4: Echoes of the lost soul

Note: What genres do you all look forward to reading? The one that has the most votes would be the chosen genre. The first 3 genres are comedy, romance, and thriller. Just so you know, after this story is completed, that is when the other story will be released. Have a wonderful day everyone!

When we landed in the parallel realm, a suspenseful feeling enveloped us. It was morning, and a soft tune lingered like someone wailing. Lost in a trance, I had unintentionally lain on top of Sasha.

"Sorry," I apologized as I hopped off.

Something felt off about this little realm. In the corner of my eye, Sasha and the mysterious girl were engaged in a conversation, manifesting a reality of its own.

Trivan walked next to me, his husky voice saying, "Great, not only do I have to deal with you, but I have to deal with this... this twit! My time is not yet to come."

The girl's eyes showed a wish for great misfortune to befall Trivan. My mouth urged me to speak, but Trivan wanted nothing to do with me or my mother. Why did I drag them into this?

"Jade is not a twit," Jade tilted her head with a heart-throbbing stare.

"Amaraaaaaaa!" The faint wailing echoed.

"Don't you guys hear that?" I asked, "The echo cries out to me while y'all are here bickering!"

"I don't hear anything, Arie," Sasha cupped his hand by his ears.

Trivan and Sasha exchanged looks, indicating they thought I was insane. Jade sat on the floor clapping and laughing loudly, "Oh Miss Hernandez is fading!"

What is wrong with this girl? Is this some sort of sick joke?

"Jade, do you even know where my mother is? My grandmother must be pouring her heart and soul into her pillows each time she rests," I argued.

Jade stayed silent as if the joy in her veins had been sucked out. A voice in my head screamed that I couldn't trace footprints since birth. Tears welled up as Jade's ice-block eyes stared into my soul. She broke the gaze when Sasha brushed his hand on her rosy cheeks. I saw Trivan's eyes leer at Sasha, but I must be seeing things. Sasha is slowly drifting away from me, and there's nothing I can do. So, I drown myself in the pity of my mother.

A few minutes pass, and the four of us are still strolling through the realm. The deeper we go, the gloomier it becomes. Suddenly, we stumbled upon a crumpled and torn piece of paper. Like the inquisitive girl I was, I reached to grasp it, but Jade pushed me aside.

"You fool! Never touch anything in a realm whether it seems like the things in our world."

The paper, or what I thought was a paper slowly turned into large spikes yet it caused no harm to Jade. "My oh my... Amara." Trembling beside her, I read the paper and couldn't believe my eyes.

It read, "A black room and a red room don't seem to get along. A black room sings sweetly beside the red room yet the red room turns its nose upon it and walks away. They say to paint a black room red, but it is rather challenging to do. So the black room lies away in the red room's lost memories. Perhaps the black room should be unknown."

"Does it look like I passed literature?" Trivan interrupted.

Jade was useless in times of need, awkwardly grinning and shrugging at me. "Amara... I am fed up with staying here! Yuh see wha yuh drag muh brudda and I into!" Trivan grumbled.

Sasha, for once making himself useful, stated, "It sounds like your mother regrets whatever she has done in the past. Wherever Arie's mother is, we have to find her!"

"This parallel realm cyah be a prison," Trivan protested, "Just look at the roses and lilies swaying at the wind and how glorious the golden star in the sky glimmers the realm." Trivan grinned ear to ear; he looked more peaceful this way. Suddenly, my heart pounded. This time the echo turned into an earsplitting screech, and everyone heard it. Everyone covered their ears and collapsed onto the floor.

"Follow that sound," I whimpered.

Immediately, everyone rushed in the direction the screech came from. Somehow, no matter how much we dashed after it, we were getting nowhere. We abruptly ceased our movements; it was obvious that whoever was there was playing tricks with us. The screeching became softer, and an odd being emerged through the bushes, glimpsing at us.

Then, the odd being divided itself into two and kept dividing again until there were four of them. Each of them looked exactly like me... my doppelgangers? As the replicas of myself stood in a line, a silent communication seemed to occur among them. The forest echoed with an eerie silence, broken only by the soft rustling of leaves and the distant calls of unknown creatures. The screeching sound had ceased, leaving an uneasy stillness in its wake.

One of the beings stepped forward, mirroring my movements with an unsettling precision. Were they Jade's friends? When I glimpsed at her, she was glaring at the beings with fright. It extended its hand towards me, inviting a connection beyond words. As I hesitantly reached out, a flood of thoughts overwhelmed my senses. It was as if a portal to another dimension had opened, revealing a glimpse of... my mother stuck in the realm.

In these visions, I saw rather troubling events that were yet to become of my mother. "Amara! Don't die on me!" Trivan cried, tugging me away from them while Sasha stared at him in disbelief. My doppelgangers' expressions twisted into malevolent grins. They were not messengers, to begin with; they were here to eliminate us. The impending danger now demanded swift action.

Ignoring Trivan's pleas, I instinctively knew we had to confront the malevolent doppelgangers. Sasha, recovering from his shock, locked eyes with me, determination burning in his gaze. We could not outrun this tragedy, but we can face it head-on.

As the doppelgangers closed in, the air crackled with tension.

"Jade! You have magic why don't you stop them!" Trivan yelled. Jade had a sinister smile on her face, and she poofed beside the doppelgangers.

"It's rather unfortunate that you thought I would save you," Jade nonchalantly shrugged as she disappeared into thin air.

Now here we are, abandoned by a girl who I thought could have been our friend. Trivan, Sasha, and I exchanged wary glances, grappling with the realization that Jade's motives were obscure. The malevolent doppelgangers, hindered by the combined efforts of our group, could regroup and intensify their combats. Each of them prepared themselves to attack, their eyes burning with fury. Though I was unable to see what they would unleash upon us, pity swam across their eyes.

The three of us could not battle such humans or what we assumed them to be. Something clicked in my mind; if this is a parallel realm, is it possible we could possess such power? Trivan and Sasha awaited what I could do to cease their existence, yet they knew I was not the person to shed one's blood. I clenched my fists and looked my doppelgangers straight into their eyes. They held a troubling past and a tragic future.

There was regret and fury that dwelled in their soul; I could just sense that yet if I took no action, what would become of us? "Why do I not want to hurt them?" I asked myself. I stepped toward one of my replicas whose posture stiffened when I approached. "Amara!" Trivan shrieked. I just ignored him and kept walking toward my replica while the other replicas tilted their heads with sinister smiles, perhaps yearning for my demise. "Miss Hernandez?" I whispered, to which the rest of the replicas screamed.

"Miss Hernandez is gone!" the replica shrieked and held me by my neck, "Hernandez how could you? Hernandez why didn't you?" the replica mocked. Trivan rushed to protect me, but the other replicas had other plans suited for him. Sasha watched with a straightforward face and yawned. Why was the boy I loved not saving me? Its grasp tightened, "Such a nuisance!" Oxygen was becoming tougher for my lungs to breathe.

The atmosphere around me started to fog. Was this how our lives would end? Trivan was trapped by being held by the other replicas who paid no attention to Sasha. Sasha winked at me... why? Is having your life on the line attractive? I closed my eyes and patiently awaited for what dangers would arise.

"Ahhh!" The replica's grip loosened around my neck, its eyes puffy and red.

"Evelyn who wants to forgive you?" the replica collapsed onto its knees along with the other replicas. In the blink of an eye, a woman emerged from the dissipating forms, her silky dark brown hair cascading down her shoulders in a lustrous cascade. The strands, touched by hints of mahogany in the sunlight, framed her face delicately, enhancing the almond-shaped allure of her eyes. Is she my mother? I leaned in to brush the strand of hair that blocked her left eye. Words could not even describe her beauty. She gazed at me, then Sasha, then back at me again. "Who seeks Evelyn?" she muttered.