Chapter One

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Awake But Asleep

Sleep Paralysis – What happens when you don't have full control of your body? You can't move or open your eyes. You feel as if your chest is being held down, making it impossible for you to breathe. You feel yourself struggling in your body, in your mind but in reality, you haven't moved an inch. Your mind is awake, but honey, your body is still asleep. But eventually, you'll snap out of it and come back to reality.

Yuri Williams clenched her toes; at the moment, she is unable to open her eyes. She lay arguably comfortable on her bed until the room had sucked all of the oxygen and she was now struggling to breathe. It was inevitably a sleep paralysis episode. Her mind was wide awake, and she could feel her heart beating faster and faster. There she lay, with her temporary paralyzed body feeling completely helpless. She had read about sleep paralysis before, but it still didn't make the experience any less terrifying. She tried to calm herself remembering she will eventually snap out of it. It didn't take long, but she was finally able to open her eyes to the dim light she had set in her room. Is it over? Has she survived her very first sleep paralysis? 

 Maybe.

Before she could move her body, darkness covered her eyes, making her head spin and she got a falling off a cliff sensation in her body. "Am I dying?" she thought right before she lay flat on her bed fully unconscious.

*B L A N K*

I gasped for air as I woke up to an unfamiliar surrounding. The feeling of almost being drowned wasn't sitting well with me. I sat on the bed, trying to catch my breath.

"Where am I?" My mind was filled with questions that needed answers.

I crawled out of the bed and searched for the lights. The lights shined bright in the light pink room, where I was currently standing in. Pink bed, pink furniture, pink picture frames, pink laptop. My eyes studied the room for a minute. I walked towards the bed, but something made me stop.

The Mirror.

I stared at the mirror gasping at my reflection. I looked like a girl in her teens. I had blonder hair, green eyes and I was awfully short. There were pictures hung on the wall. Pictures of me, with people I could barely recognize. I looked back at the mirror, unable to recognize myself. I didn't know who I was, I didn't know what I was doing in this room, I didn't know the people who are with me in these pictures.

"Who am I?" I whispered to myself touching my unrecognizable face.

My eyes glanced at the clock, it was half past 10. I wanted to get out of the room but I couldn't, instead, I just sat back on the bed as if I was waiting for something to happen.  I heard a feminine voice screaming. "Yuri, you have school tomorrow, off the lights and go to sleep now"

I sat on the bed, confused with what was happening. Nothing made any sense, who was that woman who just yelled at me? Who was Yuri? Is she me?

I switched off the lights right after I found a torch near the bedside table. I found myself staring at the mirror again. This wasn't possible, how could anyone just forget everything in their life? Shouldn't I just go down and ask the woman who yelled at me?

No.

A voice spoke in my mind and I instantly obeyed it. I needed to figure out what happened to me.

"Maybe more pictures will help" I murmured under my breath while searching through the pink drawers. Just when it seemed like I had run out luck, my eyes caught a glimpse of a journal that was hidden under a pile of other ordinary books. I took it out and felt its importance immediately as I saw the words "Yuri's Journal" I took out the torch and curled myself under the blankets.

I hesitated before opening the journal. Was I invading someone's privacy?  I was invading my own privacy but I felt bad about it. I argued with my morality with just one thought. I needed to read it if I wanted those memories back. I opened the book slowly, it was neatly dated and there sure was some personal stuff on it. I skimmed through some pages as I was much eager about the latter events that took place. Finally flipping onto the last page, I read what was written out loud.

Dear Diary,

Today was a bad day. Jason kissed that skank Penelope right in front of me. It's just been two weeks since we broke up. How could he do that? I thought we were soulmates, I thought we were best friends. I still love him. My feelings for him will never fade away. But it was time I moved on. Jason is my biggest distraction. I gave him everything, including my virginity. I want to show him that I can be strong, even without him. But on the inside, I'm broken. What should I do? I wish you could talk back but then again you're just a book. 

Anyways, I won't give up. I'll stay strong. I promise.

The one and only Yuri Williams

I began to flip more pages and read more. The more I read, the more confused I got.

"How can I experience all of this, write this on a journal and not remember any of it?" I thought.

Something was clearly not right, I should be freaking out right now. I should tell somebody about this, I should scream. But I couldn't. The stories written here seemed as if it had nothing to do with me. I pointed my torch back to the drawer and found a pen. My instinct was to check if I was really the owner of the journal. As I wrote the first sentence written in the journal and compared both handwritings. To my surprise, they were totally different. Well, there has got to be a logical explanation for this.

"Maybe I have a twin" I found myself whispering to myself again. But it still made no sense.

The feeling that I was feeling was different, I felt reborn as if I never lived. I didn't know who I was, and I cannot accept who I was, judging from the atmosphere I was surrounded by. I hid the journal back where it was, and lay on the bed closing my eyes. Maybe it was just for tonight; maybe tomorrow I'll remember everything.

With that hope, I slept through the night, but little did I know there was nothing to remember. Little did I know that I didn't have a twin. Little did I know that I was born at the age of seventeen and had a mind of a seventeen-year-old. Little did I know that I was bound to have the most complicated life anyone had ever lived.

Author's Note 

Hello Readers, I hope you liked the first chapter of this story. I will explain the *BLANK* part in the story now so that you will understand. I use *BLANK* for the switch. Since there are two people living in one body, Yuri is the first girl and "I" is used for her alter. I hope you like the concept, if you do, don't forget to vote and comment. Your feedback is very much appreciated :)

Disclaimer!

This is a work of fiction. While the story talks about Dissociative identity disorder (DID), not all the elements of the disorder are mentioned and it is not 100% accurate and there is a reason for it. I have received many comments on its inaccuracy by readers who actually have DID. Which is amazing because I get to educate myself on it a little more. However, while I don't wish to offend anyone, I would encourage readers to have an open mind and read the story until the very end to understand the essence of Same but Different :)

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