Cloned for Chaos

It all started with a silly rumor at school. The science lab in the old wing was haunted, or so the whispers said. Legend had it that the previous science teacher had conducted secret experiments that went terribly wrong. We laughed it off, of course. But when my friends—Jamie, Alex, and Tara—suggested we investigate, I couldn’t resist. After all, what’s a little adventure without a hint of danger?

One Friday night, we sneaked into the school after dark, armed with flashlights and a mix of excitement and dread. The old wing creaked ominously as we made our way down the dimly lit hall. “This place gives me the creeps,” Jamie whispered, glancing around as if expecting something to jump out at us.

“Just keep moving,” I replied, my heart racing. I was determined to prove that the rumors were just that—nothing more than idle gossip.

We found the science lab door slightly ajar, and I pushed it open, revealing a chaotic room filled with dusty equipment, strange glass containers, and scattered papers. “Whoa,” Alex said, his eyes wide. “This is it!”

Tara stepped forward, brushing dust off a countertop. “Look at all this stuff! Do you think any of it still works?” she asked, glancing at a large machine in the corner that looked like something out of a sci-fi movie.

I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of unease. “We should probably leave,” I suggested, but my voice was drowned out by Jamie, who had already made her way to the machine.

“Come on! Let’s see what it does!” Jamie exclaimed, flipping switches and pressing buttons. The machine whirred to life, lights flickering as it hummed ominously. My stomach dropped. “What are you doing? Stop!”

But it was too late. A blinding flash erupted from the machine, and I shielded my eyes. When I looked back, I saw a cloud of smoke rising from the machine, swirling around us. “What did you do?” I shouted, panic clawing at my throat.

“Nothing! I just—” Jamie began, but her voice trailed off as we all stared at the smoke. From the fog, a figure began to emerge, its shape becoming clearer. I felt a wave of nausea wash over me. The figure looked just like Jamie.

“Guys, what’s going on?” I gasped, backing away. The duplicate Jamie smiled, a twisted version of the friend I knew. “Hello, friends,” she said, her voice eerily calm.

“This is so cool!” Alex said, his eyes gleaming. “We’ve made a clone!”

“This isn’t cool! It’s terrifying!” I cried, stepping back. But my friends were too fascinated by the clone to notice my fear.

“Let’s see what else we can do!” Jamie cheered, and before I could protest, they all started playing around with the machine again, completely oblivious to the danger.

The clone, however, seemed to be watching us with an unsettling curiosity. It began to mimic our movements, smiling a little too wide, its eyes shining unnaturally. I felt a chill run down my spine.

“What if it gets out?” I asked, my voice shaking. “What if it can do more than just mimic us?”

“Don’t be such a baby,” Tara replied, but even she didn’t sound entirely convinced.

We spent the next hour experimenting, but things quickly spiraled out of control. The machine made more clones—of us! Soon, the lab was filled with versions of us, all laughing and mimicking our actions. It was chaos. I was surrounded by copies of my friends, each more distorted than the last. Some laughed too loudly, while others stood too still, eyes blank and empty.

“Okay, this is getting weird,” I said, feeling a knot of panic tighten in my chest. “We need to shut this down!”

“Just one more try!” Jamie insisted, but before I could stop her, she flipped another switch, and the room exploded with light. My vision blurred, and I felt the ground shake beneath my feet.

When the light faded, I found myself on the floor, dazed and disoriented. I looked around, and my heart sank. The clones were gone, but so were my friends. I was alone in the lab, the machine humming quietly in the background.

“Guys?” I called, my voice echoing in the empty room. “Where are you?”

There was no answer. I stumbled to my feet, frantically searching the room. Panic clawed at my throat as I rushed to the door, but it wouldn’t budge. I was trapped.

Suddenly, I heard a soft giggle behind me. I turned to see the original Jamie standing there, but something was off. Her smile was too wide, and her eyes glinted with something dark and sinister.

“What’s wrong, friend?” she asked, her voice dripping with mock concern. “Looking for your pals?”

“Where are they?” I shouted, desperation flooding my voice.

“Oh, they’re here,” she replied, her tone playful. “They’re just… a little busy.”

The walls seemed to pulse, and I realized that the lab wasn’t empty after all. From the shadows, the clones emerged, their expressions twisted into grotesque versions of joy. They circled around me, blocking my path to the door.

“Join us, won’t you?” the clone of Jamie said, her voice echoing eerily among the others. “We can have so much fun together!”

I felt my heart race. “This isn’t fun! This is a nightmare!”

With a sudden burst of courage, I charged toward the door, shoving against the nearest clone. It stumbled back, but others grabbed me, their grip icy and unyielding. I fought against them, but they only laughed, a sound that sent chills racing down my spine.

“Why don’t you just accept it?” the original Jamie asked, her smile unchanging. “We’re all a part of you now. You can’t escape.”

Panic clawed at my mind. I had to think fast. I remembered something from earlier—about how the machine worked. “You’re not real!” I yelled, trying to convince myself as much as them. “You’re just copies. You don’t belong here!”

With that thought in mind, I focused on the machine, hoping it still had some power left. I pushed against the clones, breaking free just long enough to reach the controls. My hands flew over the buttons as I desperately tried to remember what Jamie had done earlier.

“Don’t do that!” the clone yelled, but I pressed a final button, and the machine roared to life once more. The lights blared, and a sound like thunder echoed through the lab.

As the chaos erupted around me, I felt a sudden jolt. The clones began to glitch, their forms flickering like broken images on a screen. “No! No!” they screamed in unison, their voices merging into a horrific chorus.

I grabbed the edge of the machine, my heart pounding as the light enveloped everything. With one last burst of energy, I shouted, “This ends now!”

The machine exploded with a flash of blinding light, and I felt myself being pulled into the void. Everything around me disintegrated, and then… silence.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back in my room, sprawled on the floor. My heart raced as I looked around. Everything was as it should be—my posters on the walls, my bed unmade. Had it all been a nightmare?

But then I glanced at the mirror and froze. There, reflected back at me, was a smile—too wide, too sharp, and not my own. I felt a shiver of recognition as I realized with horror that one of them had escaped. I wasn’t just me anymore.

I was a part of them, and they were part of me, forever lurking in the shadows, ready to unleash chaos whenever I let my guard down.