Sister, Sister

The wind of the ocean in front of me pushed my hair away from its resting position and forced the hairs on my arms to stand up from the chill. The dead of night turned the ocean into a pool of darkness. I was amazed that with the light of day shining on the body of water make it inviting, while with the disappearance of that light changed the entire atmosphere. A year ago today, I watched the sunset disappear across the ocean as my father, who is also the King, rested his arm around me as we shared memories of my twin sister. The image of Emilee in her casket sent deep chills down my back, deeper than the chill of the night.

The unholy day of November 8th 1843, was the day we put my sister to rest. Just last year, I awoke from my slumber, ready to spend another day alongside Emilee, exploring the splendors of our castle together. Instead I was horrified to find a trail of blood to the window, leading for me to find Emilee’s body lying lifeless on the hard grey concrete below. She slit her wrists with a knife from the kitchen, and jumped out of our balcony. The same exact way Mother died, the same exact day. The memory of her in a pool of blood tugged on my heartstrings, threatening to make me sob once again.

“Your royal Highness?” I heard from the end of the hall. I turned to see one of my servants, presumably waiting to help me undo my corset and run a bath for me.

I followed her into my bathing hall and let her undress me. I looked in the mirror and saw a hallow version of myself staring back. I stepped into the tub and let myself be engulfed by the warmth of the water. I rose my hand up and waved away my servant because I did not feel like being watched over right now. If I were to have company, it would be my sister and my sister only.

I plummeted my head underwater so I could go to another realm of the world that most of my senses would render useless. As I went under, I saw nothing but the merkiness of the water, heard nothing but the ringing of my ears, and smelt nothing. Still, as I was under, my mind conjured up images of my sister in front of me, the sweet tone of her voice, and the familiar smell of her being.

I arose from under the water and whipped my face. It took my eyes a second to adjust, but there was someone standing in front of me. Assuming it was my servant, it took me a second to digest that the person in front of me was not a woman, but a child. Not just any child, it was Emilee.

“E-Emilee?” I muttered, barely believing what was in front of my eyes. She looked pale, and her veins bore purple. Her arms and dress were soaked with blood. She looked about 6, which couldn’t be possible. We were both 15, so why is she a child? The most peculiar part of her was that instead of her piercing blue eyes, they were replaced by completely black irises. I couldn’t stop looking at her eyes. It was like it was Emilee, but it wasn’t.

“I miss you Nora,” She said, barely above a whisper. She bore her haunting eyes into me and did not dare to move an inch. As her lips moved, blood dripped from her gums that lacked teeth. It wasn’t bright red blood, instead it was a deep black, a black I've never seen before.

“How are you here?” I muttered, confused to the fact I just saw her body being set out into sea and burned. I saw her burn.

“Follow me,” she said, with a smile that wasn't familiar. It didn't hold the kindness that Emilee’s smile always had, instead there was a hint of something sinister behind her bruised lips. She skipped out of the bathing room, and went around the corner.

Millions of questions ran through my mind, but despite all of these questions, I needed to see my sister. The one person I just lost was asking me to follow her, and I didn’t dare to not oblige to anything she asked of me. I stepped out of the tub and wrapped myself in a silk robe and followed the path my sister just took. As I peered around the corner, I saw Emilee walking around the next corner. I followed her, and felt the warmth of my body leave with every step I took towards her. Just as I rounded about the next corner, Emilee was already at the end of the long hallway, rounding about the next corner. I ran a bit, trying to catch up to her. How did she get down the hallway so fast?

“Emilee wait!” I yelled. I felt an arm grab my stomach, halting me from running further. I screamed and starting thrashing in the hold of whomever caught me.

“Nora why are you screaming!” As their hold on me loosened, I turned to see Dad staring at me with wide eyes.

“I just saw Emilee! She was talking to me in the bathing room Father! She asked me to follow her down there!” I exclaimed, pointing down the long corridor.

“You know that's not possible,” His eyes said something his tone didn’t suggest- sadness. He was pitying me. “I know you are going through a lot right now, but I think you should go to bed.” His hands stroked my hair and he gave me a kiss on my forehead. He was probably right. My mind had to be making this up. I wanted Emilee to be alive so bad, that I must've conjured up something to make her appear in front of me. I thought to myself, though, if I conjured her up in my head why did he look so.. so… dead?

I hugged my body to comfort myself, feeling up and down of the silky fabric that hugged my body. My dad waved over some servants, looking angry that they let me run out of the bathroom willingly. I went back in, finished my bath, and was then escorted to my room.

“Goodnight, your royal Highness,” The two of them said in sync. They walked out of the door, leaving me in a large room. I turned to see both beds made perfect. Mine would be slept in, but her bed would be forever empty.

I went over to her side of the room and went into her toy box. I pulled out her favorite toy, which was a ballerina wind up toy with a mirror. I winded it up just so I could hear the familiar tune of her favorite song that she danced to many times over.

As I winded it up, I noticed someone in the reflection of the mirror behind me. I turned to see the familiar little mirror version of myself once again. I had to be hallucinating. I tried to not let my fear of her deteriorating appearance get to me.

“What do you want? Are you real?” I said, letting my voice waver. My lack of confidence was showing.

“Follow me.” She whispered again. Just as she let her words leave her lips, she turned and walked into the mirror. Her body completely disappeared inside the confines of the reflecting surface. The mirror engulfed her like water.

In complete shock, I ran to the mirror. Just as I was trying to find answers to where Emilee went, her hand appeared from the mirror and pulled me in. I let screams escape my lips as the mirror, defying any probable sense I am used to, engulfed me.

My body fell stomach first on hard pavement. I groaned from the pain that radiates through my body. Rolling off of my front side, I sat up and whipped my hands on my gown. My gown was completely stained in blood. I didn't realize I was bleeding. I looked around for a source of a wound, but there was nothing. I then realized it wasn’t my blood. Panic spread through my body as I felt a presence behind me. I peered around my shoulder and screamed. I fumbled to get myself of the ground so I could get away from what I saw behind me.

Emilee’s body laid sprawled on the floor. Sobs erupted from my throat, along with the remnants of food I had throughout the day. I can't believe I was seeing her dead body once again and I was covered in her blood.

“Nora,” She called as I turned to see the child version of Emilee stood behind me.

“What do you want? Why are you showing me this!” Tears poured down my cheeks.

“Follow me.” She ran once again, rounding about the corridor. Then, I realized I was outside in the courtyard in the dead of night. I looked up into the sky, and instead of seeing blackness, the sky was red. There was no way this was real. I had to be dreaming.

With hesitancy, I followed Emilee. She led me back into the castle and up several flights of stairs. The castle was completely empty, there were no guards, no servants, no anything. In fact, there were no sounds. I couldn’t hear the sound of the waves crashing on shore, which was odd considering I could always hear it.

She led me into Father’s room, where I was not allowed. Something inside me told me to follow her into the room even though I knew better. As I entered the room, Emilee sat perched on his bed. She tapped a seat on the bed, signaling me to come sit next to her. I obliged.

Fear radiated my entire body as I looked into the sulken face of Emilee in front of me. Her black eyes bore into my soul. She reached out to my face and was about to touch my cheeks.

From behind the little girl’s head, I saw Emilee, looking as alive and flushed as I last saw her. “Don’t trust her,” her voice echoed in my ears. Her familiar ocean blue eyes screamed sincerity. “She isn’t me.”

Just as I turned my attention back to the little girl, nails dug into my cheek. The little girl bared a snarl as she tried mounting my body.

I pushed her body as hard as I could, enough for me to get off the bed. I thought of screaming, but if I did, it would waste energy I could use to get away from the entity. I didn’t even know if I was capable of muttering words due to the sheer amount of terror I was feeling.

I ran down the stairs, trying to get as far away from her as possible. My mind went over every exit of the expansive castle and I immediately thought of the servant’s kitchen. There was a door to the back that I could get out from. I entered the kitchen, and turned to lock the door. Just as I locked it, pounding erupted from the other end, along with scratching. The voice of the little girl became erratic. Her screams were only something that I could describe as demonic.

I pulled myself out of my trance on the door and focused on getting out of this hell. I turned, ready to run, but found myself halted in my tracks. The little girl was standing in front of my exit. My eyes trailed down to her hands. They were tightly grasping a blood stained knife.

“Don’t Hurt me. Please.” I said, barley above a whisper. My face felt hot from the fear mixed with sadness that I was feeling. She walked towards me. I cowared and stepped away from her, but I hit the wall. There was no use in trying to escape. She had me trapped. My legs buckled from underneath me and I shoved my head into my hands.

I felt my hand being taken by her. Pain erupted from my body as she carved a deep cut along from the inside of my elbow down to my palm. I have never felt so much pain in my entire life. She did the exact same to my other arm. My throat was sore from my screams. There was nothing I could do other than watch her mutilate my body. I looked down at my hands and saw the blood seeping from the cuts in my skin. I was shaking violently.

My eyes followed her every subtle movement. She moved her face to the side of my ear. Her lips touched my ear and whispered, “Run.”  

I didn’t know how my legs supported my body right now, but the least amount of courage I had in my body made me somehow get up from the floor and run. Blood rushed down from my head as I stood, making my body feel rigid and dizzy. I ran alongside the wall to keep balance. I tried pushing through the main entrance doors, but they didn’t budge. I tried two other exits covering the house, but they didn't budge. I even tried opening windows, but they didn’t budge. I was trapped.

“Run.” I heard her whisper in my ear once again. Adrenaline rushed through my body as I tried to save myself from death. I had no choice but to go up the stairs. I made way up a flight of stairs by crawling, and tried getting my way through the long hallway, but I felt weaker and weaker. I was so tired from running. I couldn’t help but collapse.

“I'm so sorry Nora. I wish I could help.” I heard. It was Emilee. I looked around but I couldn’t find her anywhere near me. I tried pulling myself up so I could look over the balcony of the hallway, as maybe she was down there. Just as I was pulling myself up, I got a look at my arms. They were completely covered in my blood. I was bleeding out.

As I pulled myself up, I peered down the long drop below me. I saw a body. It looked like Emilee again, but she was not wearing that. I looked down at my body, confirming my troubling thought. The body laying down there wasn’t Emilee, it was my body.

A hard pressure from my back made me lose my balance. I had no strength left in me to keep my ground, or to hold myself up. I fell over the balcony, going into free fall. I closed my eyes and awaited my inevitable fate.

Instead of feeling hard concrete like I expected, I felt no pain at all. I layed on a flat surface. My eyes opened and light illuminated the room around me. I was back in my room. I layed in front of the mirror. It was as though I awoke from a dream, a terrible, terrible dream. I looked down at my arms, seeing no blood and no open wounds. The pounding in my ears came to a steady rate as I calmed myself down, reminding myself that I just woke up and none of that was real. I stood up from my position on the ground and opened my bedroom door. I needed to see my dad and hug him. Chatter came from the corridor on the left, and I assumed I would find my father there.

I rounded about the corridor and saw guards, servants, and lords all surrounding the place I was standing the night before. The servants were in tears while lords confronted them. I then saw my father, talking to the head guard.

“Father!” I yelled. No one turned. I repeated myself. “Father!”

“They can’t hear you Nora.” I looked beside me and saw Emilee.

“What do you mean?” I looked at her for a response, and all she did was point over the balcony. I looked at her for answers, but she dared not to look into my eyes. I walked over to the balcony, so I could see what everyone else was gaping at. My body laid at the bottom with a group of people surrounding it. I felt numb.

“Father i’m right here! I'm not dead!” I tugged at his sleeve, but he recognized nothing. He wasn't looking at me, not hearing me. I looked at Emilee who was waiting on the side, looking at me.

“Emilee, what is this?” I asked. Surprisingly, I did not feel sorrow or fear. I did not feel anything.

“The in between,” I looked and saw Mother.  

My ears caught word of the conversation between my father and one of his trusted lords.

“I didn’t think it would happen. The curse got her too,” He weeped. “My beautiful girls.” A curse?

They must’ve thought I killed myself in the night. I turned my attention to Emilee and Mother.

“Did that young version of you,” I paused, trying to formulate a sentence to express my confusion, “kill us?”

“She wasn’t a young girl. She was a demon that possessed as something that would gain your trust. She came to me as you, but a little girl,” Everything started to make sense. “I tried to save you, I really did.” Emilee’s apparition was trying to save me from my inevitable fait with the demon.

“Don’t cry Nora,” Mothers cold hand caressed my cheek. “At least you are with us now My two little girls,” She gave a faint smile.

She snaked her hand to intertwine with mine. The three of us walked down the corridor away from the crowd of people around my body. A part of me wanted to mourn my death, but I felt at peace. I was finally with Emilee and Mother again.