Dreams Can Come True

85. The Other Elise

Everything around me was shrouded in impenetrable darkness, a darkness so intense it felt as though I were submerged in an endless black room. The silence was deafening, broken only by the pounding of my own heart, which thumped wildly in my chest like a caged animal.
I tried to organize my thoughts, to control my breathing amid the oppressive silence. But each inhalation seemed to draw more air from the room, and each exhalation brought me closer to the brink of panic. My hands trembled as I stretched them out in front of me, searching for a tangible sign of reality in this apparent void.
Was he seizing his opportunity now, while I lay here helpless? The very idea made my stomach clench with fear. I felt an urgent need to run, to escape this threat, to flee from the darkness that was engulfing me.
I closed my eyes and tried to find calm in this black room, but my thoughts raced on, like wild horses that could not be tamed. Maybe I should just run, keep running until I couldn't anymore, and hope I would never awaken from this nightmare. It was a desperate thought, but at this moment, it seemed the only thing I could do.
I was ready to push off, ready to flee from this unseen threat when suddenly a voice from behind stopped me. It was a soft whisper, hardly more than a breath, but it cut through the silence like a knife.
"Don't," it said, a voice so soft it seemed to come from the depths of my own soul. Confused, I slowly turned around, my senses tense like a drawn bow, ready to react to any threat.
And there she stood, my own reflection, her figure cloaked in the shadows of the darkness. Her presence was a shock, an unexpected twist in this strange and disturbing game being played with my mind.
My heart pounded wildly in my chest as I looked at her, meeting my own eyes in an eerie silence. Her presence felt like an echo of my own fear and confusion, a reflection of the dark thoughts haunting my mind.
I could only stare, my lips trembling with unspoken questions as I tried to understand what was happening. Was this a hallucination, a product of my fevered imagination? Or was this real, a true manifestation of the darkness surrounding me?
Every detail of her appearance slowly sank in, every feature of her face and body that seemed a perfect mirror of my own being. Her eyes, dark and penetrating, seemed to look right through me, as if she could see my deepest fears and doubts with just a glance.
A wave of disbelief washed over me as I looked at her, my mind struggling with the inexplicable apparition standing before me. What was she, this mysterious double that so faithfully mimicked me in this strange, surreal world?

As I gazed at her, the realization slowly dawned on me who she truly was. This was the other Elise, the Elise from the world I was now in. The very thought made my heart pound in my chest as I looked at her, searching for answers in her dark, piercing eyes.
"Elise?" I whispered, my voice barely more than a murmur in the darkness. She nodded slowly as she stepped closer, her figure enveloped in the shadows of the darkness. What was this? What was happening?
"What is this?" I asked her, my voice trembling with uncertainty. She took my hand and looked me straight in the eyes, her gaze resolute and penetrating.
"You're so scared you want to shift to your own world," she said, her voice calm but insistent. I nodded slowly, my thoughts spinning with confusion and fear. David. It was all his fault, his manipulations that had brought me here, into this strange and unsettling situation.
"David, he is currently..." I whispered softly, unable to finish my sentence, my thoughts returning to the man who had brought me here.
"I know," she said firmly, her voice filled with determination. "But don't let that blowhard scare you. He wants me, and we're not going to give him that."
I swallowed hard, my throat dry with fear and uncertainty. "But how can I escape from here?" I asked her, my voice a whisper in this uncertain situation.
She forced me to look at her, her eyes boring into mine with an intensity that almost overwhelmed me. "You must be strong, Elise," she said emphatically. "You can't let him win. If you shift now, and go back to your world, you'll lose Bill forever. Is that what you want?"
A wave of panic washed over me at the thought of losing Bill, of living without him by my side. "No!" I cried out, my voice filled with fear and despair. "I don't want to lose Bill. No, please..." My words died in the air as I fought against the tears burning behind my eyes.
"Shortly, you will wake up in David's apartment," she said, her voice soft but resolute. "Wait for the moment he leaves you alone, find the keys to get outside, and run for your life."
But I wanted to protest, to ask questions, to voice my fears. What if I failed? What if I wasn't strong enough?
"But I'll never make it," I began to argue, my voice trembling with doubt.
She nodded understandingly, her hand resting on my shoulder as a sign of support and solidarity. "You won't lose, Elise," she assured me, her voice a comforting balm for my tormented soul. "But you have to fight, you have to be strong."
Before I could say or do anything, she gave me a gentle tap on my forehead, a gesture of trust and encouragement. "As soon as you get the chance, run," she said, her voice filled with determination. And with that, she seemed to fade into the darkness, her presence a fleeting reminder of the strength I needed to find within myself to survive.