Steps coming from outside approach me, and a rope of light almost cuts my neck. That voice made my soul crave more, and I feel that wooden piece with my bare hands. I am about to lose my mind, the closer it gets to me. Perhaps my other self awaits that day, an inevitable day, a day to escape my shadows. Sunny!... I await that day with bated breath.

  A sound full of faint, fleeting laughter, barely audible, hides the pain of the distant past, memories of that suffering. Despite her trembling in that darkness, it is her only way to stay alive.

  *****

  Sunny stood before a slightly rusty iron door, looking right and left. The corridor was empty of children, no sound of nearby footsteps. Sunny opened her winter coat, reached into the pocket of her white wool skirt, and took out a key with strange engravings. She opened the door with it. It was an extremely dark corridor with a dilapidated wooden floor, and damp walls with peeling white paint.

  Sunny entered the corridor, closing the door slowly without a sound. She turned forward and raised her hand, which emitted a faint light that illuminated her path as she advanced slowly and cautiously.

  '...The air is suffocating... the smell of dust and moths makes it feel like an old cellar that hasn't been opened in ages... I hate this place.'

  Sunny advanced with steps that were barely audible, stopping before a cracked black wooden door. The creaking sound of the wooden sign hanging on it as it swayed in harmony with the sound of Sunny holding the handle created a feeling of strangeness and intense anxiety.

  Sunny opened the door slowly to find a dark room. She felt a strange sensation and entered, glimpsing the light of a candle in the center of the room. Its melted black wax looked like a fungus growing over the strange writings on the damp, dilapidated wooden floor.

  Sunny felt strangeness and chills, suddenly hearing the sound of faint laughter that planted a feeling of sudden anxiety within her. She turned to the left to find a girl sitting on the bed, with silky black hair falling in front of her pale, empty eyes, holding something resembling a wooden staff that was barely visible in that dark corner.

  Suddenly, the girl blew out a weak breath, extinguishing the candle, and darkness fell, spreading the sounds of those disgusting laughs.

  'It's time... Sunny!' At that moment, Sunny raised her hand, and a strong light blazed, disappearing the darkness. Sunny opened her eyes to find thousands of shadows frozen in place, reaching out their hands towards Sunny, attacking her. An ethereal rope of golden yellow appeared, glowing like a constellation of stars in that dark space.

  Sunny turned towards that girl, looking at her coldly, a look full of hatred. The ropes shot out, encircling the girl's neck, and the shadows returned to the girl's shadow.

  "Good try... but these tricks... will never work on me." Sunny said this, glaring at the girl with cold eyes. She was a girl with a long black skirt and a slightly burned gray silk coat, barefoot, with white skin, lowering her head, caressing the staff with her rough fingers, and a disgusting look of happiness on her face.

  "It seems you're getting worse with time." Sunny approached the candle, placed the end of the ropes on it, and they burned little by little, igniting the wick of the black candle.

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  Sunny raised her head, looking at the girl, who rose from her place and advanced towards her. Sunny grabbed her neck tightly, and her hand glowed with a strong, bright light.

  "Tell me now... what is this staff?"

  The girl tilted her head, answering with an expression that planted an urgent desire in Sunny to crush her neck, "You don't have to hold me like that... let's unite a little... a whole month and I'm alone... with my hungry shadows." A smile appeared on her face, making Sunny harsh, who violently released her, saying, "You have no right to laugh after what you did... answer... before I increase the number of these candles."

  "(Muffled laughter, directing her gaze towards the staff)... I have never seen anything like this in my life... I saw that girl turning the sand into ashes... it's a unique masterpiece... I would almost swear it's more magic than a weapon... but what distinguishes it... these unique engravings... this staff is more than we think... it's as if it's part of what's happening to us... as soon as I hold it... I feel my other self wanting more."

  The girl raised the staff, looking at the crystal ball, through which the light of the faint candle permeated, dancing with the strange engravings around it. A black spot inside caught her attention, and the girl smiled, saying, "Sunny... I long to take these shadows... to satisfy my hungry self."

  At that moment, Sunny took the staff from the girl's hand and quickly directed that sharp end towards her chest with lightning speed, anger evident on her face.

  Signs of shock varied on the girl's face, and suddenly laughter overwhelmed her. She grabbed that end, bringing it closer to her, saying, "Foolish... there's no point in killing me... they won't return... as long as their shadows are mine..."

  That smile on the girl's face ignited the urge to kill her within Sunny, who suppressed those feelings, taking a deep breath.

  Sunny moved the staff away from the girl, turned towards the door, and advanced towards it with steps hiding a strong impulse. Sunny took a white cloth from her pocket and wrapped the staff with it.

  "Sunny... that girl is like me... isn't she?"

  Sunny stopped for a moment, then continued wrapping, turning towards her with a cold, emotionless look, "This doesn't concern you... just stay here... without killing anyone again."

  "Heh... I wish those days would return... those memories will remain within me... despite everything... I will not forget their screams and moans within me... (raising her hand, forming a circle with her index finger and thumb around Sunny in front of her right eye)... Would... would you like to join them... Sunny?"

  Not a single word left Sunny's mouth. She finished wrapping the staff, held the handle, and opened the door.

  "Oh... and one more thing." Sunny stopped, turning towards her slowly with a sharp look.

  "Be certain... you and Geist... that those shadows behind you... will become mine." The girl said this, then smiled, saying, "I almost forgot... won't you tell the leader about imprisoning that girl...?"

  "The order was issued yesterday... she will remain as one of us... and also... never utter that name again..."

  Sunny closed the door behind her, a feeling of hatred filling her heart. She stopped, looking back at that room.

  'If the leader had refused to let you stay... I would have burned you with my bound hands.'

  The sting of the past pierced Sunny's heart, which was drowning in those memories. She resisted her anticipating self regarding the girl's inevitable fate, holding the staff tightly and fiercely.

  Sunny fastened her worn blue coat, taking a deep breath, her nerves calming down little by little.

  'No... I won't fall into her trap... she will meet her fate regardless... I just... have to watch and see.' Sunny said this to herself, resisting that deep-seated hatred.

  ******

  At that time, that girl looked at the light in front of her, which was binding her limbs, and patted one of her shadows.

  "I am like your shadows, bound behind your backs... Sunny... the flame of this candle before me is like your determination... with a light breath it goes out... I will kill you... and I will kill Geist... I will kill you all... those shadows bound behind you... I will release them from your bonds."

  That girl said this in an emotionless tone, looking towards that fragile ceiling, and her disgusting laughter planted a desire for freedom within her more than before. Suddenly, a blurry black figure appeared before her, and she lowered her head, looking towards it.

  The girl rose from her place, smiling, a feeling of hatred filling her heart, and her tears, glistening in the candlelight, streamed down her white skin.

  "Have you returned again... to make me hungry?"

  *******

  Two opposing souls, in the middle of nowhere, each trying to kill the other, and a feeling of hatred stabbing their hearts, filling a large void and closing a crack, attaching a false conviction to their souls. Then that ugly truth appears, two similar feelings, yet a desire to go back, trying to escape the illusions of this world, and if only to protect those who remain alive, makes their desires more different.