Worlds Apart

Two

Chapter 2 - All These Years

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The cold brisk air surrounds me as I walk the pavement. Looking into shop windows as I strolled along, the local townspeople walking past me going about their daily lives.

I stop in front of one of the stores and peer through the glass door, glancing over the items inside. I decide to enter the store, removing my gloves and putting them in my pocket as I do. My eyes scan the items around the shop as I slowly head up to the counter.

"Hi there, can I help you today?" The shop assistant smiles at up me as I place my hands on the counter, looking down upon the garments.

"No, no, I'm just browsing thank you." I smile back, lightly flipping the silk underwear in front of me.

The lady continues to fix the clothes that laid on the counter top, occasionally glancing back over to me. My fingertips brush over the smooth fabric, admiring the neat craftsmanship of the pants. As I flip through the items, I fix my eyes on a soft lilac pair.

I pull them closer to me and turn them round, viewing the back for a brief moment before flipping back to the front of them. I admire the white delicate lacing that accompanied the pastel colours.

All of a sudden a foreign view appears in my eyes, fuzzy and distant but still so close. I blink a few times, hoping to clear away the unusual feeling but it wouldn't stray from me. I could feel my chest getting tighter as my eyes continued to adjust between my sight and the foreign one.

"What the fuck?"

"Wait what?" I blurt out, spinning around the room frantically looking around to see who said that.

"What?"

"What?" The panic begins to settle through me as I hear the voice once more. "Who said that?" I look up at the store clerk and watch as her head spins round for a split second, clearly confused by my actions.

"Who is this?"

"Stop. Stop it. Stop!" I bury my head in my hands before promptly rushing out of the store and back into the cool winter air.

"Oh, oh shit."

"Stop. Stop it. Okay just stop it. Stop!" I rush a few doors down and lean against a store window, trying to take deep long breaths.

"Shut up!"

A hard silence falls upon me as I continue to feel my shaky breaths through my chest, wondering what on Earth was going on.

"Wait can you hear me? Who the hell are you?"

"Oh god. Oh god. I don't understand. W- Who are you?" I gently smack on the window next to me, raising my head and looking in through the glass, thankful that the store was closed.

"Hey I asked you first! Hold on, am I... Am I looking into a store window?"

"Yes. Yeah, I am." I continue to take deep breaths in, steadying myself along the window.

"Wait, are you me?"

"What? No! No! You're in my head. You're in my goddamn head! Oh shit, I'm loosing it right now." My body begins to sink down to the ground, feeling like I'm loosing all sense and rationality.

"Well what can you see right now?"

I focus my sight onto the foreign location, looking at the items that surrounded me. "You- You're in a room. There's an array of unusual artifacts in front of you."