Kayla’s POVI woke to the sound of rain tapping against the window, each drop slow and deliberate, like the world was holding its breath with me. My body felt heavy, as though the night itself had seeped into my bones. I didn’t remember falling asleep. The last thing I recalled was Damien’s voice whispering my name, his hand tangled with mine as the storm gathered around us.But now the room was cold and empty.The faint flicker of candlelight illuminated the cracked walls. The air smelled of damp earth and smoke. We had taken shelter in an abandoned cabin deep in the woods after the car failed us. Damien had worked through the night to board the broken windows, to make me feel safe. But safety was an illusion, one that cracked a little more each time she whispered in my ear.“You can’t keep pretending I’m not real.”I pressed my palms to my ears, but the voice came from inside me. No sound escaped my lips, but she laughed anyway, her amusement echoing through my mind.The door creake
Kayla’s POVThe drive back from the ruins was silent. Neither of us spoke, but the air between us was heavy, thick with questions neither of us dared to voice. The headlights cut through the fog, casting fleeting shadows across the winding road. Every now and then, I caught my reflection in the window. Sometimes, it blinked a heartbeat too late.I tried not to notice. I tried to breathe. But the silence inside my head was worse than the noise—it was the kind of quiet that waits, listening.Damien’s knuckles were white against the steering wheel. His voice, when it came, was low and strained. “You haven’t said a word since we left. Tell me what’s going on in your head.”I turned toward him, the faint glow of the dashboard reflecting in his tired eyes. “She’s not gone,” I whispered. “She’s inside me. Waiting for a moment of weakness.”His jaw tightened. “Then we won’t give her one.”“You don’t understand.” My voice cracked. “I can feel her moving. Like she’s learning me—my thoughts, my
Kayla’s POVThe light between us was like a beating of the heart, sharp and blinding. Each puff I made, it appeared to nourish, till it was almost stifling under my flesh. My twin was standing slightly outside the glow, with her cold and unyielding silver eyes fixed on me.She was my mirror—down to the faint scar near my temple—but there was something terrifying in her stillness. Where I shook with fear and exhaustion, she stood calm, deliberate, certain.“You’re trembling,” she said softly, her voice a perfect echo of mine. “Still afraid, even after all this time. That’s why he chose me.”My throat tightened. “Who chose you?”Her smile was slow, deliberate, cruel. “Our father. The one who made us. The man who gave us power. You were his mistake, Kayla. I was the version he perfected.”I took a step back, my pulse pounding in my ears. “You’re lying.”Her expression didn’t change. “Am I? Tell me, do you remember the night he disappeared? The way he looked at you before the fire?”Memor
Kayla’s POVI didn’t sleep. I couldn’t. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her—my other self—smiling in the dark corners of my mind. Her silver eyes glowed faintly, whispering things I didn’t want to hear. Promises. Threats. Memories that weren’t mine but felt real.Damien stayed beside me, sitting on the edge of the bed as dawn crept slowly through the cracks in the curtains. His shirt was torn, blood staining the collar, but he refused to rest. Every time I shifted or gasped in my half-sleep, his hand tightened protectively on mine.“Kayla,” he said softly when he saw my eyes open again. “You’re shaking.”I forced a weak smile. “She’s still there. Watching. Waiting.”His expression hardened. “We’ll find a way to get her out.”I wanted to believe that. But deep down, I could feel her pulse beneath my skin. The power we shared throbbed with every heartbeat, binding us tighter than blood.When the first rays of light touched the walls, I stood up, pacing. “She said I fed her every time
Kayla’s POVFor a moment, I forgot how to breathe. It felt like time itself held still, trapping us in that terrible silence. She stood in the doorway, her reflection of me so exact it was almost unbearable—same eyes, same lips, even the faint scar near my temple. But there was something else too. Something colder.She didn’t blink. She didn’t flinch. She looked at me with a familiarity that felt like possession.Damien stepped in front of me, his arm slightly raised, his voice hard. “Who are you?”Her lips curved in a slow smile. “I told you. I’m her. The part she forgot. The part your precious Kayla buried.”My stomach twisted. “No. That’s not possible.”“Oh, it’s very possible,” she said, stepping further into the room. The air seemed to grow colder with every word. “Did you really think he only made one of you? You—the soft, obedient daughter? No, Kayla. You were the prototype. I’m the perfection he was after.”Damien’s jaw clenched. “Stay where you are.”She laughed softly, the s
Kayla’s POVThe room was still spinning. The pieces of shattered glass shimmered faintly, catching the pale morning light, and I could swear they were watching me. Every reflection showed something slightly different—my expression twisted, my eyes glowing brighter, my lips whispering words I couldn’t hear.Damien knelt beside me, his hands gripping my shoulders. “Kayla, look at me. Focus.”I tried, but the world blurred at the edges. Heat pulsed through my veins, burning, wild, uncontrollable. The air felt thick, humming with an energy that didn’t belong to me anymore.“Damien,” I whispered, voice trembling. “He’s inside me. I can feel him moving.”His hand tightened on mine. “You have to fight it. Whatever this thing is, it feeds on your fear. Don’t give it what it wants.”But I was already slipping. The walls of the room seemed to breathe with me, expanding and contracting, as if the apartment itself was alive. The lights flickered again, the bulb above us bursting with a sharp pop.