Shadowed

Another darker one this time.

Emily loved the beach! She loved the warm rays of the sun, she loved the sound of the surf, the endless horizon...and of course, all the hot guys! The rich college freshman spent most of her free time during the summer months at the beach, and almost always in nothing more than a bikini. Today was no different than any of the other countless days spent surfside...Other than the feeling that she was being watched. Which, honestly, wasn't all that strange either given that Emily was on the higher end of the 'attractive female body' scale and the way that she filled out her bikini in all the right ways to be enticing to the eye. But still, it felt more...predatory? than usual. But she did her best to ignore what she felt was likely just a heavier 'male gaze' than usual and went about her day on the sand. She took a walk in the surf, chatted wwith girlfriends, ogled some boys (and let some ogle her) and was laying down for a nice and relaxing tanning session when it happened. One moment she was resting in the warm rays of the sun, her eyes drifting closer and closer to closing behind her designer sunglasses as the gentle crashing of waves lulling her toward a peaceful doze. The feeling of being watched seemed to dissipate as she embraced the calm of the moment. And then there was a horrible wave of nausea as Emily felt herself somehow...falling yet standing up at the same time!? And then it was replaced with confusion and fear as she watched her own body move without her! And yet Emily was somehow moving, though not on her own! It was a distant and ghostly sensation as she was forced to take on the smug pose that her body was now in!

"Ah, finally!" Emily heard her voice say with a giggle that sounded like her own...but slightly off, like a mimic of her own giggle but by someone else, "I was beginning to think you'd NEVER stop moving around the beach!"

"Who are you!? What is going on!?" The immobilized rich girl screamed, though her voice was distant, more like an echo.

"Oh, don't bother trying to speak, little shadow!" The stranger in her body said with another off-putting dopple-giggle, "Oh, you don't know how long I've waited for this. How long I've watched you, learning your mannerisms, your personality...And being disgusted at how you WASTED such a charmed life. Well now YOU can do the watching. Forever!"

"NO! GIVE ME BACK MY BODY!" Emily screamed once more, struggling against whatever terrifying power the stranger inhabiting her flesh had over her. But try as she might she couldn't move unless her old body moved!

"Oh little insignificant shadow, don't you get it? You're nothing now! And I'm...well, Emily! Here, let me show you..." The fake-Emily said, and Emily herself could only watch and feel herself move against her will as whoever it was reached down and pulled Emily's phone out of her purse and unlock it with ease. Again Emily felt every movement as if she was being moved by chostly puppet strings. "Say cheese, shadow! Or maybe not..." Emily's body said and it struck a pose in the surf, two fingers held out in a 'peace' sign while Emily's phone snapped a picture. The fake-Emily smiled sadistically at the photo and flipped the phone around so that Emily herself could see, and Emily wailed once more in terror.

There, against the sand, was nothing more than a shadow cast by her body, striking the exact same pose as her body had. Nothing but a dark silhouette on the sand.

"NO! NO PLEASE! I'LL GIVE YOU ANYTHING! PLEASE DON'T DO THIS TO ME!" Emily screamed and sobbed. She wanted to run, wanted to fight wanted to do...ANYTHING, but she was trapped. Trapped by her own body and the unknown stranger within it.

"Oh, but I already have what I want!" The stranger cooed in a sinisterly sweet voice as they put the phone away and gathered Emily's things, "And I've decided that Emily no longer talks to herself or her shadow!" The stranger waved Emily's hands in the air, and the true-Emily's mental voice went silent. She could no longer even hear herself cry!

'NO!' Emily tried to wail, but there was no sound on the wind, no distant echo of her voice. Whoever, or WHATever was inhabiting her body had taken away Emily's last bit of agency. She was nothing now, just a silent silhouette cursed to watch and emulate a very different life from the one she had planned for herself play out. And the former girl couldn't figure out what was worse; the fact that she never found out who stole her life, or the fact that everyone seemed to like the Emily more than they ever liked her.