Metamorphosis
"When, at last, I ceased to be myself, I came to be."
― Kamand Kojouri
"How do I look?" a blonde woman asked as she adjusted a bit of her hair behind her ear while smiling at the interviewer. She sat with her legs together, prim and poised while glancing at the camera in the corner of the room.
"You honestly look fine," The interviewer stated. "Please don't worry about the camera."
"But you have to get my good side, right?" She questioned.
The other person was silent for a moment and dodged the question by offering her some of the fruit on the table. There were some nice plump purple grapes sticking out so the woman took one and popped it into her mouth.
"Let's start this interview," The other uttered. "For the record could I ask you to please state your full name and age?"
"Astrid Maria Hofferson, 21, aspiring actress and model," The woman on the couch offered with a wink at the interviewer.
"Right, Miss Hofferson, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?"
"What really is there to tell?" Astrid stated. "I've always loved the theater and had a passion for acting."
"And what about your social life? Was there someone you liked? A boyfriend or a girlfriend?" The interviewer now asked.
"Aren't you the curious one," Astrid smirked.
"Well, you did agree to this in-depth interview as long as I was the one interviewing you," The other person stated.
"True, true, in Highschool I had a crush on a boy but my parents objected strongly." Here Astrid furrowed her brow a bit. "They were a pain in the butt, to be honest,"
"So your parents…. What exactly happened that night?" The interviewer asked.
"They got what was coming to them," she muttered and then crossed her arms.
"Miss Hofferson!"
"Right, right, you want to know all the details, right?" She asked before popping another grape in her mouth. "But here's the thing. To understand my parents we have to go back way further than that night."
"You see, it all started two decades ago when I was born,"
My mother and father were, to say the least, quite the typical expectant parents. That is until I came along. We lived in a very small town. The kind where everyone knew everyone's business. My mom and dad were this newly wedded couple that everyone always thought would end up together. When mom got pregnant, she and dad for some reason didn't want to know the baby's gender. So they only went to one ultrasound and sought out a midwife to have a home birth and such.
Here Astrid gave a dismissive snort before continuing the story.
As expected my mother gave birth at home in the living room no less. I've heard it from others but she refused to walk up the stairs to the master bedroom when the contractions started and her water broke. Dad had been at work but he raced home that evening. My sister Emily was born roughly four hours later and of course, my parents were elated to hold their baby girl, as ugly and wrinkly as she was. What they hadn't counted on was for the midwife to utter "Are you ready for the second one?"
"What second one?!" My mother had screamed as the grandfather clock struck midnight, signaling the change of date to All Hallows Eve. I came not long after but my parents were less enthused to see me. I was unplanned, and later I learned that I was unwanted.
"That's…." The interviewer muttered.
"Unfortunate? Pitiful?" Astrid questioned. "Honestly this is just the tip of the iceberg. My parents… they were not good people at all, no matter what the community tells you."
You see, my parents were quite two-faced. For the first three or four years they treated Emily and me the same. We were both babies and had the same needs. They couldn't ignore a baby crying to be fed or changed. For that, I am at least thankful. But things changed when we grew up.
Emily was… Here Astrid stopped to take a breath. She was… Emily. She crawled first, walked first, spoke first, read first. And me… well. I was always second. I vaguely remember my parents filming all of Emily's accomplishments but when it was my turn… nothing.
I honestly don't remember them ever having an individual photo of me. It was always pictures of Emily or Emily and myself.
Astrid was quiet for a moment. She was stopping her tale to bite the nail on her thumb.
"Miss Hofferson?" The interviewer asked. "Are you alright to continue?"
This seemed to snap Astrid out of her musings. "Why wouldn't I relish the fact that I can blacken my parents' reputation," She snorted before shaking her head. "You have no idea how cruel they were,"
"Mommy, when can I have dinner?" A seven-year-old Astrid asked as she was forced to sit at the dining table with an empty plate while her mother, father, and sister all ate. She was seated across from her sister, who shoved some mashed potatoes into her small mouth, not even caring that her twin wasn't eating.
"When you stop being a bad child Astrid," Her mother deadpanned before taking a bite of the roast beef.
"But… but… I wasn't bad…" The young girl managed to say as tears filled her eyes. Her face was scrunched up trying to hold back the sob. "Mommy I wasn't bad!"
"You got a C+ on your math test. I don't need a dumb daughter. Just look at your sister. She got an A," Her mother spoke up but this only made little Astrid sob louder.
"But mommy I did my best!" She uttered.
"That's enough!" Astrid's father slammed his fist on the table startling both his daughters. He turned to Astrid and growled "You shut your stupid whining. Hoffersons are not whiners and they certainly aren't idiots. After we are done eating you are going to sit here and say your multiplication tables over and over again until bedtime. Do I make myself clear?!"
"Y…yes Dad," Astrid sniffled and tried to wipe her tears away while trying to look anywhere besides her family.
"Horrible right?" Astrid asked as she looked at the interviewer with a raised brow. The man nodded as that was definitely no way to treat a child.
"Want to know the funny part? Their punishments were supposed to 'make me accel' all they did was make me hate their guts, hate my sister because she was little Miss Perfect, and hate myself because I could never be that perfect. I could name quite a couple more incidents if you want. All the times I had to walk home from school while my sister got picked up. All the times they went to cheer for her soccer matches but couldn't even come to my dance class and recital. The only reason I even got to do a sport was because my aunt paid for it for the first few months as a Snoggletog present. As soon as that was over I wasn't allowed to go back because of 'wasting money on useless things'."
"I don't want you to pity me," Astrid muttered as she looked to the side, not wanting to meet the interviewer's eyes. "I just want someone to understand. It wasn't my fault that Emily got hurt!"
"It wasn't my fault! IT WASN'T MY FAULT!"
"Miss Hofferson, please calm down. Why don't we take a few deep breaths," The interviewer suggested as the man kneeled in front of her and held her arms. "You don't have to talk about this part if it upsets you so much."
"But… but… I need to say it." Astrid choked out. "No one believes me but it's true."
"What is?" He asked.
"I didn't kill my sister that night!" Astrid uttered in such desperation as her nails left indents on her upper arm that she was holding onto.
"That night, it had been storming. It shouldn't have been storming on Emily's big night. Junior Prom."
Astrid looked through the ballroom windows of the hotel where the Junior Prom had been held. They were in one of the big rooms on the third floor. She watched as the skies turned stormy and thunder could be heard in the background. The party was still ongoing without a care in the world but Astrid could not enjoy herself. She and Emily were identical twins yet they were so different from each other.
Her sister was this bright bubbly personality at school. Athletic, a soccer player, in the debate club, running for Student Council president. And her, well Astrid had been into dance but her dreams of being a professional dancer were crushed when her parents refused to spend more money on the lessons. In Middle school, she managed to get into the Drama club, only because it coincided with her sister's soccer club times as her mom didn't want to drive twice to pick up each girl. Astrid had fallen in love with acting yet her parents never even came to see one of her shows. She killed it as Lady Macbeth yet the only thing she came home to was them gushing over Emily's upcoming soccer matches.
Her parents' favoritism was something she despised. It was blatant at home, with Astrid only being allowed cold showers because her sister wanted all the hot water. When both girls got their periods, for once Astrid got hers before her sister's. She could still hear her mother's words to her father as she hid behind the closed kitchen door trying to stifle a gasp. "Well, I just know she's going to be a little slut," Her mother had uttered when she had started bleeding at 12 years old. Emily got her period three months later and her mother was elated, calling her a woman and taking her out to the supermarket to choose pads. Something Astrid had been left to figure out on her own.
Back at the Prom, Astrid leaned against the wall nursing some of the spiked punch while watching her sister dance with the Wide receiver from the High School football team. Astrid frowned. Emily had bragged to her about how she was dating the quarterback, a week later she gloated that she had dumped the guy because he was clingy.
Astrid frowned that day as her sister stood in her room's doorway, gloating about how she had numerous boys while Astrid was simply a nerdy prune. Astrid had responded about how she didn't want her sister's leftovers as she knew that the boys her sister had rejected only asked her out because they were identical twins. This earned her a slap across the face as her sister screeched that Astrid should not be ungrateful for sending boys her way as Thor knows she needed all the help she could get.
She just couldn't understand it. Her frustration was mounting as she crushed the plastic cup she was holding. How could her sister be so perfect? She wondered. Here Astrid was, busting her ass in classes, trying to get good grades. She was a B student at best in most classes and a C student in Algebra and Chemistry. And her sister was an A student in everything… like literally everything. Whether it be social subjects or straight-up advanced physics her sister was the top of the class. Emily commanded the attention of their parents while Astrid's efforts were ignored and brushed aside. Her father had long since given up on having Astrid get better grades. Math just never agreed with her. She was more of an artistic type, something her parents greatly frowned upon.
Astrid saw movement from the corner of her eye. She looked to the left to see one of the boys approaching. Someone from the Chess club she realized. The Drama Club and the Chess Club were in the same building wing, so she had run into this boy more than once.
"May I have this dance?" The boy asked which caused Astrid to frown. Like… no one asked her to dance. Not just because of her dower personality but because Emily, as one of the Queen Bees of the school, had forbidden any social interaction with her sister lest the other person be a social outcast forever.
Over the years Emily had seen how her parents had treated Astrid and she had begun to do the same. For her own sister, Astrid was nothing more than a doormat, ready to do her bidding, and if she refused force would be used. Emily had slapped her a couple of times when she refused, had pulled her hair, and had locked her in the basement when she even thought of standing up for herself. All the while their parents never batted an eye. Emily was the child they had planned for. Astrid was just an extra burden.
"Sorry no," Astrid declined the invitation and turned her head away. She knew what would happen if she stepped onto that dance floor. When Prom season had started Emily and their mother had gone out dress shopping. Her sister returned with a form-fitted off-the-shoulder gown while her mother just handed Astrid a very gray conservative dress. It had long sleeves and covered up everything.
Astrid never had a date for Prom and before they left the house her mother had warned her not to upstage Emily. In the rented limo, as their parents were still all about appearances, Emily jabbed Astrid in the chest and threatened her that if she so much stepped on the dance floor she'd tell their mother just how much of a slut she was.
Astrid shot back with an "I've never had a quicky under the bleachers unline you," But Emily had just smirked and muttered, "Who are our parents going to believe? Me, the angel of our family, or you, the extra bitch my parents had to raise," She sneered. "I hate that you have my face. Why don't you do us all a favour and go die in a ditch?"
"But how does this even make you think that you were accused of killing your sister?" The interviewer asked with a frown as they sat closer to Astrid after her manic episode.
"While I didn't dance with the boy that asked me I did drag him out of the hall to make out in an alcove," Astrid sheepishly confessed. "I figured that, given what my family already thought about me, I had nothing to lose. I still had a year of my sister's torment to endure in high school before I could get the hell out of dodge. So I figured, what would really be so bad at snogging a boy in one of the alcoves? My parents had already made me break up with a boy who asked me out in my Sophomore year when my sister told them she wanted him. That lasted about ten seconds when he rejected her flat out. Which resulted in her venting her frustrations by coming into my room and ripping all my band posters off my walls."
"So yeah, we were making out near the ballroom when there was some commotion later on. He had his hand up my dress and for once I thought I might get a bit lucky," Astrid confessed while pouting. "The commotion drew everyone so me and the guy left after… uhm… straightening ourselves… and going to see what all the fuss was about. The hotel that the school rented, a private school by the way," Astrid added "Thor knows that my family hated the public school system. Emily's education was first and foremost. They let me attend because it would look bad for them if only one of the twins attended a prestigious private school." Astrid rolled her eyes "But I digress, the commotion was Emily, of course, only when I got to the hotel foyer she was lying down face first at the bottom of the stairs. As mean as my sister was, I had to gasp at the scene. She wasn't moving. In the distance, I could hear the ambulance. I just looked at my unmoving sister and then back at the top of the stairs where the quarterback looked nearly catatonic."
"Do you want to take a break?" The interviewer asked.
Astrid just grumbled "I'd rather have this over and done with. I only agreed to this interview because it was you,"
"Right, uhmm… then should we continue?" He then asked.
Astrid signed. "It went as you had probably read in the newspaper. Emily's fall snapped her neck and she died in the hotel foyer. The paramedics could do nothing when they came. The police arrested the quarterback and notified our parents. My sister was dead… I was just still on the top of the stairs as I looked at her unmoving body… and I… I… must have fainted because the next thing I knew I woke up in a hospital bed."
Astrid looked a bit sad for a moment and balled her fists. She then said "When I woke up my parents were seated in my room. It was weird. They would never just stay near me as they considered me a burden. I know they were all about appearances and we were taught, my sister and I, at a young age not to show our family's dirty laundry to the neighbours. So it was just plain weird. They were overly affectionate… calling me dear and all that and acting genuinely concerned. It was like they were threatening me like I was Emily. Especially my mother."
"When my father left to talk to the doctor I was left with my mother who had this sickly sweet smile plastered on her face."
"Listen here girl," I could still hear her hissing in my ear as my whole body stiffened. Astrid's eyes narrowed and the interviewer could see her nails dig into the skin of her palms. "Her voice was colder than anything I've ever heard. She had a tight grip on my upper arm while she continued whispering maliciously "Why are you the one that's alive instead of my daughter?!" My breath caught as I realized that it hadn't been some terrible dream. Emily was dead and my mother seemed unhinged. "Why?!" My mother had asked again in a voice that held a tint of desperation and disappointment and I had to squeeze my eyes shut as the pain of her grip got worse. "Why did a little slut like you live when my sweet angel had to die?! Don't bother denying it. That boy you were with spilled everything to the cops!"
"But I didn't push Emily!" I had tried to argue. "It was the quarterback and a lot of people had seen him do it!"
"Emily had told me how she had tried to set you up with the quarterback!" Her mother hissed and Astrid's eyes widened. It was true in a sense… a day after she had dumped the Quarterback he approached Astrid to ask her to Prom. Astrid had felt uncomfortable and had rejected the offer. She was carrying so much hurt from Emily's past boyfriends trying to use her as a rebound that she hadn't hesitated at all.
"Why couldn't it have been your neck he broke?!" Her mother uttered. "After all, no one would miss such a good for nothing."
"You will pay," Her mother had hissed before departing. Astrid had looked at her retreating back and just stared wide-eyed. Her mother came over as a nice person in the neighbourhood. A bit of a mother hen at the park they used to visit to play in elementary school, and she was part of the PTA and volunteered a lot. What no one said behind closed doors was the vindictive streak she held. Astrid had no doubt that her parents, at the very least her mother, would be true to her words.
"You just described your mother as vindictive. Could you elaborate?" The interviewer asked with a frown. "I'm sorry, this was not in the report I've received."
"It probably wouldn't be," Astrid sighed while looking into a far-off space. "My mother hid it well, the same way my father hid his indifference. To my mother we were dolls, to dress up and perform as she willed it. Her own personal flying monkeys. To my father, we were only there to complete the white picket fence image he tried to cultivate with his company. He never interfered with how my mother raised my sister and me. I believe he couldn't have cared less. He was hoping for a boy yet he got two girls. The doctor had told mother that after our birth it would be risky to try for another baby as he was worried about excessive bleeding. I don't particularly know what he called it but somehow I was to blame as I wasn't supposed to have existed." Here Astrid rolled her eyes. "I learned young that I was the family scapegoat and nothing would change that."
"What happened after that?" The interviewer asked.
"It was raining that day, much like the night of Prom," Astrid whispered, her eyes glassy and far away.
"What day was that?"
The world was grey and somber as droplets of water battered against the windshield of the car she and her parents were in. Before them drove the black hearse along the winding road of the cemetery toward her sister's final resting place. Her parents said nothing, staring stoically into the distance. Astrid gazed out of the window as they passed a multitude of headstones. She felt conflicted.
She knew she was supposed to grieve and mourn her sister. She was supposed to feel horrified by her murder and should condemn the boy who had pushed her down in a fit of rage. Yet she could hardly do that at all. Sure she missed her sister, they were twins, and they had quite a few good years together but that was in the past.
Emily was smart, brilliant, and a go-getter but she was also spoiled and a bully. "One must not speak ill of the dead," Her aunt had told her a few days before the funeral. She had gotten discharged from the hospital and her parents had dropped her off at her aunt's place as they had things to prepare for the funeral and wake. Astrid had expressed how she felt at the time and that had been the only response she got.
Astrid was shattered, she felt so ashamed for even thinking that yet as the days passed she could not seem to muster up the grief one would expect from a twin sister who had just lost her other half. Her parents had noticed it too and made a face but said nothing as the funeral proceedings happened. They did not spare her a glance as the priest gave his sermon or when Emily's casket was laid into the grave. Astrid shed no tears for her sister and people whispered. Here she stood in her mourning dress, before her twin sister's casket, staring stoically at it while hearing the whispers of why she wasn't more distraught by her sister's passing.
'Should she have been?' she wondered as the casket was being lowered into the ground. Her sister was not nice to her. Used her multiple times as a scapegoat for something she did. Called her fat and disgusting when she had expressed interest in acting and modeling. 'Was she supposed to mourn the sister that had put her down so many times?' Astrid pondered as the casket descended. 'Should she vilify the boy that killed Emily because she broke his heart?' Astrid was conflicted. She didn't feel like she lost half of herself. In fact, she felt free. Free from the derogatory comments about her appearance and intelligence. 'Would she still be the scapegoat?' Was all Astrid pondered as reality set in.
After the funeral, the wake was held at their house and Astrid had been asked to stay in her room by her parents with the reasoning that they just couldn't look at her right now. Astrid had obediently gone upstairs as she did not know how to act around her relatives who expected her to be distraught. She was glad for the reprieve from socializing. And as she closed the door to her room she went over to the dresser to take off the pearl necklace her mother had ordered her to wear. The white pearls were a stark contrast to her black dress.
"I was supposed to inherit those," A voice said eerily and Astrid's head shot up only to look in the mirror. But she saw no reflection of herself. Instead, there was Emily in the mirror, skin pale and eyes sunken and glassy. Staring back at Astrid who gasped and tumbled backwards. From where Astrid had landed on the floor she looked back at the mirror only to see her sister's ghastly image gone. Slowly she stood up and all she could see as she was clutching the pearls was herself staring back. Astrid turned around, intent on falling on her bed when she came once again face to face with her sister's corpse floating there, mere inches from her face. She scrambled backward, hitting her head on the wall and blacking out.
"What happened after that?" the interviewer asked.
"I honestly don't know. I sort of blacked out and I woke up with a fever the next day," Astrid confessed. "Honestly the whole week was a blur due to the fever."
"Do you think I'm weird?" She then asked out of the blue. "Anyone would mourn their twin, right? I felt relief, though school was weird after that."
"How so?"
"I mean, can you blame them?" Astrid muttered. "My sister was the ace of the school and she died. We have the same face and I was… well a nobody. It was like… when I stepped into that hallway, all those glances of pity, the sympathy. I just… didn't get what was so great about Emily. To me, she was one of my tormentors. People actually started asking me if I was going to fill her place in the clubs she was in. Like, I wasn't even me. I was just Emily's understudy."
"No one saw me! NO ONE SAW ME!" Astrid actually sobbed. "Emily was gone and still I was invisible!"
"It wasn't just me! My parents as well. They wanted me to be Emily and I was seriously freaking out!" She said while sucking in a breath.
"Weren't they just upset and grieving?" The interviewer asked, though with a raised brow.
"No, you don't understand," Astrid said as she gripped the man's arms. "They physically wanted me to be Emily!"
Astrid came home that afternoon from school to find several trash bags on the lawn. She frowned, 'Was her mother doing spring cleaning?' It just seemed odd.
When she got inside and up to her room she found her mother and father in there, stuffing her things in trash bags and taking them out.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Astrid yelled as her mother was shoving what seemed to be her now ripped-up heavy metal posters in the trash bag. Even her dark nail polish was gone from her dresser. She tried to grab the bag from her mother who ended up backhanding her.
Astrid clutched her cheek as she stared wide-eyed at her mother, while her father just continued to shove all her baggy clothing into another trashbag.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Astrid screamed and tears started to well up in her eyes. These were her personal items. Her room she had decorated to her style and her parents were ripping it all out. It felt like they were so dismissive of her style and comfort that they were literally ripping holes in her soul.
"We're doing what is right for you," Her mother announced. "This isn't you and we won't stand for this change! Now get out of those ugly clothes and put on something presentable. Your aunt and uncle are coming over today." This was when Astrid was tossed a yellow pastel-colored sundress that she hadn't even seen lying on her bed. Astrid looked down at her dark red hoodie and black sweatpants and then back at the sun dress. Her mother held it out for her expectantly.
"Mom, that's Emily's dress," Astrid commented.
"No, honey, this is yours," Her mother uttered.
"I'm not changing!" Astrid protested again and took a step backward.
"Astrid you will look presentable when we have company! I am sick and tired of you parading around in those baggy clothes. Just because that boy has dumped you does not mean you should let yourself go!"
"I'm not wearing that dress!" Astrid announced. She was somewhat freaking out now. Why was her mother so hellbent on making her wear her sister's dress?
"Astrid Marie Hofferson! How dare you talk back to me! Now go to your room and change!"
"This is my room!" Astrid argued.
"Not anymore!" Her mother said while her father was just mindlessly shoving clothing in bags. "I told you, didn't I? You're going to make up for your mistake!"
"What?!" Astrid was so confused.
"I made a promise to you didn't I?" Her mother growled while there was a crazy glint in her eye. "You were going to pay. Our angel is gone because of you and you are going to take her place. You will have no lifegoal other than being everything she was or so help me, Thor,"
"Mom, you're being crazy!" Astrid said and backed up but that was futile as her mother made a grab for her hair.
"You… SMACK… will… SMACK… wear… SMACK… that dress!" her mother yanked her towards her while backhanding her and then laying in on her stomach where no one would probably notice any bruises.
Astrid clutched her stomach in pain and tried to curl up in a ball as she was dragged across the floor to Emily's room which had laid untouched like a shrine. Or so Astrid had thought. It seemed like her parents had other ideas.
"Mother forced me into that dress that afternoon and I was forced to greet our guests and play happy family. My aunt and uncle said nothing. They probably didn't even care." Astrid told the interviewer with great distaste lacing her voice.
"They stripped my room of everything that made me, me, and then forced me for the coming days, weeks, months… years into Emily's room, clothes, and ambitions." She growled, slamming her fist on the table and making the fruit bowl jump.
"I was made to keep a diary like Emily did," Astrid ranted bitterly. "I hated writing. I felt so uncomfortable in those pastel dresses. I missed my comfortable hoodies and pants but my mother did not allow me to wear those. She went shopping for me and I had to make do with what she brought back, which were always clothes that my sister would have liked. I had to watch Emily's favorite shows on TV and read the books she loved. I was even being forced to go into the career Emily had picked and the college as well. My parents made it clear that they would only pay for that career choice if I chose to go to college. HOW THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSED TO EVEN GET INTO CORNELL WITH MY GRADES!" she shouted in frustration.
"To them, I was just the replacement for the daughter they had lost, shoved into a mold I could never really fit in, berated when I did something Emily would never do, and forced to every day to hear how ugly I was compared to their charming angel. Ironic considering we literally had the same face!"
"Two years… I had been biding my time for two years. Stuck in the uncomfortable dresses, the forced diets, clubs, and AP classes," Astrid's hands trembled. "Two years, I was going to be 18 and leaving that hellhole. I just needed to hold out until I was an adult and then they couldn't force me back." She mumbled while avoiding eye contact. I was this close but I guess my parents caught on. It might be why they forbade me to ever have a job. So I couldn't save up to run away,"
"Then, that Halloween night…" The interviewer sucked in a breath.
"Was hell… literal hell. My parents had lost their minds." Astrid confessed.
Astrid opened her eyes to the happy chirping of a bird near her window. She grumbled before rolling around and promptly squishing and bending the pillow over her ear. "Freaking birds," She muttered. "Can't even leave me alone on my birthday."
Try as she might, Astrid could not fall back asleep. She rolled around and lay on her back while squinting as the sun shone its uncaring rays through the gauzy curtains. As she stared up at the ceiling and the surrounding pastel blue walls she sighed. 18 today, finally an adult and ready to move out. If only she could muster up the energy to get out of bed. Yesterday had tired her out.
Normally her parents would celebrate Emily's birthday on the 30th. There'd be the whole shebang, party, cake, streamers, and presents. Astrid would mostly be an afterthought given how different the twins were personality-wise. Emily, the bubbly extroverted child, and Astrid the introverted one.
Astrid's birthday technically fell on Halloween, the next day, and her parents had made it a point to the family that they wanted to celebrate the girls separately. Astrid did get presents from aunts and uncles who came to her sister's party but her parents, too caught up with costumes and trick-or-treating the next day, never actually planned anything to celebrate her. After Emily passed her parents forced Astrid to celebrate her birthday on the 30th. This was why she was so tired as they decided to show her off, like a damn prized poodle, to family and friends while boasting that she had applied to Cornell and they were sure she'd get in.
"Did you think you got in?" The interviewer asked curiously.
"Hell no. I didn't even apply." Astrid scoffed. "I just made them think I did. I never sent in the documents. Instead, I had quite the gleeful moment of burning them in the fireplace when they were at work."
"Oh but I did apply to the local community college," Astrid told the man as she leaned back on the couch and twirled a piece of her hair between her fingers. "Consider this a big FU to them. Their 'precious' daughter, ditching Cornell for Community College… oh the shame they would feel. Not that there is anything wrong with Community College though." She added. "My parents were elitists. Perfect house, perfect family, perfect daughter that goes into a high-paying career to support them in their old age."
"Yes, they actually said that to me," Astrid shook her head. "It kind of made me feel bad for Emily now that I think about it. They spoiled and groomed her. They probably gaslit her into choosing the career that would bring in the big bucks and were probably expecting her to take care of them in their old age. Of course, a month after Emily passed they made it clear to me that that was what they now expected from me. Kind of like a sick and twisted version of The Heir and The Spare. Only the Spare was a total accident." She rolled her eyes but then said "But you wanted to know what happened that day right? How can a positively clear Halloween night turn out like… THAT,"
Astrid came out of the steaming shower that evening. The day had been positively weird. First, when she got up she was greeted by quite the breakfast spread. Her mother was someone who only cooked that much on special occasions and neither Astrid's birthday nor Halloween had ever warranted that. Second, was that her parents had suddenly gotten her gifts for her birthday, one being the latest iPhone. To say that she was perplexed by the sudden attentiveness to her date of birth was an understatement. It got even weirder from them on as her parents promised her a surprise at midnight, and that she should dress nicely.
As she wiped the condensate off the mirror she sighed upon seeing her reflection, or rather, seeing Emily staring back at her haughtily. "Don't think that just because you got nice things that you matter now," The reflection spat. Astrid just sighed. She'd gotten used to Emily appearing now and again to hurl venom at her these past few years. With a groan, she turned around to hang up her towel only to stumble back as her sister, drenched in mud and decaying, suddenly stood there.
"First you take my room and then my birthday." The ghoul uttered while reaching out for Astrid. "You better watch yourself! I'll have the last laugh," Astrid blinked and the apparition was gone. She turned back towards the mirror but there was no Emily, just her own reflection staring back. That hadn't happened in a long time and Astrid had to catch her breath. It was either her mind playing tricks on her or the house was actually haunted by the spirit of her dead sister.
"I didn't take your room from you," She grumbled to no one around her. "I don't even want your birthday," She added while punching the bed. "Gods, when will this nightmare ever end? I need to get out of the house," Astrid muttered but knew that her evening would just be filled with giving out candy to trick-or-treaters while her parents either did nothing or went out to socialize.
As she came down the stairs she blinked… the house was somewhat dark. The lights in the living room and kitchen were off and when she reached for the light switch she got the shock of her life when her parents yelled "SURPRISE!"
It was just them in the living room sporting black and orange party hats. When Astrid looked at the coffee table she saw a cake on it with candles. She raised a brow at their sudden celebration of her birthday. Did they figure out she was going to leave them high and dry and wanted to guilt trip her into staying? Or did they come to know about Cornell and this was some sick way of messing with her?
As she sat in the living room eating a slice of cake while her parents fussed over her was something quite new.
"Enjoy it while you can," Emily's ghoul-like form materialized on the couch next to her. Astrid flinched though tried to keep a straight face as her parents were in the vicinity and would probably think she was crazy. "You know what today is right?" The ghoul asked as it craned its neck towards Astrid and in a sing-song voice answered her own question "Today is the day you dieeee," And with that the apparition was gone once more. Astrid felt uncomfortable. Her skin crawled at the statement and she put down the half-eaten slice before excusing herself and rushing up the staircase.
"You're going to dieeeee," Came the whisper again and Astrid turned to the direction the voice approximately came from to see Emily's smirking reflection in the glass of one of the photo frames. Ironically it was a picture of the twins happily playing on the swings in the local park when they were six or seven.
"Y-you're just my imagination," Astrid whispered as she stared down a haughty Emily. "You're not real," She added with more conviction.
"Not yet," The reflection whispered before disappearing.
"Get it together Astrid," She spoke to herself while slapping her cheeks. "Either you're losing your mind or your house is haunted."
Astrid decided to go back down to finish her cake because let's face it. Just how many times did she actually get a birthday cake that was all her own?
Her parents were nowhere in sight when she came back down the stairs. The bowl of candy by the door was untouched as was the slice of cake she had left on the coffee table. It was odd and Astrid began to walk to the kitchen to see if they were there. 'Might as well get this over with,' She thought as she had quite the inkling that her parents were not sincere. Astrid stopped near the closed kitchen door as she heard voices on the other side.
"... cater to that ungrateful brat?" Was the question and Astrid leaned her ear slightly to the door to hear better.
"Relax honey it's only until midnight," It was her father's voice now. "Remember, once we start the ritual our darling Emily will come back."
"I still feel bad you know. Binding our daughter's spirit to this house." Her mother muttered. "It's been two years."
"You know what the mystic told us. We needed to bind her to the house as soon as possible otherwise she cannot possess the body of our sacrifice."
"At least Emily won't freak out when she sees her new face. Astrid is at least useful for that."
"Right," Her father seemed to be agreeing. "Giving that girl a birthday cake is the last kindness she'll ever see."
Astrid had to hold her hand in front of her mouth to stifle a gasp but her parents were not done talking yet. "Did you get everything for the ritual?" Her mother asked. Astrid could practically hear the frown in that tone of voice.
"Yeah yeah relax. It was surprisingly easy to buy everything we needed during the Halloween season. No one even questions why we'd need so many candles or rope." Her father joked.
Astrid backed away from the still-closed kitchen door. However, when backing away she stepped on one of the creaky boards which alerted her parents. "What was that?" She could hear her mother ask and quickly fled the scene.
"That's…" The interviewer blinked.
"Sick right?" Astrid responded.
"Unbelievable!" Was the interviewer's response. "Where did this mystic even come from? And a ritual? Ghosts?" The man was now gaping at Astrid who just cocked her head to the side and looked at him.
"I thought you at least would believe me!" Astrid shot back angrily. "You were there that day!"
"Is that why you asked me to conduct this interview? Because I was there?" The man now asked. "You keep forgetting that I arrived after the fact."
"You saw the house! You saw the circle! My parents literally went off the deep end after my sister died."
"Perhaps we should just continue the interview," The man muttered. "What happened after you overheard your parents?"
"I did what any sane woman who just learned her parents wanted to sacrifice her did. I ran to my room and freaked the hell out!" Astrid stated.
Astrid's feet carried her with such great urgency. When she was finally back in the bedroom she shut the door and shoved the desk chair against it as the door had no lock. Something her parents had been adamant about as well.
"Okay, breathe Astrid. Breathe. You got to get the hell out of here," She spoke to herself before going towards the window. 'Why oh why didn't I just run out the front door,' She thought. Clearly, she must be more freaked out than she imagined. As she tried to pry the window open so she could climb out she struggled. "Why won't you budge?!" Astrid growled as her face turned angry. The window wasn't opening at all. It did its job that morning as she yelled at the happy birds to leave her alone.
It was already pretty dark outside, the last rays of sunlight giving way to the multitude of trick-or-treaters that started appearing. She squinted and looked down to see several nails hammered into the wood of her window to keep it closed. "Shit," Astrid uttered. Her parents must have done this when she had been occupied with the cake. She sort of remembered her father excusing himself to go hang up some last-minute decorations outside.
"Why do you still struggle?" an all too familiar voice asked oh so innocently. Astrid turned towards the Cheval mirror in the corner of her room to see Emily gazing back at her in a pastel pink sun dress. The apparition looked as innocent as the falling snow but looks could be deceiving. Especially with what it was uttering. "Didn't I tell you that you'll die tonight? Just accept it already,"
"Never!" Astrid glared at Emily who still smiled sweetly back.
"Think of it like this sis. You'll finally be of use to this family. As my vessel." The thing laughed and Astrid approached the mirror with rage and punched it. The mirror cracked around her now bleeding knuckles, the spidery breaks of the mirror giving the apparition a more menacing look. Emily tutted as she looked down at the fist. For once she didn't smile. "You broke my favorite mirror," Was all the thing said before disappearing.
"You don't like me touching your stuff do you," Astrid smirked as she had come to some conclusion. "The only thing I was good for was taking those reject boys off your back wasn't it?" Astrid questioned around the room as she kicked some of the larger shards that had fallen with her shoe. "Helloooooo, I know you can hear me," Astrid then proceeded to knock the Disney snowglobe off one of the shelves.
"Shut up!" A whisper came as the temperature dropped in the room.
"Wow, you really can't stand me destroying your things," Astrid realized before she picked up a trophy and smashed it on the floor. "OOPS"
"SHUT UP!" The voice was more pronounced now as the bed started rattling.
"Why should I shut up?" Astrid asked the empty room. "You spent two years making me think I was crazy. Appearing in mirrors, hovering over my bed while I slept! Even yanking my legs in the middle of the night! Did you have fun, Emily? Were you that bored that you had to torment your only sister from beyond the grave?" Now she shoved the entire contents of a shelf of trophies onto the floor. This only resulted in enraging the apparition even more and causing the desk chair to be sent flying into the wall opposite.
"If you were that possessive of your room then why didn't you haunt the people that put me in here? As if I had a choice!" Astrid growled out only to have the wind knocked out of her by some invisible force.
"I only put up with you being in here because your room was needed," The menacing whisper came right next to Astrid's ear as her throat was being constricted by invisible hands. Then there was a chuckle, Emily was still pinning Astrid to the wall as she said "You know this ritual, the only way it would ever succeed is if the people performing it had genuine hatred for the sacrifice," The chuckling continued. "You were never allowed back into your room, right? Guess where my parents are going to revive me,"
"Let… go…" Astrid managed to wheeze out. "If you kill me…"
"Oh I won't," Emily materialized in the ghoulish form she had taken previously today though she did let go of her sister's throat. "Isn't it grand? Halloween, the veil between worlds is the thinnest today. I can finally appear like this. At least my parents made you take care of your body. I'd hate to have to be stuck in some fat vessel."
"I wasn't fat!" Astrid retorted.
"You were chubbier than me. I hated that. Looking at you, same face, awful body." the ghoul uttered.
"Just how shallow can you be?!" Astrid uttered before kicking Emily away. "I'm not gonna just stay still! Do you think I won't fight back?! She stated while wrenching open the door. Surely her parents had already heard the commotion and if they didn't then Emily shaking the entire house sure got their attention by now.
Astrid ran out of her room as the hallway walls shook, and picture frames fell and cracked, but she had one goal in mind. Her old room. The door of which had been locked ever since her parents raided it. Having a running start Astrid put all the force she could into it as her shoulder made contact with the wood. If Emily's boasting was correct then the site of the ritual would be here. If she could destroy it…
The door buckled with a crack and with Astrid's momentum, she fell through and landed on the floor. She could hear footsteps on the stairs but Emily's rage had the house buckling which for once bought Astrid some time. She picked herself up from the floor, knees scuffed and hair disheveled. She looked around to see lit candles everywhere and a very detailed pentacle etched into the hardwood floors with black candles surrounding it. An altar not so far away was decked out in a white cloth and ladened with offerings around a black and white picture of Emily. Astrid recognized that picture. It was a cropped and enlarged photo of the one her mother took on the night of Prom.
"Astrid! ASTRID!
"YOU BRAT!" Her parents shouted.
She had little time as her parents had rounded the corner. They looked out of breath and could have quite literally been foaming at the mouth as they stared off with her. Astrid was quick however and grabbed the athame from the altar and held it to her neck. The blade glistened against her neck as she swallowed. This was not how she thought her night was going to go. Her parents stilled upon seeing the dagger and her determination. "Don't move! You need me alive don't you?!" She uttered as she stared down the pair at the door. She tried to back away but her legs bumped into the carefully decorated altar. "You need me alive at least until midnight,"
"WELL SUCKS TO BE YOU!" She announced as she grabbed the picture frame and hurled it at the candles around the pentacle. Not only did the frame hit the candles but it toppled over several, resulting in the picture and floor catching fire. Her parents, momentarily shocked, screamed in anguish. Her mother tried to put out the fire but that only resulted in her shoes and skirt getting burned. Meanwhile, her father lunged at her in a fit of rage, calling her an ungrateful leech. Astrid however still had the dagger and used it to stab her father in the stomach as he tackled her to the ground.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Her mother screamed just as Astrid was shoving her bleeding father off of her. Her clothes and hands were bloody as well and as Astrid looked at her insane screeching mother she knew that the woman would kill her now. Astrid reached for the ceremonial knife in her father's stomach and yanked it out before launching herself at her mother.
"And the last thing I remembered about that was finally making it out of the house. I think I collapsed on the porch that night." Astrid muttered. "Next thing I know I was being carted off in an ambulance and you were there asking me if I knew my name. Isn't that right Mr. Haddock, or can I call you Hiccup now? You did practically save my life afterward."
The interviewer, Hiccup, gulped and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Is that why you asked for me? Because you think I saved your life? I was just one of the responding EMTs."
"So you believe me right? You were there!" Astrid leaned forward and looked at Hiccup pleadingly.
"Honestly, I don't know what to believe. This entire story you've told me from start to finish seems somewhat farfetched." Hiccup admitted.
"Oh and why is that?" Astrid now crossed her arms. "I told you my parents became crazy! They were going to kill me that night!"
"That isn't the part I'm worrying about Astrid," Hiccup confessed. "It's the fact that you keep mentioning a sister."
"Yeah, so?" Astrid now raised a brow.
"Astrid, you don't have any sisters. You're an only child." Hiccup stated as he looked at the woman across from him.
Astrid sat stock still and blinked at Hiccup before asking "Now what are you on about? Of course, I had a sister,"
"Astrid, you are an only child according to your medical records." Hiccup told her. "There is no Emily, there never was any Emily. It was all you!"
"No no! You're wrong!" She was adamant and slapped the palms of her hands on the table between them. "Emily was there! We grew up together. We ate dinner together, damn it!"
"Did you?" Hiccup questioned. "Are you sure there was someone else there?"
"Of cour-" Astrid stopped mid-sentence and thought back.
"Mommy, when can I have dinner?" A seven-year-old Astrid asked as she was forced to sit at the dining table with an empty plate while her mother, father, and sister all ate. She was seated across from her sister, who shoved some mashed potatoes into her small mouth, not even caring that her twin wasn't eating.
Astrid thought with a frown as she played the scene over and over in her head. Her sister wasn't real? No, that couldn't be. The scene shifted a bit in Astrid's mind.
"Mommy, when can I have dinner?" A seven-year-old Astrid asked as she was forced to sit at the dining table with an empty plate while her mother and father ate. She was seated in between them staring at the wall opposite.
"No! I saw her. She was there!" Astrid gripped the side of her head while she churned over that memory. "She… she has to be there. Just who did I spend my time hating then!"
"Mommy, when can I have dinner?" A seven-year-old Astrid asked as she was forced to sit at the dining table with an empty plate while her mother and father ate. She was seated in between them staring at the wall opposite. A large mirror hung there which showed the hungry girl her reflection. The seven-year-old looked down at her plate and then back at the reflection imagining that she had something to eat as well. She wanted those delicious mashed potatoes too.
"Do you see Astrid, there was no Emily," Hiccup said once more.
"But what about Prom! You answer me that!" she retorted.
"Yes, there was something you said there that confused me." Hiccup muttered while looking back at his notes. "It wasn't so much something you said but how you said it actually. 'I just looked at my unmoving sister and then back at the top of the stairs where the quarterback looked nearly catatonic.'" He read aloud.
"You were on the staircase coming down to the foyer so you would have been looking down at both the Quarterback and your sister." Hiccup explained. "The only way you would have had to look up at the Quarterback was if you were in Emily's position on the ground."
"No…" Astrid whispered.
"I've seen the pictures of the scene the police took that night." He continued. "It was a staircase much like that of the Titanic. If you were standing on the same level as the perpetrator you would have been in punching distance. And I do have a feeling you would have punched the guy if that were the case."
"No! No! NO! You got it wrong!" Astrid desperately yelled. "Emily died! I was at her funeral! She died damn it!"
"Astrid! There was no funeral!" Hiccup shouted to get his point across. "The doctors had to put you into a medically induced coma for a month because you had severe swelling in the brain due to the fall."
"There is no way I could have dreamt all that!" She persisted. "There's just no way!"
"The pictures at the house!" She suddenly said.
"There was only one little girl in those pictures Astrid." Hiccup responded.
"NO! NO!" Astrid screamed and then lunged herself at Hiccup in a fit of rage. Two orderlies dressed in white barged into the door as Astrid had her hands around Hiccup's throat while yelling incoherent stuff. "Emily's real! She's real I tell you!" Astrid screamed as she was pinned down and given a sedative before being carried out of the room. Hiccup just sat there on the floor stunned by the outburst.
"Mr. Haddock, I'm so sorry about that," A man in a lab coat walked into the room just as Hiccup was getting his bearings. "I promised that you wouldn't get hurt but…"
"It's alright," Hiccup told the doctor. "Is she… going to be alright?"
"She'll calm down once the sedative wears off. At one point one must face the reality of their actions." The doctor muttered. "It seems that her delusions are much worse than I fear. The DA is likely not to prosecute this case if there is an insanity plea." The doctor turned to Hiccup and then asked "You saw her that night, right? How conscious was she that she had just killed her parents in cold blood?"
"I don't know about aware but it takes a hell of a lot of hatred to stab someone 14 times." Hiccup muttered.
"But this Emily character still worries me," Hiccup stated. "Why was she so fixated on an imaginary twin sister?"
"It is my hypothesis that Miss Hofferson's parents were quite controlling. They expected perfection out of their daughter and when she couldn't deliver her mind slowly started dissociating and developing a new personality that could." The doctor mused aloud. "What is most interesting is that she killed her own alternate personality because she came to hate it and it came back to haunt her with a vengeance."
"Well thank you Mr. Haddock for coming down," The doctor and Hiccup shook hands. "It was truly a great help to get her to open up. In her delusions, Miss Hofferson may have thought that you would sympathize with her."
After Hiccup left and the doctor was in his office once more there was a knock on the door. In came one of the younger nurses on shift that day and she looked quite nervous.
"Nurse Heather, what brings you to my door?" the doctor asked.
"It's about the Hofferson case. Something felt off about it." Heather stated.
"Oh, how so?" The doctor asked with a raised brow.
"You know that Miss Hofferson insists that she had a sister, right? Like, she is so thoroughly convinced that her sister existed." Heather continued as the doctor nodded. "Well I had a look at the records and she was registered as an only child but…"
"But?" The doctor now questioned, curiosity getting the better of him.
"My brother is a detective and I asked him to look into it. Turns out it was a home birth just as she said in the interview," Heather explained. "My brother managed to track down the midwife who told him something interesting."
Now the doctor was all ears as Heather continued. "The midwife confessed that there were indeed two babies. Twins, only one was a stillborn."
The doctor blinked but Heather was on a roll and continued "Sir, what's more, the State has no documentation of a stillbirth. Astrid's parents never filed one, nor are there any records of the child being buried or cremated. I think doctor… that the police should take a closer look at that house."
THE END
