Forgotten (2018 Open Novella Contest/LoT Fanfic)

Chapter 9: The Darkness Within

Desperate to save her friend, Jasmine knocked out the nearest guard, dragged him in an empty closet, took his clothes and his gun, and transformed into him. When she opened the door of the closet she found Nate standing there along with Jax and Stein. Before they could attack her, she pulled out her amulet from underneath the collar of her shirt to prove to her teammates that it was just her. The three men sighed in relief and lowered their weapons while Jasmine told them the plan. All three nodded and Jasmine dragged Nate down the basement hallway as if he were unconscious.

"Look who I found lurking around," she said with a forced smirk. She had gained the voice of the gang member who she had shifted into and it was creeping her out.

"Excellent," one of the men responded. In fact it was the same creepy man who Jasmine, Amaya, and Sara had sat with. "Our master will be pleased."

"Yes she will be," a girl responded with a smirk, walking out from the shadows to the center of the room. Jasmine and Nate nearly passed out from surprise when they realized who it was— Jasmine's doppelgänger. Before Jasmine could even see her, she knew that she was there. For some reason, she could sense her. And now she was terrified that her "evil twin" could sense her.

Earth-1 Jasmine—who would only respond to "Master," Lord," and "Goddess" from her subjects, but her friends called her Jazzy— did recognize that her doppelgänger was in the room but she couldn't figure out where. She knew that her enemy was a shapeshifter, which would only make her job harder, but she had been waiting for years to take her down.

"Alright, you, tie him up," Jazzy said, pointing to Jasmine. She nodded before helping Nate up and kicking one of the men in the face. The others immediately started firing at her but Nate turned into steel and jumped in front of her, shielding her from the bullets. Jasmine picked up a chair and broke it over someone's back—a move that she knew Mick would be proud of—before picking up the guy's gun.

"I think your time's up, boss," she said, still in the form of a man. Now that she knew her doppelgänger was there and had a leg up on her, she couldn't reveal her identity. Jazzy laughed maniacally, a high pitched sound that reverberated through the room.

"Oh Jeremy," she said with a sigh. "You were one of my favorite assistants. It's a shame that you went against me. Unless...." She grabbed her doppelgänger into a chokehold and lifted the totem out from under her neckline.

"Jasmine. I've been looking forward to meeting you," she said with a mischievous grin.

"Funny. I wish I could say the same thing about you," Jasmine croaked, shifting back into herself. Once her doppelgänger saw the totem Jasmine knew that there was no denying who she was. "What do you want, sweetheart? Because if it's my life, I'm sure as hell not giving it to you."

"Oh, sweet innocent Jasmine," her doppelgänger clucked, shaking her head. "You have so much to learn, but I'm afraid you don't have much time." Jasmine snorted and transformed into a bird, quickly escaping away from her enemy's chokehold. Jasmine transformed back and gestured for Nate to untie Ray and join the others upstairs, which they both reluctantly did.

"I'm not so sure of that," Jasmine snarled to Jazzy. Her totem started to glow and she transformed into her signature silver wolf, launching herself at the girl.

"You're tougher than I thought, Chosen One, I'll give you that. But don't think that because you have powers you're going to beat me. Might as well just give up now and get it over with."

The wolf growled and ran her claws through her enemies throat. Jasmine had pushed back all of her human instincts and was letting the wolf take over, because she knew she would give up if she hadn't. Jazzy whipped out a knife from her belt and embedded it into the wolf's chest. Crimson fluid quickly soaked the wolf's shiny fur coat but she ignored the pain and lunged at her enemy once more.