Luke rolled up the sleeves of his orange sweater he had worn for a few days. He did not care what he assumed. Anyway, who cares if you were addicted to heroin a man who even one day can not stand without any drugs. That's what let him forget everything he experienced.
If he told anyone the story of his childhood and the conditions under which he lived, more than one would think that Luke was inventing. Who would have believed the story about how he lived for a long time in Hill House - a terrifying and haunted house, on the basis of which his brother issued a book that scraped faithful readers.
And if someone would believe him, maybe he would see why this man had rolled down so badly, taking what he had.
Drugs were an escape from memories that did not allow him to sleep at night. Things he experienced ... They were a horror movie.
He still had glimpses in his head, in which he was accidentally sent to the basement by his older sister, Theo.
The figure who then made a scratch in his shirt still dreamed of him in nightmares.
He did not remember his mother exactly, but it also caused him a problem. The awareness that she had been locked up with the horrors that lurked in the homestead was a heavy burden that he had to bear.
But the worst thing that happened to him was the death of his twin sister.
Yesterday he was filled with the thought that he would nudge Nellie and talk about his stay in rehab, and now ... He sat on the dirty and damp sidewalk in the middle of the night, holding a fairly large syringe in his hand with a sharp needle that smote his skin with satisfaction and a great feeling. It helped to solve the most intricate problems, silence the terrifying memories and take you to a colorful world full of happiness.
However, he did not earn this dose alone. He stole his notebook and brother from the older brother, and then he sold these things. He did not feel good about it, but worse than feeling guilty was the bitterness of losing Nellie.
"Twins, really ..." he muttered to himself under his breath.
He aimed at the most visible vein in which only the blood, purified of toxins, swam.
The needle stuck in, and he pushed a dose of heroin from the syringe into the body. A drug for sadness, fear and guilt.
It was clean for two months, until today ...
He inhaled and closed his eyes, relaxing his limbs. He could have sworn he felt heroin flowing through his body. Luke missed it so much.
He leaned on the lamp beside him. It's good that no one has seen him.
Suddenly, his sadness flowed somewhere, but some memories decided to let go.
He was in Hill House again. He was a little boy with big glasses again.
He sat in the dining room, where there was a smell of decay. Mom and dad always told him that it was old wood that was rotting. Everything will rot, they would say.
A lovely girl with auburn hair and a red dress was sitting next to him. She had an old gold chain in her hand. Luke remembered. Nellie found him in the room and did not want to give it to him.
"Found not stolen!" She cried, holding the find hard.
"Give me, I want to see it too!" He demanded, holding his hand as far as he could, but he could not reach the trinket.
His sister, however, stubbornly kept her treasure with her, which is why Luke came up with an argument that he always won every fight.
"I'm ninety seconds older than you, Nell! You have to do what I say!"
And she gave him back the necklace. However, not because this reason was the most convincing. Just twin love was too big, and she could not refuse him.
Luke opened his eyes that filled with tears. If only he could see her, show off his achievements, hug ... She has always been his support. Although Luke was older, Nellie was an older sister to him.
When they were hugging, they felt unity. Now he felt as if his soul part had become detached from him, and she had no intention of returning to him. He couldn't imagine life without her.
That's why he decided to return to stimulants. What else did he have to lose?
He grabbed his neck which, from the moment of Nell's death, pained him. Their ability was to feel pain together and often to think about the same. Twin powers, they called it.
He lifted his head and looked across the street.
In the light of the lamp stood in a white dress with a rope tied around her neck.
She watched her brother with pain, longing and disappointment.
And although it sounds crazy, it did not scare Luke. He'd seen ghosts all his life. No wonder Nellie will become one of them.
He got to his feet, staring at her, and she at him.
He could not convince himself that it was certainly her.
Seven steps from Nell's bed to Luke's bed.
Seven steps, which during a horrible visit to a lady with a crooked neck, they were nothing but salvation.
Seven stones that he gave to his sister.
One countdown that sapped every fear.
One two three four five six seven...
A gentle smile appeared on Nellie's face.
"Nellie, why ... Why did you do this ..." he whispered toward her, reaching out the same way when he wanted to get a gold necklace from her. "You shouldn't leave me like this."
One two three four five six seven.
Nellie disappeared, and Luke shivered. Heroin boiled in his blood, and the street suddenly became more and more colorful.
It began to work more intensively and the emotions go out.
The escape from the problems was about to happen.
Dead Nellie watched him from afar.
As he lies on the wet sidewalk by the lamp and trembles, completely drifting away from reality.
She sighed quietly and melted into the air, and colored paper cut began to fall on the man's nose.
I loved you completely.
And you loved me the same.
That's all.
The rest is confetti.