gripped his body was destined to be female.
Now came his moment of truth, as he reached over his shoulder and grasped for a long shoelace attatched to the zip.  The zipping was more painstaking than I thought, great efforts being taken to keep the pull even across the back, and also I imagined, so that the suit could go to effect pulling everything into place.
eventually it was closed, and he pulled tighter on the zip.  A small snap indicated that he had disconnected the closer from the zip itself.  He carelessly tossed it away and focussed a little on pulling it closed around his neck, Making him a clear plastic manikken with an ugly faded paintjob underneath.
"now for the magic" Vince said, rubbing his hands with glee.
The suit seemed to be a little cloudy, the ugly hair inderneath fading.  At first I thought it was my eyes, but as it increased I realised I was wrong.  the clear plastic seemed to cloud up, a pinky colour slowly washing its way all over.
Mom gasped.
"It reacts to heat." vince explained, rubbing his hands over the padded cheeks of his now cloudy backside.
His eyes turned down to me
"do you remember Hypercolour t-shirts?" He asked in a condescending tone.  "no I don't suppose you would.  I invented those too.  But it was more of a test really." he slapped his new breasts afew times, and they started to join the rest of the procedure, swirling in a pinkish colouring.
"this is the finished product.  I really need to work on making the gel work faster though."
The suit was now no longer clear at all.  But pink.  A perfect, airbrushed, skintone pink. 
Vince turned side on and struck a pose.  The suit had dissapeared now, its shiny transparentness, completely vanished and in its place vince now wore the perfect body of a girl in her mid to late teens.  I had watched it happen and now I was completely lost.  Aside from the sudden change in skin colour at the top of the neck, it would have almost seemed that vince's head was supposed to be attatched to his nubile body, and what was more, I could see even from where I was lying that every inch of the suit now looked exactly like real skin.  I could see the pores and the slight colour changes that are all over skin,  If I looked hard when he moved his arms I could see the hint of veins around the wrists.  I was even pretty sure that I could see slightly faded tan lines across the area of his(?) bikini line.  The suit was uncanny, and, even without a head, the suit was me.
I heard mom make a murmured comment and vince looked down.  They both laughed together in unison at vince's feet.  I understood why, but it wasn't really funny.  where the suit ended in his own feet started there was no line, the suit merely became a part of his feet,  But at that very point of changeover, his dark black hairs still betrayed his own feet from the clean hairless pink heel.
"nevermind." vince said, strutting his way around the table to unlock a safe on the other side.
"once we get home I'll shave it all off.  then it'll never matter again."
His body was between me and the safe, so that I could hear the spinning and clicking of the dial, but not see the actual door.  It didn't take long until I heard the clunk and then the whine as the lever snapped and the safe door creaked its way open.
the first thing I noticed when he turned was the hair.  blonde cascades of thread weaved between his fingers and completely hid the rest of the object from me.  but that was enough.  I could tell the rest myself without seeing it.  the lips would be a cherry red, and small, thin, the kind that need a little lip gloss to fill them out.  the nose would be tiny, and upturned just a little, with tiny nostrils.  Its cheekbones would be high, with a finely chiseled look to them, maybe the blush would be already applied, perhaps it would need to be added later.  I didn't know.  Frankly I didn't care.  terror had already gripped me beyond all possible coherency.  Even without much control over my muscls, I knew that my eyes were forced open in a shock that would be instantly apparent the moment vince looked at me.
Thankfully he didn't look.  Not for a while anyway.  His primary focus was on me, but not on ME me.  moreso it was the mask that completely dominated his focus, and it was a mask that was a reflection of me.  He'd flipped out the hair at this point, pulling it out of the way to give him better access to the back of the neck and as he did it I found I could now see the mask.
It wasn't quite what I expected, because it was clear like the rest of the suit had been, I could still clearly make out the distinguishing marks.  The cheekbones, the nose, the lips.  sure they were transparent and empty, but they were definately there.
Vince had turned.  He was looking directly at me.  Well perhaps looking is a bad word.  He was leering at me, his eyes shimmering in pure glee.  I hear the flex of the rubber as he pulled the neck almost to tearing point, but his hands were obscured by the flowing hair woven into the scalp as he began to raise it to eye level so I didn't see him pull it open, I was momentarily happy to just not have to look at his leer anymore.  My relief was destined not to last though, because it was only a moment before the rubber snapped back into place, molding itself around the neck of vince, wrapping him instantly in more vacuum sealed plastic.   I was wondering if his skin could breathe while he was stretching and tugging the plasticky rubber into place.  smoothing it around his lips, yanking it out and over his own pointy nose, letting the rubber settle into place and gloss over his whole face.
"Almost finished now little one." He said, leering again.  He reached down to pick up a face towel, damp with what I could only assume was warm water, and pressed it up against his face. Slowly and carefully he dabbed the towel all over, pressing and holding at times, particularly around the ears and nose where the rubber was at its thickest.
Eventually he pulled the towel away with a dramatic flourish and I got to see the finished product.  For quite a while I had guessed what it would look like.  If I was truly honest with myself I could have said that in all truth I knew how it had to end up.  But to actually see it, was another thing entirely.  No longer was there any trace of the seamless plastic sheets he had wrapped himself in.  The body was now absolutely and undeniably a naked body.  Every inch was complete with a skin that looked to be airbrushed so perfectly that it could never be assumed to be anything except real.  Even more disturbing was the more subtle overall visual effect.  what moments before had been a painfully thin man who's yellowing skin screamed of a deep seeded illness caused by years of isolation from the sun, had now become a tall-ish, and rather curvy teen girl.  A teen girl with a body primed through gymnastics to be a fit, attractive weapon that could be turned to maximum effect in the sport of cheerleading.  In short, a body that could only be mine.
Logic stepped into play.  This couldn't be me.  *I* was me.  The drug was beginning to wear off a little, but my thoughts were still clouded.  One thing I understood though was that I needed to stay focussed on the simple fact that I was me.  which made the person across from me vince. vince wasn't me.  simple.
The pretend me moved around the table and turned her back to me.  mom stood and met her halfway.  then mom adjusted the back of the mask, flattening it solidly against the back of the head and flicking the blonde curls so that they hung evenly and naturally down to the centre of the faux shoulderblades.
vince spoke.  It sounded like me, but I knew it was vince.
"once I've had a hot shower, the inner coating will seal it into place, but this should do for now."
Mom giggled at vince's voice and vince smiled in return.
"I told you all that practice was going to pay off."
Mom chose that moment to lean over and hug the young female me.
"you're like the daughter I always had." she sniggered at her own private joke.
The whole thing seemed so outrageous, something chose that moment to boil up inside me.  summoning the whole of my inner strength I overcame the drugs effects enough to pull my arm to a semi straight position, enough to point and with as much power as I could find I said
"viss!"
both of them turned to look at me, both mother and daughter looking perfectly natural.  Mom looked down at me with a look of stern admonishment.
"don't be silly.  Not vince. Jessica.  From now on this is my daughter jessica."  Mom looked back and smiled at the other me, who hugged her tightly.
"oh mom, you're the greatest!" Mom embraced her just as warmly.  I couldn't take it.  My fragile mind passed the point of cohesion and just began to snap.  I started to scream and whimper, a mess of noises dribbled from my mouth, and I shook violently in a vain attempt to grab control.
I didn't have alot of luck with it, but it forced mom to move back around to me and hold me tightly, frowning just a little.
"now, now. don't be naughty.  mommy will have to give you another shot of the special medicine." I thrashed again, and in the process found I left a fistful of my hair in mom's fingers.  a touch of blood tricked away with it, but I couldn't feel the pain.
"That's it!" she spoke sternly. "time for more injections!" mom was reaching down toward her handbag when I heard my voice from across the room stop her.
"wait.  I have a better idea."  from around the table, my doppleganger carried two small objects in her hands.  As she came closer I could see that she was already partway dressed, wearing my own underwear that mom had smuggled into the car with us.
Mom was holding me tight by the time the imposter got to me, and in her right hand I could see the objects up close.  it was teeth.  two sets in fact.  both perfect in their pearly whiteness.
right up close I noticed they looked exactly like my own, but each set had been crafted entirely differently.  Both were obviously false, moulded to fit over a set of existing teeth, and both were clearly meant for long term wear.  The place they differed was in the middle.  one set were open, the other set fused shut.
"I had this set custom crafted so that my teeth were perfect, but then I thought why not go the whole way.  this set will glue over the top of her teeth and act as a gag.  there's no way these babies are coming out for months."
He was right too.  I tried to spit them out, but they were tight in, and when I screamed or talked, or yelled, they just made a soft grunting mew-like sound.
My twin giggled, and unlike before it really was a giggle.  not a snigger, or a chuckle, but a genuine giggle, the kind which can only come from the mouth of a teenage girl.  It was yet another nail in what I could only assume was my coffin.  I started to thrash again and this time it was my own perfectly manicured nails which grabbed me, and as a sign that the drug was certainly on the way out, I felt a horrible stinging pain as I yanked my head away and another patch of my hair was torn out.
mom moved in to comfort me.  But it was like I no longer existed, instead mom moved to the imposter.
"aww...did you get blood all over your nails?  let mommy clean it up."
the twin was barely shaken though.  In no time at all it seemed, she had dressed completely in my own borrowed clothing, and finished the whole costume off by glueing in her own set of my perfect dentures, this time seperated so that they were perfect and allowed her full ease of jaw motion with no noticable negatives when she talked.
Once completed, "jessica" stood before mom and did a small pirouette, just to show the completeness of the disguise.  Mom applauded theatrically for her and then they hugged, causing me to watch a moment that was so sickly sweet that I felt my stomach churn.
"Not even my own mother would be able to tell the difference."  I thought with wry irony, knowing full well that my mother could and yet didn't care.
Finally they both turned back to me, mom again holding yet another syringe, and both of them smiling with pure evil glee
"Just a mild general anaesthetic this time honey.  we want you to have full control, but we can't have you running away now can we?  Its just enough to make you clumsy for our next part.  its important."
I barely noticed the pinprick because of the extreme fear the words "next part" struck within my soul.

I was in the car.  we were moving across town.  As they'd both bundled me in I'd managed a glimpse of myself in the mirrors.  barely moving, hair unkempt and matted with blood, a wild, insane mess.  I was allowed to ride inside the car this time though.  In the back seat of course.  The childproof locks were on and I noticed that someone had removed the window winders.  "Jessica" rode in the front seat with mom and the two of them made polite conversation the whole way, mom asking jessica about school and boys, and jessica replying flawlessly with answers I could have given.  I wondered if I really was losing my mind.  less than 10 minutes earlier seemed like a dream.
I felt mom slow the car and sensed our arrival instinctively.  outside I noticed telltale signs.  the hospital.
once we were there mom and the imposter both helped me from the car.
"we have to visit someone.  be a good girl."  My muscles were enough to walk with help, but I wasn't confident enough to try an escape.  I let them lead me through the wards, past security, past doctors, up through parts I didn't know, and finally to an office at the very top floor.

Inside was a short stout man, with wild white bushy eyebrows, and thick glasses like the bottoms of bottles.  He looked up at the three of us, with a look of grave concern.
mom spoke first, her own voice mirroring the expression of concern in the doctor's voice.
"I brought her doctor, just like you recommended.  Are you sure you can help?" the doppleganger helped guide me in to the office and I was forced to sit in a chair directly across from the doctor.  Mom moved and sat herself elegantly to my left, once again smoothing herself into the seat.  to my right, the imposter did the same, sliding into the seat in an undeniably feminine gesture, and in doing so cutting off the last direction for escape, the two of them now penning me in on both sides.
the doctor spoke now, though his eyes remained completely focussed on me I understood the questions were directed at the others.
"Just so I understand, will you kindly repeat what the ailment is.  I wish to have a better understanding so I may diagnose correctly."
My twin spoke, like the others her voice dripped with concern.
"Its terrible doctor, she thinks she's me.  its been going on for years, but lately......its our birthday today, and I think she's jealous because of the surprise party mom and my friends are planning for me.  she started to go mad earlier, ripping out her own hair.  it was terrible..." My skin crawled as the fake began to burst into tears, sobbing in mock concern.
Mom picked up the story.
"we've tried so hard to get her to understand, but she goes into these wild fits.  she really believes she's jessica.  sometimes she won't talk for weeks at a time.  just locks her teeth together and makes little noises instead, but she's likely to do herself or someone else some damage like this.  she's not the most co-ordinated little thing at the best of times."  All concern, mom leant over to gently run her fingers down my hair, just to show her affection to the good doctor.  I couldn't take it.  I burst up with all my energy and attempted to rush past the fake and out the door.  to my surprise she made no effort to stop me, but instead I had the cold reality of the latest drug set in.  Not more than three steps into the dash I lost my centre of gravity and found myself plowing nose first into the carpet.
Both mom and "jessica" raced to my side.  each of them cooing support and nurturing sounds.
Meanwhile the doctor had moved back behind his desk.
"I've seen enough.  this is obviously a troubled child and I can take no further risks."  A loud buzzing sound and then 2 burly orderlies appeared.
"Take the child down to the 2nd floor.  put her under constant supervision.  Start a course of mild sedatives." he paused. " Strap her arms just to be sure.  the first 24 hours can often be quite traumatic and we don't want her doing herseelf any damage."
I felt them lift me and I fought wildlyas I was dragged away.  Off in the fading distance I could hear mom's voice.
"Oh dear.  I hope she's ok.  Don't worry honey, we'll be down to visit as soon as they'll let us."  And then my own voice from further away. "let them do their jobs mom...."

"As soon as they'll let us" turned out to be less than two hours later.  I'd been put into a straightjacket, and then, because I'd still been screaming at them trying to tell them the truth, they'd strapped me down onto the bed
"until she starts to talk sense."
The room was small, white, clean, and all along one wall was a mirror.
"Jessica" came in first, still brimming with concern.  she leant over and hugged me tight.
"don't worry sis.  They'll treat you good here."
Mom followed her in.  walking slowly, as if admiring the room from a new perspective.
"Jessica.  leave your sister alone." she spoke softly, her voice betraying no hint of emotion.
I saw my doppleganger lift her head away from me, but I could somehow sense a questioning look was on her face.  Mom moved to stop it,  motioning toward the mirror.
"There's no-one in there.  we're alone."  mom looked down upon me, this time a hint of a cruel smile on her lips.
"One thing I learned after my time in these places is how to tell through the mirror."  she admired the room again.
"I love this being able to leave thing though.  Its so liberating."
My eyes shot wide and I grunted through the gag.  Mom could once again sense the question.
"Mommy's gone honey.  I just had to take her place, thats why I came to visit her the other night.  It was important that someone paved the way for getting vincent out.  Vincent is quite the little actress though.  He always knew how to be the perfect jessica.  You should have seen all those nights he would pretend to be little jessica for me.  He's extremely good at it.  And he knows so much."  she smiled at my imposter.  "but then you knew that already.  you've watched him become you."   "Mom" moved away, pacing the room in "her" stilletto heels, making me listen to the cliking of them as she contemplated her next words thoughtfully.
"I'm not so good though.  Oh I managed mommy's voice.  that's the easy part.  I've had years and years to practise that.  And Afew hours a week to listen and test against.  But actually understanding mommy, in the way that vince understand's you.  Knowing her thoughts, her feelings, her day to day routine.  that sort of thing is much more difficult.  So I'm afraid we've had to store mommy.  don't worry, she's well hidden.  the police will never think to look for her where she is.  But then they won't think to look for her at all.  I called them for that reason you know."  She looked back down at me, her eyes peircing through me to my heart.
"Mommy's hidden so that she can teach me all about her life.  she will too.  because she's worried about poor jessica.  Mommy won't want anything to happen to her little girl." 
She smiled and hugged my imposter.
"some things we just won't tell mommy.  After a while we won't need her anymore.  By then it won't matter what we do with her."  I groaned again.
"jessica" was staring intently into the mirror, gazing past her own reflection to try and see behind the glass.  something intangible about her seemed to speak "teenaged bimbo".  It was like seeing myself in a completely foreign light.  The way others always saw me.  when she spoke it was softly, using the inflections of a mezmerised teenage girl.
"Is there something behind the mirror?  I can't see anything........"
The person I now understood to not be my mother simply sighed.
"Yes jessica.  there's something behind the mirror.  maybe you should wait outside.  Here." they dissapeared back out through the door to my room again and moments later I could hear the soft echoing of mom's voice.
"now you can see all of what the mirror sees.  Mommy has to go back and talk to your sister."
Afew stiletto heeled clicks later and she was standing back in front of me.
"It happens so quickly.  I've seen him do it afew times now, but each time I manage to be surprised at how quickly he does it.  one moment he's vince in a suit, and the next moment he's actually become the other person." she looked up and smiled at me.
"In this case that other person just happens to be you.  I thought it was an excellent choice."
she stopped to contemplate again.  I remained silent, almost as if I had some choice in doing so.
"I don't suppose you mother ever explained vince to you?  oh no doubt she made some cursory explaination.  vince was an inventor who went bad maybe?  completely out of control and had to be institutionalised?"
she snorted a quick laugh at some internal joke.
"your mother always did have that tendency to over generalise and simplify everything.  I think thats one of the things I'm going to like about being her.  she's wrong though.  Vince has never been bad.  Vince has never really been out of control for that matter. vince is just......impressionable.  your mother knew that.  When she met us both in college she tried so hard to get vince away from me.  she almost succeeded too.  what with that stupid factory and all."
my mom's usually beautiful lips turned up into a vicious snarl in distaste at the last bit, before the person controlling her slowly regained composure, and the facade slipped back into place.
"I shouldn't complain about the factory.  without it we wouldn't have these perfect disguises now would we?  See thats one thing your mother never counted on, the effect of the money on vincent.  She just figured he'd settle down and work himself out, But old carson understood vince too well.  Understood he had to have rules and discipline.  someone to tell him what to do.  Leave vince alone and he's likely to do something dangerous, something insane.  I knew he'd end up in a hospital, thats why I made sure to get sent here in the first place."
she managed a strange faraway look in her eyes, just enough to scare me without actually looking at me.
"do you know how hard it is to get declared insane and not just arrested?  took me alot of work.  But I got here, and I waited for vince to get sent here.  I knew she'd put him here.  she had to make sure he was "safe".  All the while she thought her poor little vincent was getting better and never once understood the control I had over him.  why do you think He made your mom drag you along every week for a visit?  I used to make vince practice being you for hours and hours.  Especially after you'd been on one of those visits.  We'd sit in this very room sometimes, and he'd play my little jessica, and I'd play his mommy, and we'd talk for hours until I made sure he had that voice of yours just right.  Practice practice practice."
She stretched comfortably and arched her back, before smiling to finish her diatribe.
"None of that matters now though.  I convinced Vince to go through with my plans, and now its all done.  Nothing left to worry about at all.  soon the police will leave, convinced my daughter and I are safe, and we'll slide easily in, taking your lives as our own.  And whats more, no-one will ever know the difference."
She smiled at me.  Cruel. malevolent. I started to sob.  softly, the teeth holding back all my sounds yet again.
the creature that wasn't my mother leant down and softly kissed me on the cheek.
"poor baby.  we've taken your face.  We've taken your voice.  watch as we take your life."
Then, pulling herself up to her full height, the evil imposter pulled my mother's handbag up onto her shoulder, straightened the bottom of my mother's favourite silk blouse, and loudly announced:
"come on now jessica.  Its time we were going."
with that she strode confidently out the door of the cell, and slammed it behind her, leaving me utterly alone.

I'm slowly coming to terms with things now.  I spend alot of time sedated.  sometimes the days just blend together and I sit there staring at myself in the mirror.  Other days, if I'm feeling particularly angry I'll attack the mirror and grunt loudly(I wonder if things will be different if I ever have my own teeth back). 
Every sunday though, Mom and my sister jessica come down to visit me, and they tell me about their week.  Jessica tells me about all her friends, and her boyfriend, and how much fun she has at school.  Mom doesn't talk to me much though, she just stands there and watches me, Always the same. 
Through glass.