Surviving in this Really Messed Up World

I honestly thought i got a second chance at a new life with no isekai shit nonsense…but i was soo fucking wrong.

Why do i say that…well a black haired girl with black eyes is waving through from MY OWN reflection, matter of fact it looks like me but has different aesthetics. "Hey get out of my mirror?!"

It tilted its head slightly and pointed towards the window, i grumble towards it and then opened it, it was currently the night and was pretty cold, i looked up to see the sky, the stars where shining brightly.

"What the hell?" Then almost suddenly almost subtly, i saw one star flicker out of the sky as if it was being drained. and then all of them were Snuffed out.

Every single one of them vanished. The world became silent and i slowly closed the window and tip-toed back to the mirror.

The reflection was righting something on the other side.

[I AM YOUR CURS3]

"…Ok and?" I wasn't really bothered by the whole revelation, like come on i ain't scared of reflection.

The reflections eyes twitched, and it slowly and steadily stepped out of the mirror. I who did not want to touch the unholy, stepped back.

She stretched for a bit and waved at me before casually leaning against my dresser, like she owned the place.

"Wow, you're really taking this well," she said, her voice a distorted echo of mine, like someone was speaking over a cracked radio.

I crossed my arms. "Listen, if you're gonna be my 'curse,' could you at least be a little more original? Popping out of mirrors? Super cliché."

She grinned, sharp teeth peeking out from her lips, and something about her smile made my stomach twist. "Oh, don't worry, me. I'm not here to do the usual spooky nonsense. No haunted dolls, no cryptic whispers at 3 AM. Also, if you don't kill anything in the next 4 hours, you will go on a murderous rampage"

"…That sounds bad…what kind of curse id that?" I asked irritated by the mere idea of killing.

"Deaths personal curse, Consider yourself as a reaper and i am a scythe, literally

bound to your soul," she said with a casual shrug, like she was explaining how to microwave leftovers. "But instead of just collecting souls, you're now stuck with me as your delightful guide and co-pilot through this grim little adventure."

I pinched the bridge of my nose and let out a long sigh. "Let me get this straight. If I don't kill something—someone—in the next four hours, I'm gonna go feral and start tearing through people like a rabid animal?"

She snapped her fingers, the sound sharp and echoing unnaturally in my small room. "Bingo! But don't worry, we can start small. Rats, stray dogs, some jerk at a gas station who probably deserves it. I'm flexible."

"Oh, fantastic. So, I'm supposed to become some bootleg Grim Reaper while my evil twin here gives me pep talks?"

"Correction: cursed Grim Reaper. And don't think of me as evil, think of me as… morally liberated." She leaned closer, her black eyes locking onto mine like twin voids. "Besides, you already feel it, don't you? That itch? That crawling sensation under your skin?"

I froze. Because she was right. There was this faint hum in my chest, like a tiny drumbeat speeding up, demanding something. My fingers twitched involuntarily. "So i get no abilities…"

"No you do, i mean you can if you really want to, you can increase your life to maybe beyond a humans lifespan if you killed monsters also there are no humans in this town…a humans lifeforce is different, ehat i sense are Dopplegangers and Skin walkers"

I stared at her, processing her words. Doppelgangers? Skinwalkers? My town was crawling with those things? My curse-twin—or whatever she was—must have noticed my expression because she chuckled low and sharp.

"Oh, you thought your little suburban paradise was normal? Sweetheart, this place is practically a buffet for something like us."

"Us?" I echoed, my voice tight.

"Yeah, us. You, me, and that itchy little hunger simmering under your skin. We're a team now, partner." She pushed off the dresser, her movements fluid but predatory, like a wolf circling its prey. "But don't worry, we're still… selective eaters. Monsters only. For now."

"For now?" I repeated, my stomach twisting into a knot.

She smirked, showing just a little too much teeth. "Depends on how well you can keep your urges in check, darling. But hey, I'm rooting for you."

I rubbed my temples, trying to ignore the faint thrum in my veins, like something was pulsing with every heartbeat, pushing me toward… something. Violence? Hunger? Both?

"So, what now? Do I just… go hunting in the middle of the night? Like some kind of edgy Van Helsing wannabe?"

She rolled her eyes. "God, you're dramatic. Look, lucky for you, there's a nice little target nearby. I can smell it. Smells like wet copper and rotting wood."

Her head snapped toward my window, and without another word, she slipped through it—literally phasing through the glass like it was water.

"HEY! I can't do that!" I hissed, rushing to open the window and clambering out after her.

The night was sharp and cold, biting at my skin as I landed awkwardly on the grass below. She was already a few feet ahead, walking casually but with purpose, her dark silhouette blending into the night.

"Keep up, or the itch is going to drive you crazy," she called back.

The hum in my chest was getting louder, more persistent. Like an invisible thread was pulling me forward. My feet moved on their own, following her down an alleyway that reeked of damp cardboard and something else… something sour.

Then I saw it.

A man—or what looked like a man—crouched over a stray dog. His back was hunched, his limbs too long, and his head snapped up as we approached. His eyes were glassy, like marbles soaked in oil, and his mouth was smeared with something dark.

"Doppelganger," she whispered, her grin sharp as a razor. "See? Told you I'd find you an easy one."

The thing hissed, its face contorting into an approximation of fear, but it wasn't fear. It was hunger. It could sense me. It could sense us.

My hands shook as I stared it down. "What… what do I even do?"

"Use Me Your Scythe"

I looked down at my trembling hands, then back at her. "What does that even mean?! I don't have a weapon!"

She sighed, exasperated, like a teacher dealing with an especially slow student. "You are the weapon, dumbass. Focus on that itch, that pull in your chest. Let it out. Let me out."

The Doppelganger was shifting now, its body elongating in unnatural ways as it prepared to lunge. My curse-twin stepped aside casually, her grin wide and amused. "Tick-tock, partner. You're on the clock."

The hum in my chest was a roar now, every heartbeat slamming through me like a war drum. I closed my eyes, focusing on that strange pull deep in my core. It felt… cold, sharp, metallic. My hands clenched, and I felt something shift inside me.

When I opened my eyes again, I wasn't holding a weapon—I was the weapon. My right arm had transformed, elongated into something sharp and jagged, like a scythe made of blackened glass and veins of crimson light pulsing underneath. It was grotesque and beautiful.

"Oh…" I exhaled.

The Doppelganger screeched, its jaw unhinging as it lunged toward me, claws outstretched. But I was already moving. My body felt lighter, faster, like I was gliding across the ground.

I swung.

The scythe-arm cut clean through the creature's neck with a sickening shlink. Its body crumpled to the ground, twitching violently before going still. A thin mist—dark and shimmering—rose from its corpse and flowed into my scythe-arm.

I gasped as the mist absorbed into me, and for a split second, I felt alive. Like every nerve in my body had been dipped in ice water and electricity. The hunger faded, replaced by a cold satisfaction.

"Nicely done, partner."

I turned to see her clapping mockingly, leaning against a dumpster like we hadn't just committed supernatural murder in a filthy alleyway.

"What… what was that mist?" I asked, breathless.

She tilted her head, her black eyes glinting in the dim light. "Lifeforce. Energy. Whatever you wanna call it. Monsters like that? They're fuel for you now."

I looked down at my arm, which was slowly returning to normal, the scythe fading into flesh and bone. My hand trembled as I flexed my fingers.

"And this is… permanent?"

"Oh, yeah. Buckle up, partner. You're not clocking out of this job anytime soon."

The realization settled in, cold and heavy. My 'curse' wasn't just some creepy reflection playing games—it was part of me now, woven into my soul like a parasite.

I looked at the lifeless husk of the Doppelganger, then back at her.

"So what happens now?"

"Well you were kinda sloppy while using me, also you partially used me because you lack life force to use most of me, also whats that strange thing in your soul…Maybe that's why death was interested in you" She muttered that quite subtly.

I rolled my eyes and ignored her. "So how long do i have left before i get 'hungry' again"

"Not really sure, but i'll feel it when it comes" She spoke with enthusiasm.

As i was about to turb around and go to my house, i saw a Long Skeletal horse neck with hair on its head and mane.

My curse-twin—or whatever she was—followed my gaze, her sharp grin faltering slightly as her black eyes locked onto the impossibly long skeletal neck stretching into the alleyway from the shadows. The mane of hair on its head seemed to float weightlessly, like it was underwater, and those hollow, empty eye sockets stared directly at me.

"Well, well," she murmured, her voice dropping to something softer, more serious. "That's not something you see every day."

"You know what that is, right?" I hissed, inching backward.

She nodded slowly, her grin returning but weaker this time. "Long Horse. Harbinger of danger. If he's here, it means something worse is nearby."

"Worse than Doppelgangers and Skinwalkers?" I whispered, disbelief creeping into my voice.

"Oh, sweetheart," she said with a sharp laugh, "those are appetizers. Whatever Long Horse is warning you about? That's the main course."

The skeletal neck tilted slightly, its head shifting closer to me. Despite its terrifying appearance, I didn't feel threatened. In fact, there was something oddly… comforting about its presence, like it was watching over me.

The air grew colder. The distant hum of streetlights buzzed louder in the silence. Long Horse let out a faint sound—like creaking wood and distant wind chimes—before slowly retracting its neck into the darkness, vanishing as silently as it had arrived.

"Wait if you are me…doesn't that mean you know i'm not from this world also Death abusing his powers doesn't seem like something god would agree to…" I said as i slowly came to a realization.

My twin smile. "Come on Vince, you do realize this world has no stars?, So in terms related to the world, A God does not exist for it is not the ruler of a world thorn apart by Influences that should not exist or be revealed"

I froze, her words sinking in like stones in a frozen lake. No stars. No god. A world torn apart by influences.

"So… what, Death's running the show here? Like some cosmic janitor trying to sweep up after a mess he didn't make?"

"…No he is slowly fading way and thus returning back to his original self, he just gives the souls who are unfortunate a chance to live longer" She said as she slowly wrapped her hands around my neck from my back, she was hugging me and had no other ulterior motives and i am having complicated feelings about the whole end scenario thing.

"Ok Vinny looks like we have to survive" i clapped my hands an accepted my reality.

"Vinny?" She asked, her voice tinge with curiosity.

I raised my eyebrows. "Yeah Vinny, i can't keep calling you Evil Twin if i am stuck with you"

She froze for a moment and then the next second, a genuine joyful smile popped up on her face. "Let's go Brother~"

….Huh, was i not supposed to name her….