It was late, and I was quickly grabbing a few kitchen utensils at the supermarket. I found what I needed, but they were on the highest shelf, and no matter how much I stretched, I couldn't reach them.
I was about asking a worker for help when I felt a hand on my shoulder. A tall man approached, offering me a pot with a knowing smile, as if he held some secret I'd shared. I thanked him, my gaze drawn to his unusual eyes. They were a vibrant yet subtle amethyst, seeming to glow the longer I looked. He had the youthful face of someone in their mid-twenties, though his proportions suggested someone a little older, perhaps his thirties. His muscular frame was visible through the simple, tight T-shirt and shorts he wore.
Realizing he was aware of my stare, I quickly looked away. "Um, sorry for the stare. Your eyes..."
"It's alright. I get that a lot," He stated. "I saw you struggling to get to the top shelf, so I thought I'd help you out."
"Thanks again. I was gonna ask that man over there for help but I'm not sure he can reach it either," I said, giggling as I dropped the pot in the shopping cart.
He smiled and replied, "No problem. It was nice meeting you. Hopefully, we run into each other again," He said, walking towards a young man who had a cart full of food stuffs and kitchen utensils. They're probably running a restaurant.
The man's eye color, a shade I couldn't quite place, remained vivid as I stood at the checkout. Then, the warmth of two palms blocked my sight. I turned around, my eyes meeting... "Julia?"
"Yes!" She exclaimed, giving me a tight hug with a big smile fixed on her face. She released me from her embrace and continued, "It's been ages! You haven't changed a bit, Jess."
I let out a weak laugh, rubbing my head awkwardly. "Can't say you've changed a bit either. Still energetic as ever."
The cashier handed me my change and the bagged purchases. As I stepped out of the supermarket, Julia fell into step beside me, her cheerful demeanor a familiar mask. Instantly, a wave of unease washed over me. It wasn't just my usual social awkwardness. This was Julia. University flashbacks resurfaced: her constant attempts to undermine me, the subtle sabotage disguised as friendly competition, all delivered with this same overly enthusiastic act. We'd never liked each other, a fact she seemed determined to ignore.
A sliver of hope flickered – maybe, just maybe, she'd changed. But that hope was swiftly extinguished. Her concern dripped with condescension. "You don't have a car and you bought all this? At your age, isn't walking a bit...retro? Or are you just comfortable living in the past?"
I pushed her comment aside, determined not to let it fester. "My car got into some issues," I replied, keeping my tone neutral.
She nodded, then placed a hand on my shoulder, her touch feeling heavy and insincere. "Sure, honey. Don't be shy and just say you don't have a car. Lying isn't gonna help you. We are friends, so feel free. Or maybe you just suck at driving," she said, her voice laced with mockery.
Fuck this. She's like a fly that just won't buzz off. I hate when people pretend to like someone even when they clearly do not.
I remained silent, waiting for a cab to take me home but like clockwork, Julia grabbed my hand, dragging me to a white car, which apparently belonged to her. "Is this your car?"
She nodded, sliding into the driver's seat. She waved her hand signaling me to get into the passenger seat. I held my hands up in disagreement but she still insisted, so I reluctantly agreed.
"You like it?" She asked.
"Hm?"
"Do you like it?"
"Like what?"
"The car silly," She let out a weak chuckle, and I tried not to engage so much.
I whipped out my phone from my pocket trying to distract myself before things would get more awkward than it already was. "Um, sure," I said, hesitantly then continued, "I mean it is the exact same with my car."
Her breathy laugh trailed off into a mocking "What car?" I held her gaze, my expression unchanging. "Are we driving?" I asked, my voice steady, devoid of humor.
"Alright, alright. It just sounded funny,"
****
The supermarket wasn't too far from my house, so that meant my estimated time arrival should've been 30mins but it was almost an hour and I was still stuck with this woman!
She kept stopping at different shops to "make a quick purchase", and I'd be forced to wait for her. Even though I demanded to take a taxi home, she'd keep making up things for me to remain "chill and get comfortable."
"Damn it, bitch. You piss me off," I yelled, although she wasn't there to hear it. Distracted by my phone, I was startled by an odd feeling. I searched the car, but found nothing. My frustration mounting, I went to look for Julia. Entering, a sudden, icy dread gripped me, paralyzing my hand on the door handle. I whipped around, my mind racing, but the space behind me was vacant.
"Deep breaths," I whispered, inhaling slowly, trying to calm the frantic flutter in my chest. The stillness and emptiness of the store around me, amplied my unease.
"Jessica!"
"Argh!" I screamed, jumping back, nearly tripping over the scattered shopping baskets. My heart pounded against my ribs as I glared at Julia, who stood grinning in front of me, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "You scared me half to death!"
Julia huffed, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Are you okay?" She asked, a hint of worry in her voice. I nodded, still sweeping the area for anything suspicious. "Did you feel any... anything strange?" I asked.
"No? Did you drink before coming in here?"
"Enough with the jokes, Julia," I hissed, my breath catching in my throat. The air itself felt thick, charged with an unseen dread. I scanned the room, every muscle coiled tight, waiting for something to snap. She just laughed, oblivious, while the world around me warped. Then, a voice, my voice, but cold and venomous, slammed into my ears: "Why drag this worthless thing along? Just tell her she's dead to you." I whipped around, my heart a trapped bird, and saw it. Outside the window, a perfect replica of me, a dark mirror, stared back. But there was no grin, no malice. Just an utterly blank expression, a void where my own emotions should have been. It was that emptiness, that complete lack of feeling, that sent a chill deeper than any threat. I gasped, a raw, animal sound, and fell back into Julia's grasp. The image didn't vanish. It remained, a sickening, undeniable presence, its vacant stare burning into my soul.
"What's wrong with you?!" Julia demanded, her voice sharp with confusion, a hint of irritation creeping in. "You're embarrassing me right now."
"D-d-don't you see it?!" I shrieked, my voice raw, my hands trembling uncontrollably.
"See what, Jessica?!" Julia snapped, her eyes darting around the increasingly claustrophobic space. She saw nothing, just the familiar aisles of the grocery store. "Jessica, you're scaring me. You're acting like… like you're having some kind of psychotic break."
I couldn't answer. My gaze was fixed on the doppelganger. It moved with a chilling, fluid grace, slipping through the threshold into the main store. A wave of pure, unadulterated terror washed over me. I grabbed the nearest heavy object—a can of tomatoes—and hurled it with all my might.
The impact was sickeningly real. But the doppelganger didn't shatter, didn't vanish into thin air. Instead, it shifted, morphing into a teenage girl, her face contorted in a mask of pain and outrage. "Ow!" she screamed, clutching her cheek. "What the hell was that for?!"
There was no trace of the vacant, soul-chilling stare that had haunted me moments before. My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat against the rising tide of panic. Had I just attacked an innocent girl? Was this some elaborate, cruel trick my mind was playing? Or was it something else, something far more sinister?
I stared at the girl, then at Julia, who was now regarding me with a mixture of fear and pity. The can of tomatoes lay at the girl's feet, a crimson stain spreading across the label. A tangible, undeniable piece of evidence that something had happened. But what was real, and what was a figment of my fractured perception? The question echoed in my mind, a chilling, unanswered query.
****
The worried cashier, his face a mask of confusion and concern, leaned towards the open car window. "Ma'am, are you alright?" he asked gently.
"That... that girl..." I stammered, my voice barely audible, "She was me. Just a second ago. I'm sure of it!"
From behind us, the teenage girl's voice, sharp and laced with anger, cut through the air. "Hell no. I'm not some psycho who throws cans at people," she snapped. "Crazy bitch," she muttered, her words reaching me clearly through the open window.
I ignored her, my mind a whirlwind of confusion and terror. I turned to Julia, my eyes wide and pleading. "Drive," I commanded, my voice flat, yet trembling with suppressed fear.
Julia stared at me, her expression a mix of bewilderment and irritation. "Drive where? What the hell is going on?"
"Just drive, bitch!" I repeated, my voice rising, a desperate edge creeping in.
The word hung in the air, sharp and unexpected. Julia flinched, her eyes widening in surprise. "Rude," she said, her voice tight, "but fine. I'll drive. Just so I can get you the hell away from me." She slammed the car into gear, the tires squealing as we sped away from the store, leaving the bewildered cashier and the angry teenager behind. The silence in the car was thick, heavy with unspoken questions and mounting dread.
"I really think you should go to a hospital," Julia suggested, her eyes fixed on the road, her voice laced with a forced calmness. The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the hum of the engine. "What exactly happened back there?" she pressed, her voice tight.
A wave of fragmented memories crashed over me, the image of the doppelganger's blank stare burning behind my eyelids. My voice, when I finally spoke, was shaky, barely a whisper. "The young girl… she was my doppelganger. She was staring at me through the window, talking to me. Before that… I felt cold, like my body temperature dropped. I just knew something was wrong."
Julia's expression shifted, a flicker of genuine concern momentarily softening her features. But then, she let out a nervous chuckle, increasing the car's speed. "The girl was staring at us, yes, but she wasn't talking. I think she was on her phone. You're imagining things."
"No," I said, my voice rising, a tremor of fear turning into anger. "I know what I saw. This isn't a movie."
"Exactly," Julia retorted, her voice sharp. "Which is why you sound like you need professional help."
The casual dismissal, the implication that I was delusional, snapped something inside me. The humiliation of the scene in the store, the feeling of being utterly alone in my terror, boiled over. "You can drop me here," I said, my voice cold and flat. "It's close to my place."
"I can just drop you at your—" Julia began, her voice laced with a forced attempt at normalcy.
"I said drop me here," I repeated, each word slow and deliberate, a stern warning. The unspoken tension in the car reached a breaking point, the silence that followed heavier than any argument.
"Alright," she sighed, pulling the car to a stop. "So you're just going to walk home alone after what happened?" The thought of her words, the implication of unseen dangers lurking in the shadows, sent a shiver down my spine, but I pushed it aside. I'd rather face the unknown than endure another moment of her dismissive skepticism.
"Good night, Julia," I said, my voice flat, devoid of warmth. I grabbed my groceries from the back seat, stepped out of the car, and slammed the door shut. I could feel her eyes boring into my back, but I refused to turn around. She sped off in the opposite direction, leaving me alone on the deserted street.
I lived in a quiet, affluent neighborhood, a place of manicured lawns and silent, imposing houses. It was usually a comforting solitude, but tonight, it felt menacing. I reached into my pocket, my fingers fumbling for my phone. Panic flared as I realized it was gone. "Fuck! I must have left it in the car," I whispered, the words lost in the stillness. I decided to wait until I got home to call her, but then, a familiar, chilling sensation washed over me. The same icy dread that had gripped me in the grocery store, only amplified, intensified. It was colder than the night air, colder than anything I had ever felt.
I quickened my pace, the wind whipping around me, each gust a cold, unsettling caress. A sudden, disorienting realization struck me. "Where am I?" I whispered, my voice trembling. I looked around, recognizing the familiar streets, the familiar houses, yet… something was wrong. My house should have been just around the corner, but it was nowhere to be seen. It was as if I was trapped in a loop, endlessly circling the same stretch of road.
The air grew colder, the silence heavier, more oppressive. The occasional passing car had vanished, leaving me utterly alone. The street was empty, a desolate stage for my growing terror. "It's nothing, Jessica," I muttered, trying to reassure myself. "Just keep moving." But the words sounded hollow, a desperate plea against the rising tide of fear.
My legs, heavy and trembling, finally gave out. I sank onto a nearby bench, the cold metal seeping into my skin. Across the street, a figure stood silhouetted against the dim glow of the streetlight. The lack of moonlight amplified the shadows, turning the familiar street into a stage for some unseen horror. I desperately tried to convince myself it was just a trick of the light, a stray shadow playing on my frayed nerves. I was trapped in a real-life horror movie, but I clenched my jaw, refusing to give in to the rising panic. I fixed my gaze on the distant streetlight, trying to ignore the growing unease, the feeling of being watched, of being hunted.
The figure moved with a fluid, unsettling grace, gliding across the street as if weightless. As it approached, the misty shroud dissipated, revealing a man of unnerving perfection. His eyes, burning with an unnatural golden light, pierced the darkness. A meticulously trimmed black mustache and goatee framed his lips, the dark, glossy hair contrasting sharply with his pale skin. He stood tall and slender, clad in a long, flowing black robe, its edges trimmed with gold, an unsettlingly elegant figure against the backdrop of the deserted street.
I was stuck, frozen solid, like a rabbit in headlights. My heart was going a mile a minute, pounding so hard I thought it'd jump outta my chest. Every gust of wind felt like ice, whipping my hair and clothes around. His fancy robe did the same, all flowy and dramatic. He walked right up to me, face blank as a wall. Then, weirdest thing ever, his eyes, those freaky gold eyes, just... faded. Turned clear, like they were catching moonlight, even though there wasn't any.
With a raspy yet smooth voice which was enough to get anyone's attention, he spoke...