The winter in the forest was cold, and the snow was thicker then any blanket a grandmother would have. Very few people lived in these woods, opting to live in the village instead as the knowledge of not being kept from shopping for necessities and of people living right next to you gave a sense of security.

But others preferred the woods. Such as the small family of Lily and Rose.

Lily and Rose lived with their mother in their small, wooden cottage. The wood of the home was old, and moss was growing on the outside of it along with ivy. There was not much in the garden except for the small vegetable patch that the family depended on since they were somewhat poor and could not always afford to go to the little village to buy food. But there were also a pot with white lilies and a pot with red roses. They were one of the first things that came to mind when her daughters were born, so she named her twin daughters after them.

Lily and Rose were twins that shared the same face. They both had light blue eyes and lightly tanned skin from their time outside either playing or working. The only way to tell them apart was that their dark hair was different. Lily always made sure to keep her hair straight as possible, combing it every day and night and tying it up before bed. Rose on the other hand would only give quick strokes to her hair, which still left it looking tangled.

The girl's were quite attached to one another. While they did have different personalities, such as Lily's were feminine routine of aiding their mother with housework and Rose's defiance of gender role, they would often play together and run through the fields decorated with white orchid flowers and have picnics by the river with it's star-like sparkles.

They were truly best of friends.

On the winter night, the girl's were resting by the lit fire. Their mother had gone to a different village some distance away to visit a friend and would not likely be back soon because of the snow.

Knock, knock.

Both of the girls were surprised to hear the knocking, unsure what to do exactly. Rose stood up, braver then her hesitant sister and opened the door.

Standing outside was a tall man. Taller then normal actually. He must have been more then six feet tall, something a person would find a bit out of the norm. He also wore a cloak with his hood up, hiding his face, but Rose could see that under his cloak he wore a black suit.

"C-can I help you sir?", Rose asked.

"Yes, my dear. It is cold outside, and I would like some shelter for just a short time. But first, is anyone else home? It would be rude for me to enter when only children are present." Rose was a bit startled by this man's voice. It sounded as if it was coming from inside her head.

"No sir. Our mother isn't home and we're not sure when exactly she will be home." Rose responded. "But you can still come in from the cold. Our mother doesn't have to know".

"I thank you for your kindness. It is so hard to find humans these days with any manners." He stepped inside, taking a long stride with his legs which both girls noticed were skinny as tree branches.

"W-would you like something to eat or drink sir?" Lily offered as she sat up and offered her chair to the stranger, who accepted and sat down.

"No thank you. I'm... a bit of a picky eater you could say, and I don't like to bother people much with it."

After that, there was only silence. No one said anything. The girls were not sure if they could say a word, as normally when the rare traveler came by, their mother would tend to them herself. The fire was the only one giving sounds. Sounds of crackling and occasional popping sound. It felt like an hour before the man stood up.

"I shall go now."

"But it's only been an hour." Lily said, a bit concerned about the man leaving so soon when it was still cold out.

"Do not fear child. I only needed to rest briefly." The appeared to look down at Rose before patting the top of her head. Rose shivered from the cold touch, and for some reason her throat ached to cough. "You must not fret. We shall meet again." He let himself back outside.

"What an odd man." Rose said, clearing her throat a bit.

"Rose, that's rude." Lily scolded her sister, who just pouted. "Well, it's true. You can't deny it."

"Well it's late now, so we may as well head to bed." Lily said. There was no point in having a trivial argument.

Three days had gone by and there was no sign of their mother yet. But the snow had still not let up, so it likely she was still in the other village. Rose however had become ill, with a high fever.

"I hate being sick." Rose mumbled as Lily put a cool cloth on her forehead. "I'm bored here."

"Well go to sleep then." Was Lily's reply. "If you fall asleep, you will go to dreamland and have adventures that no knight could have."

"Yeah, that does sound fun." Rose's reply was light as she closed her eyes, to begin an attempt to sleep.

"Get your rest. I'll be back later." Lily then left the room, closing the door softly before she went to look inside the kitchen for a knife. She was going to be chopping some food up to make a stew for her twin, but the knife she needed was nowhere to be found which was fairly weird.

"Now where could it have gone?", Lily asked herself in thought, thinking that she might have misplaced it. She looked to the front door of the house and began to wonder. Lily could have sworn that in the early morning she had heard it open while she was in her room. Did someone take the knife? While there were other knives, Lily felt it only right to at least look outside in case someone had taken the knife and by some chance dropped it. There was nothing wrong with having a thought like that, yes?

Grabbing her maroon cloak, Lily stepped outside and let the snow crinkle beneath her feet as she walked a short distance. A short distance and then she would go home. She will just have to explain to her mother that a knife had gone missing.

But Lily soon stopped her walk as she neared the bridge over the cold river. She saw two men, people she knew whom lived in the village, looking over something laying in the middle of the bridge. Her curiosity got the better of her and Lily moved her way to the bridge. The two men heard her and were about to tell her not to come further, but Lily froze as she recognised the figure on the bridge.

It was her mother. Her blood seeped from the wounds decorating her body as the scarlet fluid dribbled to the ground and tainted the snow.

"M-mother..." Lily felt bile rise in her throat as a sense of her head being light came over her.

"Lily. Where is your sister, Rose?" one of the men, John, asked her gently but Lily saw some fear in his eyes.

"W-why do you ask?" Lily asked back. What did her sister have to do with this?

"We think Rose did it." John began, ignoring the scolding look his friend gave him. "A man came by and saw your sister running away from the body."

"N-no. That can't be..." Lily felt sicker and sicker as she looked at her deceased mother. Her eyes were glazed like some sort of white ball covered in grease.

"Lily. I suggest you go home. Lock your doors in case your sister comes. We'll come for you as soon as we get the proper authorities" John said sternly. Lily hesitated but nodded and turned around to head home.

Lily could only question how this happened. Rose was sick. There was no way she could have done it. But then a new thought crept into Lily's mind. What if... What if Rose was faking it? Lily felt pale. That must be it. Why would two people Lily knew lie about her sister? No, they would not do that. For whatever reason, Rose must have decided to kill their mother. But why?

Lily thought hard about this as she walked slowly, but becoming more swift in her movement. Rose was not one who liked to do housework, and their mother would sigh occasionally and wish that Rose was more like her sister. Rose never seemed to pay attention to it. But... what if it was all an act? What if those comments were hurting her inside and she decided to end their mother's life?

Lily stopped, slowly clenching her fists and gritting her teeth as she imagined Rose, stabbing their mother over and over again. Plunging the dagger in their mother flesh as she cried for mercy.

Just as she showed no mercy, neither would Lily.

Lily had then ran home, and had nearly banged the door open had she not kept a firm grip on the handle. She moved to Rose's room and peeked inside. Rose appeared to be sleeping soundly in bed, with not a care in the world.

A world she would soon no longer have a part in.

Lily turned around and looked around for the first weapon-like thing she could find. Her eyes landed on the dark fire iron. It was perfect. Likely to do damaged and it would give a sort of distance between Lily and Rose if Rose woke up.

After taking it in her hand, Rose crept into her sister's room. She did her best not to make a sound as she stood by the bedside and stared down at her twin. A twin she thought she loved before she murdered their mother. Lily took a deep breath and raised the iron high in the air and swinging as hard as she could.

It had not gone as she had expected. Her sister had awoken on the first blow as Lily had aimed towards Rose's stomach. She had tried to get up and Lily swung the iron down on her head repeatedly, non-stop as the sounds of breaking bone and splattering blood echoed throughout the room.

"... You deserved it." This was all Lily said as she walked out of the room, dropping the fire iron on the way out. "You killed mother. You deserved it."

Now was the question on how to explain Rose's death? Lily could already think of a perfect excuse. Rose had come to kill her so Lily fought back in self defense. It was simple a believable in Lily's eyes. Lily looked at the blood staining her dress in dislike. She should change now and try to wash to blood out before it set. Lily moved to her own room but opening the door, she was in for a shock of horror.

There were small dead animals everywhere. Littering on the floor, bed and dresser. The metallic smell of blood was thick in the room and Lily could almost taste it in her mouth.

"B-but... How...?" Lily was in a loss for words as she tentatively stepped inside.

Clink

Lily looked down and saw a knife with a wooden handle. The one she had gone to look for. But what was it doing here? Why were these dead animals here? They wre not here this morning.

"Have you not figured it out yet?" Lily turned around and saw the tall man from a few nights ago, his voice echoing inside her head.

"F-figured what out?! What are you doing here?!" Lily demanded, panicking as she took a step back. The man chuckled, a chuckle that sounded unearthly.

"I've always loved a dinner and a show. Though I was not expecting you to act so irrationally."

"What-"

"You and your sister look almost identical, don't you?" The man's statement made Lily freeze as a horrific thought came to mind. Had she... Had she, killed her mother, and now her sister?

"It always amuses me to play with human minds. Make them bend to my will, see what I want them to see. Behave how I see fit." The man began to remove his cloak. "You were entertaining my dear. I've had better shows but I would like to classify this as a horrific fairy tale. A sister murdering her own mother while pretending to be her twin to frame her, only to then murder said twin thinking she was the true murderer. Both of these murders truly show you had improved from the rabbits and whatnot."

"Y-you made me do th-" Lily's voice was caught in her throat when the man fully removed his cloak. He was indeed wearing a black suit, one you would expect for people to wear in their funeral casket. But what terrified Lily was his blank face. There was no detail or hair on his face or head except for a small definitive bump around the middle of his face, to show where his nose would be if he had one. His skin looked incredible pale. Paler then a recently deceased person. Lily could not move as black tendril like tentacles emerged from his back, and one shot out and wrapped around Lily's left arm.

"As I said, I like a dinner and a show." The being's voice echoed calmly in her mind, but it sounded inhuman. Lily the felt a tendril begin to wrap around her head, tilting it to one side as if preparing to sharply turn her neck in the opposite direction, which would surely crack her neck.

"But at the same time, food is not meant to talk."

CRACK!


There weren't too many people submitting written work for my school's sixth year yearbook, and I was asked by one of the people working on it if I could submit some stuff. So along with a couple poems I wrote, I wrote this up as well. It's sort of a mixture of that Slenderman and Rose Red and Snow White. I hope you like this.