*LOOKALIKE'S CONDITION*

"Surprised?" The woman mused, her lips curving up into a deceitful smile.

"No.." Lisa whispered and backed away from her slowly. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. This couldn't be possible, never in her wildest dreams would she had imagined that she would be staring at her own face without a mirror.

"Nice to meet you Lisa, my name is well, Lisa." She stretched forward her identical looking pale hand but Lisa only warily glanced at it before taking another step back.

"You're not me." Lisa spoke, her voice quivering. This person didn't just look like her, she also spoke like her and lookalikes weren't like that!.

"You're eyes says otherwise." Her lookalike replied, the souless look in her eyes dimming barely seeable. She didn't move away from her present position and instead observed Lisa who was quivering ever so slightly.

"Just what are you? I won't believe that you're just my lookalike!" Lisa's suspicion multiplied, her unease growing simultaneously.

"That I will tell you when you join me for a tour at my house, what do you say... Lisa?"

The way she pronounced her name sent shivers down Lisa's spine. Her first thought was a big no!

Hell no was she going to go anywhere with this woman, even though she looked like her, she didn't trust her one bit.

Lisa's eyes instantly searched through the window, the gears in her head working at full time speed. If she dashed at the door now and ran out, there was no way her lookalike would expect that.

"Don't even think about it." Her lookalike warned and Lisa widened her eyes, shocked to see a knife placed on her throat with no one holding it.

And her lookalike was still at her exact position!.

"Whether you like it or not, you can't escape this place, because the minute you step out will be the minute you die. The only thing stopping you from dying right now is this very same house we are standing in."

"You can't hold me locked here forever." Lisa spoke through clenched teeth. The knife pressed a little hard and a straight line of red appeared on her kneck.

"Watch that tone of yours!." The lookalike lost her temper but calmed down instantly and pointed to the same window which Lisa was looking at.

"You see that?" Lisa turned slowly and the knife followed.

"Those creatures are called ghouls. A lower version of reapers which have no sense of reasoning except to detect their food. They feed on dead, roaming souls that end up stranded here in the mirror world and to them, seeing a living soul is nothing less than a miracle for them." The lookalike explained, her eyes glowing a bit when she mentioned the word ' living soul'.

Lisa furrowed her brows, staring at the ghouls that circled the house hopelessly but not one had even attempted to approach the door and she wondered why.

"What do you mean by living soul? I'm not a soul, I'm very well alive and will be going back to the castle when I figure out a way out here."

Her lookalike laughed, a crazy laughter echoed around the walls of the house.

Only now did Lisa realise. They did look alike but they acted nothing alike and there were a few dissimilar features here and there on the lookalike's face.

Her eyes instead of being deep brown was a dull shade of brown that almost looked white, her pale flawless skin if being looked from upclose had hidden green veins that bulged within. Her hair instead of being reddish-brown was a dull shade of brown.

Now that she noticed all this, she concluded that this woman didn't look like her lookalike anymore and instead more of a lonely ghost.

"Deny it all you want but the truth will always remain that you are no more a human but only a living, talking soul. Now, come with me."

The woman turned and even though Lisa didn't want to follow her, a strong force moved her legs and she started walking ahead reluctantly with the knife firmly placed on her neck.

Climbing on the stairs, Lisa internally prayed that she wouldn't fall through it because of the way it bent inwards each time she stepped on it.

They finally arrived at a long passage which had a number of paintings lined up on each side. The passage seemed to get darker as Lisa's footsteps echoed in an unusually loud manner.

"They say paintings can express your feelings, is that true?" Her lookalike asked, stopping without turning her back to face Lisa.

Lisa didn't answer and instead stared intently at the paintings on the wall and her heart dropped to her stomach in dread as her lips parted in horror. Her feet jingled as they instantly felt as if her feet were replaced with a pair of spaghetties.

The first painting on the wall was of when She was back at the human realm, it was one of her fist encounters with Lucas as she and him were on the bed hugging each other and if Lisa remembered correctly, she was crying. Right behind them in the shadows was her lookalike, who touched Lucas's hair lovenly.

Another one was when Lisa was eating at the dining with Lucas in the underworld. At the shadows, this time she didn't see her lookalike but the maid that had died that day mysteriously, smiling straight at her.

Lisa almost chocked in fear when she saw the dead maid's smile widen and she lifted up a bottle that read poison.

Lisa skited backwards, her back accidentally bumping into another portrait and she turned back to see it.

It was her, lying on the bed, her face scrunched in pain. She remembered this. It was the day she had almost killed herself. Just as before, at the shadows, her lookalike stood, her face coated in satisfaction as she stared at Lisa.

Her lookalike in the painting turned to look at her, giving her a big wide smile and she trembled terribly.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of ghosts?" Her lookalike's voice sounded beside her and Lisa shrieked, distancing herself from her.

"Just let me go, why do you even need me? If it's money you need I can give you, freedom? Once I find a way out of here I'll bring you along too. Just please, let me go, please." Lisa begged, her heart ached to get back to Lucas and to get out of this god forsaken world. If what this woman said was true then she might be in quite some trouble.

"Well, I guess I'll let you go but on one condition." She drawled, her eyes flashing with a mischievous glint.

Lisa narrowed her eyes"And just what is that condition?."

"Give me your body and I'll let you go. If you don't, I'll still get your body and kill you along the line."