The Echoes

VII

 "Tag, you're it!" Julia squealed, darting off across the room.

Clara pursued her, laughing, her footsteps echoing through the empty white room. 0-1, Mark, and Evie sat nearby, talking about grown-up stuff. Julia couldn't hear what they were saying, but it sounded like they were happy. Even 0-1 had one of those ghost-smiles on his lips.

With her eyes trained on the 3 E-Ops, Julia stopped paying attention where she was going, and somehow tripped over her own foot. She spread her arms out in front of her and landed painfully on the ground, spraining her wrist. Julia's short squeal of pain drew everyone's attention.

"Julia, come here," called Evie.

Julia sprang back onto her feet and ran towards Evie, shaking her wrist and wincing at the pain. She did not cry or make a big fuss over her injuries. Throughout her life, such behavior had only gotten disapproval. If she cried after getting hurt, Evie would send her away, refusing to look at the injury until she calmed down. The same applied to Clara, and so from a very young age both girls learned to report their injuries in a calm and professional manner.

Evie took Julia's wrist and gently flexed it, gauging her reactions to determine the extent of the injury.

"How many times have I told you, you have to break that habit!" Mark admonished, "When you fall forward you need to roll to break your momentum. In the worst case you have to break-fall like I taught you. But throwing out your hands is just a good way to break a wrist."

"Sorry," Julia mumbled.

"Sorry is not enough," 0-1 intoned, "Fix it."

Julia nodded her assent, but her eyes were drawn to Evie, who had suddenly frozen in place, staring wide-eyed at something on the ground. Julia followed her gaze, and also froze in horror at what she saw.

Mark and 0-1's shadows were not their own.

Julia looked up to where Mark and 0-1 were sitting. They both looked the same, but now she felt that something was irrevocably wrong with them. She couldn't explain what, but they were different, not themselves.

Evie grabbed a hold of Julia, shot to her feet, and ran, grabbing Clara along the way and bursting through the door, running through a narrow hallway. Julia looked back and saw Mark and 0-1 in hot pursuit, barrelling down the hall after them at full speed.

Evie scooped a girl under each arm and leaped down a level, landing inside a dark tunnel. She landed hard, but turned her body so that she took the brunt of the impact, shielding both of the girls from harm. Evie did not dwell upon the pain, but immediately bounced up, dragged the girls to their feet, and took off again, running faster than Julia had ever seen her before, towards the bright light at the end of the tunnel.

Julia looked back once more. As fast as Evie was, 0-1 and Mark were faster, and slowly but surely they were gaining ground, edging closer and closer, a murderous glint in their eyes. Julia looked ahead again, and realized, with a sinking feeling, that they wouldn't make it.

Clara evidently realized this too. Suddenly, she detached from Evie and Julia, spinning around to face Mark and 0-1. Evie stopped in her tracks, and reached out to grab Clara, but Clara shoved them both away, all the way out of the exit, with a telekinetic blast.

"Go!" Clara screamed. Evie screamed back, but her words were lost in a roar of wind as the tunnel began to collapse, sealing Clara in with Mark and 0-1. The last thing Julia saw was her sister's face, contorted in pain and sorrow, as the shadows of Mark and 0-1 devoured her.

 Julia woke up then, drenched in sweat, her eyes flying open and her heart rate through the roof. And she promptly burst into tears.