Me, Myself, and I

      “Can you keep a secret?” The voice rang around the empty room. It flickered with entertainment, amusement. I could not figure out why it was so thrilled at my presence or why that was the first question this…thing decided to ask me.

           “I’m sorry, what? Where am I?” I mumbled softly. I could see the breath in front of me as I breath out a shaky breath. It was strange, this dark and empty place, as I did not feel cold at all.

           “I said, can you keep a secret?” The voice rang out again. It did not seem as entertained anymore, rather it sounded irritable now. The tone made me nervous, I felt a cold sweat come on. I bit my lip softly, a nervous habit I picked up over the years. Through the darkness I squinted my eyes. I think I saw a figure. What looked like a person, but it was far from it? Something about the figure was odd to say the least. It looked almost ghostly, rather transparent. Almost as if it were made of smoke. One thing I knew I could see was the glowing orbs. They were placed where the figures eyes should have been. They were white, piercing through the darkness like a lighthouse guiding lost ships. I could not help but stare into them, getting so distracted. I didn’t think to answer at the moment. I finally nodded my head a bit. I couldn’t see it, but the shadow seemed to smile.

           "I know who you are so there is no need for salutations. Welcome-” It started to say, but I stopped them.

           “If you know who I am, then have we met? Where do I know you from?” I mumbled, the questions spilling out of my mouth like a waterfall. The figure seemed annoyed again, slowly getting up from its former sitting position. It took a few steps closer to me and sighed softly to itself. I could then see its face contort into a smile. It didn’t have teeth, that I could see at least. Just a deeper, darker hole in the emptiness of its body.

           “Well I am you of course. Who else would I be?” It said before taking a bow. I was confused. Me? But how could that be possible. I stood dumbfounded for a few moments just trying to think of something to say before it approached me. I stumbled back, not knowing what to expect from the mist like figure. It grabbed me by the arms and pulled me towards it. I couldn’t feel its grip, but it was touching me. I felt sick. I didn’t know what was going on, or why. I had to be dreaming. That’s it, just a dream. I had to wake up, this was getting to weird.

           “Let me tell you a bit more about myself. I’m you. And, well, you’re me. Can’t you see the resemblance?” The shadow figure smiled and sat me down, the way they were before they approached me. I still couldn’t say anything. My breathing was unsteady, and I could feel the cold sweat from earlier come back. I just stared at it and squinted my eyes, trying to see what it meant by ‘resemblance’. It sighed again, this time in disappointment. It straightened itself out before looking down at me.

           “Well I guess it doesn’t matter if we look alike of not. When I say I’m you, I mean your more, untasteful parts. I’m the darkness that haunts your positive thoughts. The one lingering question that you don’t ever want the answer to. The one that looks at someone and makes you think about how they would look if they were spilled across the floor in a glory of crimson paint. I’m your depression and anxieties. Your sadistic pleasure and tendencies. Everything deemed unnormal by society and cast away to be forgotten. Sound familiar by chance?” It asked in a calm, yet chilling voice. The fog of breath in front of me grew denser once more.

I couldn’t disagree with it. Lately I’ve become more sporadic and emotional. I would black out at points with no memory of what I did or what happened before it. However, none of them have ever been like this. This is the first time that I have ever talked to something, or even seen something in any of my dreams or blackouts. It seemed entertained by my panic. My stress. It smiled in its crooked, unhuman way once more. It was so horrifying, I had to look away. My stomach tied itself into knots as I could sense it walking towards me.

“Well? Nothing to say little one?” It mumbled, looking down at me again with it’s lingering eyes.

“What do you want from me?” Is all I could manage out. My breath floated around me as I avoided its eye contact. It stared at me again and fixed its posture. For something so dark and bruiting it was oddly proper. The complete opposite of me. I was a total pushover, always stuttering and messing up with my words. It thought for a moment before speaking again.

“I don’t want anything. At least that you would give me willingly that is.” It said softly. It’s eyes stayed focused on me, watching every little breath I took. I eventually looked at it, summoning what courage I had in my body.

“I don’t believe you. Why would I be able to talk to myself? Besides, I don’t think like that. I don't like to think of dead people.” I got up from the empty abyss of a floor and looked at it again. It just stared at me for a moment, as if it were thinking. It gave another sickly smirk.

“Ah but you see. That’s where your wrong. That’s what you want to think. That’s what the world wants you to think. Society will never accept people who are unnormal. Society will never accept you. Because weather you believe in me or not, I’m still going to be here.” It got closer and closer to me as it spoke, however I stood my ground. It’s face was inches away from mine. We started at each other for what seemed like minuets. More than I wanted to count.

I suddenly felt as if I was sinking. I quickly looked at the ground and it was confirmed, the black emptiness slowly climbing up my legs. My heart started to pound again, the rhythm playing in my ears. The shadow let out a low cackle as it watched.

“Well. If you have nothing else to say I guess this is where we will stop. Until we meet again little one.” It muttered, seeming is had a hint of hate in the tone now. The quicksand of darkness was up to my shoulders before it walked away and seemingly disappeared. I couldn’t seem to move my body anymore as it continued to climb. I was so scared, the continuous pounding still in my ears as I felt my eyes sting with tears. I took a deep and quick breath as I finally got smothered in the darkness, feeling absolutely nothing.

I woke up with a gasp, feeling the nice cool air enter my heavy chest. I let out a soft sigh of relief afterwards. It was all just a dream, just as I thought. Then I realized a cold, sticky feeling on my hands. The room I was in was dark, so I couldn't exactly tell what it was at the moment. I slowly got up, feeling pretty light on my feet as I walked over to the light switch and flicked it on. The liquid on my hands was a deep red, almost like...blood. I then looked around the room. The floor was covered in the red liquid, even some splattered on the wall. I felt my legs get weak and crumble. I sat on the floor, tears streaming down my face. I realized that maybe I knew the secret the figure was trying to tell me all along.