Malik.

A voice. Not more than a whisper. A gentle whisper of his name. Malik ignored it. He always did. It was just his imagination. There was no voice. There could be no voice. When he heard the voice for the first time, he thought Isis was playing a trick on him, but she never played pranks before. In addition, the voice was not outside; not a sound he could catch with his ears, but rather inside his own head. Sometimes when he woke up in the morning the voice was ringing in his mind like an alarm. It never said more than his name.

Malik.

There was not only a voice. Sometimes Malik could feel a shiver like someone else was in the room, but every time he turned around there was nothing but his shadow.

Malik.

He tried to focus on the book in front of him. No voice, he told himself and stared at the page without reading it. Malik glanced over his shoulder. No one was here. He turned back. No one, but what made his skin crawl then? He read the same sentence over and over again without catching its meaning. Malik stood up and stared at his shadow. It looked like a stranger to him, like it didn't belong to him. The shadow of someone else. He kneeled down. His shadow lay in front of him. Malik wanted to touch it, but hesitated.

That was silly!

He sat back in his chair.

That was his shadow and there was no voice.

Malik.

"Go away" he mumbled. It was the first time he talked to the voice.

Malik.

"Shut up. You're not real!"

Malik.

"What do you want?"

Release me.

Malik froze. The voice never said anything else than his name.

Release me it repeated.

"No."

Release me.

"No!"

Suddenly there was a presence inside his head. Something pushed against his mind. Malik jumped to his feet and spun around. The shape of his shadow changed. Malik's heart beat faster and his eyes widened as his shadow grew. It spread his arms as if it wanted to embrace Malik. The boy opened his mouth to scream, but all he said was, "Release me". He clapped his hands over his mouth as he heard the strange voice coming out of his own mouth.

Release me. Release me. Release me. Release me.

Malik pressed his hands to his ears. He didn't want to hear the voice anymore, but it was there, inside his head. He sank to the ground. The presence in his mind pushed harder.

Release me. Release me. Release me. Release me.

"No" Malik whispered.

Release me. Release me. Release me. Release me.

"No."

Release me. Release me. Release me. Release me.

He closed his eyes.

Release me. Release me. Release me. Release me.

"I… release you." he forced himself to say.

Silence fell. Slowly Malik lowered his hands and looked up. He wanted to scream, but no sound left his throat.

A boy stood in front of him. He looked similar, but also different. His body was transparent like a ghost's. Malik came back on his feet and eyed the stranger suspiciously. The boy stared at him and showed no sign of emotions. Malik took a deep breath and came a little bit closer. He stretched out his hand to touch the other boy's face.

"You can't touch me."

Malik jumped back and fell over his chair. He was the voice. He was the one who whispered his name repeatedly.

"Who are you?"

He smirked.

"I am you."