Here's Chapter 4
... In which, Mandy faces her worst enemy...
Mandy tossed and turned in her sleep, unable to find peaceful rest due to the storm raging outside.
Finally, fed up, she sat up in bed, reached over to her nightstand, and turned on the small lamp.
To her dismay, no sooner had she cut the lamp on, the power went out.
"Great." She sighed in the darkness as she stumbled out of bed in search of candles.
She walked out of her bed room and down the hall to the kitchen where she shuffled through some drawers for candles.
She had the house to herself this night. Her parents were away and Grim was at Billy's for the weekend. She was perfectly alone, but she didn't mind. In fact, she enjoyed the time away from the idiots that surrounded her on a daily basis. Especially Billy.
She grabbed two candles from the drawer and headed back upstairs. She got up to her room before she realized she had no matches.
"For the love of..." She sighed as she headed back out into the hall.
As she rounded the corner, she saw a shadow run by.
Mandy became angered by the thought of someone sneaking into her house.
"Billy? If that's you, I swear I'll rip your nose right off your face!" She yelled as she krept closer to the corner.
She rounded the turn and saw nothing but a flash of lightning through the window.
She sighed and shook her head free of her imagination, then mumbling to herself, she grabbed the box of matched off of the counter top and returned to her room.
Mandy lit the two candles, one sitting on her nightstand, the other on a desk at the far end of the room.
She picked up the book resting on her nightstand and began reading where she left off.
Her shadow was thrown agains the wall by the candle light, and unbeknownced to her, it morphed and twisted with an almost macabre sense of movement until it reached a sinister version of herself.
Without her notice, it darted across the room and formed up behind the desk candle, and with a single breath, blew it out.
Mandy looked up from her book and glared at the candle, then with an angry motion, she closed her book and got back out of bed.
As she walked over to the candle, she saw the shadow dart out the door.
"I don't know what's going on here, but it's going to stop." She said angrily as she followed the shadow.
She ran to the kitchen and grabbed a flashlight, then began her search of the house.
She walked through all the rooms on the ground level, then walked back up the hall, passing a mirror, in which the reflection did not match the caster.
As she passed, the reflection stayed behind and stepped through the mirror.
Mandy had continued up the hall when she felt that something was wrong.
She slowly turned around and was tackled to the floor, a knife at her throat.
To her surprise, she was looking into her own face, but this version of herself was a lot more twisted and wore a sadistic smile that stretched across her sickeningly miniacle face, the eyes were wide and crazy, and she was stronger.
"Hello, counterpart!" The copy smiled.
"Hello, imposter." Mandy hissed.
"Awww, that's no way to treat your other half!" The copy frowned.
"Sorry, there's only one me, thus only one half!" Mandy said as she threw the copy off.
She got to her feet and readied for a fight.
"Silly girl! I am the half of you that hates, that thrives on other's pain, that shuts out any and all happiness!" The copy said smugly as she stood and dusted herself off.
"Oh really, now?" Mandy watched the copy closely. "Then why can I still feel my hatred?"
"You can't." The copy answered simply.
Mandy was caught off guard by the answer, but upon further inspection, she realized she was right.
The copy smirked at her counterpart.
"I told you so." She flipped her hair, dropping the knife to her side. "Tell me, Mandy, how do you feel without me? Think really hard."
Mandy obeyed and thought on the many situations she'd been in and how she may have reacted if she wasn't clouded by hatred.
"Do you remeber the time you and Irwin kissed? Or what about the time you ripped the head off of Junior's teddy bear, his only friend? Mandy, do you remember the first time you fell in love? Do you remember how you treated Piff? And what about all the times you struck Billy?" The copy smiled as she brought up all these, suddenly painful, memories.
Mandy gripped at her heart and backed up, looking shocked by her own actions.
"... I... never realized..." She looked back into the mirror, the copy standing behind her.
"Face it, Mandy, you're a monster." The copy frowned. "And that's all you'll ever be... if I can help it."
Mandy pushed down her panic and looked into the copy's crazed eyes through the mirror.
"... No. I'm not the monster... you are!" She yelled as she swung around and planted a fist on the side of the copy's head.
The copy screamed and flew across the hall and up against a wall.
She lunged and wrestled with the copy, taking several swift punches to the face and ribs.
Mandy pinned the copy down and took this chance to grab the knife and stab her copy in the chest repeatedly.
"I'LL NEVER BE LIKE YOU! NEVER! NEVER! NEVER!" Mandy screamed so loud she woke herself from the nightmare she was having.
"Mandy, are you alright? I heard you screamin' and hollerin'!" Billy yelled as he came running into the living room where Mandy and her sleeping bag layed.
She sat up, looked around and sighed.
"I just had a nightmare..." She answered, not just Billy but herself.
"Oh, well, okay then, breakfast is ready! I made your favorite! A hero sandwich with mus-tard!" Billy laughed as he began to exit the room.
"Billy..." Mandy called.
"Yes, Mandy..." Billy said as he turned back around.
Mandy got up and hugged him tight.
"You're my best friend." She added.
"You're my best friend too, Mandy!" Billy said as he picked her up and spun her around. "Now let's eat!"
Mandy finished getting ready in the bathroom, but before she left, she took a good look in the mirror.
"Mandy!" Billy called from downstairs. "We're gonna be late! Junior and Piff are already at the theater!"
"Alright!" She snapped playfully. "I'll be right there!"
"Okay!"
Mandy took one more glance, then left the room, cutting out the light on her way out, but her reflection remained, smirking.
There it is.
Once again, reviews are welcomed and treasured, but you don't have to.