A Compilation of Fantasy Concepts

Chapter 10...Sister In The Dark

"Hey," she murmured, cradling your shaking fingers, icy cold. "I miss them, too."

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You leaned back against the creaky dock, watching the ships tilt from side to side till they were just raindrops in a sea of tears. You were bundled up in several layers of itchy frabric, and at your feet sat a disfigured black suitcase, just one. And inside was everything you had—everything you were allowed to carry to the world beyond. Your breath came out in little bubbles of smoke that left your chest a little colder with each huff, and your rubbed your mittens hands together as you stated off into space, waiting to be called on board.

It was then that you saw her, the girl with red eyes. At least, you thought you saw her; you assumed you'd maybe imagined it, the little girl just the same as you, with the same petite frame and the same too–big clothes. She was gone when you turned your head, but it was her eyes that caught your attention. You could have sworn it: red like the roses. Red like the blood.

You settled into your tiny closet of a room. There were no windows, and if there had been you wouldn't be able to see anything from so far down. As you shivered into your sheets and were just beginning to drift into the hazy black of your subconscious, a small shift on the bed prodded you awake.

CCCREEEEAAAAKKKKK

You tried to keep your breaths even. No. What was that? No one should be there. You were alone now, an orphan, an orphan with no Mam or Papa who should have the keys to your room...a thief?

THUD.

Shivers shot through your spine and your life depended on it. That was a thud. You could hear it. You could feel the warm breath against your face, the way the bed balanced against the other body.

A thief? What was a thief doing in your bed? Perhaps another passenger was in the wrong room. Were all the keys the same?

You fluttered open one eye, just enough to peek.

"Hello."

You squeaked, pulling upright and your sheets with you, standing up against the wall as the ship lulled beneath you.

"Who who who—who ARE you?!!!"

The uncovered blob of skirts widened her glassy red eyes at your distress, giving a little shiver as she was left uncovered in the cold.

"Well that's a nice greeting. You forgot your lamp, you know. You left it all the way at the station, and again on the dock."

You watched the perfect replica of yourself puff her hair and shift on your bed, wandering all the while if you'd gone insane.

"Who ARE you?" You spoke again, firmer this time.

"I'm your shadow, Ann." She shifted her eyes across from the lamp. There really wasn't anything there. Your shadow, I mean.

She smiled apologetically. It was her eyes that set you apart, the expression. They looked so aged and tired, but maybe that was how you looked by now, too. That, and--you know, they were red as the demons that haunted your little sleeping head.

"I watch over you when you sleep, and in between blinks, too. Whenever you close your eyes....All shadows do."