The Benthic Zone

Chapter 1

“Our life expresses the result of our dominant thoughts.” That’s what I’d always hear from my parents and teachers. They would always make me believe that everything that has happened, or will ever happen, in my life is a result of that tiny voice in my head that pops out to take over whenever I’m silently reading or thinking something over in my head. But after hearing that quote numerous times for 19 years, it’s often got me thinking a few questions: What if that one single voice isn’t the cause of our actions? What if our dominant thoughts weren’t always responsible for the outcomes? What if somewhere there in our heads, other thoughts or voices are trying to take over? What if we were more than just one soul in one vessel? What if there were others?

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Light as a feather. That’s what my body felt like. It felt weightless as I feel myself slowly falling down to the depths of an unknown area, the light everywhere around me slowly fading as it starts to lose to darkness. I didn’t know what happened next. I’ve just lost consciousness.

“Hello? Where am I? And why is it so dark in here? Geez, have you guys even heard of a light switch?” I retorted as I finally came to, waking up to nothing but darkness. I instantly got up on my feet, taking the moment to walk around and see if I’d end up anywhere else other than Pitch Black’s room.

“Amelia..” A soft voice echoed, causing me to stop. Clenching my fists, I gave my surroundings a good look. No one was there. Funny, because I was absolutely sure I heard something back then. Shrugging it off, I took a deep breath and slapped myself before walking off once more. It was only about a few minutes after when I heard the same voice of a man call out to me, making me stop a second time. “Amelia..”

“If this is a prank, stop it! This is not funny!” I yelled at the dark, not really sure what or who I was scolding. The voice kept calling out to me, soon growing louder by the moment as if the owner of the voice was slowly approaching me. And then suddenly, it stopped. Everything fell dead quiet for a second.

“Amelia..” The hairs on my arm began to stand up the moment I felt someone’s cold hand rest gently on shoulder, feeling soft breaths against my neck. My heart was practically racing right now. If he didn’t keep calling out my name, then I’m pretty sure that he would’ve been able to hear my heart go off wildly.

“What do you want..?” I gulped, my voice coming out timidly rather than demandingly before taking the courage to turn around and face the man. He was taller than me, a guy somewhere in his early 20’s like me. He had dirty blonde hair and striking blue eyes. And if it honestly wasn’t for his unusual pale skin color and odd stare, then I think would’ve ended up being attracted to him.

“..Get up..” He said lowly. I blinked, staring at him with confusion as I tilted my head lightly to the side. What did he just say?

“E-excuse me?”

“..Amelia..get up.. Get up..” His voice grew louder, and suddenly, it wasn’t his anymore. It was of a familiar girl’s. And with a blink of an eye, a bright light overcomes the darkness and the man disappears along with my sleep.

“Amelia, get up, you lazy slug! We’re going to be late!” A shrill voice comes booming from my corner. I open my eyes and expected to see a tall figure, with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. Instead, I saw my roommate, Margaux. She was a head shorter than me, and had a pink, skull hair clip clamping the corner of her hair. ‘So it was just another dream.’, I thought.