The Bloodstained Parchment

Chapter 2

Audrey landed with a soft thump on an unseen ground. Standing, and rubbing her aching backside, she took in her surroundings, though there was little to behold. An endless expanse of white, all around her, no end to be seen, if one, in fact, existed. Looking down at her hands, they seemed unusually flawless. Glancing behind her, the grey shadow that usually trailed her, was missing. There were no shadows to behold in this dimension; there was no light source, yet everything seemed to glow. And in the still silence, she could hear each of her nervous breaths, and every pounding heartbeat.

/

The man in the bloody white suit thumped up the stairs with his once-pale leather boots. Heather called from her unchanged position. "Audrey? Have you come back to apologize? What was all that racket about?"

"I'm afraid not, Heather." He laughed coldly. "I've just come back for you. The girl won't be apologizing any time soon."

He turned into the main room, where Heather sat clutching her armrests, her face suddenly gone starkly pale. On seeing him, she leapt from her chair, knocking it back onto the floor with a clatter. "It can't be... You... I never expected to see you again..."

"But here I am," he said with a sinister smirk, and his eyes glowed faintly red. He threw his head back and laughed to see Heather's vulnerable, cowering stance.

"But I provided you with all the information you needed!" she protested, backing away slowly, her blue eyes filled with dread, and her blonde hair suddenly seemed unkempt. "Why have you returned?" She seemed on the verge of tears.

"You're right," he agreed. "You made your contribution. I'm simply returning the favor."

"I can hardly believe anything I receive from you will be a fav-," she began, but the man interrupted, his luminescent crimson irises glowing with dark magic, his gloved hand raised. "Let me welcome you to the white world."

And with that, Heather's world turned suddenly black as her slight figure collapsed on the hardwood floor, ears ringing.

/

When she awoke, she was enveloped in white, and turned her head to see the grinning face of a woman quite identical to herself. She squinted her eyes up at her oddly shadowless twin. The woman's hair-bun was falling out and blonde strands hung lax around her softly complexioned face. "Who... are you?" Heather asked, flustered and not entirely recovered from shock.

The woman laughed gleefully. "I'm your opposite twin!"

"Isn't that a bit of an... oxymoron?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say. I look just like you, obviously, but I act the opposite." The woman yanked Heather to her feet, and stumbled backwards clumsily, pulling her along. "Am I right?" She giggled.

Heather stared, confused, brushing herself off, and eying the woman more closely with a not entirely disapproving. She was identical to herself, after all. She wore the same dress as she did, if not strangely distorted by its brightness, and bore the same face, though it held an entirely opposite expression. "What is this place?"

"The white room. Or more a white room. One of many similar alternate dimensions."

Heather's heart suddenly began to accelerate. "Where's Audrey?"

"Somewhere around here, I'm sure," said Heather's opposite twin. "But not to worry, your daughter is in the safe hands of her opposite twin."

"My daughter... right. In here?" She gasped. "In here!"

"That's right!" The woman didn't seem the least bit concerned.

Heather shook her head, her face pale, or paler than usual, that is, with worry. "But you said she is in safe hands?"