[ WP ] Every person in the world is born with a twin that is separated from them at birth for the entirety of their life by the government . One day you meet your twin and find out why all the twins are kept separated .

You know how you can hear your name in a crowd even when it's loud and everyone is talking over each other? Sometimes you do n't even register that your name was said, but your attention is drawn in a certain direction and you feel like you've been called, but are n't sure to where? 
 
 I've had that feeling my whole life. There's been this *gnawing* in the back of my mind ever since I was little that I'm being called somewhere or someone just out of sight has spoken my name, and right as I turn my head the moment is lost. In all honestly it's been a little aggravating at times, and as a result I've been on and off couches and have been on the business end of a clipboard who knows how many times. 
 
 Now that I'm older ( twenty-six, not that it's any of your business ) I've learned to cope with it, somewhat. The itch is still there but I try to stay busy and drown it out with conversation or, worse comes to worse, ambien. My husband has been incredibly supportive. He understands my need for some type of background nice pretty much always, and I've always been able to focus on him and calm the storm when it gets too rough. 
 
 I knew it was too good to last. 
 
 I woke three nights ago in a cold sweat, having heard my name clear as day. But... gosh I do n't know how to explain this. My name was being shouted in my head all at once, not over and over, but stretched out... but not like `` Laaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaa.'' It was just `` Lara,'' by itself, stretching on forever. I do n't know how else to put it... 
 
 After fifteen minutes I nearly took a razor to my wrist. My head was pounding, my pulse racing. My husband tried to bring me back to bed but I could n't bear the thought of lying down. 
 
 I ran outside, ran down the still-slick streets towards the sound. Of course, it was n't a sound so much as a feeling of where the sound came from... I know I do n't make sense. Sue me. 
 
 The dark streets offered little solace as I ran barefoot in nothing besides my pajamas. After an hour I was drenched in sweat, chest heaving, as I stopped before the Wall. 
 
 As you know, the Wall keeps us from ourselves. Our other halves, our twins. There are a lot of theories floating around as to why we're separated ( my personal favorite was always that meeting your twin gave you magic powers ), but nothing from the Government ever gave any real answers. Our ancestors set down the law, and we follow it. 
 
 For some reason there were no guards. No spotlights, no border patrol. 
 
 But there was a grate. 
 
 I approached it, slowly, wondering if I was crazy and I'd finally driven myself insane with the self-medicating. The dirt was hard and cold beneath my bruised and bloodied feet. 
 
 There was a latch, broken, and the gate swung open with a small creak. *Of course it's open, * I thought, horror films playing through my head as I told myself how stupid it would be to crawl inside. 
 
 The small semicircular tunnel I found insight was dimly lit by small blue-ish flickering LEDs set in the moss-covered stone. As I shuffled forward on my hands and knees I peered into the heavy dark, and realized there was a lump of something round halfway through the hall. 
 
 As I came closer I saw it was a person. Well, more accurately it looked like a body. 
 
 The lights were all but out here, save one that flickered hesitantly over the crumpled figure. 
 
 Some part of me noticed that I could n't hear my name in my own head any more, but my attention was elsewhere. 
 
 Pale skin, bruised and wan was wrapped in dark rags soaked in blood. Tangled hair too dirty to tell the color of pasted itself around a mouth frozen in a silent scream, and wide eyes stared blankly up into nothing. 
 
 My eyes, I realized. The figure before me was my twin. The hair on the back of my neck stood as I began to panic. 
 
 Her hands darted out like cobras, reaching up and behind her to clutch my face in a vise-like grip. She gasped a rasping breath, her eyes focusing to stare into mine as I screamed in terror. 
 
 Try as I might, I could n't pull away. Her hands held me still with the jealous intensity of death itself. She forced my eyes to hers as she rasped out a single word. 
 
 *'' Lara. `` * 
 
 And as I watched her die, I also felt her die. By this I do n't mean I felt something slip away, but rather I felt something join with me. 
 
 It's been three days, and I can not stop the voices. At first I thought they were the thoughts of my neighbors, but now l know they're not. 
 
 Listen to me when I tell you that we're not the only ones. There is n't some benevolent Government keeping birth rates under control by taking pregnant women and making sure twins stay separate from each other. We are sheep in a fold. I am one of 1,576 Laras, and I can hear the rest. 
 
 Find your twins. Find yourself. I hope you're stronger than I am. Goodbye.
