Her Clone || H.S

C h a p t e r t w o

Chapter two

The moment you realise that your bones are made of the same dust as the planets, your lungs are breathing the same air as the migrating butterflies and your blood is pumping because of the love and care of thousands; is when you realise that you are not as broken as you think you are. You are full of the world."

I took a deep breath in and continued walking on the hill. It was a bright sunny day and I was already perspiring heavily. The enormous trees and a stream between the two hills made the view look absolutely overwhelming. The crystal clear water glistened under the morning sunshine.

I looked at the view in pure fascination and started to walk towards the stream, I knelt down to touch the water. It was cold against my rough fingertips. As I stood up to catch a fluffy bunny beside a tall tree, I came to an abrupt halt when I heard someone whispering my name.

"Victoria..." I suddenly felt a chill running up my spine and goosebumps of fear arising on my already pale skin.

"Victoria..." The voice repeated my name. The voice was familiar but I couldn't bring the face in my head. I turned around but found nothing.

"Y-yeah?" My voice came out small, my throat felt dry. But my lips parted in shock when everything started to fade away. I looked to my right and the bunny was nowhere to be seen. The flowers, the grass, the valley and the trees were vanishing slowly.

Suddenly everything went dark. When my eyes adjusted to the moonlight peeking through the clouds, I realized I was in the same woods Natalie and I used to play hide-and-seek in. My heart sank lower in my chest when I heard the sounds of animals and god knows what. The musty air made it difficult to breathe. It felt like the tree trunks were silently staring at me, judging me. Lord knows what sort of dangerous creatures hid behind them. It was a teeth-gritting experience. I bit my lower lip with nervousness and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. There was no exit, no entrance and no sign of life. I started walking forward to see the trees disappearing into the horizon. It was so dark I was barely able to see where I was going. The darkness of this forest pressed my body from every side. Even the atmosphere screamed 'run'. But I didn't, I couldn't. This forest was never ending.

The long branches covered with moss, rose high in the sky - no sign of life to be found anywhere. There were only sounds of rustling leaves, the whistling of the wind, the growling, and groaning of wild creatures. I didn't know what laid in the dark forest, all I was sure was that this wasn't going to be a peaceful journey.

Even the voice stopped calling my name. I was oblivious to what was happening.

I let out an ear-deafening shrill when I felt something cold my shoulders, a chilly sensation ran through my body, causing me to hesitate to turn around. The animals stopped snarling, it was as if every creature in this forest died except me.

When I did turn around, I was blinded by the light. It was so bright that I had to cover my eyes and turn my head to the side. The light slowly started to dim, I turned my head. But what was in front of me made me nearly collapse on the floor. I opened my mouth then closed it again. I wasn't able to form words. After what felt like decades, I finally got my voice and courage back.

"No...this can't be true," I whispered, my eyes were wide open. I stayed glued in my place, unable to speak anymore.

"This is true, Victoria," Her lips curled into an evil smile. The same brown eyes, same brown hair, the same smile across her face but the only odd thing was her complexion. She looked so pale, I couldn't even believe she was standing in front of me.

The aura around her was so peaceful yet uncomfortable. I kept staring at her with my mouth wide open in pure shock and complete confusion. How is this even possible?

"What...how are you here?" My hand reached out to touch her face, I flinched and retreated my hand when I felt her cold skin against my fingertips.

"You deserve to die too..." She mumbled while keeping her gaze on the ground.

"W-what?" What she meant by that was beneath me.

"Come here." She shook her head and opened her arms. I hesitated but still walked towards her and I was in Natalie's embrace, her arms wrapped around me. My heart was thudding loudly and this gesture brought tears of happiness to my eyes. The hug made my soul relax, no stress, no pain, nothing. I felt alive again but I knew I had to pull out of this embrace. But when I felt her shaking in my arms, I moved away.

What I saw made my jaw literally fall on the floor, my breathing started to accelerate when I stared with shock at her figure. She dropped on the floor. Her hands wrapped around her neck, coughing loudly, trying to breathe as much as possible in the growing smoke.

I started panicking and looked at my surroundings to search for something to put down the sudden flames but what I saw made my mouth go dry. The woods were now again fading slowly, fire substituting it, it was everywhere. I felt my calf heating slightly but I couldn't care any less. I couldn't let my sister slip away from my fingers once again. It smelt horrible, it was far worse than the smell of blood.

"Don't worry Natalie, I promise I'll help you! Just stay put." I reassured her, but I knew I could do nothing. There was nothing to help my sister. Tears began to stream down my cheeks as I heard her scream loudly when the burning flames reach her body. Her screams were heartbreaking, her body moved furiously, trying to stop the pain and escape the fire. Her entire body was now on fire. I felt so guilty for not helping.

"No!" I scream in panic. I couldn't let my sister leave me once again.

She wasn't screaming anymore. Her eyes looked scary, she was smirking evilly at me. I began to step back when she slowly crept towards me. Her shaky arms reached towards my leg and pulled it down. I fell down with a thud but what made this whole situation worse was that she started to pull me with her towards the flames. I started screaming and wiggled in her grip but she wouldn't stop pulling me. As I neared her burning body the fire suddenly disappeared, leaving the smoke behind it.

I crawled back quickly and stood up. I stared down at her body that was now gray and most of it changed into ashes. Her empty, cold eyes were staring into mine as if silently blaming me for everything. Silence fell upon me, the only sound was of my harsh breathing.

"No !" I let out a piercing scream, it echoed through the empty area. My throat felt like it was on fire, I fell down and start sobbing. I was still shocked by what happened merely a second ago. My body started to shake and my lips began to quiver.

I sat up on the bed, my heart was thudding loudly against my chest, sweat covering my forehead and back. Darkness surrounding me, my vision was still blurry. I sighed in relief when I realized that this was all a dream. I needed few seconds to adjust to the darkness. I let out a sigh of relief when someone turned the lights on.

Leaning against the door frame was my mom, holding a glass filled with water and smiling sympathetically at me. She placed the glass on the nightstand and sat beside me after letting out a deep, shaky breath.

Silence engulfed us, I was still breathing loudly. When she noticed my anxious state, she pulled me in an embrace .She already knew the reason of my screams. I've been waking up like this almost every other week after Natalie left us.

"It was just a nightmare." She rubbed her hands up and down my back,trying her best to calm me down.