Darkness slithered onto the steel blade, matting the once gleaming metal and repainting her reflection.


    Instead of seeing the image of a crying girl on the brink of ending her own life, a monstrous grin bloomed upon her countenance, an orange swirl replacing her eye, seemingly hypnotising Chloe as she stared into their seemingly infinite depth.


    A sharp whisper breached her ears, a deceivingly silky-smooth voice dancing its way through her mental barriers.


    “You’ll be free. Like you’ve always wanted to be,” It sang, two ashened hands slowly gripping onto the handle of the knife, ever so slightly tightening by the second, as if it were an anaconda carefully entrapping its long-awaited prey.


    A warm mass consumed her body, freeing her tensed muscles from their unruly prison, allowing for the figure to take total control of the disfigured girl’s body without her knowledge.


    Chloe’s orbs bore into her grinning reflection, finding the task of keeping her eyelids open to have become more taxing by the second.


    “Ssssshhhh… Relax… It’s all over now.


    Welcoming the darkness that took over her mind as she closed her tired eyes, Chloe wondered what came after death. After all, that was all that was in store for the small orange-haired girl now.


    “Well… It can’t be... worse than-“


    “Chloe?”


    Chloe’s eyes burst open, the warmth that had previously encumbered her body nowhere to be felt.


    Orange orbs darting over to the noise’s origin, her pupils widened at the sight of the person standing in front of her.


    A bouquet of marigolds lay upon the floor that was haphazardly covered in sharp shards of glass, rays of light flooding into the small girl’s apartment, revealing small amounts of red stains dotted upon the dirty carpet.


    But the figure paid them no mind, their crimson contacts gleaming with beads of tears, one of their slender hands covering their mouth, countenance electrified by the sight before her.


    “Chlo…e? What are you doing?” Lea worriedly enquired, stumbling over her words as she quickly approached the girl who was holding a knife up to their throat, the blade end pointed towards her vital point, both hands tightly holding the handle.


    The door slammed shut behind her, causing both of them to flinch slightly, darkness once again consuming the apartment.


    Unperturbed by the newfound lack of light, Lea stormed over to the small girl, causing Chloe to panic, fear consuming her entire being as her orange orbs darted between her best friend and the blackened knife that she held before her.


    “This would be the per...” Stopping herself before she could finish the thought, Chloe attempted to speak, only managing a few mangled words.


    “Wh…y? Why are... are you... here?” She blurted out, her countenance petrified as if the worst possible outcome had arisen.


    Lea seemed to become a bit confused by such a question, her speedy approach not faltering as she spoke, “Why? Weren’t you the one who invited me here? You know? When me and Aaron went to visit you.”


    Stunned by the words that had just left her mouth, Chloe’s mind blanked as she attempted to search for any memories of such an event occurring.


    A rejuvenated black figure quickly grasped upon the knife’s handle, tugging it towards the small girl’s throat as if in a hurry to end it all.


    “She’s lying to you. Do it! DO IT NOW!” Nathanial hurriedly commanded, the other shadow cooperating with him by blocking her view of the black-haired girl whilst covering her ears to shield her from such treachery.


    Feeling her hands inch closer, a wave of pain burst from her throat, the small girl flinching at the feeling of a hot liquid starting to trickle down her neck.


    But before the weapon could do any more damage, the blade halted in its monstrous march. A painful squeal somehow entered the small girl’s mind as two pairs of hands burst from within the black demon that stood before her.


    Tightly grasping onto the blade end of the knife, two slender hands forcefully halted the sharp weapon, crimson trickling down her hands and dripping onto the carpet below.


    “Chloe! Let go of the knife! We can tal-“


    The small girl unconsciously tugged upon the knife, willing it closer and closer as she disdainfully snarled at the woman in front of her.


    “We can talk? We can talk? Do tell, what is there to talk about? I have nothing! And you have everything! You… You took everything! And now you won’t even let me choose what I do with my life?” Chloe screamed, tears welling within her remaining orange orb.


    Lea seemed shocked to hear such words coming out of the small girl’s mouth, her grip momentarily loosening, causing the blade to continue on its path of death.


    Seeing that Chloe was about to stab herself, Lea desperately attempted to change the course of the blade, using her body weight to push the blade to the slide slightly.


    However, soon after the taller girl lost her balance and entered a state of free fall, sending both of them to the ground, a loud gasp erupting from between them.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    Having been suddenly thrown to the floor, the small girl had unconsciously closed her eyes, waiting for the feeling of glass becoming one with her back.


    But such a familiar feeling of pain never came, replaced by a sickly sensation that spread throughout her fingers, as if they’d just been shocked with corrupted electricity.


    Quickly releasing her grip on the knife, she was surprised to not hear the soft noise of it hitting the carpet, inquisitively opening her orange orb to see what had occurred.


    Orb widening, a chorus of laughs entered her ears as crimson covered her vision.


    As if a red plague had infected the area, the small girl’s surroundings were ruled by the deathly colour. Crimson clothes bleeding into a crimson carpet, crimson orbs peering into her crimson soul.


    “Ahahahah~! Kill her! I knew you had it in you! Atta girl!” Nathanial praised, heavily patting the small girl’s back, making her tremble from the force.


    “N…no… No… Lea… I…” The small girl mumbled, her vision becoming consumed by darkness, only the crimson outline of a body left before her.


    The once-towering girl had fallen, her quivering crimson lips suddenly opening to cough out blood, some of it drenching the small girl’s features due to their proximity.


    Chloe’s thoughts began to stall, her mind raving within the boundless prison that was its feeble body, leading the girl to suddenly begin to claw at her face and let out a shrill scream.


    “Ah… Ahh… AAAHHH…. What? What have I…”


    A weakening warmth dripped from her face and onto Lea, drops of blood beautifully painting a picture of the artists’ strained countenance.


    Lea appeared to have become incapable of speech, such newfound pain shutting her brain down so as to protect herself from such a cruel feeling causing her to faint.


    “Now you’ve really done it! So two wasn’t enough, huh? Well, I can’t say that I disagree. Four wouldn’t have been my limit, that’s for sure.” The ashened boy cackled, the other shadow letting out an indecipherable screech as it equipped a blood-red grin.


    “Finish her! Do it now! Before she wakes up! Whilst she’s defenceless!” He screeched in her ear, hands upon her shoulders, as if guiding them towards the knife that had already done half the job.


    The small girl remained silent, as if she had also lost consciousness from her actions, before a few tears splashed upon the crimson-orbed teen’s face.


    “No.” She croaked out, her remaining orb softly raking over Lea’s features as one of her violently trembling hands cupped her friend’s cheek.


    The blackened figure behind her seemed to be frozen, his disfigured countenance twitching slightly as a small smile graced his lifeless, sliced lips.


    “She’s going to die either way. That wound. It’s fatal. She’ll die from blood loss even if you do nothing. But before that happens, she might alert your neighbours, who’ll call the police. And then you’ll be locked up for the rest of your life.” Nathanial sighed, seemingly sad for the small girl as he tightened his grip on her shoulders.


    Chloe’s body tensed up once she heard his words, her quivering lips thinning into a firm, thin line.


    “She… She saved my life, and look what’s happened to her now. She wouldn’t have done that if what you told me about her was true.” The small girl calmly stated, her remaining eye fixed upon where the knife had been lodged.


    Sticky hot blood dyed her whole abdomen red, making the lower half of her body seem as though it had been submerged into a boiling hot crimson ocean.


    “Perhaps I used a bit of hyperbole; however, she still influenced Aaron’s thoughts about you in a negative manner. Aaron… Aaron! Chloe! If you kill her now, he’ll be all yours! Just think about it! You’ll have a reason to live again! A light at the end of the corrupted tunnel!” He joyfully stated, as if he’d been struck by a moment of wisdom and thus had come up with an infallible plan.


    “A…Aaron…” Chloe chocked out, her hands unconsciously reaching for the knife.


    “We could go back to those days, when it was just the two of us!” She persuaded herself, hands gripping onto the handle of the knife, and slowly pulled it out, earning a groan from the girl below her, who slowly began to wake up from the new round of pain.


    Chloe’s body trembled as she slowly raised the knife into the air, halting after seeing the look that Lea was currently giving her.


    There was no hatred in her orbs. No blame or worry to be found. As if she were just happy her friend was okay, her eyes seemed to be smiling, hiding the debilitating pain that she was suffering from away from the small girl.


    “Aaaaa! I… I can’t! I can’t do it!” Chloe wailed, the blade hovering in the air above her best friend’s throat as if halted by an invisible force.


    Both black figures suddenly grasped the knife, pushing with all their might as Chloe resisted against their overwhelming might.


    “Stop! Don’t do it! Don’t make me! Please! Not her! Not my friend!” Chloe wailed, her head frantically shaking as she took in the taller girl’s features.


    A bloodied smile had bloomed upon her countenance, as if she’d come to terms with her impending death and was fine with it, more concerned with the wellbeing of her murderer than herself.


    “You’ve already killed two. What’s one more at this point? She won’t survive anyway. The least you can do as her “best friend” is put her out of her misery.” The boy coldly spoke, as if he were ashamed of the way Chloe was acting.


    Unable to fight back the two monsters any longer, the blackened knife sang as it cut through the air, lodging itself deeply into the crimson-orbed girl’s throat.


    Chloe felt as if her hands had millions of bugs crawling within them as the sensation of the knife cutting throat Lea’s flesh was transmitted to her limbs.


    Bloody foam bubbled up from within Lea’s mouth as her smile began to falter, no longer strong enough to put up her usual strong front. A painfilled expression overtook her countenance, her brows scrunched, crimson orbs dulled as a frown solidified upon her face.


    Crimson soaked the skin surrounding her lips, dripping onto the stained carpet while her breathing slowly halted.


    Chloe’s mind blanked as she looked at the scene before her.


    “I? I killed her? I killed one of my best friends?” She queried, holding up her hands, which had been consumed by a black fuzzy material.


    Unable to face reality, Chloe lost consciousness and slumped onto the dead body of her best friend, her body becoming corrupted by crimson.


    <hr>


    Once again, the small girl found herself sinking within an endless crimson ocean. A blackened girl warmly grasped Chloe from behind as another taller figure, equipped with a horrific expression chock full of pain, pierced the orange-haired girl’s abdomen with a black knife.


    “How long will you continue to play pretend?”


    <hr>


    Waking up in a cold sweat, Chloe opened her eyes and let out a loud shriek.


    Before her laid the cold, bloodied body of her best friend, hollow eyes cursing the small girl for being alive.


    Chloe scrambled backwards to get away from the girl, hitting her head against a wall before calming down.


    “She’s dead.”


    Looking over her pale corpse, the frail girl suddenly got the verge to vomit, rushing to the bathroom and collapsing in front of the sink.


    Weakly peering up towards her reflection in the mirror that was placed just above the sink, Chloe lamented over her scarred face before noticing three figures sombrely standing behind her.


    Two had become familiar to the girl, the last a newcomer somehow looking even more terrifying than Nathanial.


    There stood the towering girl, her limbs elongated, and her dark green eyes fixed upon the small girl’s figure.


    The figure’s abdomen and mouth were unlike the rest of its blackened body, entirely covered by a deep red liquid that ebbed and flowed as if it had a will of its own.


    All three figures spoke simultaneously as Chloe peered at them from within the stained-glass mirror, saying the exact same thing as each other.


    “Murderer.”