18. Epilogue

Prompt: Driving

Once Madeline returned from the mountain, Granny and Theo were already waiting for Badeline and her to throw an improvised party with what Granny had on her cabin.

"Hey Mads," Theo said." You I take you for a special girl and all that stuff, but…"

The cheerful, happy environment got snuffed out like a fragile snowflake floating in the air. Madeline's heartbeat became heavier and gulped down just as heavy.

"But...?"

"Why in the trending heck you have strawberries in your backpack?!" He exclaimed opening her backpack and showing dozens of them.

"Oh, that."

"Yes! 'Oh that' is what I said in my way down. I thought I was carrying rocks here, man! How did you even managed to climb this wacky mountain with these in the first place?"

"I had already felt I carried more weight than what my body could bare my whole life. Having a backpack barely made a difference and I didn't want some small extra weight to stop me. Like…Like if I had this drive inside me, unwilling to give up. Clinging myself to that drive felt relieving. More relieving than what I have been in the last year."

Silence filled the room afterwards. That awkward silence when there was nothing to say, or a lot instead; Madeline didn't know which one was appropriate right now.

"Also they felt lonely and I did too." She added with the slightest hint of hurry.

"Yeah that makes sense!" Theo went back to his carefree attitude.

"You don't plan to take them home with you, do you?" Badeline asked.

"If you do, you can say you made new friends. Ha! Ha! Ha!"

A small drop of sweat fell through Theo's face. "I'm standing right here, you know."

"You could bake," Badeline suggested.

"B-bake?"

"Come on, it's been so long since you last baked."

"Because last time I did, I almost burned mom's kitchen." The shame in Madeline's face soon turned into suspicion. "You didn't have something to do with that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Badeline turned away trying to look natural. "On your defense, Mom shouldn't have left you unsupervised. That's on her."

"It would be nice if you play…well, nice with people."

Badeline rolled her eyes. "I don't have to play nice with anyone if I don't want to, including you."

"Oh, so it was you last time I baked?"

"I can't confirm or deny it."

Person and reflection chased each other with words in the following minutes until Badeline walked off busted, leaving Madeline alone in the kitchen.

Not wanting to think about it, Madeline got herself to work on a pie using the strawberries, but sooner than later, her mind wandered. She just didn't understand!

After everything they've been through…after everything she's been through! Why she insisted on staying in their old ways? Weren't they supposed to be past that? Why couldn't she put up with herself? Literally! Or keep her under control? She was so-!

"Breath, Madeline. Willing reminders. Not intrusive thoughts." Madeline knew it. She was slipping once more.

She imagined in her mind the feather-breathing tecnic Theo taught her.

Dark clouds and purple tentacles invaded her mind. The walls fell over her. Imagination and memories started to blend with one another.

"No! Focus. She…I…can…don't…"

"Need help, kid?"

Madeline opened her eyes wide and lifted her head like she had woke up from a bad dream and turned around abruptly. She found Granny standing behind her with that perpetual smile of hers like she knew a secret about her.

"N-no. I'm fine, I just-"

"You've cut yourself."

"What?" Madeline checked her body in a rush with her hands, finding at once the source of Granny's intervention. Madeline had a cut in her index finger. When had this happened?

"I'm gonna get something for you." Granny walked to the bathroom and pulled an old small first kit. From inside she pulled some bands and handed them to Madeline once she returned.

"Take it. Last thing I need is you bleeding all over my kitchen."

"Sorry," Madeline muttered as she took the bands and avoided Granny's stare.

"Stop saying sorry for everything."

"So-I…it was an accident."

"Accidents happens. Like little unplanned kids. Little brothers, little sisters." Granny half-closed her eyes and raised her eyebrows in amusement.

"Are you saying Badeline was an accident?"

"You're an only child, aren't you?"

Madeline blinked a few times confused. "Er, yes, but what-?

"That means you have a sister all of a sudden, like any other only kid."

"Okay…but, what am I supposed to do with that?"

"Deal with it." Granny did not laugh, but her smile hinted she had every intention to do so.

Madeline waited Granny continued rambling about…whatever she was talking about, but they stood in a questionable silence until Madeline spoke again.

"That's it?"

"Yes."

"But…what does it mean?"

"It means what it means."

"I don't understand what to do with that. Or wi-with her at all!"

Granny threw a few chuckles. "Welcome to sisterhood. Eventually you'll learn to play nice between the two of you for good."

"Even though we started with the wrong foot?"

"Especially because you with the wrong foot!" Granny burst out a loud laugh—Madeline was not sure could stand it much lunger—Eventually Granny stopped and recomposed herself. "Stop taking yourself so seriously, you've come a long way to keep doing it. That's what sisters do."

Only wordless grunts and stutters came out from Madeline's mouth before Granny cut her again.

"No one is supposed to know what to do when a sibling enters your life, and you find yourself with the fact you just have to accept it."

"Does everyone else has also had to accept the fact this sibling is a doppelgänger that came out of a mountain and is essentially your shadow self?"

"That's a good one! Shadow self! Amusing what you young people invent nowadays!

"We did n-"

"And before you keep asking me stuff," Granny added, in a more collected tone. "You don't have to have all the answers at night. You'll figure it out yourself. Don't you dare stop, the alternatives are much more undesirable."

Hours passed by between chattery and pie. As the night grew older, a shored dreading thought grew on Madeline. Due to Granny, the farewell wishes between all of them were short and straight to the point.

"Are you sure you don't want a ride?"

"Nah," Theo said nonchalantly. "I'm good as new, Mads. Alex will come pick me up. She won't believe it when I tell her everything that happened!"

"Don't forget to write us from the asylum when they lock you up," Badeline jested.

Person and reflection got in their way shortly after. Despite Badeline turned away with a genuine smile, her eyes were empty as their walk was silent. At some point her smile withered away.

Nothing stood in their way once at Madeline's car. Nothing but nothingness and quietness ahead for miles on end. Badeline sat on the co-pilot seat. Eyes lost in the trees, she rested her chin between her ashen fingers.

"So, I guess this is goodbye." Badeline addressed the elephant in the room with no intention to sugarcoat it."

"You-we, don't know if you'll disappear after we drive away from the mountain."

"You don't know either I won't. Then what?"

"Then…you'll always be a part of me."

Badeline turned her head with unenthusiasm to Madeline. "You already said that."

"And I meant it. Even if I don't actually hear you. I know you will be there to help me when I need you. Like you always wanted to do. And if I return to the mountain-"

"WHEN you return to the mountain!" Badeline's eyes widened for a moment when she realized she had shouted. She turned away back to the window.

"You want me to return? Eventually?"

"Wha-of course I want you to return! What if I lose my body?! What little we have gained? You wanted to throw it all away?!"

"No!" She assured. "No…is just, I've been thinking on doing this for so long, I never thought what I'd do after."

"Then?"

"There are some areas on the mountain we didn't explore. Granny told me about this cave that goes directly to the heart of the mountain."

"Mountains don't have hearts, darling."

"And people don't talk to literal parts of themselves," Madeline's tone grew irritated.

The person waited for the reflection to snark back, but instead, Badeline whispered something only Madeline could have heard, since it was her own voice.

"If I disappeared and you never heard from me again…you promise me you'd never forget me?"

"I promise." Madeline smiled at her as she ignited the car's engine, she stirred herself to that part of her until they could meet again.

One step less.

You thought this was over? Hell no we still got a long way to go.

Originally there was going to be a chapter before this one, based mostly on a discarded idea about Mads and Bads on their way down the mountain, as shown in the credits.

At the end I couldn't get nothing good enough out of that idea, however I never deleted it, since I thought it could still be useful in the future.

The idea was to re-use that concept and adapt it to this series and finish it. The chapter's prompt would be "searching", as that was the story's main concept and what was built on. Not exactly randomly generated, but as I said, rules were meant to be broken.

Since I was using an old document, techincally the majority of the chapter was already written.

This is called "recicling your writing".

Still, again, I could not get anything of use out of it. Not only because it was too redundant. but because, once I made some progress with the following chapters what I wrote there did not fit with the over all theme I wanted to get aboard on in the next chapters.

Is possible I publish that unfinished chapter once this series is finished. I dunno.

Speaking of, you have no idea how much I complicated myself with the next chapter's order. I'm confident there was no need to trouble myself that much over that, as it was easier to figure out than I initially thought.

I think that's all for now.

If you liked it, leave a comment, it'd make my day.

See ya.