Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
I thought about all those things as I walked toward the heart of the warmth. The moment that I entered the circle of light that the fire was giving off, I saw that the fire was starting to shrink. With each step that I took the fire got smaller. It was odd, I had never seen anything like this before.
In a way, it was like the fire had burned bigger and brighter just so that I could see it. Like it was actually acting as a beacon for me to follow this entire time. I tried to think that this whole thing was odd, and at first, I really did. In truth though, I don’t think anything from this place was going to surprise me all that much anymore.
Finally, I got right next to the fire, and it was no bigger than a typical campfire that you would see anywhere else. It wasn’t a bonfire or anything like that, it was a normal sized, perfectly contained campfire that was surrounded with a beautiful array of stone that had been stacked in an elaborate design.
“Is anyone here?” I called out in a loud voice. Someone had to be here, didn’t they? Why else would there be a fire here? Someone had to light it. Someone had to be waiting here for it. So, who was that person, and where were they? That was the big question, wasn’t it?
“Hello?” I called out again, hoping that there would be someone here to answer me this time. “HELLO! IS ANYONE HERE? HELLO!?”
I couldn’t see or hear anyone near the fire. The only sound that I was able to hear right now was the crackle of the flames inside the rock pit.
Just for the hell of it, knowing that it would amount to nothing, I walked around the fire in a slow circle. I looked in every direction as I walked, trying to find something or someone that would help explain to me what was going on right now. I looked at the ground, the fire, the wooden benches, all of it. I even looked out into the darkness around me trying to see the place that I was in, but there was nothing to be seen.
Outside the edge of light that the fire was giving off, I could see nothing. I couldn’t see the ground, the walls, the ceiling, nothing. The place that I was in was still a mystery to me. And to make matters worse, the stuff inside the circle of light just confused me even more.
I knew from my walk here and the exploring before I started walking, that this was a room with walls. Walls that had felt like they were made of wood. I had gotten the impression that the floor was made of wood as well. I hadn’t felt it under my hands like I had the walls, but the way that it reacted to my steps definitely made it feel like wood instead of stone.
However, inside the circle of light, what I could actually see clearly, looked like I was outside. I had somehow gone from locked inside a wooden room to standing outside at a campfire that seemed to be surrounded by rocks and dirt.
“This is fucking weird as could be. What the hell is going on here?” I turned in a circle while standing in place, looking around the place that I had found myself now. “I really don’t like this fucking shit at all. This is freaking me out.”
“Have you ever noticed that you start to use more profanity when you get frustrated?”
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Riviana
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“Have you ever noticed that you start to use more profanity when you get frustrated?” I heard a voice that sounded like my own call out from behind me while I was looking around me.
“What the hell?” I spun and looked to see who was there. This time, the voice didn’t come from inside my head. It came from behind me as if someone was physically there.
The moment that I had turned around, I saw that there was someone actually there. Someone that looked an awful lot like me. Only, this person, who also happened to be in black and white, was somewhat reversed in the looks department.
I had dark hair and light colored eyes, mahogany and blue to be precise. This person before me looked like they had pure black eyes and white hair. I couldn’t be certain since they were in black and white, but that was what they looked like.
Looking at the person standing in front of me brought back flashbacks of the night that I met my father. The white hair looked exactly like the hair that I remember seeing on Edmond. The eyes weren’t the same of course, Edmond and I had almost the exact same shade of blue eyes. Still, seeing someone that was wearing my face with hair that looked like Edmond’s made my skin crawl. I did not want to have anything that further tied me to that asshole. He was dead and gone and I was happy about that.
“Hello, Riviana.” The person wearing my face and using my voice grinned at me while she spoke. “I have been waiting for you.”
“And who exactly are you?” I asked as I took a step back, or I tried to. The moment that I moved back I ran into a barrier that was hard yet invisible. There was nothing behind me at all, but I couldn’t move through it.
I turned and felt the barrier with my hands. I even slammed my fists against it, hurting my hands in the process. The most that it did was flash a bright, blinding white light when my fists collided with it.
“Well, this fucking sucks.”
“Like I said, you get more profane the more nervous or frightened that you are.” She was grinning at me and moving toward me.
I thought for sure that she was going to come at me for something, but I was wrong. The woman that looked like me just moved so that she could sit on the log that was next to the fire.
“Come on now, Riviana, sit down. I think that we need to talk.”
“Who are you?” I didn’t move, I didn’t even contemplate it. I wasn’t about to sit down and have a heart to heart with a crazy face stealing psychopath. This whole situation was reminding me of a horror movie I once saw. Only, the face stealer was more murderous, and a hell of a lot more angry, in the movie.
“You know who I am, Riviana. We have been talking since you got here. I am you. Well, a part of you at least.” She grinned at me and gave me a look that you would give to a child that wasn’t understanding something. It was a cross between tenderness and laughter at their adorable ignorance of the way the world works.
“I don’t believe you.” I snapped at her, but she didn’t respond to my anger at all.
“We will have time for that later, Riviana. Right now, you need to sit down. It is not like you can leave here right now anyway.” There was a knowing, evil look in those eyes of hers when she looked at me. Don’t even ask me how I managed to see that look in her eyes with them being pitch black, but I did. “Go on, sit down now.”
“N-.”
“Do not make me tell you again, Riviana.” She looked at me with anger as she interrupted my refusal. “I may have all the time in the world, but you do not. You want to get out of here and get back home, right? If you want to speed this up, then I suggest you sit down now.”
There was nothing that I could do right now. She was right about the fact that I couldn’t leave, I was stuck here in this place with her. And apparently, she wouldn’t let me out until I sat down and talked to her.
Well, I seemed to have no other choice. I had to sit down and talk with her whether I wanted to or not.
“Fine, I will sit.” I walked around the fire and sat across from her on the large log that was directly in front of her.
“Good, that is the best, and only, option that you have. I am glad that you are accepting things for what they need to be.” She smiled at me, a look that should have been nice and pleasant since it was on my own face, but there were dark and sinister things inside that smile.
“You didn’t really give me much of an option now, did you?” I glared at her while I crossed my arms over my chest. “I don’t know what it is that you want from me, but I hope you make it quick. Like you said, I don’t have all the time in the world. I need to hurry and get home.”