Author's Note: Lately, I've been in a macabre mood lately, so I decided to take a shot at it by writing a horror story. It's kind of ooc for me since most of my fics are warm and fuzzy…Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and I'd like to see what you think by reviewing!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

...

Doppelganger

Suffocation

Air. He needed air. As he desperately gasped for breath, the pressure moved from his chest to his throat. He could feel a pair of hands make their way to his neck, compressing it, slowly cutting off his air supply.

In a panicked struggle, he tried shaking the intruder off, kicking and punching fiercely using only a free arm while the other fought back to keep the hands from crushing his windpipe, but this only motivated the killing intent, speeding up the unbearable smothering.

He opened his eyes seeing the outline of the attacker in the darkness. And something else… Looking up, trying to get somewhat of a glimpse of the assailant's face, he saw a pair of piercing blood-red eyes, glowing brightly as they stared right through him. It grinned wickedly at its victim. Its fanged teeth glistened in the pale moonlight.

Then, the creature slowly removed one of its hands from the young man's clammy neck and raised it, positioned to strike and-

Matt screamed in terror as he bolted awake. At that moment, his father rushed into the room and turned on the lights.

"What's wrong son?" he asked, "I've just gotten back from the TV station when I heard you scream and–"

"Somebody tried to kill me!" Matt cried, as he broke into a cold sweat, "I-it was choking me a-and when I looked up at the face, it had the eyes of a demon…"

"It's only a nightmare." assured the older man, "Nothing to worry about. It must've been that leftover mystery meat that you were eating when I went out to lunch." he added with a smirk.

Seeing that the joke failed to calm his son down, he put his hand on Matt's shoulder.

"Matt, you're worried about T.K. aren't you?"

Matt's eyes lit up at the mention of his younger brother's name and nodded slightly.

"When your mother and I broke up, you immediately started having bad dreams about something bad happening to either you or T.K. But now looking back at it, you …"

As his father continued, Matt began to recall how he was always there for T.K., especially when the two brothers were first transported to the Digital World; Matt was always risking his life to ensure T.K.'s safety.

But that's all in the past now, Matt thought, as he wiped off the sweat from his brow, I said so myself, 'He didn't me to protect him anymore'. Besides, T.K.'s got Patamon to take care him now.

"Matt? Are you listening?"

"Uh… y-yeah..."

Hiroaki let out a tired sigh, "It's just nerves, Matt. You're nervous about T.K. and your mother moving back to Odaiba when school starts again. Nothing to get worked up about, the move will go smoothly and they'll be fine."

"Besides," he added with a grin, "you'll get to see your brother a lot more often."

"You're right. Thanks Dad."

"Good. Now get some sleep son." With that, Hiroaki stood up, turned off the lights and left the room, closing the door behind him.

For about an hour, Matt couldn't fall back asleep. He just stared up at the ceiling in darkness, thinking about the nightmare and the horrific thing that had tried to murder him. The eerie glow of the eyes, its wicked grin, it seemed to be more than just stress.

What does it mean? the blonde thought, It seemed too vivid to just be a dream… No, Dad's right, I'm just concerned about T.K. that's all!

As he cleared the dream from his mind and began to relax, Matt finally drifted into slumber.

...

Once again, he bolted awake. He had the exact same nightmare that plagued him earlier, only much worse.

Coughing as he swallowed gulps of air, Matt ran his hand up his throat. It was sore.

I've got to be imagining this! He thought in disbelief, The dream's getting to my head… I...I really need to wake up!

Matt got up out of bed and quietly snuck into the bathroom. He felt around the walls for the light switch and turned them on as he stood in front of the mirror.

He immediately went pale, frozen in terror as he stared in shock at his reflection.

On his neck were finger-shaped red marks, as it throbbed in pain with each pulse of his palpitating heartbeat.

Clamping a hand over his mouth, Matt fought back the urge to vomit as he began to back away slowly from the person looking right back at him.

"T-this can't be happening…I-it couldn't…it's not…" Matt muttered as he sank to the tile floor, hugging his knees in attempt to ease his anxieties, "I-it's all in my head….it has to be…"