Kait fidgeted with her necklace, the small, brown, and almost transparent ceramic that was molded to spiral into a point. On its bottom, a silver chain wound through a metal hoop melded to its flat top.

It was pitch black in her room, bar the moonlight filtering through the window and the subtle glow of the necklace. Among the scattered items throughout the room was a digital clock reading eight o’clock.

There was a light knock on her door.

Kait let the necklace down and opened it. When she saw Taylor outside, she tiredly said, “Hey.”

“H-hey,” Taylor responded.

“Did you need help with something? I’ll help Hailey more tomorrow.”

“Well, it isn’t that…”

“Then what is it?”

“Well…did you get a new necklace?”

“No, it’s old.”

“Where’d you get it?”

“None of your business,” Kait said in an unusually harsh tone.

Taylor flinched. “Oh, sorry.”

She averted her eyes. “Sorry, I snapped. There are just some things I can’t talk about. What were you going to ask me?”

“A…never mind, I didn’t have much to say anyway. Sorry for intruding,” Taylor said before walking away.

“No, what were you going to say?” Kait insisted, stepping toward him.

He hesitated, an air of uncertainty between them. “I wanted to ask if you were…alright.”

“Me?”

Taylor nodded. “I know everyone is thinking about Hailey right now, but…why did you cast that spell?”

“It was…” She paused. “You said something I needed to hear. I’m really hurt. I’ve been through a lot in my life. I’ve lost my family, I’ve lived through hardship, been betrayed…lost friends and…” She glanced at Taylor’s frozen expression, then looked downcast again. “I feel like I shouldn’t be hurting because…I’m meant to ‘move on’. But I can’t just ‘get over’ it and forget everything in my life.”

He suddenly shook his head. “Wait, if you–”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kait sighed, waving his concern off. “I won’t accidentally cast any spells. I’m in control now. But…I still need some time to myself.”

Taylor looked down. “Okay. Thanks.”

“Thanks for what?” she trailed off as he quickly walked from her doorway, leaving her alone.

Hailey continued her climb up the staircase of memories. I’m on the ninth step. I hope I’m actually getting close to the top because it feels like I’ve been here for a while. She took another step forward.

Fake Hailey cried in a secluded corner of her school, hidden beside a trash can as she ate her lunch. As a girl passed by with her own tray, Hailey grew quiet and hung her head, trying not to attract attention.

The girl stopped as she saw her. As far out of her way as Hailey had gone not to be seen, someone still managed to find her. “Um…you alright, girl?” she said, pausing to look over with an expression of concern and subtle disgust.

Fake Hailey didn’t know what to feel or do, and instead averted her eyes after glancing at the girl she barely recognized. She nearly jumped as the girl suddenly sat beside her, then lifted a donut off her plate. “The cafeteria only sells these once a week, but you need it more than me,” the random girl said.

Fake Hailey took the donut, then after a bite began to openly sob as the girl she didn’t know watched her.

Hailey watched the scene from another corner, her fists clenched.

Tera.

Tera hadn’t spoken to her, hadn’t texted her, hadn’t even looked at her since the funeral. Hailey’s fists grew white as she clenched them harder, holding back the anger in her heart. She’d done the same thing, of course, but…she’d spoken to Tera during Abbie’s funeral.

Hailey wondered how just a single uttered sentence could make her so angry.

‘You don’t get it.’

Hailey reappeared on the cracked staircase. A tenth step rose up. Hesitantly, she somberly unclenched her fists and walked forward.

Suddenly, she was in her room, alone with herself. The ‘spirit’ that played as her in the memories simply sat on her bed, seemingly in deep thought. This version of her room was far cleaner, with most of the furniture moved around a little. If she had to guess, the memory was probably from middle school.

That was it, though. The Fake Hailey just sat on the bed, her eyes glossed-over.

Hailey had let the spirit do its job for all the other memories, but nothing was happening, so she figured it was okay to interrupt it. “So…since I don’t know what this memory is about, do you want to talk?”

Fake Hailey met her gaze. “You don’t know?”

“No.”

“I suppose human memory is flawed.” Her expression turned impatient. “So, what did you want?”

“What’s going on?”

“Be more specific.”

After a second of thought, Hailey decided to start with the basics. “Where am I?”

“You’re in The Consciousness. I don’t know where your body is.”

“What are you?” Hailey asked with some hesitation, as if she was questioning whether it was even a good question.

“I’m a spirit.”

“One of the…spirits that made magic?”

Spirits were almost like deities, known to reside within The Consciousness, the source of all magic. But any substantial knowledge of them was incredibly limited. Hailey herself knew almost nothing about the mysterious beings beyond that and a few tall tales.

Fake Hailey’s expression became even more bored. “I’m the progenitor spirit who represents witchcraft, specifically.”

“Wait. So you’re telling me you’re one of those…primordial beings that shaped society as we know it?”

“I guess.”

“Don’t suppose I could ask for an autograph, could I?

The spirit clapped her hands. “Okay, enough of the dumb questions. It’s time I ask some of my own. How in the world did you get here?”

“I don’t know!” Hailey said with indignation.

“Are you a mage?”

“No.”

“Did someone cast magic on you?”

“I think Kait might’ve cursed me for some reason.”

“Kait?” The young-looking Hailey put a hand on her head in exasperation. “She doesn’t know what it means to keep out of trouble.”

“You know her?”

“You could say we are a bit more than acquainted. I had to care for her for a few hundred years while her body was in stasis. We have…a strange relationship.”

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“So what’s that supposed to m–”

“I’m not telling you a thing about her. She carries secrets about magic that mortals like y’all forgot an age ago. The Consciousness is going to be pissed if she shares that stuff, and let’s be honest here—she will, to some capacity. Anyhow, that’s enough chit-chat. Good luck with your next trial.”

“You too?”

The spirit chuckled as Hailey was ejected back onto the staircase.

{I don’t even know what to write here. Apparently, Fake Me has some secret information or something, and I’m actually in The Consciousness itself. What that means, I’m not sure, but I need to write this muck down, or I’m gonna go crazy. Oh, and apparently, I just met a primordial spirit, so that’s exciting or something. Besides that, it seemed surprised that I didn’t recognize a memory of me standing in my room. Sounded like they have a perfect memory or something. I don’t know.}

Hailey put her journal down…then picked it back up.

{So, I didn’t notice it before, but there’s another dark ominous cloud in front of me. I swear to The Consciousness, if it shows me that damned memory again, I’m going to rip that spirit to shreds as best I can.}

After a grimace, Hailey walked into the cloud.

Hailey stepped into a bland room with a door on the left and right.

“I guess that means I made progress,” Hailey said before noticing someone suddenly appear in the corner of the room.

They looked like Hailey, although, unlike the spirit, they were the same age as the real one. On the other hand, she looked just like she did in the outside world. Her hair was a tangled mess, she was dressed in dirty pajamas, and she had bags under her eyes. “I’m here, I think,” she said in an uncharacteristically uncertain voice, patting herself down as if her body was foreign.

The real Hailey frowned. “What are you?”

“Me?”

“Yes, you.”

“I’m you.”

Hailey’s mouth tightened with restrained annoyance. “I don’t get it.”

The other Hailey scratched her head. “I don’t think we’ve met before…”

“Oh, so you’re a different spirit?”

“No, I’m you, I guess.”

“You’re a spirit pretending to be me, right?”

“I-I’m you?”

“That’s what I’m asking. Are you me or a spirit?” Hailey growled, walking forward.

“Sure…I-I am.”

“That is not an answer!” Hailey said, aggressively leaning forward.

“I-I’m you!” the Fake Hailey repeated hastily, leaning back in fear.

“How?”

“I’m part of you…I think.”

Hailey rolled her eyes and leaned back. “Sure, whatever. Is this your…” She motioned around the area. “…place?”

“I think so.”

“I guess you know the way out, then?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

Hailey crossed her arms, waiting. After the other version of her didn’t elaborate, she continued, “Are you gonna show me the way out or are we going to sit here forever?”

“Yeah, you can take either door…I think.”

Hailey opened the door, revealing a place quite similar to the one where she’d first landed, where a path of rocks floated midair in a sky blue void and a dark cloud rested at the top of the path. As she closed the door behind her, she noticed that the room appeared nonexistent.

“Can anything in this place be Euclidean?” she muttered, shaking her head. “Anyway, I guess I need to climb this.”

Hailey began jumping from rock to rock as if she were on the moon. Although her expression didn’t change, she felt a rush with each leap. The void beneath her, the time she was midair, and the length and height of her jumps was…thrilling. It reminded her of a roller-coaster, except she was moving with her own two feet.

She shook her head. “I just need to get out…”

Then, mid-jump, she heard, “I think that sword is probably really heavy.” Suddenly, the ridiculous sword Hailey had sheathed earlier gained weight, halting her momentum. She immediately dropped like a rock into the void.

The scenery suddenly changed, and after a moment of confusion, Hailey realized she had appeared back into the wooden room, with the other version of herself looking out the open left door.

“I-I’m sorry, I don’t think I meant to make you fall…” the Fake Hailey said, a fearful expression on her face as she turned to Hailey.

“Really?” Hailey said angrily, scowling as she quickly unclipped the now heavy blade from her belt. “Why’d you do that then?”

The fake her hastily retrieved the sword. “I-I’ll send this to the exit,” she said as she struggled to drag the blade to a materializing middle door.

“How did you make it weigh more, though?” The real Hailey walked to the door on the left and looked out, seeing the same scenery.

The Fake Hailey wiped her forehead. “This is my domain, I think. I’m the you with control over it.”

“The me?”

She nodded. “I think there is another version of you somewhere in this place.”

“Stop it with these ‘I think’ and ‘it seems’! I’m already aware you aren’t ‘a part of me.’”

“No, I’m pretty sure I am, in some w–”

“Are you dumb? At what point have I acted like you?”

“I don’t think I understand. It seems obvious to me that I’m you.”

“Well, you clearly aren’t,” the real said.

“I’m pretty sure I am,” the fake said.

“No, I’m pretty sure you aren’t,” the real said.

“I’m pretty sure I am,” the fake said.

“Are you a broken record?”

“I’m part of one, if I’m correct.”

Hailey squinted for a moment, then scoffed when she realized that the fake had just taken a jab at her. “Whatever. I’ve had enough of your indecision. If you’re in control here, and you’re really me, then you wouldn’t mind just letting me fly to the exit, right?”

“I think I can t-try.”

After waiting a moment, Hailey took another step toward her fake. “You’re getting on my nerves. Just get this over with already.”

“I don’t think–”

“If you can try, then why don’t you just do it,” she growled.

“But I don’t thi–”

Hailey stepped forward, putting her face right in front of the fake’s. “Do it.”

The Fake Hailey leaned back, her arms trembling. “Fine…” She then hung her head, her eyes downcast. She appeared…almost ashamed of herself. It looked…familiar to Hailey. “Y-you can fly now. Just walk out.”

“Great.” Hailey stepped aside to the edge of the open middle door and hopped into the void. She was suddenly enveloped in a bubble and began floating up to the black mist high above. In the door frame she’d jumped from, her fake was busy bubbling her sword and throwing it out to follow her.

“Well, at least I avoided that hassle,” she said, looking at the mass of platforms with complex patterns that would’ve been difficult to climb on her own. As it was, she was taking the ski lift. Easy mode.

“Sure…”

“What is it?” Hailey snapped, looking down at her clone, who looked up from the door.

The clone had begun to tear up for some reason. “I-I’m not sure, but–”

“Stop telling me you aren’t sure!” Hailey said, scowling.

“I don’t think– I don’t want–”

Disappointment flooded Fake Hailey’s expression as she was interrupted by the original. “Okay, if you aren’t going to be confident in what you’re saying, I don’t see any point in listening.”

Hailey flew upward, following the rock platforms to their end, approaching the black mist at the top. Somehow, it felt wrong. The winding path of rocks almost seemed like it could be fun to climb.

No, she just wanted to get this over with. Hailey let herself fly closer and closer to the mist, but just as she reached the last platform—“I-I don’t think we should do it this way!”

Her bubble popped, sending her into the void below. She reappeared once more in her fake’s room.

“What stunt did you pull there?!” Hailey asked, furious as she took steps toward her double.

“I’m sorry, I thought it’d be fun for us if we did it on foot.”

“On foot?!” She stepped closer. “I’m in the fracking void! Why would you think I’d want to do it on foot?!”

“But I think we did…”

Hailey reached the fake, leaning over her once again. “We? Where’s the ‘we’ in this?! It’s just you versus me here, and you aren’t the one climbing.”

“But I’m pretty sure–”

Hailey clenched a fist, raising it just below her chin. “How pathetic can you get?! Just say what you want to say, and stop only ‘thinking.’”

“Hic,” the fake looked down in shame, crying unrestrainedly.

Hailey stood in silence watching her cry.

“Why—hic—why do you think you’re pathetic?” the Fake Hailey asked.

Hailey suddenly grabbed her double’s pajama by the collar, pulling her face beside hers, even as shivers of guilt tried to stop her. “You. Aren’t. ME!”

As if her soul was ripped from her body, Hailey felt herself accelerating, the world shifting and falling…back. Back to the deepest reaches of her mind.

A white void overwhelmed the sky above her as she smacked the ground.

Hailey wearily looked behind herself.

Behind her, once more, was the beginning.