Bennie aimed the gun and forced Alice backwards, to the wall of the alley. There was only one way this could end. She was finally going to kill her twin.
“Bennie?” Alice put her hands up and stopped, her back to the wall. “Bennie? Bennie!”
Bennie didn’t reply or waver. She advanced with the gun. Her hand was steady, her concentration absolute. The gun was still hot. She lined up its sight on her target.
“No, wait. What’s the matter with you? What are you doing?”
Bennie didn’t answer. Police sirens blared nearby. They would come soon. She didn’t have much time. She cocked the trigger.
“Aren’t you going to call the cops?” Alice burst into tears. “Please God, don’t kill me!”
Bennie couldn’t live unless Alice died. It was that simple.
“No, wait, please!” Alice fell to her knees. “Please, no!”
Bennie stepped close enough to stand over Alice. She aimed at her forehead. It wasn’t a murder, it was an execution.
“Please!” Alice raised her hands, begging. “Please don’t kill me! You can’t!”
“Yes, I can.” Bennie sounded matter-of-fact, even to her. “I have you in me, and you have me in you. That’s why you couldn’t kill me. And why I can kill you.”
“No, please Bennie!” Alice collapsed in tears, doubling over, her forehead to the ground.
Suddenly there was the sound of footsteps behind her, and Bennie glanced over her shoulder. The figure of a woman appeared at the mouth of the alley. Lights from shops across the street silhouetted her.
“Benedetta, no,” the figure whispered, like a prayer.
Bennie blinked. Her mother was the only person who called her Benedetta. The figure was small, about her mother’s height. She could have sworn it was her mother, standing there.
Bennie shook it off. She must be seeing things. It was the pills.
“No, Benedetta,” the figure repeated, with the Italian pronunciation, exactly the way her mother had said her name.
Bennie felt the words washing over her, resonating within her. Something came loose in her chest. Tears filled her eyes. The figure was backlit like an angel. Bennie wasn’t imagining her. Maybe it was a vision. Her mother was an angel, come to see her. To stop her.
Then the angel stepped into the alley.