Shadow's Mark (Currently Being Edited)

Chapter 11: Seeing Double

My eyes slowly peeled opened as I stared blankly at the night sky above me. I smiled faintly as I realized I no longer felt pain.

I got up to sit and glanced around. I was still in the forest, but now it was completely dark. There were no stars or moon in the night sky, yet I could see perfectly clear as if it were daytime.

When I glanced to where the hikers stood surrounding me, I was shocked  to find dark shadow clouds, far more sinister-looking than my regular shadow cloud.

I must be in a dream, I immediately figured out.

Just then, a thick feeling in my gut compelled me to turn around. And when I did, I saw the shadow cloud--the original one, the one I first encountered in my dream at the football field. It was standing a few feet away from me. The strange feeling in my gut was still present as it led me to suddenly walk towards the shadow cloud.

My mind was screaming like it had once before in my first dream. It yelled at the rest of me to stop. To turn around and haul out of there.

But my body was saying a completely different thing. It was telling me to approach the dark, hooded figure. To not be afraid because I had nothing to fear, just like my grandma told me. I paused, closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm my beating heart.

Embrace it.

When I opened my eyes again, I stepped directly in front of the shadow cloud, determined to face whatever was to come head on. As I looked forward, I noticed something strange. The shadow cloud was gone. Instead, in its place was the figure of a person donning a long, black robe. The hood of their robe casted a shadow over their face so it was as if their face was just an abyss of darkness.

Weird.

Suddenly, two hands that looked more human than shadowy reached into the deep folds of the robe. Before I could react or scream, those same hands returned, slipping out what appeared to be a sword.

Whoa.

It was the same sword from the shower stall. I recognized the shiny, sharp edges and those black markings on the side.

The mysterious robe-donning figure began to hand me the sword. I remained glued to my spot, a bit uncertain. But after a few moments of hesitation, I took the hilt of the sword in my hand and held it upright as it glowed brightly. It felt good to have it in my grasp once again. Like it was always meant to be there. I gazed up at the hooded person and watched as their hands reached for the hood that cloaked their identity. I found myself holding my breath with anticipation, waiting for a face to be revealed.

I then heaved a deep breath of shock.

Instead of the shadow cloud's red eyes, I saw a pair of light brown ones.

They were my eyes.

The person standing in front of me was me. Or, at least, someone who looked exactly like me. The same wavy, brown hair and brown eyes.

Uncanny!

"Wh-who are you?" I managed to stammer.

She simply smiled in reply. Oddly enough, her smile made it seem as if she was proud of me or something.

I was about to ask my doppelgänger just what the heck was going on when suddenly, a hair-raising shriek filled the air. The direction of the sound seemed to be coming from the shadow creatures that surrounded us. Without realization, my right hand held the sword upright in a tight grip.

I immediately turned to my look-alike twin for suggestions on what to do next and saw her scowling at the shadow creatures. She then gave me a stern look and started pointing her head in their direction as if telling me to go handle them.

I shot her back with a look that said how the hell do I manage that?

She then glanced down at the sword I was gripping tightly in my hand.

I looked towards me, er, the other me, as she nodded in response, giving me a look that seemed to say 'You're ready'.

A low whisper reverberated softly in my ear. A voice.

The light in the darkest night.

It sounded like my gramma's voice and I smiled at the warmth and glow of her words.

Then, out of nowhere, there was a flash of light and I shut my eyes at the sudden brightness.

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Hey, guys!

So, yeah this chapter is awfully shorter than the rest, but don't worry..I'll make up for it in the next one!

Love you!

-E