Chased By Shadows

Chapter Three: The Girl in the Picture

Rain started around midnight.It tapped the windows like fingers trying to get in.

Elise sat up in bed, unable to sleep. The photo album lay on her lap, the page still open to that image, graduation day. Her, smiling. Her mother behind her. A few distant classmates caught in the frame. And near the edge, partially blurred, was a face she couldn’t explain.

Short hair. Grey eyes. Watching her. Kaia.

But it didn’t make sense. That picture was five years old. Kaia would’ve been... what? Twelve?

Elise turned the album to look again. Her hands trembled. She wanted to believe it was just a coincidence. A girl who looked like Kaia. Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her. Filling in blanks that didn’t exist.

But the stare in the photo was undeniable.

Not just watching. Fixated.

In the next room, Kaia was awake too.

She sat on the floor, knees drawn to her chest, staring at her hands. The bruises from earlier were darker now around her wrists, as if someone had grabbed her. But no one had touched her. She would’ve remembered. Wouldn’t she?

She kept seeing flashes. Wood. Dirt. Screams. A bloody shoeprint. Sometimes she was the one running. Other times, the one chasing. What scared her most… was that it felt familiar. She couldn’t tell which version was real.

Morning didn’t change much. The sky stayed gray, low and heavy. Elise made toast and burned it. Neither of them ate.

“Can I ask you something?” she finally said, sitting across from Kaia. Kaia nodded slowly.

“Do you remember ever seeing me before last week?” Kaia’s head tilted. “No. Why?” Elise hesitated.

She pushed the photo album across the table, flipped to the page, and pointed. Kaia stared at it. Then stared harder. “That’s me.” Her voice was flat. Certain. “I don’t remember being there,” she added, fingers grazing the image. “But that’s me.”

“Why would you be at my graduation?” Elise whispered. Kaia didn’t answer.

Her gaze stayed locked on the image, and something in her eyes shifted. A flicker of something colder. Something watching from the inside.

That afternoon, Elise decided to visit the library. She wanted to check the old school yearbooks, prove to herself that this was all some misunderstanding. Kaia offered to come, but Elise told her to stay and rest.

She didn’t say it out loud, but something about Kaia’s stillness was starting to scare her.

The library was half-empty. Dusty. The school archive section was buried in the back, full of yellowing pages and broken bindings.

She pulled the 2015 yearbook from the shelf. And froze.

There, in the background of another group photo, was the same girl. Same haircut. Same sharp stare. Kaia.

Not a student. Not labeled. Just… there. Watching.

Back at the house, Kaia wandered into the basement. She didn’t know why. Something pulled her there.

She flipped the light switch, nothing. The bulb had blown. Still, she stepped down carefully, one hand on the wall.

The air was damp. Cold. The farther down she went, the more the space felt familiar.

But she had never been here before.

Right?

Near the back of the basement was a covered mirror leaning against the wall. A thick sheet over it. Dust danced in the air.

Kaia reached out. Pulled the sheet off. Her reflection stared back. But something was wrong. The girl in the mirror smiled. Kaia didn’t.

She stepped back, breath catching in her throat. The reflection tilted its head. Kaia turned and ran.

Elise arrived home just as Kaia was coming up from the basement. Their eyes met. Kaia looked pale.

“There’s something wrong with the mirror,” she said. Elise said nothing. Just held up the yearbook in shaking hands. Kaia looked down at it.

Another picture. Another version of her. But no memory. “Who are you?” Elise asked. Kaia didn’t blink. “I don’t know.”

That night, they barely spoke. Kaia sat in the living room, watching the fireplace even though there was no fire. Elise locked her bedroom door for the first time.

She wanted to trust her. But now? Even Kaia didn’t trust herself.

The dreams came again. This time, Kaia was older. Fifteen, maybe. Running through a forest. Chasing someone. Her own voice echoed, screaming someone’s name.

“Elise!” She caught up to the figure. Spun her around. It was Elise. Blood on her face. Kaia looked down. Her hands were red. Elise was crying. Kaia opened her mouth to speak but Elise’s voice came out of her own lips: “You said you’d protect me.” Kaia woke up screaming.

Elise came running. The door swung open and hit the wall. Kaia was curled on the bed, shaking, soaked in sweat. “Elise,” she whispered, reaching for her. But Elise hesitated at the threshold.

“I saw blood,” Kaia said. “And you. I hurt you.” Elise didn’t move. “I would never—” Kaia began. But Elise finally spoke, voice quiet: “Are you sure?” Kaia’s hand dropped.

Silence fell between them. Not fear. Not anger. But something colder. Doubt.

Later, Elise sat in the hallway, her back against the doorframe, listening to Kaia breathe on the other side.

She pulled out her phone. Opened the browser. Typed: "Can someone be two people at once?"

Results popped up. Dissociation. Amnesia. Repression. Trauma-related identity fragmentation. She scrolled until she couldn’t anymore. And one sentence stood out: “Sometimes the mind creates another version of you… to protect you from the truth.”

She closed the screen. Her hand shook. Kaia wasn’t lying. She really didn’t know. But something inside her did. And it was waking up.