Chapter 10: Trapped with Myself

The door slammed shut behind them.

Amelia's breath came in ragged gasps as she turned, yanking on the handle. Locked.

She spun back around. The other Amelia stood in the center of the dimly lit room, her dark, hollow eyes fixed on her.

Samuel pounded on the door. "Damn it! This isn't real—none of this is real!"

The other Amelia took a slow step forward, her eerie smile returning. "Oh, but it is."

Amelia's hands trembled. "You're not me."

The other Amelia tilted her head. "Aren't I?"

Samuel pulled a knife from his coat, his voice sharp. "Stay back."

But the other Amelia didn't flinch. Instead, she laughed—a soft, haunting sound that sent ice through Amelia's veins.

"You still don't understand, do you?" Her voice was almost pitying. "You weren't supposed to come back because… you never really left."

The air grew heavier, pressing down on Amelia's chest. Her pulse thundered in her ears.

She was dead. Samuel had said it. Lucas had hinted at it. But if that were true—if she had truly died—

Then how was she here?

The other Amelia took another step forward, her voice dropping to a whisper.

"You died a year ago, Amelia."

The walls trembled. The lights flickered.

The girl's voice was soft, almost gentle.

"But something—or someone—brought you back."

The floor beneath Amelia's feet lurched.

A memory flashed in her mind—cold hands pulling her from the water, a breath forced into her lungs, the feeling of waking up when she shouldn't have.

Samuel's voice broke through the haze. "Amelia, don't listen to her!"

But it was too late. The truth slammed into her like a tidal wave.

She wasn't supposed to be here because she wasn't alive.

Not fully.

She had been brought back.

By who? By what?

And most terrifying of all—why?

The other Amelia's smile widened. "Now you're starting to remember."

A sharp pain shot through Amelia's skull. The room shattered around her—

And everything went dark.

To be continued…