Ivy's Second Shadow

Chapter 15- THE KNIFE

I woke up in my bedroom with my head hurting like a million blocks falling into hundreds of pieces. The room was all bungled up and so was my mind. My legs were maimed with spasms of pain intoxicating my brain with this wave of hurt. There were bruises painted all over me and my head was bleeding. The room was locked and I couldn't hear a sign of life in the whole house. Were my parents okay? Was Harry alright? What is a knife in blood doing in my room? How did Kash's Dad get killed? Where did my second shadow go? All these questions brushed through my head rubbing against my cerebrum. 

I stood up feeling like I lost my whole body overwhelmed in pain as I looked at the floor in a minty white color. There was only one shadow stuck there like always and my second one was nowhere in sight. I could see a vase broken and a few things ripped apart. The curtains were penetrated with holes and the glass of the window panes were broken. I opened the door and saw nobody in the house. What was even happening?

"Harry! Mom! Dad?!" I screamed falling on the floor in helplessness. Could anyone tell me what was to be done? 

Feeling so helpless is the worst feeling in the world. It feels like all the strings stitching your life into a fabric just breaks and tears you into pieces leaving you with nothing but useless tears to cry. I sat up straight trying to figure out what to do. I looked at the phone kept on the coffee table. Could I call the police or some ambulance to heal me...At least, my head stopped bleeding which gave me a relief to stay alive. I had to stay alive and survive this. 

I crawled on the floor gently trying to reach my hand to the phone. The phone vibrated and I threw it on the floor like a reflex action. I could feel some magnetic spark that repulsed causing me to drop it. I saw a note with that familiar handwriting from none other than my second shadow-

My dearest Ivy, 

I know you have a lot of questions. I know you don't have the courage to know the answers to them and even if, you figure them out...I'm pretty sure that it would be too late. So, I've written this beautiful poem for you because I think that poetry would be a better way to say this all. At least, you'll get a little piece of entertainment in this horror show I made for you-

You cannot escape from this labyrinth which has no exit

And you are a puppet fluttering on my strings playing a skit

I've been rehearsing for years and now you're the one covered in blood

And you want to stay away from me but you're scared like you should. 

You don't know about the knife kept in your room like a clueless kid

But I made you do something which you would deny but you sadly did

A huge crime worth going to jail for and it will hurt the one that you love

And you must be remembering me who pierced you with scratches and shoves. 

The knife in the room killed his dad as you held it with your hands

And now you're in a situation where nothing would be at your level to understand.

You are the one who killed his dad and you don't even know about what you've done

And your scars won't able to heal all throughout the dusk as you watch everyone 

Come to know about this nasty secret of yours you have no idea about

And I'll get what I want with no doubt.

I'm so sorry for you but I'm too bad to care. 

Because I'm a thrill made to scare.

-Your second shadow

My eyes watered reading the letter and abruptly, it flew away with some invisible force from my hands out from the window leaving me dumbfounded. 

I killed Kash's dad? 

No way. 

That could not be possible...I thought to myself. When did I even kill him and if I did that, how? Did this ghost possess me to do that? So, the blood on my hands when I had gotten up was Kash's dad's and the knife was the dagger I used? But, why did the ghost make me do that? Why does that shadow of mine want me behind bars and what if Kash comes to know about this? 

I LITERALLY KILLED MY BOYFRIEND'S FATHER and I CANNOT EVEN REMEMBER DOING THAT.

MY PARENTS ARE MISSING, HARRY'S MISSING AND I'M MISSING MY NORMAL LIFE.

All my injuries began to burn even more than before. I could feel some kind of guilt for something I didn't even know that I did. I was afraid that if Kash came to know about the truth, it would become a turmoil. There was no way that I could do this to Kash. He must be so helpless  because losing someone especially the one under the same roof he used to live with just feels so melancholic. I could visualize a scenario where I was holding the dagger and let it go into his dad's heart in the kitchen. Those drops of blood, the last breath he took, his last glimpse of light in the world before eternal darkness, his scream desperate for help, his face...I could see it all but I had not done this. This ghost wants to put me in jail for some indecipherable reason. I don't have any feuds with anyone to such an extent that they would want to see me in jail. And out of all the people, why did the ghost choose to target Kash' dad?

Kash means a lot to me. He is like the one and why did he want to crumple my life with him?

Why does this shadow want to make me his shadow? What does this shadow want from me because I've been a good person? Why does this ghost want me to be the hands doing his forbidden crimes? I ran in a circle of frustration throwing myself on the floor with tears flowing from my eyes and blood cascading from my irreplaceable wounds. It came to my mind looking at my wounds that Kash told me his cameras weren't working, right? So, maybe I have a chance of getting away with a crime I've never committed. I had to go to his house and make sure that the cameras weren't working because killing a lovely boyfriend's dad is a huge offence. I mean, it's crazy to hear that...

I watched my phone on the floor dispersing all the moonlight falling on the screen into a spectrum. I grabbed it and dialed Kash's number.

"Hello!" Kash said breathlessly.

"Kash!" I exclaimed.

"Yes?"

"Are your cameras working?" I asked.

"Yes, my security team was able to retrieve a clip of some girl who barged in through my window and stabbed my dad with a dagger. I'll share it with you to know about your opinion on this," he said.

"How do you know if it's a girl?" I asked.

"Because I can see that it's a teenage girl," he said.

I froze and hung up on the phone. Was I almost going to prison?! Watching my phone, Kash sent me the video clip and I nervously clicked on it. There it was...I could see my face veiled with my hoodie and it was clearly me and I was sure that it wouldn't take long for Kash to recognize me. I had to go and somehow get the clip deleted. I watched myself mercilessly plummeting that knife into his chest in the kitchen and his body lying there lifelessly. That's when it clicked to me that when nobody knew about my whereabouts at the hospital, here I was busy committing a crime?!

Apart from this, I had to find out about where my family was...Did my second shadow do anything to them? I had nobody here to save me...

1. My parents and Harry are missing.
2. My boyfriend Kash is in trauma losing his father and I cannot let him know about what I did to his father unknowingly.
3. I had become a murder with no conscience of doing the above.
4. All my friends were too fake to help me.
5. I was being haunted by a real ghost.

I guess I'm on my own to clean up the mess this stupid second shadow made for me...