A Familiar Stranger

I suddenly opened my eyes, sitting up swiftly, sweating from an unknown panic. Cold. I was so cold, yet… I didn't really feel it. The black jacket I was wearing bore my family crest over my heart, on the shoulders, and on the buckle of the belt that sat atop of my jacket. Assuring it was zipped up completely, I pulled the hood over my head, my ears popping out the slits in the top of the hood. I took in my surroundings as I looked around. I was in an empty field, it was midnight at the earliest, and I was alone.

I gathered my strength and carefully stood, a bit weak and shaky. I wandered aimlessly as I told myself everything I could think of. "My name is Hazen Dione, I am 18, my girlfriend is Talia, I should be king, it's late, cold, and I am alone…" I saw a glistening from a distance, the distraction interrupting my thoughts as I approached it.

I stumbled as I almost fell into a pond, which was the source of the light that had caught my eye. I crouched down onto my hands and knees and splashed water onto my face. I gazed into my dripping reflection only to find a familiar stranger. My quills were still black and the same length as before, long bangs that hung into my face and short in the back, my eyes were still green, and I was still a hedgehog. Despite this, I looked strange. My muzzle was a ghostly, pasty white, my pupils had vanished, and my eyes were actually glowing. Soulless, I looked dead. Literally.

Suddenly, I heard maniacal laughter, but the source was nowhere to be seen. I stood and decided to hold my ground confidently. "Who are you?! Show yourself at once!" The voice laughed once more and I realized the burning truth, deep in the back of my mind. This voice was almost TOO much like my own, yet, it didn't feel the same. "Who are you?! I demand that you speak at once!" I shouted into the night. Silence. It was deafening. I carefully watched my surroundings under the light of the full moon. Then he spoke.

"I am thou… Thou art I… From the sea of thy soul… I come…" Small green orbs began to flow my jacket and circle me. They gathered a few feet away from me into a figure. Honestly, this would be scary, but I already knew that everything he had spoken was the truth. I knew not how, but it made sense to me. He looked like an entirely perfect copy of me, but every detail of him was completely glowing green.

"So tell me… WHAT are you? Am I ill? Have I gone insane?" So far, those were reasonable explanations to me. That, or it's all a dream. I watched him float around me. Observing me. "And I mean aside from the fact that you and I seem to be one and the same." He seemed to float freely, not a care in the world.

"Ah, but I AM you. More specifically, I am your SOUL. We're dead, Hazen. Talia killed us." The green figure smirked sadistically. "Call me Haze." He watched me place my hand over my heart and felt for any signs of life. Any movement at all. Nothing. The sole movement in my torso being my lungs filling with air as I breathed quietly.

I began walking home. "And what of my siblings? My family? My people? What became of Talia? According to you, she had killed me, but even though my heart does not beat, it breaks to think this could be true. Perhaps it's a matter of choice, but I feel as if there is more to Talia's attack. Sure, I may be gullible, but I still love her." I said more to myself than my permanent companion.

The specter shook his head. "Naïve fool…" Haze sighed as I shrugged in response. He flew by my side. "Valerie remembers the truth, but I erased TJ's memories. Your people know Talia has murdered you and she has turned completely evil. She has placed herself at the throne and destroys villages for her amusement." Haze spoke testily and I rolled my eyes as I threw a rock at him. The rock flew through him harmlessly and he scattered into orbs that flowed into my jacket.

I opened the iron wrought gate that led to Dione Manor. It had become dark and dreary in my leave, though I have no clue how long I was gone. As I passed through the gate, I noticed a small shrine illuminated by eighteen, multi-colored, scented candles. Their combined aroma brought fourth warm feelings. Childhood memories of playing in the floor with my siblings by a lit fireplace. My parents sitting in their chairs reading and watching us play. I let out a sad, shaky sigh as I looked at my photo in the center. Shaking my head and pulling my hood down further as I entered what I once called my home.

I roamed through the empty halls of my former home. I walked into my room, the walls washed a deep, dark purple. I sat on the red, satin sheets of my bed as I dug my hand into the top drawer of my nightstand, pulling out a small, light grey, velvet pouch. I stuck my hand in my jacket pocket and pulled out a ring box which I opened and set on the nightstand table. I slid my hand into the pouch and grabbed a pinch of the white, glittering dust inside. Next, I removed the engagement ring from the box and sprinkled the powder on it. The small, gold ring shimmered and vanished. I slid it onto a chain and fastened the chain around my neck, shoving the now invisible 'charm` into the collar of my jacket. "Where are my parents? What happened to them?" I asked Haze the question that lingered on my mind for quite some time now.

An evil laugh echoed through my head. "THAT, I personally erased from your memories." I rubbed my forehead in irritation. "I had to, Hazen, you could not handle the truth."

"What truth?! What right do you have to deface MY memories?! Or ANYONE"S memories, for that matter?!" I yelled the empty air in front of me, growing more and more irritated with each moment that passed as I felt like an insane fool, talking to myself.

"Why should we care what right we have, Hazen?! We were murdered!" I stood before a mirror and stared at my reflection, having something to visibly yell at brought me a bit of comfort. "Do you truly with to know what befell them?! Fine, if you MUST know, we killed them!" I held my head in pain as memories flooded back into my mind.

"You MONSTER! You… You killed them! You—" I felt a sharp, splitting pain in my side as a cut appeared. I quickly held it and growled in anger.

Haze gave a bitter chuckle. "Who do you think you are talking to, Child? Monster? We are one. WE killed them. WE are a monster. At any point in time from the moment you died and on, if I am injured your body shall suffer."

"You're a soul. You aren't even physical, how can you be injured?" I asked him, feeling his p=claim was absurd.

"Hazen, if you find yourself in emotional turmoil, I get a crack in my body." He gestured to the crack in his side where my cut was. "Ever heard of a 'soul-shattering' moment? Well, if you become so emotionally distraught that you become completely devastated and consumed by pain and sorrow, I shatter which HURTS. If I shatter, you could die again. You are undead not necessarily completely dead." I gave a nod, now understanding what he meant, my anger calming and the pain dulling and disappearing. "Every injury you receive, brings fourth a scar." I lifted my jacket and watched my wound close, the blood being absorbed by the jacket without a single stain, as if Haze was drinking it from within the jacket. He was right, my cut had become a scar, and his crack was gone without a trace. "And if you anger me, I shall make you suffer. I causes no injury to me. If I die, you die." Haze laughed evilly. "However, if you die, I am released and I shall share my wrath with the rest of Our land." Haze gained an insane sound to his voice. He poured out of my jacket and danced about the room in green orbs of varying sizes. "Oh, and one more thing. Never let yourself fall in love. Fair warning, you'll regret it."

"I understand. That rule should be a simple rule to follow. Who could love a dead man? I have no heart anyway." I spoke bitterly and threw myself onto the bed as I referenced the silence in my chest. I was angry. Angry at myself. Angry at Haze. Yet, hurt. I loved Talia. I knew that. Haze knew that, though I doubt he cared. He was obviously evil. There was no way I could propose as a walking corpse. Until death do we part? Ha. I had already been claimed by Death. "Why would she do this to us? Didn't she love us?"

Haze gathered himself and sat on the edge of the bed. "Perhaps you were just a love-sick fool and she just wished for the throne…" He spoke nonchalantly with a shrug of indifference.

"Tal isn't like that… Nothing but demons flow from your mouth…" I tossed an extra pillow at his head and covered my face with my favorite one. "All you speak is evil…" Perhaps he was right though. Maybe I was naïve, but I honestly believed that Talia wasn't that kind of girl. "I wish to see her. She deserves to know that I am safe." I spoke sincerely, yet, Haze scoffed at me in response. "What was that for?" I demanded to know.

"Are you truly THAT stupid, you fool?! It was SHE who killed us, and you want to inform her that she did not accomplish her task?!" He practically yelled at me. I swung wildly at him with my pillow.

"We have nothing Haze! Not my people, parents, siblings, Talia… Give me ONE valid reason why I should care for my safety!"

"The lives of your people… Without you, I lose my sanity. No one knows you as well as I, and I know We wish for their safety…" He spoke calmly and softly. He seemed to care as much as I did. I sighed and held my hands up on the air as a surrender.

"Fine. You win… What shall we do then? We're immortal, but we cannot be seen and none of our loved ones know we are still here…" Haze shrugged and I sighed. "Real helpful, Haze…"

"Welcome to the afterlife, Hazen…"