Cindy woke up, a sinking feeling in her stomach. She jumped out of her bed and ran out of her room, stumbling through the hallway to get to the stairs. Once she got there, she saw her father, along with a girl who looked exactly like her, albeit in a cloak, looking up at her from the bottom of the stairs.

The situation not quite yet clicking in his head, her father started looking back and forth between the two girls multiple times, then finally, he stepped back from the girl next to him. “Why is- who are you?”

The girl below held back a snicker, one she probably got from looking at the frown on Cindy’s face. Cindy let out a sigh, resigning herself to the situation and said, “Just wait in the living room, I’ll get mom and then we’ll talk.” She then turned and walked towards her parents’ room.

“What? Cindy, wait a minute!”

Leaving her bewildered father behind with the girl, she opened the door to his room and found her mother half sitting up on the bed, still disheveled from just waking up.

“Cindy? What’s going on?”

“Sorry mom, can you come downstairs? The one I was waiting for just got here. I think you should come look.”

“What, this late? Are they going to stay over?” she said as she rubbed her eyes.

“Uh, probably.”

She sighed and started pulling herself off the bed. “Maybe you should tell them to go earlier next time so they don’t get here so late. Alright, let’s go.”

Cindy turned around and walked back to the stairs and down to the floor below, her mother following behind her. Her father was standing in the hallway, watching her doppelganger investigate the flat-screen TV in the living room, poking and prodding as if her first time seeing it. He turned around as Cindy got closer.

“Cindy, what’s going on? You know her?” he whispered.

“Yeah. She’s the one I was waiting for yesterday. Come on, she won’t bite. Probably,” she said, grabbing him by the shoulders and pushing him towards the living room. Her copy noticed them coming into the room and turned to face them. She bowed and started speaking, her voice soft but clear.

“Forgive me for the disturbance at this time of night. I had the urge to play some mischief on Cindy, so I decided to come in through the front door instead of her window.”

“You don’t even sound sorry,” Cindy quipped.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Cindy’s mom spoke up from behind, “I’ll uh, go wash my face a bit. Be right back.”

“Wait, mom,” Cindy turned to address her mother, “It’s fine. You’re not seeing things. We both really look the same. This is Yang. She’s uh, a tourist, I guess, from another world, Dunial, or something.”

Yang smiled at them and said, “It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Jackson. I am Yang Ter'pilih. I hope you do not mind me imposing. I would have liked to have come earlier,” her eyes looked away for a second, “but I met some issues on the way here. I expect that you have several questions for me?”

The couple continued to stare. Cindy’s father, who seemed like he was holding his tongue out of fear, then cautiously spoke up, “You’re, not a Skinwalker, are you?”

Yang’s mouth slowly opened into a huge smile, and a laugh managed to escape it before she replied, “I’m not sure. Who’s to say I’m not?”

“Okay, okay, stop it,” Cindy said, having trouble controlling her own laugh, “She’s not a Skinwalker. Ahem, although, I guess coming at 2 in the morning doesn’t help with that. Oh right, why are you late? Did you get lost walking here or something?”

“Oh, yes, of course. It seems that, contrary to popular belief, magic exists in this world,“ Cindy furrowed her brow at that statement. “It caused my spell to send me into the ocean, and quite a deep part of it at that. Unfortunately, just as I was about to leave, some interesting marine life caught my eye, and I was distracted from getting here in a timely manner,” she said, shaking her head as if remembering a tragedy.

Cindy had walked closer to Yang while she was talking. Then she spoke in a low voice, “Maybe you shouldn’t talk about this with them here.”

“You do not have to worry. I swear I will keep them safe from anything that might come to endanger them.”

“Mmm, alright,” Cindy said, still a little doubtful. She turned around to face her parents, who still seemed lost about the situation, “Do you want to ask her anything?”

A small lull passed before her mother sighed. “Cindy, I don’t know what this is about, but it’s late. Can you just promise me that neither of you will do anything bad? We can talk more when its bright out, ok?”

Cindy shrugged and said, “Sure, alright.”

Yang bowed once again and said, “I sincerely apologize for disturbing you. I hope you both have a good rest.”

Her mother wished them good night and started walking back to the master bedroom. Her husband followed suit, trying to keep Yang, who just smiled at him, in his sights as he walked. As he went out of sight, the two girls started their trek towards Cindy’s room.

Cindy jumped and splayed herself out on her queen-sized bed, then turned her head slightly to look at Yang. “So, there’s magic on Earth?”

Yang took off her cloak, lifting her long black hair to do so, and hung it on a nearby chair. “Yes. Though I have little reference for its presence apart from the localized part of the ocean I ended up in and your home.”

Cindy considered the information, “Do you think they’ll notice you teleporting around?”

Yang started turning her dress into a plain white t-shirt and black shorts, contrasting her colors to Cindy’s. “I am unaware of their capabilities. However, I tried my utmost to rid any traces when teleporting.” She joined Cindy on the bed and started crawling around to get enough space to sleep.

Cindy stared up at the ceiling, “Are you staying? You liked the mundane stuff, right?”

Yang finally lied down on her back and closed her eyes, “Of course. There is much I like about Earth. The mundane was surely novel, but it is hardly all I liked. Besides, with things as they are, it is still largely present, is it not?”

“I guess you’re right. Good night.”