"We're here" Adelram announces as we pull into a small parking lot out in the middle of nowhere. On the rocky parking lot there's a large, dark, very old hotel. It looks run down and as though it been deserted for many years.

There's no light shining inside nor is there any noises. I hesitate to get out of the car as I look over to Adelram "are you sure?" I question skeptically.

"Yeah, this is the place" Adelram affirms without a doubt and I sure hoped he knew what he was doing.

I feel myself take a sharp intake of breath when I open my door hearing quiet cries, cries I recognize all too well as Abigail's.

Two emotions run through me at this moment.

One, pain as I hear the sound of oppress in her cries. It was almost as if I could feel her pain just by listening to her sobs.

The second thing I felt was utter relief. Relief at the fact that even though she is in pain, she alive, she's not dead, relief that we made it in time.

"You find Abigail, I'll find Slyder" Adelram instructs me. I nod, relieved that I won't have to face Slyder just yet and can instead see Abigail.

I don't even hesitate, my mind only on Abigail as I run toward the old building as fast as I can, Adelram followed right beside me. I swing open the hotel door to reveal a dimly lit open area with a front desk, spider-webs was splayed across the room wrapped on every surface of it.

Adelram goes left as I go right, following the quiet cries of Abigail. I want so badly to call out to her, to tell her that I'm here, that I'm going to save her, but I know that if I do that, I'll ruin the element of surprise Adelram and I have worked so hard to create, so instead of listening to my mind I choose to creep down the hallway with the flashing fluorescent lights as quietly and quickly as I can.

I open the first door to my left, besides a broken bed and some torn up carpet, it's empty. A shiver runs through me despite the humidity in the air, I can't stop my mind from thinking about moments from the movie The Shinning.

After going through empty room after empty room, seeing only a few doors left I begin to lose hope, convincing myself that this is all fake, that Abigail's cries were just a trick my mind was playing on me, but then I open the last door on the right, I stop for a moment taking a deep breath hoping she is in here, hoping I found her. All of my doubt comes flooding out as I open the door seeing Abigail.

Shock fills my entire body and I'm instantly frozen. My hand flies to my mouth as tears begin watering in my eyes.

Abigail is tied to a chair that's bolted to the floor. Her clothes are torn and dirty, her hair wild and yanked around, her face is cut and bloody, her skin is burnt, cut and sliced, there's salt poured on the gashes in her arm, she's near naked. Her head is sagged down in defeat as she cries quietly, still not noticing me.

"Abi" I exclaim, my voice only coming out as a croaky whisper. Tears are sliding down my cheek as her head slowly lifts to look at me. "What has he done to you?" I cry.

Abigail's eyes flare with pure anger and hatred as she lifts her head defiantly "go away!" She growls.

I take a step back in surprise, what is she talking about? Don't tell me he brain washed her.

"Abi, what are you talking about? It's me" I whisper.

"Stop it with your mind tricks!" Abigail screams furiously "I know it's you Slyder, enough!" She shouts, spit flying out her mouth as she glares at me with a look that would make grown men wet their pants, but I know Abigail, so of course this hurts much more than it does scare me.

"Abigail I swear it's me, how can I prove it?" I insist.

"You can't!" Abigail growls.

I wrack my brain as I try to think of something, anything that would prove I'm Kamaria and not Slyder.

"Uh when you were ten years old, you stole your sisters' bike even though she told you not to use it because you had already broken yours. You ended up scrapping your knee after falling off, you got a pebble stuck in your leg but you didn't want to get in trouble for stealing her bike. So instead of saying anything you put a band aid over it and covered it up. After a few days you took off your band aid to see only skin. You thought the pebble was gone but really your skin had sealed over it, now you have a pebble that you play with in your knee when you're nervous" I say quickly hoping she would believe it was me. At first Abigail is stunned, she looks like she's going to believe me, but then she shakes her head "so you stalked me all my life, nice to know" Abigail hisses stoically.

I sigh and run a hand down my face.

Suddenly I remember something that Abigail told me, something she told me and me only, something only I would know.

"Last year, March 22, 2016 you got an abortion" I state the words flowing out as I remembered the one thing that I knew she'd have to believe.

At this Abigail takes a sharp intake of breath "Beth?" Abigail whispers, still just a little skeptical. "It's me Abi, I've come to save you" I declare as a tear slides down my cheek.

I walk forward and crouch down so that I'm eye level with Abigail, I stare into her eyes, begging her to believe me.

Abigail's eyes fill with a light hope "oh my God, it's really you, isn't it?" She whispers.

"Yes" I wrap her into a tight hug, holding her as she begins sobbing "oh my God Beth you have no idea how much I've missed you. Whoever this Slyder guy is, he's...he's horrible. He just kept beating me and torturing me over and over again saying that Kamaria needs to learn a lesson. I don't even know who Kamaria is, or what she has to do with me" Abigail sobs.

I quickly unstrap Abigail from the chair and pull her up into a tight hug, but I immediately stop when I hear her wincing in pain.

"Sorry" I apologize pulling away "I don't even care, I'm just so happy to see you" Abigail cries.

"I haven't seen you in so freaking long. I wasn't sure how much longer I could last. I kept telling myself that you'd come and save me, but after sixteen days, well, I had lost all hope" Abigail divulges.

I suddenly freeze, my whole body stiffening as I digest what she just said. "Oh I think you lost track of days, it's been a little less than a week" I correct.

Abigail pulls back and looks at me with confusion "no, sixteen days I'm sure of it. Slyder would give me one meal a day, always in the morning. So when he gave me a meal, I would scratch the arm of my chair, see?" She explains as she walks forward and points to the sixteen marks on the chair.

"That night when he kidnapped me, right after you came to my house crying about Jake I-" before Abigail can finish her sentence I interrupt "woah! What do you mean right after I came to your house crying? You were home the next morning, you told me that Jake and you were dating" I interject.

Abigail furrows her eyebrows in confusion "honey please, Jake's your man, I would never break the girl code. Whether you like to admit it or not, you're in love with Jake, and he's in love with you" Abigail states matter of factly.

"What?" That's literally all I can force out of my mouth as my mind reels with all of this information. Adelram really hasn't erased her memory? That was Slyder the whole time after that night? Slyder had tricked me? How had I not known? Abi is my best friend. I should be able to tell the real her from Slyder! So He had shape shifted into Abigail? Then why would Adelram date him? Surely he knew it was Slyder. Does that mean that Adelram had kissed Slyder?

Before I can fully process all of this, there's a bang down the hall and Abigail immediately wraps her arm around me, fear flashing evidently in her eyes. "I'll explain everything, I'll tell you everything you want to know later, but we need to go, before Slyder finds us" Abigail cautions she was clearly scared her hands wrapped around my arm was shaking and her voice cracked slightly from fear.

"We need to find Adelram first" I say.

Abigail shakes her head fearfully "I don't know who Adelram is, but you wouldn't have brought him if he couldn't take care of himself, please can we just go?" Abigail begs "at least out of here"

As reluctant as I am, I know she's right, Adelram can take care of himself, I need to make sure that Abigail's safe first.

So I grab Abigail's hand and we make a run for it, not stopping until we're outside.

I look around but don't see Adelram anywhere. Abigail quickly gets in the car "come on Beth let's go!" Abigail urges.

I shake my head "no I-I can't, I have to wait for Adelram" I say.

"Never mind Adelram, lets go! Leave him here. You can come back to him once I'm safe" Abigail exclaims pleadingly.

"I-I no, I can't" I object. I can't leave him here, he's the only reason I got here in the first place. Suddenly Adelram comes running out of the hotel and instantly relief floods through me. We made it, we got Abigail out alive and now we're all together, we can leave.

But then I see what Adelram's holding, all of my former relief is yanked out of me in mere seconds.

Or I guess I should say who he's holding.

He's holding Abigail.

I snap my head back to Abigail who's sitting in my car, watching me expectantly, to the one in Adelram's arms, the one he's holding bridal style and now gently setting down in the grass.

Adelram has yet to notice me as his eyes are glued to Abigail. I take a step closer, not fully believing my eyes, but sure enough, an unconscious Abigail identical to the one inside the car is laying down in the grass.

Adelram must have heard me move because his head snaps up and he locks eyes with me. Instantly relief floods through him "you're safe" he breathes "I found Abigail, she was cuffed to a bed, a sock and tape covering her mouth, but I never saw Slyder" Adelram explains.

"N-no I found Abigail" I stutter, confusion swarming inside me.

Adelram frowns before looking over to the Abigail in the car. He immediately stands up and looks from the one on the ground to the one in the car.

"Who the hell is that?" He asks, confusion dripping from his voice.

Abigail steps out of the car "What do you mean who the hell is that? It's me, Abigail" Abigail claims, a frown darkening her features when she sees Abigail in the grass.

Abigail suddenly sits up with a moan, rubbing her head. She moans again, squeezing her eyes shut as she sits up fully. After a moment she opens her eyes, immediately locking eyes with Adelram "Jake? You finally showing me you're real self Slyder?" Abigail asks, still oblivious to the other Abigail and I. "Beth told me about you being Slyder, are you about to kill me? Is that why you're finally revealing yourself?" Abigail growls angrily.

"Stop it, stop trying to be me" the Abigail beside me demands.

Abigail's eyes snap to...uh Abigail's, immediately filling with surprise "what the-" she stops herself as an angry expression floods over her "quit it Slyder! I've had enough of your mind tricks!" She screams standing up.

The Abigail next to me scoffs "oh shut up Slyder, Beth already knows I'm the real Abigail, which makes you Slyder" she snaps.

The other Abigail looks over to me and her face lights up "Beth!-wait no, I know you're not really Beth, just leave me alone!" Abigail growls.

I take a step back as I rub my hands to my temple. What is going on? Who's the real Abigail? I look over to Adelram for help but he looks just as confused as I feel.

"Leave Beth alone, Slyder!" The Abigail next to me demands, speaking to the other Abigail.

The other Abigail crosses her arms "seriously cut it out, you've already tortured me continuously for sixteen days, beating me, cutting me, pulling my hair out, pouring salt on my wounds, burning me with your light thing, just leave me alone" the other Abigail demands, but she doesn't hold the defiant look for long and soon tears are forming in her eyes "please, just kill me already" she whimpers pleadingly.

Before I can fully figure out which Abigail is the real one, Adelram comes jogging out of the building, a worried expression coating his features. His eyes immediately find mine and I watch as relief floods his face "oh good you're safe." He enthuses gratefully "I couldn't find..." his voice trials off as he looks around at both Abigail's and the Adelram standing next to me.

"What the hell is going on?" The second Adelram questions as he looks back and forth between everyone.

"No! You can't pretend to be me too!" The first Adelram next to me objects.

I look back and forth between them, my eyebrows furrowing. I feel like screaming. How the hell am I supposed to figure out who my real friend is and who's Slyder?

Second Adelram's voice softens when he locks eyes with me, a pleasing look in his eyes. "Princess, it's me" he assures.

First Adelram clinches his fist tightly "don't ever call her Princess again" he growls.

Okay that's polar opposites, so is Adelram comforting and kind, or irritable and defensive over me? Well frick he's both! Now what am I supposed to do?

Second Adelram locks eyes with me "Princess, back away from him, he's dangerous" he instructs cautiously.

I'm not sure if I should listen to him, but I decide it's probably best if I keep my distance from everyone until I figure out what the hell is going on.

So I slowly and carefully walk away from the Adelram next to me (Fist Adelram). When I look over at him, his eyes are shinning with undoubtable hurt and sorrow "Princess, it's me, don't you see what he's doing? He's tricking you, he's the real Slyder" Adelram asserts.

"You don't get to call her Princess, whether you shifted into me or not" Second Adelram growls.

First Adelram rolls his eyes "enough of your games Slyder, we all know this is going to end in a fight, why procrastinate it?"

Second Adelram scoffs "who are you calling Slyder? Last time I checked, Adelram (aka me) doesn't use the word procrastinate" he says, folding his arms.

The one next to me rolls his eyes again "was that supposed to be a pathetic way of calling me dumb? I use the word procrastinate, not to mention that was probably the lamest comeback I've ever heard." He retorts before looking over to me "Come on Princess, surely you know that somebody as cool as me would never use a comeback as pitiful as that" he pleads,

"She's not gonna fall for your mind tricks Slyder, because she knows that I would say 'awesome' not 'cool'" says Second Adelram, stepping towards me.

Adelram farther from me (Second Adelram) watches me with a look of despondency. "Princess don't listen to it, it's trying to confuse you. I'm the real Adelram, and she's the real Abigail" Adelram claims, pointing to the Abigail that the other Adelram had carried out of the hotel. "You have to trust me Princess, Slyder's blocking me from using me powers, but it can't block you, attack it" Adelram instructs.

As I'm listening to his words, something finally clicks. Second Adelram referred to Slyder as 'he' while this Adelram called Slyder 'it' and Adelram calls Slyder 'it', so this one has to be the real Adelram.

In one swift move I stick my hands out toward the Abigail and Adelram closest to me (first Adelram) , immediately shooting out bright, heated, sapphire illumination.

I can hear the crackling sound as it comes in contact with their skin. Immediately fake Abigail falls to her knees screaming out in pain. Fake Adelram squeezes his eyes shut, the pain he's feeling scrunching up his whole face as he writhed in pain. "Stop, please stop!" Fake Abigail screams, but soon she's in so much pain that she goes limp, whether its dead, or not I have no idea, but instead I focus all of my illumination on Fake Adelram, who's on all fours, his back arched in pain.

As soon as he goes limp, I stop. I stare at the unmoving bodies in disbelief, that was it? Slyder's dead? Just like that?

I look over to Adelram "there, I did it...I think. Can we please leave now? I don't want to be here any longer than I have to" I plead rubbing my temples. Something just didn't feel right.

A small smile tugs at Adelram's lips "you did it Princess, you saved Abigail and killed Slyder" he beams.

Abigail comes walking up, still pressing a hand to her hurt head "that was...how did you do that? Are you really Slyder? Is this seriously all just some long, sick mind game for you?" Abigail asks, a look of pain morphing her face.

I shake my head "it's not a trick, I learned a few things" I tell her.

Her eyebrows furrow slightly at this "how did you just learn that?" She asks, a small frown showing her confusion.

"I had a trainer named Mr. Komachi who trained me, if it weren't for him, I don't know what I would have done" I explain.

I quickly look to Adelram "and you of course" I add.

Adelram flashes me his familiar smirk, "alright, we should get out of here now, the job's done, no sense sticking around" he instructs. With that we all get inside his fancy shmancy car and pull out of the parking lot, my eyes trained to the side mirror as I watch the motionless bodies shaped into my friends, I'm half convinced they'll just pop up. Call me paranoid but it seems like killing Slyder would be harder, more challenging than that, it hadn't even put up a fight.

I sigh as I lean my head against the window, watching as their bodies grow smaller and smaller, until I can no longer see them.

I feel like I should be smiling, beaming, filled with an overpowering joy, but something feels off. No matter how many times I tell myself that Slyder's dead and Abigail's safe, there's still this gut twisting feeling in the pit of my stomach that something's not right.

Sweating from the adrenaline, I shake my head, telling myself to stop being so paranoid and reach forward, turning on the air conditioning.

As I'm reaching over, the air begins to blow a strange scent into my nose. The smell is so unusual, it's burns. It smells of spice mixed with pee. I gag at the smell as it only burns my nose more, the scent is so strong it's watering my eyes.

"What is that?" I choke. Without much thought in what I'm doing, I quickly bury my nose in Adelram's arm, taking in a huge whiff, expecting to smell that familiar delicious orangey peppermint scent, the one scent that instantly made me feel better no matter what was going on, but instead of finding that familiar scent I am filled with a nose full of that horrible smell I had just breathed in before.

I yank back and look at Adelram in horror, as Adelram turns his head to smirk at me, realization sets in.

This isn't Adelram, it's Slyder.

"What's wrong Princess?" he inquires, the small smirk still on his lips

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