“I’m here to fix your mistakes.”
I just stared.  Eyes transfixed, heart violently protesting its confinement.
“I’m here to fix your mistakes.  I will refine your role in the world, to give it a second chance.”
Struggling to take a breath, I coaxed my throat into releasing my voice, “You can’t be.”
“I am.”
“But I-”
“No, not you.  Don’t you understand?  It’s not so complex.”
“But that’s just it.  It’s only complex.  It’s not true.”
She fiddled with her hair, twisting a heavy spiral between her ring and pinky fingers, like I always did.  “It doesn’t matter if you believe it or not.  Truth doesn’t covet understanding.”  
“It should.”
“But it doesn’t.”  
“It should!”
She smiled, “But it doesn’t.”
I pressed my palms against my temples, “What’s going on?  This isn’t real.”
“Close your eyes.”  Taking a step towards me, she insisted, “It hurts more when you know it’s coming.”
“Stay there,” I commanded.  “You’re not even-”
“You’re crying inside.”
“I-”
“It breaks your heart to remember, yet you're jammed in one spot, dwelling on the things you're incapable of letting go,” her voice softened.  “But none of the people who have scarred you are to blame.  Your enemy is your reflection.”
“That’s not true…”
“Your enemy is me.”  The words stuck in the air, thick and oppressive, “But don't worry.  I’m here to mend you, and to make things better.”
“‘Mend’ me? How can you make anything better?”
The smile returned to her lips, “Close your eyes and all will be resolved.  Peacefully.”
“You can’t be me.  I wouldn’t do this to myself!”
“It’s not that it’s being done to you as much as for everyone else,” she clarified simply.  “You’ve left the path that you were meant to follow.”
“You’ll just step in then, is that it?”
“Yes, and will rectify your misdeeds.”
“I haven’t done anything wrong!”
“Or right.”  She slowly shook her head, “You’re a compassionate person and this is for existence.  Do the right thing.”
“The right thing?  What about me?”
“You’ll be fine, although you won’t be the one who is you.”
“You will.”  My voice trembled slightly, “You’ll be me.”
“I am you.”
“But I can’t- I don’t want to just disappear, I-”
“Nothing disappears.  It simply changes.”
“Why can’t I be the one to help the world?”
“You’re too far gone.  You can’t reach it.”
“But I-”
“But I can.”
In my head, I suddenly felt very far away. I could see myself, standing alone, but was it me I was seeing or was it her?
“It will be you who aids the world,” She reminded me.  “It will be the person born with your name, who lived your life, exactly the same in every physical way: the precise definition of identity, as defined by your society.  No one will know the difference, save for me, and it won’t take me long to convince myself that I was the one living your life all along.”
“You’ll take it over.  Just like that.”
“Just like that.”
“I'm supposed to just disappear for the good of the world.  For everyone’s sake…”
“You are.  Exactly.”
Several tears burned as they inched down my cheeks, “What did I do?  What did I do that was so horrible that I need to be replaced?”
She’d taken several steps towards me and now placed her hands gently on the sides of my face, “All that you can do now is stay strong.  You, as yourself, can still help by being strong enough to give it all away.”
Staring at her, into my own eyes, I could feel myself breaking.  “I never meant to do anything wrong.”
“I know you didn’t.  At least you can do what’s right now, when it counts most.”
I nodded weakly, “I don’t want to hurt anyone else…”
“That’s right.  You’ll be the only casualty.”  
My heart was lurching; skipping beats at random intervals, as far lost in a disorienting uncertainty as I was.  The me that still spoke my thoughts was not above the world, and I relinquished.
“Now close your eyes,” Her tone was even and expectant.
Having let go of my sight, it would end quickly.  Deep down, despite my intention to spare the world the pain I would cause it, I still hoped to be spared any pain of my own.

Placing a hand to her chest, the life within, pulsing unevenly through her heart, seeped out.  Her body fell to the ground, expression calm and coated with a frail delirium, before she disappeared.  
Somewhere, I heard her name being called.  The voice began to sound familiar, the surroundings taking on a name.  
I turned away from any of her that still remained in the air, suspended like reality,  “I’m coming.”