Mayu slammed her back against the wooden wall, grabbing onto herself tightly, her eyes wincing in pain.
Come out, I know you're here…
Why wouldn't she go away?
The ethereal footsteps of her ghostly double slowly approached, causing the teenage girl to tremble in fear. Why did she have to face this…thing alone? Not a thing…herself?
It will be okay. It's what you want, isn't it?
Mayu shook her head at the voice invading her thoughts wildly. Go away, just go away…
"Go away!" She shouted at nothing.
There you are.
The figure was clear in her site now. Barely in front of her, and yet at the same time so entirely distant and even inside her directly. Since she had led Mio inside this village something had been nagging the back of her brain; this had been it. The pale girl in front of her that was so much like her…and still so different.
Physically, there were some minor differences. Their hair was the same that was for certain. They shared the same eyes as well. Their faces, however, were so completely different. Mayu's face was wilted with pain and guilt. Her face, though…her face was coated with madness. Her smile was as if it came from a demon itself. No. It was from a demon.
Why are you so scared?
Why was she scared? What a ridiculous question. She had been plagued by her mirror image for what seemed like forever. When she had first become possessed, she seemed like an angel. Her entire being was pure white, like snow. The long sleeves of her kimono like clipped wings, hanging and dragging carelessly around her feet, ready to embrace the closest lost soul into their graces. Once her slim, ghostly arms had wrapped around Mayu's neck, it was too late for her to notice the blood staining her fingers and kimono or the snapped crimson cord representing the broken bond of a past relationship.
You're just like me.
The voice so much like her own said as she melded her mind with her own.
You love your sister, too. Trust me, and you can be together…forever…
The words had seemed like a dream come true to Mayu. But as memories flooded from this supposed angel's mind into herself, it was a nightmare. Images of strangulation, a horrifying pit, and even the hauntingly beautiful butterfly that had led her here covered her eyes like a mask as Mayu's body became the property of someone else's.
Just relax, and I'll make it all okay.
Sae didn't make it okay. Sae made it worse; much worse. That's why Mayu had been cowering in such a small, isolated area. Sae had led her away from Mio to lure her, and now she was gone. The older girl had been begging for her twin to find her so they could be together again; so that she would be safe. She would never consciously see Mio again and both of them would probably die.
Mayu felt the bony hands through the air, reaching towards her. Shivers crept up her spine, and something inside her snapped.
"Don't touch me!" She shouted, and in an instant her double had vanished, no proof of her existence in the room anywhere. Mayu pressed back even harder against the wall and shrank down huddling herself. Finally, she was safe.
And yet suddenly, like magic, a pair of hands reached through the wall and wrapped around the young girl, two minds once again becoming one.
Don't worry, I'll make it okay…for all of us.