Chapter 13 · Dropped Into Witch Academy at Midnight - Chapter 13: The Girl With My Face

The vines split open like a curtain.

She's standing there. Me. Same scrubs, same ponytail, same coffee stain on the left pocket I got three days before I died. The defibrillator's glowing in her hands, that sickly green I've seen in my nightmares since I got here.

I don't move. Can't. My legs have that pre-shock feeling, the one you get right before a patient codes and you know you're about to lose them.

"Alex." Cassandra's voice cuts through behind me. Sharp. Controlled. "Do not engage."

Too late. The other me smiles.

It's my smile. The one I used to give family members when I knew their person wasn't coming back but I had to keep doing compressions anyway. Professional. Empty. A lie.

"Hey," she says. My voice. Exactly my voice. "Long shift, huh?"

I feel Rena's hand on my shoulder, pulling back. "That's not you. That's a mimic. They pull memories, they don't have souls—"

"Shut up," I hear myself say. Not sure which me said it.

The echo takes a step forward. Her sneakers squeak on the marble the same way mine do.