ECHO

It all began with a boy who ran away from the house...

After failing the exam Ray got into trouble with his parents. To hide from his father's wrath he ran inside the old library of his house and hid behind an old dusty mostly  damaged bookshelf.

There he saw it.

The book with no name.

It was peeking out from under the bookshelf covered in dust, as if daring Ray to take it.

It was a strange pull.

The book had a hard dark brown worn out cover which was tied with a single long twisted red thread. Two or three pages stuck out from it as if they were trying to escape.

Ray never saw this book before even though he's used to visiting this old library. He carefully pulled out the book. Dust flew everywhere.

He needed to know what's in it.

So he untied the red thread after some struggling.

A strange warm old woody scent filled his lungs out of nowhere. It was pleasant.

The book was filled with maps and mysterious symbols. His great grandfather's name is written in the corner of the book.

It made his young mind curious.

He opened the book, turned page after page. The strange smell kept tickling his nostril. Almost pulling him in a trance. 

Ray noticed it was coming from the book. As he tried to take a close sniff, he heard footsteps approaching that made him snap out of the haze. Ray quickly closed the book and hid it under his shirt and peeked out his head from the hiding spot.

His soul almost seemed to leave his body when he saw his father staring at him with a frown and an angry stare.

His face paled but  tried to give a sheepish grin. Although his father was not having it. Ray got his ear pulled.

With a wince he came out of the hiding spot. He had to listen nagging for an hour about how tough the life was which lead to 'exams are important' topic and  finally got grounded for a week. 

Getting grounded for a week, Ray was frustrated and upset. No phone, no TV, no friends....if only he studied a little more.No, he was sure it wouldn't do anything.

Anyway.....

Good news! He has that book with him. He was fascinated by the book for sure. The maps , the symbols and the mystery that clung on it.

He wasn't sure what kind of map it was for though? Treasure hunt? That thought made him so giddy.

But what about the symbols? Or maybe some kind of language....he didn't want to think about that. Boring.

That night Ray was laying on the bed with the book. Turning pages lazily. That smell again. The faint warm old woody smell...With every page turned the smell grew thicker as if it was breaking its slumber. 

It was kinda lulling Ray into relaxation or trance like state.

As he started to get more and more relaxed his thoughts began to get jumbled up.

Slowly a thought creeped in...a reckless one.

What if he left the house... what if he followed the map shown in the book. He'll be rich with the treasure.

He had read enough adventure comics to know how the protagonist ended up getting super rich!

Therefore ,with being grounded he got the  excuse. Night time and a coastal neighborhood made it even more tempting. He always wished to do that...

To sneak out of the house just once...

No

"The Free Prison"  he called.

Ray tiptoe towards the ground floor window. The book clenched  tightly in his arms.  He turned to glance at the house one last time.

Finally....

Then with a deep sigh he climbed out of the window and landed on the grass with a soft thud.

He snuck out with nothing but only the clothes he was wearing and the book. 

While his parents were sound asleep.

As the night sky veiled heavily the earth, he found his legs moving...he ran until he saw a blue freight truck on the side of the road. The shutters were wide open.

Weird…as if the- no, just a coincidence.

He slipped into the truck's trunk. As he sat there quietly behind the boxes, he started to second guess his decision... but when his eyes fell on the book he was gripping like a lifeline, he knew he had to do it.

And the truck started to move too, there's no going back.

No one saw him sneaking around anyway.

So what was the problem?

The truck that took him unknowingly to the port halted suddenly .

Ray quickly got out of the trunk as soon as it stopped. He sneaked through the dark to get inside the port.

There he saw...the huge cargo ship. The black and red painted ship with the huge PLÜTÖ  name plastered on its both sides in a faded white color.

To Ray, at that moment he felt like he got the best way to execute the plan.

He quietly slipped onto that cargo ship bound for a place he didn't recognize, hiding among the shadows and containers of the lower deck.

That night, under a dark blue velvet sky sprinkled with stars, he lay near the railing, letting the salty breeze brush over his uncovered skin. The Book still clenched into his arms.

The ship floating on the water made him feel oddly calm.

He opened the book, turned pages without much thought. That warm old woody scent floated in his nostril and wrapped around his lungs slowly.

Everything felt silent...still....

Too still....

It looks like the ship had crossed into an unknown territory.

At first, nothing seemed wrong.

Then, all at once, everything stopped.

The waves froze mid motion. The breeze disappeared. Even time seemed to hold its breath.

Ray slowly stood up, feeling a little uneasy.

The silence felt wrong...

It was so loud, almost deafening in its own strange way.

His eyes darted around.

The deck was empty. No crew. Not even a single touch of life.

Only silence.

Then a faintest sound caught his attention. How could it not? with the pin drop silence, the faintest sound felt too much.

Tap… Tap… Tap…

His eyes immediately flew towards the sound.

He saw a silhouette across the ship.

The figure slowly moved closer and closer, moonlight washed on the figure.... and then he saw...

Himself.

Same face. Same clothes.

As if he was seeing himself in the mirror.

But the smile....that smile was so wrong. So twisted, so cruel, like the devil himself carved that smile.

Ray’s blood ran cold. He could feel the goosebumps raising on the back of his neck, the heart thumping loud enough to be heard.

With shaky hands he rubbed his eyes.

Still there.

The perfect replica.

The perfect shadow.

Then he remembered something his grandmother once said, an old saying or a myth:

"If you ever see someone who looks like yourself... it means death is near."

No way…that's just an old ignorants myth.

The mirror began to stride toward him. Calm. Confident with that same blood chilling grin.

With every step that duplicate took , Ray's leg moved backwards instinctively.

"This isn’t real," he whispered.

“ah... naive little hope,” the mirror chirped with a dangerous glint in his eyes, “you wouldn’t be feeling your own blood pumping...if it was fake.”

Ray felt that familiar warm old woody scent. His breath hitched.

The more it came close the stronger and overwhelming it got.

But the warm old woody scent had the undertone of burnt resin and sulfur now.

Pleasant in a disturbing way.

A slow eerily wide smile still adorned his face.

Suddenly...

The ship began to dissolve. The sky shattered like glass. Waves disappeared. In a blink of an eye the world was gone .

Only Ray and his double remained.

Floating in nothingness, in pure darkness.

“You ran away,” the duplicate murmured, eyes glowing as if it's about to burst.

"But you took something with you...

Me.”

What?! What does it mean?

Vibrant colors started to appear around them from nothingness.

Through the little cracks around them, colors oozed like honey swirling and enveloping them in a deadly cocoon.

Ray could feel his head splitting open and his brain gets forcefully stirred and pulled.

Suddenly memories twisted into visions. Moments of his life, versions of himself

The Liar...The Failure...The Lost Cause...

The disappointed eyes staring at him from all directions.

Ray felt his heart churning, a dull throbbing pain. Soon the pain surged through his whole body, as if gravity was pulling him from every direction, tearing up his skin and tissue slowly but surely.

The duplicate began to melt, turning into a liquid swirl of  vibrant colors and emotions, crawling toward him with malice, trying to merge.

“There’s only room for one of us. Since you failed to achieve success.."

The duplicate, no! The Creature lunged with a deafening scream,

“ BECOME ME!!.”

Ray felt paralyzed. Fear clawed up violently. His eyes widened so much that it might pop out. Not a muscle listening to his command. And the creature...it latched onto his body .

Sticky, cold, suffocating liquid wrapping itself around him while he couldn't even protest. He could feel it crawling up and under his skin.

All he could do was gasp through the pain and feel utterly helpless.

The creature's liquid form tried to merge with him through every cell of his body, going for his precious heart and spreading through his veins like venom.

Ray felt dull burning, aching and numbing pain.

No.. this can't happen.

He can't let it trap him but is too terrified to think straight.

He was beyond desperate and in extreme pain.

He wished...no...begged for saving from any higher being watching this.

"An..ything.... p-please.. any..t-thhing...end this", he gasped out weakly, tears streaming down from his eyes that grew thicker by second and vision turning almost white.

Then a light... very faint but there.

A crack. 

Faint, tiny but a crack through colors for sure.

Found it!

The only way for being saved.

He was unsure but he had to take the chance.

The only chance to leave this crushing hell.

He dragged his body toward it, every inch screamed in agony. Every drag of breath was heavy and exhausting.

The weight of two and pain did nothing to help him.

Tears kept streaming down, thicker by every second, metallic taste grew sharper in his mouth, breathing became extremely painful like sharp stabs. His lungs begged to give up..

"J-just one more step, one more push... Please..."

Suddenly Ray felt the weight on his body get more heavy.

“You can’t leave!!” the creature hissed as it clung more tightly , “You will become me!”

At this point it felt like Ray was carrying the weight of a solid metal ball.

Ray reached the crack with his broken battered body since stopping meant fading away.

“ P-please.. ” he begged with a choked cry. “Let me!...Let me through.”

As soon as the bright blinding light swallowed him, his consciousness slowly faded.

He felt warmer, lighter, the pain evaporated like dew under the sun. 

His eyes flutter close .

“...ay! Ray!”

A voice. Familiar. Mixed with worry and warmth.

His eyes shot open. Sudden sharp light burned his eyes.

He winced

Sweat soaked his body.

He gasped for air, body trembling like a leaf.

His mother sat beside him, looking at him with concern.

“Ray, you were screaming in your sleep. Are you okay?”

Ray was still shaken up. Confused and terrified. His eyes swept around his room.

His room.

His bed.

His mother.

Safe. So..so safe.

He felt his throat dry as wood while swallowing.

As he tried to speak he got a coughing fit.

His mother left hurriedly to get him water, he slumped back down and stared blankly at the ceiling, remembering what just happened. Was that all a dream? But it felt so real, so painful... how could it feel so real...

He was still shaken, still trying to breathe properly.

His eyes were drawn towards that book.

It's open, the same maps and symbols. His heart twisted for a second but didn't think much of it or was just too exhausted to think.

But he felt very much relieved, he's alive and in his own room.

Unfortunately the feeling didn't last long .

A sharp pain stabbed in his chest.

Right where the creature had tried to merge.

"Why?.." He muttered quietly as he put a hand on the chest.

He turned towards the mirror.

Something felt wrong.

The warm old woody scent.... it's coming again.

He stared at his reflection.

But his reflection didn’t move.

Then he saw.. yes he saw it clearly...a chill ran down from his spine.

It smiled... that same devilish smile...

Ray walked towards the mirror with wide eyes and shaky limbs, stumbling but still moving.

Like a moth towards the flame.

He could feel his breath become laboured. Panic set in his bones. 

It suddenly whispered,

"You brought me back."

Ray's breath almost stopped as his vision darkened.

To be continued.....