A mist gathered around her feet, coating the forest floor as Alice Murphy stood up right, staring vacantly into the darkness between the lean bodies of the trees ahead of her for a few moments in silence... seeming to barely breathe, her jaw slack, her gaze vacant... it was as if she wasn't really there at all.

She blinked suddenly, inhaling sharply and quickly as she glanced around herself, feeling the gripping chill of the wind prickling her skin. "Where am I?" she asked, her voiced hushed and quick, her limbs beginning to shake because of how cold she was... "Hello?" she called, her voice echoing around her as she wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed her arms.

She was still dressed in her prom dress, the subtle pink now torn and sodden with damp mud, clinging to her skin like wet tissue paper... "Hello?!" she called again, feeling an uneasy chill wash over her as she noticed the eerie mist moving around the bodies of the trees...

... Slowly, a silhouette began to move towards her, directly ahead of her and directly between two trees ... Alice began to feel the adrenaline burn her veins as her legs tensed to run, she could feel the pressure of fear against her skin as she instinctively lent back, wanting to leave but curiosity over who this person was kept her still. The silhouette changed, as if affected by moonlight even though Alice couldn't see one, revealing the body shape of a girl, probably about the same height as her, also in a long silky dress...

"Hello?" Alice asked again, seeing the figure walking, step by step, as if to taunt her by walking strangely... Carefully, they stepped into the clearing... exposing themselves to the pale light that seemed to turn everything grey. A sharp twinge of fear and confusion seemed to freeze Alice's muscles and spread across her face as she stared into the eyes of... herself.

She was dressed the same, in a pink prom dress sodden with damp mud, her long, blonde hair dripping wet and hanging limply against her cheeks. Alice's heart began to thud aggressively inside her chest, her breathing becoming slightly ragged as stared at herself intently. "Who are you?" The other version of her ask, her voice smooth and low... It sounded like her, but it felt like she was looking at a complete stranger.

"What?" Alice asked, flinching as her other self began to walk towards her carefully.

"I said; who are you?" She asked, tilting her head eerily. "Are we this?" she asked, pulling at the torn dress on her body in disgust. "The poor pretty girl, left to rot in the mud because she couldn't fucking stand up for herself?"

"I don't know what you-"

"Shut up." her other self snapped, her voice sharp. "God, when I hear your whiney voice I want to scream. It's pathetic." she spat, stopping her taunting walk so there was a meter left in between them. "Listen to yourself. All confused and weak. It's sickening... you should have seen this coming. You should have known better!"

Alice swallowed as she stared at herself, unsure of what to say as her heart continued to race violently. "Is this how you want it to end?" she watched herself say, "Like this?" she asked motioning to herself, and Alice continued to stare in silence as a few seconds of eerie silence lingered between them. "Stuck in the ground like a rotting corpse?!" she screamed, the sound so loud it made Alice cringe and cover her ears as after a few seconds the scream turned into a deranged layered laugh like it was coming from several places at once, scaring her even more.

She watched herself continue to laugh violently and bend backwards, like the sound itself was dragging itself out of her mouth.... Alice watched in horror as her own body seemed to fold in half and whatever world she was in fold with her...

Dizziness took over as the ground lifted up towards Alice's face and she was suddenly face down, staring into the dirt that had folded up to meet her. "Can you smell that?" she heard her own voice whisper as Alice's convulsed and thudded hard inside her chest as stinging tears dripped from her eyes and her breaths quickened. "The earth, the dirt... the rain," she heard herself whisper close to her ear as she tried to move but she was stuck, and it felt like the earth was pressing against her back. "Can you feel the air being restricted from your lungs?"

"I don't understand," Alice sobbed quietly, confused and terrified as to why she was suddenly unable to move her legs and arms. Her eyes were squeezed shut, worried that she wouldn't be able to handle whatever she saw as she heard herself giggle eerily...

"Take a deep breath for me, can you do that?" Her voice giggled, as if laughing at her pain, the sound echoing around her head in multiple layers. Alice whimpered as she held her lips shut, trying to ignore it, thinking she was going insane until she felt something grab her face. Her eyes shot open instinctively, and she was looking at herself directly, staring into the stormy blue eyes as her own face was about an inch away from hers.

"Look at what they did to you," she whispered, "Barely dead but barely alive either, look at what they did to you, Alice." herself whispered close to her, her voice sounding almost regretful. She was holding her breath out of fear, and could hear herself begin to giggle again..."Breathe, if you can." She giggled quietly.

"I can't," Alice whimpered, feeling the air seeming to stop half way down her throat and come back up. She felt panic rise and tried again, but the air felt shallow, like she was trying to breathe under water... "I feel dizzy, I can't-" she whispered, seeing her own face disappearing and being replaced with nothing but darkness.

"Breathe!" Her own voice ordered again, the sound angry and hushed.

"I c-can't," she gasped, feeling the panic rising faster in her throat as it felt like her muscles were going to sleep. "I..." she inhaled, suddenly getting the feeling that she was completely alone... her bottom lip shook as tears dripped from her eyes and down her cheeks, and it was only then that she realised she was lying on her back. "Alice?" she whispered, wanting to see her face again but all she could hear was silence and the distant howling of wind... "Alice?"

A few moments of silence passed... and Alice tried to wiggle her toes, breathe and force herself to keep calm... but she was barely able to take an ordinary breath, and could feel cold sweat against her forehead as the panic seeped from her pores... but suddenly she began to feel a presence beside her... and froze, knowing, almost immediately that whatever it was wasn't meant to be there.

Her shallow breaths hitched, and carefully, she turned her head to her right, shuffling her body a little in what felt like dirt so she could turn her head properly.

Her reluctant gaze landed upon her own corpse... with its jaw slack and her face's flesh half eaten by insects, as maggots squirmed their way out of her cheeks... her eyes were open and staring at her, her once blue irises now white. "Help me." It said in a strained whisper, and instantly ice, cold fear struck Alice's body like lightning and she screamed so violently her body convulsed, her legs sprang to life to kick and her arms to writhe as she reached a new level of panic and fear no average person would ever want to reach...

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