It is also true that one can write nothing readable unless one constantly struggles to efface one's own personality. Good prose is like a windowpane.

-George Orwell

Chapter 1: Shadows

My eyes shot open.

Suddenly I sat up on, from what I could tell, the hard wooden floor. My eyes scanned around the dark room, trying to make out my surroundings. It was pitch black and I could feel the cold air flowing around me. I started to become confused and a bit uneasy, shaking a bit as I held myself.

"Where am I?"

"Oh, your here… welcome~" A strange, but familiar voice responded to me.

"Where is 'here' exactly?" I looked around trying to find the source of the voice I had heard so clearly just a few moments ago.

I stood up to get a better perspective and candles, that seemed to be floating in mid-air, lit up around the whole room.

The room looked like one you'd see in those old Japanese mansions, Scrolls hung on the walls; some had pictures of animals, demons, and people while some combined to make a whole picture. It was actually quite beautiful. Even the rice paper doors and shoji screens also had some designs on them. The cold air that was flowing through the room before became warmer, helping me calm down a little.

"You tell me…"The voice responded in a sly and slightly distorted voice.

"Like I said, where are we? Last I remember I was sleeping in my bed now I'm in this…mansion…what exactly is going on?" I turned around to see if the owner of the voice was behind me, only to find my shadow in front of me. To my surprise, the shadow started to rise and take form.

My shadow twisted and turned until, as it finished taking shape I noticed something strange…. it looked like me. Everything was the same except for its eyes, that were yellow unlike my purple eyes, and the outfit it wore. The similar being was wearing a black kimono with white butterfly designs on it. There was also a white fox mask covering the top left of its face, like the kind of fox mask you'd see at a festival.

"I am a shadow, your true self…" It said with a smirk.

My eyes widened as I realized its voice was exactly like mine.

"My true self…what kind of crap is that." I responded with a confident chuckle, trying to hide my nervousness.

It laughed at me then said, "I know everything you've done, all the lies you've told, so you cant hide anything from me." It grinned widely, like that of a smiling fox.

"Like I said, that's a load of crap."

"Everyone is so annoying, why do I have such bad luck, everyone always picks on me, I'm so alone, please don't leave me~" It looked at me as it mocked me. My eyes widened in surprise and fear as I noticed these were…my actual feelings.

"S-stop it…shut up…y-you don't know anything about me!" I yelled in anger an desperation, covering my ears to block everything out. It was all in vain because I could still hear her piercing words.

"Hahaha! Yeah right! Keep deluding yourself like a stupid bitch! Your just selfish, you want everyone to love you and when you don't get what you want you get lonely, just looking at you makes me sick" It said, sticking its tongue out at me as it laughed more and more then put its arm around me. "I know everything about you..." It continued, whispering softly into my ear. "I'm your shadow y'know…we're one and the same…" It then backed away from my ear. "I AM YOU IDIOT!" It laughed maniacally, teasing me over and over.

"N-no…you cant…y-your not me…" I replied, frantically trying to convince myself. "Yeah, SAY IT AGAIN!" It urged me on, still laughing.

"YOU COULD NEVER BE ME YOU BITCH!" I screamed furiously as the creature in front of me began to turn into a frightening monster, a fox with 9 long tails. Half of its fur was black and the other half was white. My body soon started to feel heavy to the point where I couldn't bear my own weight, and my vision became blurry. I then fell on my knees then to the floor, unconscious.

The last thing I heard was the voice of someone yelling my name.

Well that was the first chapter. Sorry for the shortness but since it's the first chapter and kind of the prologue I guess it doesn't matter.

I'm new to this, so reviews would be very helpful. I plan on making this at least more than 10 chapters, but since school is in session again it'll probably take a while. All in all, thank you to whoever decided to read this and I hope you will stick around for the rest of this story.

-xKiga-chanx