The World of My Dreams

The Duplicate

I wake up, blinking the sleep out of my eyes. As I come to my vision starts to clear. My body automatically moves to get up, and I see I'm no longer in my room.

The room looks rustic, with wooden walls and furniture. It looks like I may be in a cabin house of some sort. I spot a mirror across the room and decide to take a look at what I look like. For some reason, I am hardly ever myself in my dreams. I was a little surprised this time, as this person looked a bit more unique than most. I was a little girl that seemed to be around 10 years old. Long, wavy, white hair hangs down my back, all the way down to my knees. Silver, doe-like eyes stare back at me framed by long, white lashes. This girl is very fair-skinned, and had a natural blush that gave some life to her pale skin. Truly unique and beautiful, I have never embodied such a character before.

As I explore the cabin, the girl's memories start to flood in. This poor girl was living such a sad existence. Her family loathed her for no known reason and forced her to live in this small cabin alone in the woods, about a mile from the main house. She also looked very different from her family, as if she wasn't related at all. It made me wonder if that was a clue as to why her family treated her so terribly. They hardly visited her, and she was banned from approaching the main house. They only ever visited to torment the girl.

I examine the body I'm in, and I can see scars and bruises cover her small and frail body. It was also clear she often starved based off the emaciation of this body. Emotion welled up within me at the sight. My feelings of pity, mixed with the lingering feelings of shame and sadness left by this body's owner, overwhelm me.

As the day goes by, nothing too eventful happens. I sifted through her memories for a while, and discovered that at least one of her sisters, Adelaide, cared for her to an extent. Adelaide was the second youngest child, aside from the girl I occupied. Adelaide always treated this girl kindly when no one was around. I also discovered this bodys name. Anastasia, a fitting name in my opinion. This girl looked like a princess.

As evening comes around, I decide to sit out on the small porch and watch the sunset. It looked beautiful out in these woods. I sat there for a while, feeling peaceful. But eventually I started to feel a certain eeriness to it. I felt a bit uneasy, as if I was being watched. I decided to head inside and lock up. I ate some of what little food was here before heading to the bathroom to take a bath hoping it would calm me down. As I sit in the bathtub, I wonder what the purpose of this dream is. Usually something would have happened by now.

I sat with my head in my knees, thinking about how long this dream will be. I've already been here an entire day, though I know that's not the case in real life. After a while, I lift my head and notice the water is starting to look milky white, then fog-like smoke starts to rise and the water starts to bubble. I quickly get out, and wrap a towel around me. I stare at the bubbling water, terrified but not able to move. I was frozen to the spot as I watched an exact duplicate of Anastasia rise out of the water. There was only one difference. The expression on its face. It was wearing a wide, eerie grin with its eyes opened so wide they looked like they were bugging out. It doesn't speak, nor does it move. We just stood there, staring at each other. I quickly get dressed, not taking my eyes off the thing for a second.

After dressing, the thing still hasn't moved. I decided to try talking to it. "Do you want some clothes?" I ask considering the thing was still naked. It simply tilts its head to the side, with the same creepy expression. I exit the bathroom, backing away to keep my eyes on the door. The thing exits as well, sending me into a brief panic. It doesn't do anything except follow me though. I hand it some clothes, avoiding touching its hands in the process. It looks at them as if confused for a moment, though it still had that creepy grin on its face. It was as if it's smile was permanent. It then looks at me and it stares at the clothes I wear. As if just now understanding what they were for, it slowly dressed itself. I didn't really know why I was helping it, but I didn't know what else to do either. I tried speaking to it again.

"What are you? Why are you here?" Again, the thing doesn't say anything, just simply stares with that creepy expression. Not once has it dropped that expression, it was extremely disturbing. I didn't feel comfortable being in such a small room with the thing, it made me feel trapped so I moved to the living room. I sat on one of the couches, and the thing sat opposite to me on the other small couch. After what felt like hours, I was startled by the sound of footsteps. It must be the family, they only ever came around at this time. I never thought I'd feel relief to know those horrible people would be here.

The things head snapped to the door once the footsteps got closer. Its eyes then focus on me with a predatory gaze, sending chills down my spine. Almost immediately I dodge to the side as it leaps towards me, with sharp nails extended. The thing was inhumanly fast, and I knew I wasn't going to be able to last long at this pace. I scream for help, hoping the family will come inside. Before I can run to the door the thing blocks it, their eyes filled with excitement, as if this was nothing but a fun game to it. I realize the thing could have killed me easily, and the only reason I'm alive is because it's messing with me.

"Why are you doing this? You don't have to do this, so please! Just let me go!" I tried to plead and reason with it. Then, for the first time, the thing laughs, but it doesn't answer. It's manic laugh cuts off abruptly, and then it's back to that god awful sickening smile. I wonder why the family hasn't entered yet, but all I can do is pray they will soon.

My senses have never been sharper than in this moment. I felt as if I could see, hear, smell, and sense everything around me. I feel fear and adrenaline take over me. With my sharpened senses, it feels as if time has slowed down. It's a strange feeling. Because of this, I was able to avoid the most deadly attacks, taking a few hits that still hurt like hell. The pain feels very real, and not for the first time I'm wishing I didn't dream like this.

After a minute of back and forth, the thing became noticeably agitated. It screamed with fury in its eyes as it moved even faster than before. It started to become hard to keep up. As the thing lunges at me again, I know I won't be able to dodge it this time. I was exhausted, and the adrenaline was wearing off. I stand there, ready to accept this death. I've experienced death many times in my dreams. I know I'll just wake up in my bed. But the fear is real, and the feeling of a false death is extremely unpleasant. Just as I came to terms with it, the thing was shot mid-air. The shot was powerful enough to send the thing flying back into the coffee table, splitting the wooden top. It doesn't stay down long, and starts to stand back up almost immediately.

I take a moment to look at who it was that saved me. To my surprise, it was Adelaide. I could see the terror on her face as she readied another shot. Such a small girl carrying a large shotgun was the hero. The sight was a little comical. The thing stood up, black viens marring the pale skin, and it was breathing heavily as it charged at Adelaide. Again, Adelaide shot the thing, knocking it out of the air for the second time. The moment was surreal, and I couldn't help but laugh. It seemed that the thing was finally dead this time. It gurgled for a little bit before melting into water and leaving a mess behind.

We both stared at the spot in silence for a long time before turning to each other. Just as I was about to say something to her, the family burst through the door.

"What is going on here? Why are you holding a gun Adelaide? Were you the one that fired off those shots?!" their mother screamed, showing only concern for Adelaide as she rushed to her and checked for injuries.

"You could have been hurt! What in God's name were you thinking?!" It wasn't long before the mother turned to me. "It's you! You're a disgrace to this family, but yet we were kind enough to give you a place to stay! And this is how you repay us?! I will not let you taint my Adelaide with your filthy ways, you're just like your whore of a mother!" The two brothers mostly watched from the side, checking on Adelaide and occasionally backing their mother up.

As the woman continued screaming at me with rage to get out and never come back, Adelaide pleading with her in the background, my vision begins to fade. The world spins before everything goes dark. I blink open my eyes and I'm back in my room, alarm going off. I quickly shut it off and scribble down my dream before I go about my day. Just another dream for the pages.