How do you distinguish dreams from reality?

Author's Notes:

Finally! Hey everyone, I am so very sorry for the long wait. I've busy, yeah I know its a lame excuse, why even write a story if I'm not persistent. I know..I know, But here it is! Not sure how you all will feel about this chapter, maybe I should give a warning. hmmmm..

WARNING: Mentions of blood, murder and um.. Abuse? I guess. Lots of psychological trauma.

Okay here goes.

Fear; A Dreadful Bond

Shigeo blinked twice, rubbing his eyes like he had awoken from a long nap, except he was already awkwardly standing upright on his feet. A long hallway loomed ahead of the young boy. He stared blankly into the endless corridor, dark, gloomy, and yet somehow, inviting? Shigeo hesitated before taking his first steps, walking down the straight path at a regular pace. No thoughts crossed his mind, no questions or concerns, he just kept walking down as if it was the natural thing to do.

There was no visible light and maybe that would have been necessary elsewhere but it wasn't needed here, somehow he was still able to see where he was going. A draft of cool air blew from the opposite direction, flicking up his black bangs tickling his forehead, he held his arms together to keep warm. He looked forward, the scenery had changed. No more hallway, just an empty void. This was odd but before the boy had a chance to react he heard a voice.

"Shigeo." Someone softly call his name.

"H-hello..?" he found himself answering back, turning around trying to figure out the place of origin.

It called again, echoing in the distance.

"Where are you?" Shigeo floated in its direction, only now noticing that there was no longer a floor to step on, yet he ignored the weird circumstance and continued like it was nothing. Just like before, he didn't question the why's and how's of his situation, he just continued to float aimlessly in the darkness.

"Big Brother." The voice appeared, it was more distinct than last time.

Shigeo recognized the voice almost instantly. It belonged to Ritsu, his younger brother. When he turned around, he was standing face to face with him and their surroundings had changed for the third time. This time Shigeo was in his house, though it looked completely different, he somehow knew that it was.

Ignoring the Strange events, Shigeo gave Ritsu a smile, he was happy to see him. He leaned to give him a hug but was met with a hand to his chest, stopping him. Shigeo was thrown off by this, not sure why his brother had rejected his greeting, I left him with an empty feeling in his chest that he couldn't understand.

"Don't," His brother said. "It'll will only hurt more."

"Ritsu, is something the mat-" Shigeo stopped mid-sentence as his brother vanished, his hand that was reaching out to Ritsu stood suspended in the fleeting moment. Shigeo stepped back, taking his previous position again, turning his head to his sides searching for his missing little brother. "Ritsu?"

There was no answer.

The deathly quiet atmosphere was eerie enough to cause Shigeo to duck his head down into his school jacket. He even lowered his voice as he called out again for his brother. He started maneuvering around the house, slowly turning every corner into a different room. It was strange, the house felt small, dark and even cramped at times yet he seemed to wander in it endlessly. What was even weirder was that this was indeed his house, or at least that's what his mind kept telling him.

Shigeo had finally reached a door, another bedroom, he was sure of it. He opened the door, it was dark inside with only his shadow stretched long and thin ahead of him from the light in the hallway behind him. At first glance the room seemed almost empty and he was already on his way to close the door when he nearly slipped on something wet on the floor. He turned his shoes beneath him to see what had caused his unbalance and what he saw caused him to pause. He remained frozen, hoping that maybe he was seeing this wrong.

It was blood. Red and smeared all over the floor, the rest of it went past the door heading deeper in the room towards the left. Shigeo's heart rate was picking up.

Please, no.

He didn't want to look, he just wanted to leave and pretend he didn't see anything but part of him wanted to know, wanted to be sure. Maybe he was mistaken, maybe this wasn't… Shigeo gulped as he held one hand close to his mouth and the other right under it near his chest. He was scared, whose blood could that be? Walking in the dark, Shigeo crept closer, pushing the door aside against the wall, letting more light shine into the room until finally his eyes were able to see through the darkness and what he saw made him shriek in horror.

"No...No, no, no...No..." whimpered Shigeo, his knees becoming weak as he held the wall for support, shocked when he saw that it was Ritsu who was on the floor, with his blood splattered everywhere. His brothers eyes were lifeless and his body's position- nauseating. Shigeo's eyes widened in horror, words had left him. He stepped back in disbelief, hands shaking as sweat down his face.

This can't be real. None of this is real...

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His left foot collided with something behind him and he tumbled over it. Next to him was another corpse.

"M-m-master R-Reigen...!" He shrieked, scrambling away from his teacher's lifeless body. "This, this can't be... who could've done this?" Shigeo closed his eyes, this couldn't be happening. "Why…?"

"Why you ask?" another strange yet familiar voice laughed.

Shigeo spun around. "Who's there?"

"They're dead silly Shige. That's why."

"Are you responsible for this?" Shigeo was on edge, his eyes rapidly scanned the room that he now registered as his own.

The person laughed again.

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Shigeo clenched his fist, clearly not putting up with the mockery, he felt his anger rise, "Reveal yourself! Tell me, why did you do this?"

"Oh no Shige, you got this all wrong." The person appeared from a doorway that clearly wasn't there a moment ago.

Shigeo watched with anticipation until he was fully unveiled from the shadows and what he saw left him shocked and confused.

"I didn't kill your loved ones." He said. "The one responsible for that is you, Shige." He pointed an accusing finger.

"You're...me?" Shigeo whispered, staring at what seemed to be a mirror image of himself. "I don't understand."

"That's right." the doppelganger smiled. "I'm you and you're me. And I, or should I say we? Yes, we did this." His hand gestured to the bodies as if showcasing a prize to an audience.

Shigeo looked away, disgusted and horrified, his stomach turned as vomit rose to the top of his throat, almost throwing up but he kept his composure, swallowing the bile and telling himself that this was just another trick. This is all a lie... It must be. There's no other explanation, he thought rationally.

"You're lying...I can't accept this. I won't because none of this is real." Shigeo spoke calmly. "Ritsu was just here a moment ago, this is all just a ruse to get me off my guard. Like the last time with my parents."

"I assure you, this is no trick."

"This isn't real. It can't be, it can't... "Shigeo's words were failing him.

"Ohh but it is." It smiled with a tilt of its head, almost a playful expression. It was enjoying this.

"They're not d-dead..." the more Shigeo denied, the more uncertain he became, doubting his own words.

The doppelganger made another sinister laugh. "Believe me when I say this much, they are very much dead. I mean, I should know. You should know too, we did it together. You kil-"

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"That's a lie! I would never do that! Ritsu, Master, my parents and friends, I'd never do anything to harm them. Not ever!" Shigeo raised his voice louder than he had ever heard himself. He felt so sure he was right, nothing this thing said could tell him otherwise. Nothing. It just couldn't be telling the truth.

His doppelganger stared at him. Its mood completely changed, its eyes blank, unsettling, locked onto his own; it gave Shigeo chills down his spine.

"Pathetic. You're a fool if you really believe that." It said with a straight face, same voice as his own yet not quite his. It was different; colder.

"Huh?"

"If you can't remember, that's fine. I'm your other half so it only makes sense. You're powerless without me anyhow."

"I don't get it, what are you saying?"

"Listen Shige, allow me refresh your memory, then everything will be clear. First let me start with Ritsu."

Shigeo gulped, he didn't like where this was going. "W-wait."

"Ritsu had come home in the afternoon, surely you must remember that much. His usual routine, school, homework. You know, the boring stuff but enough of that, let's get to the good parts. You know, like when he knock on our bedroom door and saw how our power was flowing with beautiful energy. You were stressed Shige but you came to me for help, you set me free and you watched as I made Ritsu scream."

"STOP."

"As he pleaded for mercy when we bended his arms, then his legs, then his ne-"

"STOP IT! That never happen!" He screamed, placing his hands over his ears in an attempt to block out his words. It disturbed Shigeo enough to hear his story but it freaked him out even more to see himself- or that thing say it with his own voice.

"Just so we could stop hearing his annoying pitiful cries!" It continued, ignoring Shigeo. "But his death wasn't enough for me, for us. We were still craving for more ecstasy and bloodlust. By this point you had lost it and I gained control for both of us. You were weak but I made us strong!" The doppelganger began to take shape, shadow covered its body, its eyes became a white luminescent and it glowed with terrifying power. The figure was all too familiar.

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Shigeo was trembling at the mere sight of it, fear emitted through his words, "That's impossible..."

"Do you understand now? Without me you'll be nothing. You try so hard to get rid of me but in the end, when everything goes to hell for you, you call for me! A dreadful bond you may say this is but that's just what we are and that will never change." it smiled ominously. "Set me free, Shigeo. Give me control."

Shadow like arms came flying at Shigeo and he raised his own hand for protection, attempting to use his psychic powers to put up a shield but the arms seemed to have grabbed him first. He tried to pry it away again, swiping his hand to call forth his telekinesis in hopes to destroy them but nothing happened.

The arms came and swooped Shigeo off his feet, he was pulled and dragged across the floor, nails bled as he tried latching onto the wooden surface, all in vain. In a panic shigeo twisted unto his back, looking forward he pointed his hands toward his feet where the shadows were constricted around his left foot. Shigeo flexed his hand again expecting his powers to severe the bind but to his surprise the shadows didn't cut. That's when he came to unsettling conclusion, one that made his skin go deathly pale.

He had no psychic powers here. None whatsoever...They were gone.

Shigeo struggled and fought against the hands, yelling and shouting as it brought him closer and closer to the dark silhouette of his doppelganger. "No stop- stay away! I don't want to...lose control. Let go! Let go of me! Please!"

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"I wouldn't resist of I were you," It yanked one of Shigeo's arm causing him to wince from the pain, pulling upward, forcefully guiding Shigeo to stand up again. "It's too late now, I won't let you reject me. This is your fate, this was meant to happen, so let it happen."

"Nooo! I won't! I won't lose control!"

It grabbed Shigeo's face from behind, covering his eyes, pulling his head back as its other hand gently, being careful not to squeeze as it wrapped its fingers around his neck. It turned Shigeo's head slightly and whispered into his ear with a wide grin, "Accept me Shigeo. Accept your powers."

Shigeo wasn't really sure what had happen next. All he could feel was a tight pressure building up in his head. It was so excruciating he couldn't think, everything hurt, every part of his bones ached, and his chest tightened close to suffocation.

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An overwhelming sensation was boiling up inside of him and he tried everything to hold back this power that was consuming his entire being, shaking him to the core. The pressure came back harder than before until finally he could no longer take it.

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"Set me free."

A shockwave sent everything around Shigeo flying. Windows shattered and the wooden floor below him cracked. Dust and debris dispersed as objects spun randomly in the air, orbiting Shigeo. He instantly threw up his barrier, trying his best to stop anymore collateral damage. There was a sharp pain in his chest from holding in his power but he didn't care. The most be did was bring his knees to his chest and hold his arms around himself for comfort.

Shigeo jolted at some small movement to his left and he turn his full attention to the door. There stood Ritsu, alive. His brother was alive! This should have made Shigeo happy but the look his brother gave him rejected those feelings. Fear, Ritsu was scared of him. Shigeo forced his gaze away from him, feeling ashamed. He really was a horrible person, to make his brother wear that expression. What kind of older brother was he?

His dark eyes scanned the rest of the room, stopping at his master, who was having trouble standing. At this point it didn't even matter to him whether this was still a dream or reality. It still hurt the same way. His emotions ran deep with those thoughts, engulfing him, swallowing him into a deeper despair.

Shigeo cried long and hard. He buried his face in his palms as if to physically hold his emotions while they spilled into his hands. His barrier strengthened, isolating him; he didn't want to hurt people. He didn't. Ritsu was calling him and Shigeo barely noticed before catching a glimpse of his brother running dangerously close to him. No, he won't let it happen again. He won't let Ritsu die.

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"S-stay away!" He waved almost instantly. "Please..." Shigeo feared harming his brother and with all that's happened, he's not even sure what's real anymore. Even as his brother argued back, showed concern for him, he couldn't chance it. Mob's power just kept increasing and he wasn't sure how to stop it. Pushing Ritsu away was the only way to ensure his brother's safety. Everyone's safety.
"I'm sorry Ritsu."

It was then when Shigeo had realized that his nightmare was just beginning and at that point there was only one emotion that reigned stronger than the others.

Fear: 100%

Author's Notes:

Alrighty, glad that was over. I hope this chapter wasn't upsetting for some people. Shigeo is going through a lot right now but I wanted to write his point of view to what led to his sudden breakdown last chapter.

I had drew two new drawings for this chapter:

www. clori-eden . deviantart /art/ A-Terrible-Nightmare-Doppelganger-666408154

www. clori-eden . deviantart /art/ Doppelganger-Sinister-Whispers-666409257

Once again, Thank you for reading, I will try my best to update soon. And as always, I look forward to your thoughts on the chapter.