I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

“What about initiation? I haven’t even told her my jokes–”
“Get downstairs– Hikari!” Eric’s face changes instantly, chin hooked
on his shoulder, welcoming grin beaming. “Sam will show you back
to your room. If
you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Bye Hikari!” Sony says, waving her arm straight out over her head.
“We’ll find you when we escape!”
“Keep walking!”
The door shuts, locking my friends’ and their captor’s voices behind
its creak. Hikari stays put, only turning once there’s nothing else to
face but me.
I can’t move. Because for the split second that she turns her head, I
catch someone else’s shadow in her place, someone else’s
expression, someone with the same eyes and the same voice from a
different lifetime.
“You’re Sam,” Hikari says, half a question balanced on her lips.
“Yes,” I breathe, half enthralled, half stunned, fully terrified.
Hikari cocks her head to the side, gaze traveling about me as if I’m
wearing a map for clothes and she’s reading the landmarks. She
smiles with a crooked edge. “Are you shy, Sam?”
“I–uh.” My voice stutter–treacherous thing. “I’m not shy–I don’t think.
I’m just bad at existing.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s just–I guess this body never felt like mine.”
Hikari’s smile stretches rather than fades, that earlier amusement
playing with her features.