who am I?

...void...away...consciousness...life...I think...yes...my thoughts...they're clearer...a long time ago, I lost everything. my memories, my body, even my mind was taken from me...but not entirely...thoughts would form, and disperse just as quickly, leaving only the sense of emptiness that comes with something forgotten...like a dream, which vanishes as you open your eyes, leaving only the longing to remember what it was about...but now, my thoughts were clear...all I saw was emptiness, all I felt was space, but I could think...I had become aware again...

And it was spreading. The entity that functioned as myself became clearer...no, that wasn't me...was it? Wait...yes...no...What? a second presence...I can feel it now...what are you doing here, entity?...no, it can't understand...it's oblivious of me...wait...I'm feeling again...emotions rushing back to me...happiness, sadness, anger...fear...the other entity, it was full of fear...why? What was it afraid of?

I won't hurt you little entity...we are together...we share......a body! I could feel it now, the blood flowing through me, the energy that sparked, everything! Life filled me...and yet, I saw void...

"Lilly...are you ok?"

Lilly? Who was that? The other entity reacted to it, I could feel the excitement. It...no, she...she must be Lilly...

"Lilly, your mind is showing activity, are you ok?"

I could feel more energy course through me...like I was waking up, and my mind had sent a command...

"I...I feel funny..."

That was the energy! The other entity was alive, and full of energy. The fear was gone, and a sleepy haze had washed over the void...but the void was still there...

"Can you open your eyes?" a voice said.

"I...I don't want to..." Lilly said

"Why not?" the voice said

"I...the experiment..." Lilly replied.

The experiment...was that me? Yes, that was...

"Did it work?" the voice asked "can you feel another...presence?" presence? Was that what I was?

"I...I think so" Lilly responded "I can sense it's thoughts...it doesn't like the void...I'm afraid it'll take over"

Take over? Sure, I didn't like the void, but why would I take over? Wait, I never thought about the void...that was her entity!

"Can you communicate with it?" the voice asked

"I...I think so..." Lilly said "the way you taught me, right?"

"The same way as ghosts" the voice said. Ghosts? Was that what I was to them? No, that couldn't be it...wait...the energy shifted...

"Hello" Lilly's voice echoed through the void "can you hear me?"

"Yes, I hear you fine" I said.

"What’s your name?" she asked me.

"I...Shadow..." I said, saying the first thing that I could think of "I am harmless"

"Good" her voice echoed "I'm going to say I made contact, but not through words"

"That is fine" I said. And the energy shifted again, though not as much.

"Did you make contact?" the voice asked.

"I did" Lilly said "but I don't think it...no, he...could talk"

I felt myself smile, though I knew it wasn't physical. "That’s a shame" the voice said "now, why don't you open your eyes?"

The void faded, replaced by colors. The light was blinding at first, but very slowly my surroundings clarified...I was in a room, it looked like a therapists room. there was a man in a white lab coat looking at me...no, Lilly...curiously, while there was a girl in a similar coat a little farther back taking notes on a clipboard. I couldn't distinguish features clearly, but I figured it was me getting used to the new body.

"Everything looks the same" Lilly said "I still feel funny though"

"The effects will probably wear off soon" the man said "how about we bring your parents in for more tests?"

"o-ok" Lilly said. Tests...something about how he said it didn't feel right...the parents were fine, but...no, no tests.

The lady looked up at Lilly "is something wrong?" she asked.

I realized Lilly was shaking slightly...did I cause that? "I d-don't want tests" she said.

"I know...but we have to" the lady said.

Before Lilly could respond, the man came back with a couple, who apparently were Lilly's parents "hi Lilly!" her mom said.

"Pretend we aren't here, we just want to watch" her dad added.

Lilly nodded and looked at the man "ok, let's start the tests" the man said, helping Lilly up.

No, she couldn't do the tests! "I-I don't want to!" Lilly said.

The parents seemed concerned, but the doctors didn't react. "We have to conclude the results" the man said.

That set off major alarms for me. "No! I don't want to!" Lilly said. She tried to run to the other side of the room, but the man grabbed her arm "let me go!"

"Just calm down Lilly" the man said soothingly. The man was overpowering, I had to do something.

Lilly struggled in his grasp "no, I don't want to!" Lilly said. I connected with her 'entity' and lent my energy. "I said let go!" as the words were spoken, I tried to help her get out of his grasp...that wasn't what happened.

Lilly twisted her hand, trying to get free. I tried to supply my energy at the same time, but I was a second off, and the energy was redirected from her wrist to her hand. I guess it was the extra energy, but suddenly there was a bright light, and the doctor was flung away.

Everyone was still, shocked at what happened. "Did I just do that?" her voice echoed in her mind...she was asking me?

"I...I think we both did..." I said.

Lilly looked at her hands, which had been glowing, but were normal now, then back at the others. I think she saw the same thing I did...fear...

"Lilly...just stay calm..." her mom said "just explain what happened"

"I-I don't know..." Lilly said "it just happened"

"Can you make it happen again?" the female doctor asked excitedly.

"I-I don't think so" Lilly replied "I don't want to hurt you guys"

I retreated away from the body. I could see where the conversation was going, and I didn't want a part of it. The energy, that was magic...but how? Was it because we combined our energy? Wait, maybe...maybe I could control it...but she'd never be able to...could she?

I refocused on the body to see Lilly hugging her parents...they were my parents too now...I was a part of this body, and now I needed to protect it...

Lilly looked up at her parents "I think I can control it" she said "at least...I can now"

"It seems like they'll activate with extreme emotion" the male doctor said. Apparently, he had recovered "the idea of being further tested on must have scared you, and that activated whatever power you now have."

"So...stay calm and I'm ok?" Lilly asked.

"Yes, you should be fine" the man said.

Once her parents paid, they took her home. Now that I was a bit more aware of the body, I could hear her thoughts as I wished. Her thoughts were filled with questions, most of which were about the experiment. But, besides that, I got to learn a bit about her.

Lilly was 12, and kept to herself most of the time. She used to be a 'fun loving girl' who loved being with others, but that changed when she changed to middle school. she had been warned several times that her playful nature would be an easy target for those who like to make others feel bad, but that didn't prepare her for the fact that her best friend was the bully who broke her spirit...and it couldn't be mended. She kept to herself for 2 years, not opening up to anyone...until her parents decided she needed a friend...

And that's where her family comes in. she had two siblings, each four years apart from her. Her younger sister, Emma, loved spending time with her. They would spend hours together playing, baking, or dressing up. Often times, Lilly would forget to do her homework until after Emma went to bed. When Lilly's spirit broke, Emma was devastated. For a week, she would cry every time she was reminded that Lilly no longer had the energy to play with her. After a week, Emma found other friends, but she still wishes Lilly was her old self again.

Her older brother, Max, kept to himself often. He would spend hours in his room, reading up on myths, science fiction, fantasy...you get the picture. He rarely came out except to eat, go to school, or to be with friends. Lilly often didn't get 2 words out of him, but when Lilly's spirit broke Max did everything he could to find a way to mend it.

"Are you ok Lilly?" her mom's question took me out of my thoughts, and must have done the same to Lilly.

"Yea, I'm fine" Lilly replied. I could tell she had mixed emotions about everything, but she had decided to keep it to herself.

When we got to her house, Lilly immediately went to her room. Something I hadn't found out before was that she had a computer, which she was obviously on a lot, and several gaming consoles. She turned on the screen to a game of Ping-Pong; she was currently versing the computer. after a couple of rounds, I could see she was entertained, but in the way that a child watches TV...dull and lazy...she needed someone better than the computer to verse.

"Is this two player?" I asked.

"Yea, why?" she asked out loud. She knew I could hear her talking; she just didn't talk out loud when others were around.

"Well...I might be able to play, in a sense" I said.

She hesitated. "Show me" she said. She set it to two player, and put both her hands on the appropriate positions.

"Only use one hand, and don't worry about the other one" I said. This was going to be fun...and in more ways than just one...

She started the game, using the arrow keys while I was set to use the WASD keys. I let her score the first round, not doing anything.

"Yea, so much fun" she said dully.

"Trust me" I said "it'll get better"

She sighed and started the next round. This time, I took control of her second hand, and countered her serve. She was so surprised she didn't have time to react.

She smiled "this will be fun" she said.

We spent an hour playing Ping-Pong, a game she normally played for 5 minutes at most. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon playing games together, whether it is strategy games that I helped her with, or multiplayer games that I played with her. I don't know what my life was like before, but so far, this life seems to be much more fun... (More to add)

Well, here's another story for you to enjoy! this story is a bit different from what I've seen written in the past, but I'm hoping all who read it will enjoy it! This story isn't entirely complete on its own, and the "more to add" means that there's more story to it, but I wanted to share with you guys first. Please rate and review, I'd appreciate it!