Isla
'He calls me the devil, I make him wanna sin. Every time I knock, he can't help but let me in.' I followed the sound of music in a pavilion I had visited many times in my dreams. 'Must be homesick for the real, I'm the realist it gets.' I passed many tanks and enclosures lit with a red light. 'You probably still adore me.' I turned to face an empty enclosure. 'With my hands around your neck.' I watched a pair of delicate hands encircle my neck in my reflection. I turned around but nobody was there. 'Can you feel the warmth, yeah. 'Cause my kiss goes down you like some sweet alcohol.' I stopped by another enclosure to see it was April that was singing. 'Where I'm coming from, yeah, is the darker side of me that makes you feel so numb.' She combed her fingers through her hair as she danced suggestively. Her crimson eyes met my own and she reached out with her hand, coaxing me closer. I stepped forward and her hand slipped through the glass like water, grabbing me by the collar before pulling me inside.
'Cause we're hot like hell, does it burn when I'm not there?' At first I thought it was my reflection singing and dancing, but then I realised that I was now inside the enclosure. I held my hands up to my face to find them speckled with red freckles. They weren't mine. 'When you're by yourself, am I the answer to your prayers.' I watched my body dance away from the enclosure. I rushed to the glass window, pushing against it with all my might. I banged my fists with April's body but it was no use. 'I'm giving you the pleasure of heaven, and I'll give it you.' The voice faded as I struggled with the claustrophobic enclosure. I began hyperventilating, falling into the water filling the bottom of the tank. 'Hotter than hell, hotter than hell.' The words repeated over and over as the water rose, sealing my fate.
"Hotter than hell!" I opened my eyes to April singing in the shower. My dreams were getting far more disturbing and I really wasn't a fan of the horror show.
I climbed out of bed; my head feeling heavy as I absently gathered a towel before waiting my turn for a shower. It wasn't long before the water stopped running and the door swung open. April padded out with her towel wrapped around herself, taking one glance in my direction before screaming like she was on fire.
"What?" I asked her as she backed away, her face drawn and pale. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
April's eyebrows furrowed. "Isla?"
"Yeah."
"This is insane." April slowly approached.
"What are you on about?"
April stopped before me, taking both my hands in hers. She held them up so our palms were pressed against each other below our faces. It took me a moment to realise that our hands looked exactly the same, just like in my dream.
"Holy fuck." I couldn't believe it.
April fished out her phone, holding the camera to my face so I could see it with my own eyes.
"I look good from the back." April studied the body I was trapped in.
"How could this happen?" I grabbed huge lengths of red hair from my head, which was weighing me down considerably. "How do you hold your head up?"
"Considerable effort." April moved to stand before me once more. "I thought you were a doppelganger for a moment."
"What's a doppelganger?"
"It's a ghostly double of a person and is a very bad omen." She stepped forward to hold my shoulders. "But it looks like we have a shapeshifter in our midst."
"I have to tell Anna." I declared.
"No, you can't tell anyone." April squeezed my shoulders with her talon like nails.
YOU ARE READING
DUCHAS (The Drive Within, Book 2 in Baile series)
FantasyA lot has happened since Isla and her friends assumed their supernatural abilities and in the second half of the year more secrets will unravel, powers will enhance and lives will be put on the line. The stakes have never been more high as the story...
