What Lies Beneath

Prologue

Asha woke up in the too-familiar forest inside of her mind. Her eyes landed on the one thing that would seem out of place to anyone but her.

     She huffed. "I guess we're here again."

     Her voice seemed to echo inside the lonely expanse of the world inside her mind. The place would always be lonely to her—an unwelcome forest her consciousness loved dragging her to time and time again. Remnants of a homeland she'd best forget.

   She sighed as she got up and walked in front of the mirror that always seemed to call for her. Staring back at her was a girl so similar, yet so different from herself. The human ears that she paraded around with were elongated into beautiful pointy masterpieces. Her bright blue eyes seemed to glow as they stared back at her. She didn't have to open her mouth to feel the way her teeth had grown to have what seemed to be fangs.

     Brewing beneath the surface of her skin, was a power so pent up and untouched, that she only cared to mind it in her own subconscious. A power that's so raw and dangerous that she knew better than to do more than tap into it. Even then, she'd have to limit how much she tapped into it.

     Her reflection then, with a mind of its own, spoke. "What lies beneath the mind?"

     Knowing where this was going, she replied, "The heart."

     "What lies beneath the heart?"

      "The soul."

     Her reflection stared at her with what seemed to be a solemn expression, "And what lies beneath the soul?"

     Asha took a deep breath as she thought to herself, 'Not this again.'

     In the mirror, her reflection only waited patiently for an answer she knew that the girl didn't have. Her expression remained blank, not reflective of the emotion that remained buried deep down. She refused to allow anything to show while they both stared at each other in silence.

     A minute passed, maybe more, before Asha replied, "I've told you before that I don't know. That won't change simply because you waited a record-breaking month before asking me again.

     Her reflection replied, "You can't keep me locked away forever because you're scared of me."

     Asha shook her head. "I can and I will."

     Before the reflection could work up a reply that would undoubtedly lead to an argument, she turned her back to the mirror. She squeezed her hands into a fist to be kept by her side.

     "Take me back home now. I'd really like to wake up."

     Her reflection said, "You can't hide forever."

     Asha wouldn't budge. "Home. Now."

     A couple of seconds passed before everything around Asha finally went dark and she knew that now, she'd finally start waking up. In this world, she could leave behind who she was and what she is. That way, when she woke up, she'd be free to be human once again.

     A voice in the back of her head came forth, 'You liar.'