My brain was melting in my skull. Every inch of my being felt heavy and sluggish, like I was moving through water. No matter where I looked, there was only inky void as far as I could see. I tried to remember what happened; fire, Alex, boy, Isaiah, darkness. The five words echoed around me like a mantra and I spun to find the source.

Out of the emptiness, a set of school doors appeared. I ran to them and touched the push bar, the metal hot to the touch. With a sickening scrape, I pushed them open, burning my palms in the process. On the otherside was… A track field?

Students ran the curvature of the asphalt at unhuman speeds. I couldn’t make out any faces as I approached, just the blur of sneakers and the smell of burning rubber. No one stopped when I called to them. Everything was silent except the relentless pulse of the shoes, my heart matched the beat.

I ducked through the gaps between the runners, making my way to the center of the field. Not a step further from the center, the field warped into a circle. The bleachers stretched the perimeter, encasing me like a lion in a colosseum. A thousand ghostly figures filled the seats and stomped with hungry fervour. I tried to back away, but my foot hit something ice cold. That wretched lacrosse stick stared at me expectantly, almost pleadingly. The metal hissed against my palm, burning its shape deep into my skin, the crowd roared in response.

A single runner glided towards me, her face a cloud of smoke, but I knew who it was underneath. My hands trembled, the lacrosse stick suddenly felt slick and wet. The smoke engulfed both of us, erasing the crowded arena. Only five figures remained watching, just out of sight, just out of reach. The figure layed her smoldering hand over my fist, clenching onto the stick for dear life. She spoke with a thousand voices.

“Megan, what have you done?” The words engulfed my whole being. The smoke vanished, revealing the howling crowd once again. I yelled, begging for help, but it was lost in the endless bellows.

Something struck me in the back, knocking me to my hands and knees, the stick clattering to the ground. I tried standing, but was bashed against my skull, leaving me seeing stars on the pavement. A cry rang above all the cheers I turned towards it to see something that took my breath away.

A perfect copy of myself stood over me grasping the same lacrosse stick, tears streaming down her face. Choking back another sob, raised her weapon again. I rolled out of her path and grabbed my stick, scrambling to strike some sort of fighting position. She moved to close the distance between us, but I swung first.

I hit her square in the temple and she crumpled like a ragged doll. The crowd thundered with cheers at the sight of my double’s limp body. Red began to pool around her, my knees buckled at the sight. I couldn’t move anymore, all I could do was cry like a scorned child. A different sound shook the ground. With one last cry, my eyes opened to a dark room. Hushed voices came out of the dark hallway, just beyond my door. Wiping the stray tears out of my eyes, I shuffled to investigate.