Reflection - Book 1 of the Leila Series

Chapter 1

I regret everything. It's going too far. All the chaos, it's just too much for me. I want to rewind time back to when everything was perfect for me. I had a happy family, an awesome boyfriend, great friends. How could all of that get ruined? It's just..it's so hard to understand.

Leila Cori is running. She's running from the cops, from her boyfriend, from what's left of her life. She has tears in her eyes as she runs. She passes her old house and more tears come. A few more blocks and the cops would lose her. The sirens from their cars are chasing her, making her run even faster. She wipes the tears and all the sadness away and concentrates on running. Leila takes a right turn and another left turn. One block left and she would be hidden, then she can show that piece of shit what it just did to her. The road gets narrow and Leila smirks when she hears the sirens getting softer. She takes a sharp right turn into the 'dark alley' and falls to the ground, her arms and knees touching the damp soil. She pants and pants as she regains her energy.

A few minutes later, the sirens go away and Leila stands up, happy to have lost the cops. She could always count on the 'dark alley' to save her. She leans against the brick wall of the alley and waits for that person to show up. A few moments, she finally shows up. "Wow! That was some serious shit back there! That was fun right? It makes you feel better, doesn't it?" Fury courses through Leila and she screams, "What were you thinking?! How could you frame me like that? I told you I didn't want to do it! I just- I want to strangle you so badly right now! What the fuck are you? Why can't you just leave me alone? I just want to be alone!" Leila feels so dumb, talking to someone who looks so much like her and yet completely different on the inside. She's got the same brownish-black hair as Leila, except there's no brown in it at all. She always wears the same clothes Leila is wearing and she's as tan as Leila. The only difference is that she has a tattoo on her wrist that looks like a water ripple. "I thought you wanted to do it, so I did it for you. How was I supposed to know that he would call the cops? I can't the predict the future, Leila," the girl says, a little alarmed. "I never wanted you to do anything! I don't even want you! You have given me nothing but trouble and trouble and trouble! What the hell are you?!" Leila screams even louder at the girl. "I can't say," the girl softly speaks, keeping her head down. Leila groans angrily and walks up and down the 'dark alley'. Leila has learnt that the girl always appears when she's having a bad moment, or a good moment. She remembers how the girl changed from being a voice in her head to a very realistic figure of imagination. The very weird thing is that the girl can interact with things like she's a normal human but whenever someone walks to the girl, they don't see her at all and just goes through her. Leila was very scared of the girl the first few months she came to be, but then she got used to the girl and just went along with it, hoping she would disappear.

Leila shouts into the night sky and tries to punch the girl but her fist just goes through the girl. Leila shouts again, this time at the brick wall. The girl just stands there, silently watching Leila take her anger out on everything and sighs sadly. Five full minutes later, Leila manages to calm down and slides down to the ground, with her back against the brick wall. "Why are you still here? Shouldn't you be doing your vanishing act?" Leila asks the girl sternly. The girl shakes her head and says, "For some reason, I feel I am meant to stay with you, so I am not leaving." Leila looks between her legs at the soil and simply says," Well if you won't leave you can just stay there while I leave. I won't talk to you until you tell me what you are." With that, Leila stands up and starts to walk out of the alley, away from the girl.

"Wait." The girl puts her hand on Leila's shoulder to stop her. "I'm waiting," Leila says, sarcastically. "I-I am you. The other half of you.The half every person hides," the girl says. Leila furrows her eyebrows in confusion and asks," What?" All the girl says is, "I am your Reflection."