Chapter 2: Dream of a parallel me in a supernatural world

-Schatten House, Phoenix, Arizona

-August 25, 2022

Joe Schatten was completely confused.

The last thing he remembers is that last night he started feeling very sleepy so it is likely that he had fallen asleep and now out of nowhere, he began to vaguely see images of the life of a child similar to him...

In fact, he would have thought he was dreaming about his own past if it wasn't for some inconsistencies that didn't match his own past.

The images gradually began to become clearer and Joe could understand that he was seeing the life of his other self in a Parallel World.

As the images passed, Joe could only think of it all as a very strange dream.

Joe continued to watch his other self's life with interest, he focused on the differences in his life from those of his other self.

It was very confusing but interesting to see another perspective of what his life might have been like in what seemed to be a world similar to his own but with some humans with supernatural abilities and supernatural beings.

This dream was showing Joe the world he always wanted to live in, but the irony was that his other self seemed disgusted with this world and his own supernatural abilities that set him apart from the so-called normies.

Joe scoffed at this as he couldn't believe that his other self in his dream was so ungrateful for having supernatural abilities... Of course, Joe also understood his other self a bit, after all, he was suffering all kinds of bullying.

'I guess having supernatural abilities in a normal society can also have some disadvantages' thought Joe, but even so, he still wished he had them, even if he suffered all kinds of rejection for them.

Joe saw several rather sad scenes of his other self trying his best to be normal and fit into Normis society unsuccessfully, his supernatural ability made most Normis feel instinctively oppressed by him, which caused people to avoid him, dislike him, shun him, and many other things.

It was then that the images of his other self's life finally came to approximately the same time that Joe was currently living in(2022) and this is when something very strange happened.

Joe began to see how his other self seemed to be drafting a farewell...

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...

-POV Joe Schatter supernatural parallel world.

Well, I've been depressed for a while and I don't think I can take it anymore.

Since I've been conscious all I've had is my mother, my father left us a long time ago before I was born.

I'm still not sure why he did it but I guess it has to do with my and my mother's supernatural ability.

Why do I believe that?..., well, because everything bad is usually always because of my cursed supernatural heritage.

It all started when I was 9 years old and my mother told me that we were moving to the USA because she had been offered a very good job in Phoenix Arizona..., of course, I knew that she actually decided to go there because she was still hoping to contact my biological father.

We left our home, acquaintances, everything..., that marked a beginning and an end for me since that was when I discovered that my mother's family had supernatural abilities passed down through heredity.

On my first night in the USA, I woke up screaming, yelling, and cursing.

I had no idea what was going on, but for some reason, I could see my own body as if I was looking into a mirror but in 3D, yes, it was terrifying, it was like in those fictions where the protagonist's soul is taken out of his body and then he can see his whole body from another perspective.

At first, I thought I was just dreaming, but it felt too real to be a dream, I could still feel my own body, and I could move it as usual but my vision was different, I didn't understand what the hell was going on and I was kinda scared to death, so I did what any kid my age would do... I screamed as loud as I could looking for my mother's help.

It was then that she explained to me that the Schatten's were an ancient family with supernatural abilities called the Walking Shadow who had the ability to manipulate shadows as if they were an extension of themselves

The Walking Shadow could see and do things through their shadows, my mother explained to me that our shadows were not intelligent nor do they have a consciousness of their own but they can react according to our desires or moods.

The previous Lord Schatten was my mother's grandfather and he explained to her that our black eyes were the ones that allowed us to see through our shadows and that our shadows did what we asked them to do but that our emotions could also control them so we should always remain calm to avoid accidents because if we did not control our impulses we could unconsciously harm others through our shadows.

At the beginning, it was amazing to know that I had supernatural abilities but as time went by everything got worse for me...

First of all, I never managed to adapt to my new life in the USA...

Secondly, since I awakened my supernatural ability the other kids not only avoided or shunned me because of my weird completely black eyes but now to make matters worse they were all intimidated by my shadow.

Yes, apparently by being a shadow manipulator, the other people with weak shadows are automatically intimidated by my presence, which made everyone unconsciously avoid me.

The excitement of my new found power fizzled into fear of a life of loneliness and darkness.

A life where everyone's looks and words were always cruel and cold.

It was because of all this that I always hated my supernatural ability, I was convinced it was because of this that I never managed to live a normal life like everyone else.

I was never able to make friends or go out and have fun with others.

It was the fault of my cursed heritage everything I suffered and still suffer, all the tears I shed, the sadness that overwhelms my mind, everything.

I look for a bright light to guide me and never see anything but darkness.

Only shadows hug me.

Sometimes I just look up at the sky and curse:

Why didn't they make me like them?!

All I want is nothing more than to be normal, but I knew that's not possible.

Or so I thought...

It was a few months ago that I finally found the solution to my problems, the old Schatten book:

"Buch des Herrn der Schatten."

This book belonged to my mother's grandfather and it had the answer to my greatest wish.

On one of its many pages, it showed an ancient ritual with which a Schatten could use the total solar eclipse to teleport his soul to the body where the shadow of his other self is located in a parallel world.

This kind of teleportation from one self to another self is said to be achieved by sending the soul through the shadows and this is only possible in a total solar eclipse.

And it turns out that every 8 years from the birth of a Walking Shadow there is always a total solar eclipse and soon it will be my 16th birthday, so I will finally be able to change my life.

-POV Joe supernatural parallel world end

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...

Joe continued to observe the life of his other self until he finally reached the day of his birthday.

Joe witnessed how his other self had everything ready for the ritual.

And the instant the total eclipse of the sun occurred, his other self began the ritual.

All Joe got to see was how his shadow suddenly emerged and enveloped him.

And once this happens, his other self passed out, and at that very instant Joe felt everything around him seem to become a blur.

Joe groaned aloud as he opened his eyes, a headache pulsing in his head.

He blinked, dimly perceiving the bed he was in and his room.

He felt like his face and his whole body was covered in a layer of moisture.

'Looks like the dream is over' Joe thought as he realized that he was already awake and had apparently sweated a lot.

But for some unknown reason, he felt a very peculiar sensation all over his body that was not his transpiration.

Joe also felt different, physically weaker as if he was completely restrained, but he wasn't being restrained because he could feel his body, it just wasn't responding the way he wanted it to, it was like he was different, there was also a strange sensation running through his whole body that centered around his eyes, something unfamiliar but very pleasant.

He couldn't understand what was happening and found himself unable to move properly for a few moments as if his body was rusty.

Finally, Joe got up from his bed and went to the bathroom, quickly washed his face and when he opened his eyes he was shocked by what he saw in the mirror.