The figure stepped out of the shadows with a slowness that felt deliberate, almost theatrical, like she wanted me to watch every movement she made. The darkness behind her rippled around her silhouette, stretching and squeezing as if afraid to touch her. When she entered the faint pool of light beneath the cracked sky, I stopped breathing.
She was me.
Not similar.
Not close.
Exactly me.
Same height. Same build. Same hair falling over the shoulder in a tangled sweep. Same jawline, same mouth, same stance. But her eyes… her eyes gleamed like polished silver coins, glowing without light, reflecting nothing, and yet somehow seeing everything.
When she spoke, my stomach twisted.
“You are even weaker than he said.”
Her voice was my voice, down to the last cadence, but colder. Sharper. Li
