Without warning, the trap door reappeared. This time, it was in a different place. Earlier, when that terrible replication of Kanae's mother had come to visit her, the door had appeared a few feet away from her. Now, it was right next to where she was sitting, and it was already opening. The attic didn't give her the space to get away quickly. Kanae wasn't going to be able to avoid whatever hideous illusion climbed up through it.
The first trace that Kanae saw of her daring rescuer was a hand. It was the same complexion as Akio's, but the fingers were far too dainty to be his.
"Kanae-san?" Anthy Himemiya poked her head up through the trap door and smiled demurely.
Kanae refused to entertain the notion that Anthy had come to save her. She still wasn't convinced that Anthy hadn't been the one to lock her up in the attic in the first place. In spite of her suspicions, Kanae decided it would be best to play nice. She didn't think there was a good reason to ever purposefully upset someone who had power over you. "Anthy, how did you get in here?" Kanae asked.
"This door," Anthy said.
"Yes, but how did you know that I was in here?" Kanae asked.
"Akio told me," Anthy said.
"Akio…knows I'm in here?"
Kanae couldn't believe it. The Akio she knew would never let something like this happen. Unless Anthy had put him under a spell. If she was capable of creating the space that Kanae was trapped in, she was certainly capable of that as well.
"He asked me to bring you this," Anthy said.
Suddenly, a pie tin covered with a red and white checkered cloth appeared in her hands. Not long ago, that would have terrified Kanae. But now, she just took a vicious pleasure in the fact that there was evidence for her theory. Anthy really was a witch!
"He wanted you to give me a pie?" Kanae asked, trying not to let her skepticism show.
Akio had found out that she was locked in a magical attic, and he had sent his sister to bring her a pie? It must have been a lie. He would never do something as cruel as that. This was all just part of Anthy's trick.
"Yes, an apple pie," Anthy said.
As Anthy removed the cloth from the top of the pie, Kanae's nostrils were overwhelmed with the scent of apples. The scent mingled with the smell of her own decaying body, making her feel nauseous. Kanae had expected the smell of food to make her uncomfortable, though.
She had been less prepared for the fear that came along with it. It was a hazy, delirious terror that made her vision swim. For a moment, the walls of the attic seemed to fade. Suddenly, she was back in the planetarium, sitting on that same couch she had set next to Akio on so many times before. Her tongue was burning with the tang of sour apples. But she hadn't taken a single bite of the pie yet.
Then, just as quickly as the delusional haze had set in, it disappeared. Anthy was sitting cross-legged in front of her, holding out a pie that smelled like apples and cinnamon in an attic that reeked of death.
"Did you bring any plates, or utensils?" Kanae asked.
She hoped that Anthy had not. If she had forgotten, she would have to leave the attic and get some. Then, Kanae could sneak out the door after her and return to Ohtori Academy. At least, she hoped that she could have done that. Kanae's vision of her mother had told her that the door was just another illusion. But that woman hadn't didn't seem to have had Kanae's best interests at heart. Kanae didn't think it was a good idea to take her advice about anything.
"Yes, I did," Anthy said.
She curled her fingers like she was grabbing an imaginary set of utensils out of the air. As she did that, a fork, knife, and a spoon appeared in her hand. Then, she pointed to the ground, and a plate appeared in front of Kanae. It was identical to the plates Kanae had used as a young girl, long before she'd known Anthy.
"I didn't bring anything for you to drink, though. I hope that's alright," Anthy said.
"Of course it is," Kanae said.
Kanae wasn't stupid. She knew that Anthy was being passive-aggressive. Anthy was purposefully denying her a drink. Anthy could have conjured up a glass of water just as easily as anything else that she had pulled out of thin air. If Anthy's intention was to make Kanae angry, Kanae wasn't going to let her see that it was working.
The only thing Kanae still felt unsure of at this point was whether this was the real Anthy or not. If it was really Akio's little sister, then the mystery was solved. She was a jealous witch who had locked Kanae up in a tower to keep her away from her older brother. If it was just another vision, like Kanae's mother had been, then Kanae still didn't know who was doing all of this to her, or why.
If she wanted to know whether this was the real Anthy or not, Kanae would need to see her eyes. It was how Kanae had found out that her mother was only an illusion. It wasn't a foolproof way of telling whether or not this Anthy was real, but it was the best that Kanae could come up with. Unfortunately, Anthy's glasses were shining so brightly that Kanae couldn't tell whether or not the eyes behind them were Anthy's or not.
"Thank you so much, Anthy," Kanae said. "It was so nice of you to bring me this pie, but I'm not really hungry right now. Could I save it for later?"
"If you'd like to," Anthy said.
She handed Kanae the pie, which intensified the sickly smell of the sugar-soaked apples.
"Could I cover it up again, so it doesn't get cold?" Kanae asked.
Immediately after she finished speaking, the checkered cloth disappeared from Anthy's lap.
"Oh no, I seem to have misplaced it! I'm very sorry," Anthy said.
"That's fine, I understand," Kanae said. "It's just, this smell is hard to take. It's not about your pie, it's the other smell. I don't have much of an appetite when the whole room smells like this."
"What other smell?" Anthy asked.
"You can't smell it? This whole attic smells like rotting flesh!" Kanae said.
"It does?"
Was it all just in her mind? Did she still look like her old self?
"No, it doesn't. I must just be imagining things," Kanae said. "I've been in here so long, I feel like I can barely tell what's real or not anymore. Do you by any chance have a mirror? I haven't seen myself in so long."
"Unfortunately, I don't," Anthy said.
"What about your glasses? They're shiny enough, they might work."
"Good idea."
Kanae had hoped that Anthy would take her glasses off to let her get a clearer glimpse of her eyes. Instead, Anthy leaned in closer to Kanae so she could see her reflection better.
While it was difficult for Kanae to make out exactly what she looked like, she could see Anthy's eyes clearly. They glowed cold and eerie, just like an alien's. It was difficult for Kanae not to shudder and look away. But she had to know if any of this was real. It was definitely Anthy's fault, but it could have all been an illusion. Kanae thought back to that lapse in reality she had experienced earlier, when Anthy had uncovered the pie. It may have been the first moment of truth that Kanae had seen in a long time.
Was Kanae just sitting dazed on the couch in the Chairman's tower?
The only way for her to know was to see herself in Anthy's glasses. If Anthy did control this strange place that seemed to exist between truth and illusions, then it was only through her eyes that Kanae would be able to see what she really looked like. Kanae put her hands on Anthy's shoulders to hold her steady. She wanted to be able to see herself clearly, which would be hard to do if Anthy was wriggling around. Unfortunately, Anthy's breathing was making her head move slightly. Kanae wouldn't have noticed it if they were having a regular conversation. But she needed Anthy to be perfectly still so that Kanae could know whether that was shadow on her cheek, or if her skin really had decomposed completely. Kanae slid her hands up onto Anthy's neck, in hopes that it would steady her.
"Doesn't this scare you?" Kanae asked. "I could kill you if I wanted to."
"Do you?" Anthy asked.
"And what if I did?" Kanae wondered.
"Look closer," Anthy said.
Suddenly, the attic filled with soft white moonlight, which made it easier for Kanae to see her own reflection in Anthy's glasses.
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?" Anthy said in a sing-song voice.
Just as she feared, her face had actually started to rot. Her gaunt, discolored skin was stretched tight across her bones. It was torn in some places, and she could see maggots and other insects places burrowing into the gaping hole in her cheek. The only parts of her face that were still perfectly intact were her eyes. They shined in her sunken eye sockets like emeralds buried in a hunk of rotting meat.
"What is this?" Kanae asked. "Am I in Hell? Did you kill me?"
"Not on my own," Anthy said, smiling sweetly.