Some people only see life in black and white, good or bad, they avoid using another pattern of colors and end up failing to understand the world's complexity. If there would only be this type of people, it would be total chaos for humanity and so it's necessary to exist an opposite side in order to maintain a balance. The other ones, well, they may seem a bit twisted in the beginning of their lives, but in the end, they shall be seeing the shades of gray as well, they manage to save themselves and the ones beside them from falling apart.
A young man hardly walks through the heavy summer rain, his long and thin legs look ironically stiff. His brown hair slides onto his face like a silk veil, making him unable to see clear the path ahead and his eyes gleam fiercely on the verge of exploding with energy.
After a long trip through the tree labyrinth, he finally reached his destination: the hut hidden under the two pine trees. He leaned over the dusty old rug, pulled it aside hoping to get the key but, how unusual, there is no key there. He quietly grabs the door knob and gently opens the entrance door.
-Who could have known where I hid the key? I made sure no one knew about this house for so long, why was it found now? Whoever it is, it's probably sleeping upstairs so I might as well find out; he ambiguously whispered.
As he got to the stairway, he put down his heavy backpack soaked in rain and suddenly sensed a presence. He stopped and looked up; a dark creature hidden in the shadows was growling angrily and pinned him down jumping over; it was Sol. In the next moment, Zora woke up hearing a terribly frightening scream accompanied by the dog's barks from downstairs.
-Sol, it's me; calm down, buddy. I've been looking for you for such a long time, where have you been? Who let you in? pleaded the guy while trying to calm his dog down. The dog recognized him after getting to sniff him out.
The girl's heart started beating so hard that she could feel it burst out from her chest and her breathing pattern was irregular. Suddenly, her vision started to blur, all turned black and she was standing in front of the mirror again. The reflection started to laugh and reached out her hand to the girl. This time, Zora crossed her arms and said:
- Who are you? Why am I in here? Answer me.
- I already told you who I am, I don't have to repeat myself. If you can't recall it, think again, the reflection suggested.
-But you only called my name last time!
-Exactly. To be more precise, that is my name too; if you didn't get it by now, then I suggest you get your eyes checked out. We literally look the same, hinted the reflection.
- But how can you....the girl whispered and stepped back in disbelief.
-Oh, you poor child, don't you understand? We are one, but at the same time, two different halves of a sphere, black and white, yin and yang. It's time for me to come out and play now, so be a good girl and let me put you to sleep again. I'm tired of that colorless place with no sound or solid matter; the other one said while slowly stepping out its boundaries: the framed mirror.
- No, no, stay back. If this happened because I agreed with you last time, I cannot let that happen again; Zora stuttered while trying to find reasoning.
-So, you think you are in charge of everything, don't you? Well, I can definitely change that in a split second for you, child. I won't play by your rules any longer; she angrily answered.
The surreal, dark space started cracking down to dust and the mirror shattered to pieces. The two of them where floating in the black void that extended to infinity.
-Look what you've done! Now I'll have to kill you to get out of this boring place; hysterically shouted the psychedelic persona, having a quite worried expression on her face.
- I didn't do anything, you were the one who said that you can change everything in a split second; and it's my body that we're talking about, I can't simply allow it; said the girl scared of everything that's happened.
- Now you're getting cocky with me. You didn't complain when I took it last time, I quite enjoyed seeing them in as much pain as they made you feel; mumbled the other one.
-What? This can't be; she questioned with a terrified glance in her eyes.
- Don't act like you don't know, it makes you look so stupid when you do that. Anyhow, it's time for me to do the dirty job for you again; she grinned while approaching the frightened one.
-Wait, I didn't... suddenly Zora couldn't say a thing, her voice cracked in the silence of the void.
-Oh, and by the way, Zora, you may call me Dawn. It's easier and you can't confuse it with your own name; she suddenly remembered and stretched out her arms like she was about to perform a very difficult task.
The boy was still laying on the floor enjoying the company of the dog. In spite of the thought that someone else might be lingering around, he remained calm and waited for someone to come from upstairs, not knowing what's lurking in the shadows.
In just a few minutes, the sound of footsteps breaks the silence. Sol steps aside from the young man, starts growling in the opposite direction and charges against its owner, Zora.
The loyal animal sensed that Zora wasn't her usual self because as she came downstairs, she started grinning like that day and gave a murderous vibe.
Inside her own mind, a whole war for having control over that fragile body was going on.
-Oh my, so this is my new prey. I hope he can fight back in order to survive; laughed Dawn.
-Please, please, just don't; she begged her while tears fell down.
-But what if he's here to harm us? I can't be like you and let death waltz in our life as it pleases; she snapped out of frustration.
In that moment, Dawn took the control and went berserk.
-"I was pinned down by Sol for a few minutes but then, as soon she came downstairs, the dog changed its target and charged at its new supposed owner. In spite of the change of heart the animal had, she was grinning and scared the dog away in less than a minute. I try to comprehend the situation, but nothing seems to make sense. I wanted to say something, but her behavior made me think that it's better not to. I just pretended to be unconscious so there would be no problem in observing this whole situation. And now, because of that stupid idea, I ended up being tied up in a chair by a psychopath, who, on top of that, might be a serial killer too. I really have a habit of getting into trouble a lot"; he thought while still playing dead. He was trying to put up the act so hard, he fell asleep and Dawn wasn't eager to torture its unconscious prey.
She was extremely pensive regarding the torture method she could use to give her subject the most painful experience of his life. She truly is a psychopath in the flesh, the sight of blood and a symphony of people screaming in pain thrilled her to the very core of her being, but this time, Dawn didn't get to have much "fun". The boy put up such an act that she believed what was before her eyes, just dragged his "corpse", tied him up in a chair and waited for him to wake up. She's still waiting for that. For a psychopath, she was very patient and quite controlled about torturing him, or maybe she's just naive. Who knows?
But every person loses its patience after waiting for so long.
-Hey, sleepy prey, wake up! she yelled while shaking him up a bit.
"I can't believe it. This guy is sleeping like a rock, even though death is knocking at his door. Zora, this is the most stupid person I've ever met since I came out. It's almost amusing", she thought.
-No answer huh. Well maybe if I, Dawn, start playing with him a bit, both of you would wake up. What a genius I am, she praised herself while looking for a sharp object.
He wasn't asleep anymore, he woke up minutes ago but still foolishly pretending, hoping she would lose interest in killing him. Maybe his stupid idea could lead him towards a different path other than death.
As soon as Dawn grabbed a sharp fork and approached the "sleeping" hostage, her body started shaking and a river of tears were slowly dripping. Zora was eagerly trying to take control of her body once again in order to prevent another blood shed.
-What are you doing? Why are you trying to stop me? asked Dawn annoyed while still creepily smiling.
- I can't afford killing one more person, even if he's a potential danger, answered Zora.
The war over this fragile body began once again and Zora wasn't willing to lose herself while fighting against her demons. They had a second collision, it was so intense that her body couldn't handle it and collapsed after a few minutes of intense struggle. The boy decided it was time to stop the act and opened his eyes.
-What's happening to her? he mumbled as soon as he noticed that something wasn't right; all he could see was the girl from last night, having some sort of panic attack.
She started gasping for air, hyperventilating; her body was shaking violently as she repeated the same words over and over again:
-Get out! Get out! Get out! I told you to get out of my head; she yelled while slowly collapsing on the wooden floor, like a feather brushed on the ground.
-I have no idea what is going on with that psychopath, but she definitely needs medical attention. Only if I wouldn't be tied up to this damn chair; he said while trying to free himself.
-Hey, carrot head, are you still conscious? Are you hurt anywhere? Answer me, he shouted worried.
It was in vain, the girl didn't move an inch, nor made a sound. He tried to think of anything that could help him loosen the ropes, to break free, but, to no avail; until Sol made his appearance once again. The dog cowardly approached the girl and licked her hand while whining.
-Sol, come here, boy. He called desperately, trying to attract the dog.
The dog obediently answered his call, got closer, then proceeded to chew on the ropes, freeing his rightful owner. As soon as he was freed, the guy rushed towards the unconscious stranger and checked her vitals.
-I can feel her pulse at least; he sighed in relief while brushing his hand against her neck, all the way up to her jaw and back. He spaced out for a couple of seconds while slowly hardening his grip around her neck; luckily for the unconscious one, he stopped as soon as she teared up and her face turned red. His glance seemed cold and distant as he pulled away. This gesture was followed by a head shake and his attention being diverted towards the initial analysis.
The poor girl was still stubbornly fighting against Dawn, but her body seemed to be weakened by the tension of what was going on inside her mind. The obvious signs of that were the high fever, the heavy breathing and low blood pressure.
-That doesn't look well at all, her body is basically on fire and she's not even conscious, maybe I should try to wake her up. No, that could go far worse than I could imagine, this option is off limits. Anyway, I can't let her go to waste, he said while lifting her in his arms and swiftly carried her .
Oddly enough, he started to sing softly as he walked towards the stairway: "Oh, my little dove... plucking your golden feathers just to hear your cry. That's my guilty pleasure, I have no other reason why. No one else shall have your heart, you've been mine from the start... Oh, my little dove, caged inside my home you are since the day I came. You know the birdie is my prey only when she cries, for her tears will dry and dry, for her voice will die and I enjoy to see her pain. Who am I to complain? Her melody will fade one day, she can never fly away... You're my little dove." Such a silly bird; am I right; he questioned with a smile on his face as he lays her down on the bed.
He went downstairs to get his backpack, still humming, then came back with a stack of pills, weird substances and what seemed to be a medical kit. He mumbled some scientific terms that none of us could comprehend and administrated her what seemed to be a strong sedative. After an hour or so, he quietly put his medical stuff aside and sighed with a worried expression on his face:
-I wonder what brought you into this shameful state. A while ago you even dragged me like a potato sack without a struggle, having me amazed of that strength and now you're in this critical state. This is all too strange, speaking of weird things, your behavior is quite hard to understand, even for a magnificent genius like me. I need to dig further into it, perhaps the problem isn't something you can see with the naked eye but deep inside. And now I'm talking by myself, again, like a crazy old man, just perfect, he sarcastically scoffed as he let go of her hand.
He frowned his face and brushed his hand through his hair and stated another thing:
-I definitely need a bath, you lay here and don't even dare to wake up and you come with me; he advised the unconscious girl and the dog that was curiously watching him from the other side of the bed.
The boy walked away, locked the door, gave the dog some treats and waltzed into the bathroom, prepared everything for the bath while still thinking about what could be wrong with Zora.