The Advent of Madness: My Twin Sister And I

I didn't spare that den of familiar filth a second glance.

I left it behind, even tossing away the cryptic last words the proprietress had passed on to me.

There was no reason to hold onto that trash.

If it doesn't help me reach my answers and save Esme, then it's worthless.

Now then, with my main goal complete...

It's time to move on to the second one.

I licked my lips, almost salivating at the thought of it; it's tempting, too tempting.

...What might be so tempting, you ask?

Isn't it obvious?

After enduring all these horrors, would you not drown in the sweet honey of the succulent substance known as:

Drugs.

Anything powerful enough to dull my mind, send me into paradise;

Drugs.

So tempting...

So...

Very...

Tempting...

I'm walking, aren't I?

Towards the drugs I smelled, aren't I?

Like a zombie, aren't I?

I couldn't hold back the smile on my face as I trudged across the cesspool, my hunched back sliced through the stench of rotting flesh as I approached the location memorised in my brain.

A store.

The store.

Drugs.

Relief.

Finally, finally-!

Hehe.

I chuckled.

I'm fucking crazy.

I cackled.

The old me would have laughed at me, mocking me for stooping so low.

However, there is no such thing as 'stooping so low'.

I dare you, me.

I dare you to experience these horrors, this pain; these endlessly flowing curses, these endlessly speaking voices, the impossibility of telling apart the real voices from the fake voices;

Iusemostofmybrainpowertotellapartthedifference.

HowhaveInotgoneinsaneyet?

Crack.

I stopped walking.

I was no longer on the pathway.

I'm in a store.

There are jars in front of me.

There are tablets in front of me.

There are gels in front of me.

There are vials in front of me.

There are cigarette-esque tubes in front of me.

An array; a plethora; a feast-

I glared up at the vendor from behind the layers of dark garb and the silver-white mask;

"Everything you've got to dull the pain, the strongest. Don't care about the type, tablet, fluid, smoking- Anything strong. Give. Me. Now." ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ɴovelfire.net

Parting his tobacco-stained lips to reveal rotting teeth, "Sure thing, little pup." He hissed with a sweet voice and walked into the storage room behind the counter.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Impatiently pressing my feet into the ground, my eyes darted around the store with appreciation.

So tempting.

Too tempting.

Repeating the same action for 5 minutes and 27 seconds, the store owner came back out with a ball-sized box.

Thud.

Slamming it onto the counter, plumes of dust and tobacco residue wafted into the air; the swirl of black particles sparked once they reached a certain height, turning into smoke instead.

"A fancy trick." The owner said.

I remained quiet, glaring at him.

The owner, sensing my stern gaze, shrugged and turned the box to face me. Then, he lifted the lid open.

I saw the contents of the box.

Then I smiled.

Clack.

I dropped a second, smaller sack onto the counter.

Peeling open the string, the owner took a good look at the innards of the sack.

This time, he smiled.

"It's been good doing business with you."

I reciprocated, "It's been good."

Picking up the box, I turned and left the store with hurried steps.

I want to have it now.

Saliva dripped from my mouth; I want it now.

But not yet.

I must leave this underground market first. I must return to the mansion and carefully tuck the product into a hidden corner.

"...Hilda isn't an issue. Esme and the servants are the problem."

NotthatEsmeisaproblemshecanneverbeaproblem.

Parting ways the the owner, I pulled the cranky door open-

Swoosh.

-and stepped aside for the new customer.

The familiar-looking lady walked by me, muttering incessantly the word-

"Leon... Leon- Leon-!"

-she screeched those words to herself in a hushed tone whilst stumbling over her steps with a desperate, exhausted face.

Whatever, not my problem.

Exiting the store, I made my way to the rendezvous point.

It was about time to meet up with Vanessa once more.

-----

"Esme, as much as I love chocolate cakes, having too many is very unhealthy."

"I understand that, Yulei. However, it is simply too addictive."

Nom~

Chomping a blob of messy, delicious chocolate cake, Esme munched with one hand, cutely kneading her puffed cheeks.

Yulei followed suit, picking out a section with the small bar of chocolate she had saved. She chewed it with ecstatic eyes, making sure to enjoy every lingering taste and scent.

Swallowing it down, she pondered for a moment...

"Speaking of, how has it been?"

Esme plopped her utensils down, stretched, yawned for a moment, and responded with a faint smile, "Fine, she hasn't had an episode of the same scale since. Mostly coughs, weakness and fatigue."

Yulei vaguely nodded. In truth, she had another question she wanted to ask.

'What is Lady Alora sick with?'

Because she had a suspicion.

Lady Alora's fascination with Flamms. The consequent visit to St. Neuvae's Clinic, and the fact that revealed almost no skin other than her neck.

Whenever she spotted the girl, she wore a mask and gloves, and a long-sleeved frilly white shirt and pants; almost every inch was covered.

If she put that question differently, it would be:

'Is Lady Alora sick with Flamms?'

She wanted to know if that girl was a fellow victim, because if so...

For her to vomit so much sticky black blood...

'It must be fatal.'

"Good, I wish to meet her again soon. It has been a while."

"I'll speak to her."

Esme looked back at Lily, "Lily, pass a message to Hilda."

"Yes, Lady Esme."

-----

Intertwining her fingers, Hilda rested her chin on them.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Her boots slammed into the ground, echoing across the empty banquet hall. She sat on the lone chair in the middle of the large hall, enveloped in the overbearing vastness of it all.

'Get back already, little dummy...'

Hilda was worried-

'I can't cover for you much longer.'

-because too much time had passed since the little dummy's flamboyant exit.

Scratching her scalp, Hilda untied her ponytail and let her hair run free. Looking like a lone rose in the banquet hall, she bared her teeth like thorns and grumbled constantly.

"Little dummy~ Little dummy~ Please come back, little dummy~" Her singing didn't sound pleasant. It was more of a grating voice.

Playing with the hairtie in one hand and messing with her hair with the other, Hilda sighed and leaned back on the chair.

She let her hair spill over the chair in the form of a crimson waterfall.

Creak-

One of the doors to the banquet hall groaned open.

"Hm?" Shooting up, Hilda rapidly tied her hair and fixed her clothes-

"Two points, one for slouching and the second for bad posture." Lily's voice broke this panic with her sword of discipline.

Hilda was too late.

"However, that is besides the point."

Standing at the door, Lily held out a letter, "The Lady Esme formally invites the Lady Alora for a dinner with Yulei at the Parsimen Estate. It is for noon tomorrow."

Hilda patted her clothes, gulped her nerves away, and walked to Lily.

Carefully receiving the letter with both hands, "I shall pass the message along to the little dummy."

"And that's a third point."

Hilda flinched, but didn't fix her 'transgression'.

That is what the little dummy had requested of her, after all.

Lily monetarily paused to look around the banquet hall, her eyes searching for the Lady in question, "Say, Hilda, where is the Lady Alora?"

Pouting, Hilda said, "Picking flowers, that's a point for you, Lily."

Lily chuckled, "Fine, a point for me as well. Fairwell then."

Once Lily retreated from the empty banquet hall, Hilda heaved a massive sigh of relief.

'Luckily, she didn't pester me any more...'

Thumping the floor with her leg again, "Get back already." Hilda whispered with a begrudging tone. Doing bad things didn't feel good, especially when she had to go home to Mommy and Papa's non-stop questioning.

Pat.

Cold, gloved fingers ran across her scalp, massaging it soothingly.

Hilda immediately recognised whose fingers they were. Not many people had such tiny hands other than the sisters, "Little dummy-"

"Shhh..." A finger laced her lips, shutting them.

"Good job, Hilda. You've done well while I've been gone, right?"

"Hnng..." Hilda tried to act frustrated, yet inevitably... "Yep!" She spread her mouth into a wide, joyful smile.

"Good girl."

Patting her head, Alora released traces of a smile into her voice.

"Then, take care of this for me, will you? Make sure no one finds it, you can do that for me, right?" Passing over the box nonchalantly, Alora kept quiet about its content.

"Eh? What is this, little dummy?"

"A secret."

"Okay."

Suspicious, but used to the little dummy's weird antics, Hilda didn't question it any further: "Should I make it disappear forever?" So she asked.

"No, hide it. Don't destroy it."

"Mhm, okay."

Carefully wrapping the box in her arms, Hilda remained utterly clueless to the box's contents.

"But make sure to remember this, I didn't give you that box. You found it."

-----

Playfully tossing the e-cigarette-shaped vial, I caught it with a firm grasp as I leaned on the bathroom door.

I found a better plan after seeing Hilda's pouty face.

Tossing my mask aside, I promptly removed my gloves to free myself.

Then.

With a simple smile.

I stared at the cloudy substance oozing around the innards of the vial.

I planted the mouthpiece in my lips.

And-

Hooo...

-I breathed in the liquid shit.

The cloudy substance rushed into my body.