It was the real Caleb.
His eyes went wide, betrayed, terrified, before they dimmed.
The other Caleb dissolved into black rot and teeth, screeching as Malakai’s threads tore it apart.
But the damage was already done.
Silence fell heavier than rock.
Ashley whispered, trembling, “Oh Gods… oh Gods, we killed—”
“Don’t,” I forced out, voice cracking. “What… what the hells.”
It was exactly like yesterday, when the shapeshifter who had looked like Malakai had encountered us, yet he had arrived before the real one. I think? Or had he been watching from the sideline?
The forest played with our minds, making us turn against one another, whispering about our weaknesses and desires… It had made us kill one of our own.
“I… I’m sorry,” Jaden stammered, looking at Caleb’s lifeless body. “I thought for sure… that it was the demon trying to turn us against each other again.”
“I thought so, too,” Faelin whispered, her voice shaking as she stared at the unmoving body.
But the forest wasn’t finished with us.
Because the fog moved again, and suddenly there were two Nate’s standing next to each other like it was the most common thing.
One had its face twisted in mourn, as if seeing Caleb’s body reminded him of unpleasant memories.
The other stood straight and stiff, eyes staring empty at the body.
Ashley’s breath caught as she noticed the two of them. Both Nate’s looked at each other, surprise filling their faces, before they turned back to Ashley. “Ash!”
Panic consumed her eyes which darted between them. Her body shook so violently that the dagger she clutched rattled in her grip.
The mourning one spoke first, voice soft and desperate. “Ash… you know me. I-I love you; I always have.”
The empty-looking one swallowed hard, as a half-sob escaped him, eyes wide, opening and closing his mouth as if searching for the right word, terrified of pushing her in the wrong direction.
Ashley’s expression twisted in agony.
“He… he would never say that,” she whispered, before a faint smile appeared on her lips. “No, he wouldn’t confess like that… nor love someone like me. Who in their right mind would blurt something like that? We haven’t even kissed?”
She raised her hand and plunged her dagger into him, not deep enough to kill, just a shoulder strike. Her fear stopped her hand from going farther.
The wounded Nate hissed at the pain, wobbling, slightly, yet he didn’t move away. He merely tilted his head to lock eyes with her as a faint smile spread on his lips. “Well, I’ve never been known to be smart.”
Ashley’s eyes widened, before she pulled the dagger out quickly. “Nate?” She dropped the dagger and pushed her hands against his wounds. “I-I’m sorry!”
The other figure shifted next to them, it smiled, too wide and too wrong.
And then his jaw unhinged into a scream not meant for human throats.
The shriek split the air, a razor-sharp sound that vibrated in my ears. Before any of us could strike it, the thing wearing Nate’s face faded into the fog like it belonged to the mist as well.
“I couldn’t sense it… because its physical body isn’t here,” Malakai muttered bitterly.
I surged forward on instinct, fire already burning up my arms, but Malakai’s hand snapped around my wrist.
“Don’t,” he warned. “That’s exactly what it wants, for us to split up.”
