I Refuse to be a Named Character

Part 1

I didn't want to be alone.

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That night I thumbed through the first few chapters, my heart sinking at the graphic descriptions of the villain Lucien tearing off his victim's arms. I shuddered, closing the book tightly.

"What a terrible world." I loved reading, especially fantasy. I spent most of my childhood dreaming of waking up in one of the magical places described in my books, of having adventures. But as I grew older, I had those thoughts less and less. It wasn't that I liked the life I had now. I just didn't think changing the place would make it any better.

"Especially in a place like this." I muttered quietly, staring at the fake blood stains that decorated the cover. "If I was a character in a book like this, it would be better to just be a nameless nobody in the background..." As I spoke, I caught a distinct smell, and turned my head, my heart racing at the familiar yet unfamiliar scent.

Gas. Had I left the stove on?

I leapt out of bed.

"CHLOE...!" Even as I shouted, I heard a loud boom, piercing my eardrums. My vision went bright white, and then faded into darkness.

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"Where am I?"

My head hurt. It felt like someone was trying to rip it into two. Covering my eyes and clutching my forehead, I staggered to my feet. With the motion I noticed something off about my body.

Wasn't I a little too short?

I slowly opened my eyes, wincing at the bright light around me. As my sight adjusted, I looked down at my hands, my heartbeat picking up in speed as I tried to understand what I was looking at.

My hands were smaller than I remembered. The scar on the palm of my left hand, left when Chloe had spilled her hot tea in my lap during an argument, was completely gone. Confused, I touched my face, my hands moving upwards towards my hair. My short curls were gone, replaced my long brunette strands that hung down to my mid-back. Confused, I looked around; realizing I was in some sort of stable, surrounded by stalls that housed different colored horses. I found a bucket of water nearby and leaned over it, staring at the dim reflection in the water.

It wasn't my face.

A teenage girl, fifteen or sixteen year old girl stared back at me from the water, not the serious looking eighteen year old woman I had gotten used to seeing in the mirror. The facial features were regular, almost delicate. My slightly crooked nose from having broken it once at a child was gone, Even my eyes were different, slightly larger in proportion to my face. The irises, which had been a light brown, were now a bright silver, catching me by surprise.

I was in a different body.

"It worked!"

As my mind was racing, I heard an excited shout, catching me off guard. Nervous, I looked behind me, where a young girl nearly identical to my current appearance was waking up, staring at her surroundings with obvious delight. As her gaze met mine, I saw her eyes were a beautiful golden shade, rather than the silver I had seen in my reflection. She smiled as she saw me, jumping up to give me a hug. Shrinking back, I tried to increase the distance between us, but the girl only clutched me tighter.

"Don't freak out! It's me, Chloe!"

I paused at that. "Chloe? Really?"

"Yep!"

"What... what's going on?!" My words were frantic. "I smelled gas, and then.... Was there an explosion? Did we die? Where are we?"

Chloe rolled her eyes, the expressions painfully familiar despite coming from a different face. "How should I know? I just woke up too! Let's go ask someone." She grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the stable's exit. Digging in my heels, I tried to resist, feeling nervous.