It's deep.
Squelch.
It's damp.
Squelch.
It's dark.
Squelch!
Dreary grey brick filled the corridor; the ground, walls, and ceiling, everything was composed of the same type of brick. Lining the walls were crystals designed to imitate the design of wall mps, allowing me a faint view of where my steps were to go.
Every step led to my feet being dug into the muddy waters as I walked onward.
My face was still, my eyes unfocused, and my breaths shallow;
Is there an end?
Then.
It happened.
The punishment continued;
ZAP!
Electricity rushed through the muddy liquid into my body, frying my alive from the inside out as all of my limbs spasmed and stiffened. The steaming pain bore deep into my bones, sinking me further into the insanity of this corridor.
Holding myself together, I forced in some hurried breaths to stop myself from passing out.
A second ter-
Fwoosh...
The zap of electricity ceased, allowing me some rest.
Once the pain retracted...
The vile thoughts arrived; they slipped past my defences and stickily stuck to my skin. They drew out the pitchy darkness within.
I hate this.
I hate it all.
ZAP!
My reprieve was short.
And, again, I short-circuited.
...I returned to reality a while ter.
This time around, my face was flooded with fluids, an amalgamation of everything the human body could secrete from those orifices.
And...
Why me?
ZAP!
Again.
...It took longer to return that time around.
...
...Can I rest?
I wasn't given a chance to think or hold any concrete trains of thought.
...
So I didn't think.
...
I simply walked.
...
At least...
...
ZAP!
"Gruaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!"
Animalistic noises sputtered from my cracked throat; my voice cut in and out. It failed to form any form of coherency. My limbs continued to spasm, and smoke began to waft from my cooked flesh.
I wasn't even bothered to comprehend how I was still alive.
I only...
...
At least it's not her...
...
A zombie walking.
That's all there was.
Not a baby girl; a growing 1-year-old; but an old, dreary soul.
...
Not her...
ZAP!
She needed something to stay there; to stay awake.
Not her...
Spt.
Falling ft into the muddy liquid, the cold chill eased the pain rattling every inch of her weary body; it kept her afloat.
...But it also burnt.
The dirty liquid seeped into the burn marks across her skin; it cut into her flesh and further antagonised her wounds.
Yet.
Not her...
Let there be no punishment...
Not for her, at least...
An obsession.
A reason to live: to survive.
Let me take her pce.
ZAP!
This time, a vast majority of her body was connected to the liquid. And...
...
...
...
Eventually, she awoke.
Where am I...?
The electricity had shocked her brain into confusion, temporary amnesia.
Who am I...?
Not a sliver of herself remained.
What is going on...?
But the inevitable arrived.
ZAP!
And shocked me back into coherency.
Once again, I knew where I was, who I was; the reason for this punishment.
Not my sister...
I stood up.
"1,006,433."
I moved.
Not her...
"1,007,027."
I endured.
Not her...
"1,008,000."
Not for me but for:
"Her1,009,128."
.....
Mother's arms welcomed me at the end of the corridor.
Peace overwhelmed me;
Love overwhelmed me;
Relief overwhelmed me;
...And I was alive.
"Welcome back, sweetie." A warm kiss tapped my cheek, her lips were heavenly.
"You did amazing." Another kiss touched my cheek, this one easing my heart.
"Rest well."
I shut my eyes-
"May you dream the fairest of dreams."
-and slept.
That night, I had a wonderful dream.
A dream full of flowers;
Colours;
Greenery;
Trees;
Endless white;
Endless Voices;
Endless Horror.
-----
I awoke with a smile on my face.
Chirping birds sang their sweet rhymes in my ears with the aurora's lovely veil casting itself upon my face, melting with my golden hair.
It's morning.
It's bright.
I lifted my right hand, my scarless, neat right hand.
Then, I lowered it to my neck, my now healed and scarless neck.
My smile withered away.
Then-
Squelch!
-without even thinking about it, almost instinctively, I cut into my neck.
Blood oozed out while the flitting cut drew out a pang of fleeting, sharp pain. But my smile returned as I covered the bleeding wound with my sleeve; quiet mornings are great.
Lying for a couple of minutes, I eventually hopped out of bed.
As I passed by the shattered wardrobe, mirror shards littering the ground, I accidentally cut my foot but ignored it. The maid used to clean the room but stopped doing so long ago. I'm not entirely sure when, but I think it was after I broke the 4th set of mirrors.
Walking into the bathroom, I ran into the same issue, but;
Good.
With a smile, I continued with my morning routine.
By the time I exited the bathroom, the bleeding had stopped.
And before me, she stood.
"Mother."
"Good morning, sweetie." Patting my head, she gestured me to the terrace. Breakfast was prepped on the outdoor table as usual.
"Feeling good?"
"Yes, mother."
"Good."
Taking a seat, I picked up the soup spoon.
Starting from the closest position, I push away from myself while making sure the spoon does not touch the pte. Do not lean down; instead, bring the spoon to my mouth while keeping my back straight.
Simple.
"You've improved."
I didn't respond as I ate. I finished the current sip, neatly lowered the spoon, and then gazed up at mother. "Yes, mother."
"Good."
It's not complicated, merely tedious.
Soon after, I cleared the bowl of soup.
Even with bits of soup clinging to the bowl, the material used for the bowl was reflective enough to show my face to me.
There, I saw my face.
I saw it.
That thing.
Before I knew it-
Crash!
My hand had cast aside the bowl, letting it crash across the ground into shards.
Mother merely smiled at me, uncaring of my actions. And I continued the meal as usual; neither of us bothered mentioning my petty actions.
"Would you like to go to the garden today, sweetie?"
"Yes, mother."
Agreeing, as usual, we left the terrace behind and I followed mother through the dimensional door. The vibrant gardens greeted us as usual with the white haze mingling with the flourishing greenery; pretty.
"Mother."
I began the conversation this time.
"What is it, sweetie?"
"I would like to stay clear of the streams as usual."
"No worries, sweetie."
Patting my head, mother led me deep into the gardens. Towards a location far away from the shimmering streams; from that hellhole.
Another thing I tended to avoid these days was the windows in my room, they would occasionally reflect that thing, so I made it a habit to only gaze through them from a distance and at angles I know don't reveal the creature beyond the veil.
Moments ter, we arrived.
A kaleidoscope of flowers blossomed all around us: a mixture of violet, green, blue, brown, and bloody crimson.
Taking a seat, I resumed my daily ritual.
The absorption of the white haze.
...
I y there for a while.
...
In silence.
...
With nothing but me and myself.
...
Until...
"Sweetie."
"Yes, mother?"
She spoke.
"Do you resent your sister?"
And I froze.
Not because of a shock of realisation that perhaps I truly resented her. Or some sort of confusion as to how she could ask such a question knowing full well what had happened.
But because.
"Never."
How could such bsphemous words leave her lips?
However, as though expecting such an answer, mother gently smiled and spoke with a soothing tone, "Good, my perfect sweetie would never hate her sister."
I unceremoniously quipped with, "Of course."
However, when I turned my head away from mother to resume my breathing...
-Leave me-
I heard it.
"What do you mean, mother?" I turned back to look at her with confusion.
But mother, elegantly kneeling there, "What's wrong, sweetie?"
...?
"Didn't you just speak?"
"I didn't say anything." She firmly denied my words.
And I:
-Eat me-
I heard it.
With my eyes glued to my mother's still lips, I heard a voice.
Darting my gaze across the field with faint shivers licking my spine, I searched deeply for the source of the voice, but...
Nothing.
I found nothing, heard nothing, and smelt nothing;
Nothing was there.
Yet I undoubtedly heard.
Chills took over. Every hair and pore; every sweat gnd and every portion of skin;
The dread spread like a virus, overtaking all my bodily functions as I struggled to keep track of my bearings. My surroundings began to melt into each other as:
-My leg-
I heard.
-My arm-
I'm still hearing.
-Our limbs-
What am I hearing?
Till:
"Sweetie?"
Mother's palms colpsed onto my shoulders.
And the voices died. They fizzled away like smoke in the wind, darting into the hazy white fog embracing me.
My lips sputtered, faltering with hesitation.
"Sweetie?"
Mother's ever-peaceful warmth tucked my cheeks between her palms as she stared directly into my eyes, my soul.
"Are you okay?"
"Y, yes, mother."
Why did I hesitate to answer?
For what reason did such horrific dread plunge my body into that ice bath?
What terrified me so much about those voices?
...And where did they come from?
I almost chuckled once those thoughts shot through my head.
...Even more questions will remain unanswered.
Shaking my head with mother's tender palms csped over my cheeks, I returned a prim and proper smile.
"It's nothing, mother."
Gazing into my eyes for a brief moment of silence, she eventually retracted her palms, removing the veil of true, undeniable peace.
"As long as you are okay, sweetie."
Mother seemed to be orchestrating a couple more words, her mouth tched onto the word 'sweetie' as she prepped her next sentence.
"But, sweetie..."
She stared into my eyes.
"Saying 'it's nothing' is a lie, isn't it?"
...My heart sank.
No.
"Do you know what liars deserve, sweetie?"
Don't.
Mother's smile fizzled.
"You know, right?"
My fists clenched as I quivered in my shoes.
"Right?"
...I bobbed my head up and down.
"Good girl..."
She patted my head.
"...so say it for me."
Ah...1,154,909I...1,159,126Don't...
My lips opened, and from the depths of my frozen body, I uttered:
"Punishment."
Pomf~
I think she's patting my head.
Pomf~
I feel peaceful.
Pomf~
But I also.
Drip-
Why again?
Why?
...1,187,203Whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy?!
...1,191,421WhydidImessupagain?
...1,205,769Why?
...
Oh.
...
It's my fault.
