Young Writers Society

For Tenyo's LMS contest. Word Count: 1494, approx.

Chapter Nine

The room was dark and shadowy, a study is grey. It was also as unfamiliar to Seth as the seat he sat in--a throne-like chair made of dark, bone-achingly cold stone. He shifted uncomfortably and glanced around, at the all-grey metal room. It felt hollow and echoed slightly with each of his movements, each breath he took.

A quicky study of the room showed him that there was, apparently, no door. And that there was someone else in there with him. He could hear them moving around, slight shifting noises that echoed his own movements but were not in sync with him.

Seth leaned forward in the seat, squinting into the shadows. "Who's there?"

No response. Just a slight shuffling sound. Seth went very still in his seat and tried to peer into the darkness again. A tiny thread of fear wound through him, making his heart race and his breathing pick up. Held held still and, after a moment of silence, leaned back, pulling his hands off the arms of the throne. Seth hugged himself while eyeing the darkened room warily. He had a sinking feeling that he wasn't dreaming, but neither was he awake. So, where exactly was he at the moment?

The room offered no clues and his last memories were of Amerys and Samira talking to him on the shuttle, and then Amerys calling his name. And then nothing. Seth frowned, dropping his gaze to the floor. He shifted on the chair again, wincing at the cold, hard surface of it. It was obviously not made for sitting down on for extended periods of time.

There was another slight shifting sound, another out of sync echo, and Seth jerked his head up. He quickly scanned the room again. Still nothing. "Hello?" he called, uncrossing his arms and leaning forwards. He put one hand on the arm of the chair, fingers nearly white with how tightly he was gripping it. "Is... is that anyone there? Hello?"

Again, there was no response. He scowled and slid towards the edge of the seat. There was a light footstep, the noise almost buried beneath his breathing and the pulse thundering in his ears. All traces of the unnatural calm were gone, and he was almost in full-blown panic mode. Seth began to push up out of his seat, shoving away the fear and the panic. He didn't want those emotions right now.

"Who's there?" he shouted, wincing at the echo that bounced back at him. "SHOW YOURSELF!"

When the room stopped echoing his voice, it became unnaturally silent. It felt wrong for him to even breathe now, what with how eriely still and quiet the room had become. Now on his feet, Seth hesitated in moving away from the throne-like chair. Something about it made him want to stay in it, depsite the discomfort. It was almost like an obsession for him, to be near the chair, to sit on it.

Seth bit his lip and glanced back at the throne-like seat he'd just vacated. It was high-backed and highly polished, made of dark stone with threads of silver and gold weaving through it. The throne was made of stone unlike anything he'd every seen on Earth--and probably wouldn't see again, now that he'd left the planet. He frowned at the dark stone, eyeing the intricate carvings winding up the high back. It was beautiful, but horribly inpersonal. Seth figured it was made to look pretty and intimidating, and most definitely not for comfort. He decided not to sit back down just yet.

"Stupid creepy rooms," he muttered under his breath and hugged himself again, turning his back to the room. "And stupid uncomfortable chairs..."

"It was made to make a statement," someone said, voice crystal clear and rather hypnotic. They sounded a lot like him. Except there was a weird echo to their voice that was not caused by the room, and an edge to it that wasn't entirely friendly.

Seth whirled around to face the room, heat beating like it was about to burst out of his chest. The fear and the panic came rushing back, and he stopped short as something in the shadows moved. "W-who's there?"

"It's a pretty throne, don't you think?"

He decided not to answer that question and asked one of his own; "Who are you?"

The other person chuckled in reply, low and sensual. Somehow, that did not reassure Seth at all. There was more movement in the darkness, as if someone were coming closer to him and then they abruptly stopped, a darker silhouette against the grey, shadow-washed room. Seth narrowed his gaze, not trusting this stranger. They tilted their head, as if studying him.

"You should know the answer to that question, Sethos."

He ground his teeth together and clenched his hands into fists. "My name," he hissed, anger flooding through him, "is not Sethos."

"Of course it is, my dear," the shadow replied and they sounded more normal, if slightly bored. "Don't you like your name?"

"Who are you?" Seth growled, ignoring their question. He took a small step forwards, voice rising with every word. "I demand to know who you are!" Realising he'd started yelling at them, he pulled back and rubbed a hand over his face. Taking a moment to compose him, Seth sighed and took a deep, hopefully calming breath. And then lowered his voice into a dark hiss; "Tell me who you are!"

"Why don't I show you?"

And with that, they took one last step forwards, into the light. Seth froze in shock, staring at what appeared to be his mirror image. Only they had dark lines criss-crossing their face like engorged veins and dark, bottomless eyes that betrayed nothing. That... That could not be right, could it? There was only one of him, right?

Seth took a quick step back, thighs hitting the edge of the seat. He dropped into the chair abruptly, pointing at the other him. "You-- You can't be real!" he said, voice edged towards hysteria. His heart was beating triple time now, breaths stuttering in his chest, panic clenched tight around his heart. "You-- this--- This can't be happening! This isn't real--this is a dream! It has to be a dream!"

"Oh, come on," his dark-eyed twin muttered, rolling their eyes. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Uh, uh," Seth muttered, shaking his head. "This is most definitely not happening. I'm dreaming and in a few minutes, I'll wake up and the last day will be a complete nightmare... and--and not real!"

His twin heaved a sigh, and Seth dubbed him The Evil Twin. "I'm not your evil twin, Seth."

He went still. "How--how did you know...?"

"That you were thinking that?" his Evil Twin smirked. "We're one and the same. I have access to all the same memories you do. I just see them from a different perspective." The other him's head tilted again, and this time he could definitely tell it was studying him. "Like that one time you saw a dog growling at a little girl at one of those functions you loved waiting at so much, and you stepped between them and told the dog off. Do you remember the weird tingling warm feeling in your hand when you touched it?"

Seth shook his head. "No."

"Oh, well. I guess that's something that I, specifically, retained." His Evil Twin shrugged. "Perks of being the alien part, I suppose."

"Wait, what?" he whispered, frowning at the other him. "Did you just say 'alien'?"

The other him sighed again. "Honestly, Seth. Amerys told you all this earlier!"

Pressure began to build in his head, and Seth had the distinct feeling that he could feel a migraine coming on. He shook his head to clear it of the disorientated thoughts and tossed aside all his previous emotions, pulling anger in towards himself. It didn't feel like only his anger, either. There was something distinctly other about it, like he'd taken it from someone else. He vaguely remembered Amerys being angry telling him not to do something... Was that it? Was this anger partially Amerys's?

"What the hell is going on?" he demanded, reaching up to grip his hair and tugging on it harshly. He stared hard at his other self, gaze narrowing."Tell me!"

"Oh, dear..." his Evil Twin muttered, and then their presence just vanished.

He pushed to his feet abruptly, feeling unreasonably unsteady. In its absence, there was suddenly a hollow feeling in his chest, aching with some kind of twisted longing. For completeness. Wholeness. Seth frowned, and slowly lowered himself back down onto the throne. That little interaction had just given him a hell of a lot more questions than answers.