“You came here looking for answers. You came here looking for a path. We know about your insecurities, and we know about how you’ve been feeling.”

  A wave of relief washed over Karina, and everything looked different. Instead of being scared, she felt comforted. Everything seemed welcoming; it was like talking to herself. And so she wasn’t surprised when a dull flame appeared, and in the light, she saw the person who spoke.

  The person wore a long, black robe, and she looked exactly like her. Neither younger nor older, in fact, she didn’t spot a single difference.

  “That’s the way you see yourself. That’s the image you form in your head when you think about yourself. All the good and the bad.”

  “But what exactly are you? Are you some sort of other me?”

  “I am not. I don’t exist, not in the usual way of existing. Some people call me an inner voice. But I’m not exactly that either. For now, I’m what you need, even if not what you want.” The person said, and she got closer to Karina. “But let’s cut to what’s important. The thing that made you come here. Your question. What was it? ‘What do I need to find?’ A vague question, my friend.”

  “I was confused, I didn’t know what to ask. This is my first time trying this…”

  “Oh, I know. Trust me, I know it better than anyone else. But it’s not like we haven’t talked before. We’re like old acquaintances. We talk in your sleep, amidst your dreams. You don’t remember anything, and you act like it was instinct that brought the answers to your head. When in fact, I’ve been here all along.”

  “I don’t know what to say. Is this even a real spell? I’m confused.”

  “Yes, it is. The difference now is that you’re consciously here. You’re focused on one question, rather than vague thoughts and stuff. And so, I’ll help you. What do you need to find? Well, a lot of things.”

  A paper and a pen materialized in front of Karina.

  “You don’t need this, child.” The other Karina chuckled. “But it’s nice knowing that you’re paying attention. If I may continue, there are things you ignore. And these things are the key to everything. But if I might be honest with you, you’re a little late. You know, when you don’t go after things, that same stuff might come after you.”

  “Wh-what do you mean by that?” Karina muttered.

  “Sometimes, when you spend too much time hunting for something… Imagine a hunter hidden in the bushes. And then you keep waiting for the right time. ‘It’s not now, I’ll wait for it. ’ And you tell yourself that you should know the prey better, its habits and mannerisms. But what if it’s watching you too, and it’s learning from you? That’s scary, right?”

  “I guess so. But is this the answer to what I asked? It doesn’t make much sense to me.”

  “Maybe you’re right, you’ve reached a point where my answers can’t help you anymore. At least not for now. But there’s one thing I can still give to you.”

  Her other version moved fast. In a split second, it was within a palm’s distance from Karina. The girl didn’t have time to react when the person touched Karina’s forehead.

  “Wake up, child.”

  ***

  Karina never had sleep paralysis. She read about it and heard people talking about it on the internet. Yet, she never experienced it herself. But feeling what she felt, Karina was damn sure she was in the middle of one. Her whole body was trapped, like invisible strings that kept it in place. She wanted to move her head, and yet, she could only move her eyes.

  The dim light that came from the window illuminated a figure in the middle of the room. The person wore an overcoat and a mask. In the hands of the mysterious figure, Karina recognized some of her documents, most important of all, the Agency’s ID.

  “Interesting, look what we have here. And it seems that you woke up. I thought that I had locked you completely inside your dreams. But here we are.”

  “W-w-who are you?” It was for Karina to put the words. She was barely able to move her mouth.

  “Who am I? That’s none of your business. Well, I mean, I’m in your room, so I guess it is kind of your business. But believe me, I’m not that interesting a person.”

  “…” Karina tried to move her head to have a better look at the mysterious person. And yet, she was unable to do so. Even if she tried using her physical strength and magic. In fact, she felt like she was drained of all her magical power.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “If I were you, I wouldn’t be trying so hard, you know. You will only get hurt. And I don’t want a fellow agent to get hurt.” The person said, before he added. “Yeah, yeah, I work for the Agency too. It looks like that comes as a surprise to you. And I’m sure it raises a lot of questions, like ‘why am I doing this to you?’ or ‘what is my mission?’. Am I right?”

  “Hum.” Karina let out some indistinguishable murmurs.

  “Oh, right, you’re having trouble answering. But I will deduce that these are the questions you have for the moment. So let me answer them all. Why am I doing this to you? First, I didn’t know you were from the Agency, too. You and your friend, that yeah, I’m well aware of, although I don’t know where she went. You guys are sloppy with everything you do. Seriously, it was like you were walking with a red sign on your foreheads saying that you’re witches and you’re doing something shady here.” The person said, before they continued. “Hey, don’t look at me that way, I’m being honest. The way you were using magic, even creatures a mile from here could detect it.”

  The person got up from where they were and moved in circles around the room, while they spoke.

  “So of course, I got suspicious, and I needed to investigate it for myself, who you two were. That’s why I’m here. Now, for the second question, what is my mission? Well, you see, this is where it gets complicated. You work at the same place that I do, so I’m counting on you, you know well that I wouldn’t be running around telling people about my mission, right? I’m sure you wouldn’t tell me about you and your friend’s mission.”

  “Urgh.” Karina let out, yet was unable to speak properly.

  “I’m sure you still have a lot of questions, but I can’t read minds. Not that I haven’t tried, it would be a nice skill to have. But some things really are a matter of natural talent or not, right?”

  Karina closed her eyes and tried to think of a way to escape, any way. A spell, an enchantment, or a curse, anything. But nothing came to her mind; she was powerless in the situation. The girl thought about trying brute force. But something in the way the person spoke, she knew they weren’t lying when they told her that she would only be hurting herself.

  “Oh, right, I don’t know exactly, but since I’ve been watching you, I guess you were on an investigating mission. Or something of that sort. It’s funny, you know. That I wanna hear it from you, let me untie your mouth. But be aware of this, if I were you, I wouldn’t scream. I mean, you don’t wanna jeopardize all your work here, right?”

  The mysterious figure clasped their fingers, and Karina felt the pressure around her mouth and neck as it lifted a little. She was able to move her neck, and so she looked at the person, yet the figure was hidden by the shadows.

  “What are you doing here? Why did you do this to me? Who a-”

  “Oh, no, no, no. Always starting with the questions. Be serious for a moment, who do you think is in control here? You’re in no position to ask questions. But if you cooperate, I may help you a little. First things first, I’m curious since I met you here. What’s your faction?”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Oh, don’t play dumb, silly. What’s your faction in the Agency?”

  “I-I don’t know! Should I have one? I have never in my life heard of factions inside the Agency.”

  “Oh. So you don’t have one. Even worse, you don’t even know about the factions. You’re lost, you know that? You’re like a bird flying in the middle of the storm.”

  “What are these factions? Please tell me, I answered you honestly. The least I deserve to know is what you’re talking about.”

  The person walked from one side to the other in the room. Karina couldn’t see their face, but she felt that they pondered the question.

  “Well, I guess you have a point. And maybe knowing a little won’t hurt.” The person said, before they completed. “But don’t get your hopes up, I won’t tell you much. There are things you need to discover for yourself. I’m not here to be a teacher to you.”

  “That’s fine, I guess it’s better than nothing.”

  “The thing is: there are some factions inside the Agency. That you should have deduced from my question. But what you need to know is that they mostly don’t agree with one another, and are often pursuing, how can I say… conflicting goals.”

  “How so?”

  “Oh, no. You don’t expect me to tell you this much, do you? But I’ll give you something. Think about this as a gift for the inconvenience I caused you. I know you’re thinking that you’re being extra careful, but judging by what we have here… You should get stronger as fast as you can. That’s all I’m going to say, and I believe that’s it for now.”

  The person got to the door, but before they left, they raised their hands and spoke some words. Karina wanted to protest, but she felt her mind as it got more and more numb. Against the light coming from the hall, the frame of the person became much clearer. The girl wished she were able to identify one or two details that would help if she ever wanted to find that mysterious hunter again. But her mind couldn’t think clearly, and all her body wanted was to get back to sleep.

  ***

  The rest of Karina’s night was peaceful; she didn’t remember the dreams she had. And when she woke up, she moved her arms and legs freely. In one swift motion, she got up from the bed and looked around the room. Karina wanted to be sure that the person hadn’t taken anything from her or May.

  Everything seemed to be in its right place, so she relaxed a little. The events of the night were sinking in her head. For once, it was too much to absorb. From the divination dream to the invasion of the room.

  “I gotta tell May, we need to be more careful.” Her breath started to get frantic. “I could have died, for all that matter, if the person yesterday had wanted. They could have killed me. And I wouldn’t be able to react.”

  The feeling scared Karina, the sensation of being powerless in front of an enemy.

  “Were May and I being that careless? I didn’t think so… But I guess we were all wrong. I cannot believe it!”

  Karina adjusted herself as she put on some clothes. She looked at the mirror, tired, although she had slept a lot.

  “I need to focus. Everything is pointing to the same conclusion. Now it’s up to me. I feel… I feel it’s close. I need to-”

  Karina didn’t finish her thoughts. Going to the hall, she ran as fast as she could.