Cheryl tipped the bottle into the glass once again, the smell of sweet hickory hitting her nostrils as she lifted it to her lips. Head tilted, the contents poured out and splashed the back of her throat before residing in her stomach below. An exasperated sigh left her mouth as she forcefully slammed the glass on the table, next to the bottle she had found hiding behind some pots and pans elsewhere in the kitchen. Cheryl's eyes drifted to the apparition that was quietly reading the backs of novels her father had collected over the years, and she found her face contorting in slight disgust.
"Those aren't yours, you know" the words, laced with acid, found themselves falling on deaf ears as Alessa's fingers softly touched the fabric in fascination as she pieced together what each one was about in her mind. Moments later, her head swiveled towards Cheryl. "These things, these...books...they weren't allowed by the Order. But mother did sometimes let me read children's literature. The nursery rhymes within were surprisingly erudite. On more than one occasion, I found myself repeating some of them when I would be left alone to foster God – to keep my spirits up!"
Cheryl reached for just the bottle this time. Alessa continued to explain things that were quietly beginning to take shape in Cheryl's mind: pieces of events that she could hazily recall were reshaping to some degree in a fashion that left her sucking on the head of the bottle like a newborn infant. She could feel Alessa's eyes on her as she lowered it, couch creaking as the girl repositioned herself. "...What?"
"Is that alcohol?" Alessa's innocence manifested itself in full display, her words softer than silk. Cheryl, to her amusement and for once since she let the nightmare in, found a perverse smile forming on her lips. "I write, of course it's alcohol." Cheryl suggested the bottle at Alessa, who simply waved it off as Cheryl grunted and returned the bottle to her lips.
The girl's chittering continued "alcohol is bad for you, you know. It can inhibit your judgment and ruin your liver." Cheryl's words tumbled out of her mouth as her eyes narrowed "I'm pretty sure God is bad for the human race, too. But to each their own." Alessa winced at her words and Cheryl quietly ruminated in victory – happy that she had finally penetrated that perfect exterior this other self had been presenting ever since she was let in. A minute or two of silence passed before Cheryl jumped to what she perceived as the end. "So...when are you going to drink my blood?"
Alessa's face shifted in confusion "I'm sorry?" Cheryl continued "You know...vampiric lore? This can't be real, so when are you going to just cut to the chase and sink your teeth in my neck?" Cheryl's hands wrung the neck of the bottle. "Or maybe you're not a vampire, maybe you're some bad dream that I haven't woken up from yet. Either way, I'm ready to get this over with."
Alessa could only stare as she watched Cheryl slam the bottle on the edge of the table as it shattered and the contents spilled out in panicked streams, across and over the table itself. Glass flew in a frenzy as Alessa jumped at Cheryl's display and her eyes widened in fear. Eyes fixated on the menacing figure now leering over her, Alessa instinctually moved back as her younger self held the broken bottle in hand, ready to cut into her soft flesh. Alessa screamed out "Heather, please!" Cheryl's free hand reached and pressed against the bosom of the nightmare that was wearing her face as she straddled the creature's frame and after some resistance had moved into position to bring the makeshift weapon swiftly into its neck.
Her breath came out ragged, "My name is Cheryl" voice raising at the end as well as her hand. Alessa's eyes stared in absolute fear before forcing them close and whispered a small prayer. Cheryl stopped and stared at the girl for a moment, the violence that overcame her rolling off her body in waves as she and Alessa stayed in such a position for what felt like hours. Blood that had been collecting in small rivers precariously hang off her chin before falling and splashing the now red cheek of the girl she used to be. She took a good look at her. Every bit of who she was, of the girl she used to be from a time she couldn't recall, from a life she couldn't recall was somehow real and was about to be snuffed out once again – this time, by the hands of who she had become. Alessa quietly sobbed as her voice choked and she opened her eyes, seeing the conflicted face of someone she desperately needed in her life, now. She softly begged for Cheryl's mercy, tears rolling down the side of her face and mixing with the blood that was pooling into the fabric of the couch underneath.
Cheryl lowered her hand, the head of the bottle being released from her vice like grip as she slowly came to some sort of strange compassion that was bubbling inside her. Whatever this...creature was, it was convincingly real and it made her hate herself for letting it live but for also letting herself come to such hatred – the boundaries of which she found struggling with for years ever since Claudia. Ever since Silent Hill. Cheryl slid off the girl and curled into a ball on the side of the couch as she heard Alessa's cries eventually quiet. Her eyes distant, her mouth croaked as she spit out words. "This isn't real. This isn't real." She repeated the mantra over and over, her eyes closed tight as they began to turn into whispers and eventually silence as she mouthed them over and over.
She would have stayed like that, perhaps for eternity, had she not felt the embrace of the strange girl bringing her arms about her neck like a protective albatross. She immediately tightened in response, but eased as the girl spoke. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I know this is strange, but for some reason I'm here and I want you to know that I never meant to hurt you. And I won't." Alessa's words reverberated softly in her head like a dim, warm light.
After a small while, Cheryl gently forced the girl's hands from her as she attempted to raise herself in an attempt to make it to the bathroom. She got as far as the door frame before she felt her strength finally leave her and she blacked out from what was happening. Her eyes roll to the back of her head before collapsing against the side of the toilet.