The Second Me: Jonathan

Chapter 3

Dawn hobbled all the way, carrying the few-tonnes heavy book to the nearest desk from the bookshelf. She ran her fingers through the crumpled and pages that had turned yellow and brown due to the book being almost a "bi-century" old. Dawn flipped open the rough black-leathered covering of the book and flipped through numerous pages, tracing her fingers through lines of lines of words, as if she was searching for something. She frantically flipped through every page until she stopped and hesitated, before shouting, "I knew it! This had a close relationship with you!"

Jonathan was confused. He peeked at the contents within the books. "The devil comes out every 1000 years to 'play' with a kid. A written report shows that the last time the devil possessed a kid and created a copy of him was in circa AD 1016. He creates a exact looking copy of the victim out of souls and dead bones, with great similarity for the child, often tricking people. To differentiate these ghouls and the real ones, a person must..." Dawn stopped. There was a huge tear at the corner of the book. "Aww shucks, the page is torn, I can't read it any further!"

Jonathan was seriously confused. "This sounds too exaggerated. Are you saying that I've been possessed by the demon? Is there anything wrong with you?" Jonathan put his hand onto Dawn's forehead.

Dawn pushed his hands away and flipped to the next page. "Here they says: to be sure, the victim would not have any shadows when standing below a light." Dawn dashed towards the nearest light source, while Jonathan promptly followed behind. Jonathan peeked down at his own body. There was no shadow! Jonathan rubbed his eyes again and decided to look at Dawn. Dawn, however, had her shadow casted on the ground. "Dawn, the myth was... Correct..." Jonathan put his hand on Dawn and shriek in pure horror. Jonathan wad very worried. What have he ever offended Satan? Why is Satan after him?

Nevertheless, the night crackled and Dawn and Jonathan had to turn in at a cheap motel for the next day; as they still had school and truancy was a punishable sin. As they stepped out of the library, darkness engulfed them the surrounding. Howling of wolves rang in Jonathan's eardrums. The only thing glistering in the darkness was the white, round moon and the flickering neon sign of "Motel 81". They had no choice but to walk towards there.

At the doorstep of the motel, there was entirely no sound; except for the reverberating sound howls of wolves. There was just a faint candle flame flickering in the porch of Motel 81. Jonathan hesitated to press the doorbell, but Dawn, a brave soul, finger immediately dashed towards the doorbell. Through the intercom, a cat screeched, making Jonathan jump a little. Dawn let out a giggle and laughed at him, "Coward."

A voice was heard in the intercom, "Hello, fellow guests. To enter this motel for a free stay, please solve this riddle."
"O-okay..?" replied Jonathan. This felt like the Literature class Jonathan took, and was his forte, ace-ing every tests and exams.

"I am always around,
but never seen.
I am often avoided,
but you can't out run me.
For I will come when you're old and grey,
or maybe even the very next day.
I will come with cold embrace,
and give you rest with a chilled kiss on your face.
I come in may forms of emotional state,
whether it's irony, love, laughter, or hate.
I am everyone's finale fate.
What am I?"

Jonathan pondered the answer. This riddle was indeed hard! When Jonathan was squeezing his brain juices out, and pulling his hair off, Dawn suddenly spoke into the intercom promptly, "Death."

"Ooo-hoo-hoo-hoo. This young lady is indeed smart! You two may enter!" The intercom cackled. Dawn grabbed onto the golden doorknob, but to everyone's surprise, the doorknob dropped! Dawn was in a daze. After recovering her 5 senses, she put the doorknob into her bag and pushed the creaky door open. "What are you going to do with this doorknob?" Jonathan asked curiously. "Shut up!" Dawn stormed into the motel.