IBRIP l CH 98

Chapter 98 

***

#Fifth Door

Boris and Joseph waved as they walked toward Oscar.

“Hey, long time no see.”

Oscar smiled awkwardly and shrugged.

“It’s been a while. I heard what happened… I’m really sorry.”

“You mean about my little sister dying?”

They started talking about how Yudis had a miscarriage and how her health had gotten worse.

“Honestly, I didn’t need another sibling. Two are enough. But Oscar, you were right. She really hated bugs. Even bug toys.”

“So you gave it to her anyway? I told you to give a doll to a girl!”

Joseph shook his head.

“I can’t give anything anymore. I got caught last time too. Izana screamed so loud when she saw Boris’s gift, and I got scolded again. Mom said we’re not allowed to give her anything.”

“Who said that?”

“Your mom?”

“Why…?”

Boris frowned, looking confused.

“She said never to talk to her again. Said not to even think of her as our sibling. She said… she has dirty blood.”

Oscar looked shocked again.

“Well, maybe she is dirty. She doesn’t wash, you know.”

“Hey! Mom said this was all a secret!”

“Oh, right. I forgot.”

Boris scratched the back of his head.

“Anyway, I don’t know anymore. Maybe she did something really bad that we don’t know about. Mom said she’s sick because of her.”

“That’s crazy!”

“I don’t know. That’s what she said. Whenever her name comes up, the whole house gets tense. We can’t even talk about her.”

“Shh, stop.”

Joseph tried to stop Boris again, but Boris kept scratching his head like he still didn’t get it.

“…I think I’ll try pouring water on her next time. Maybe if I clean her up, things will change. What if Mom got sick because she was dirty?”

“Don’t do that! Please, just don’t do anything. Just leave her alone!”

***

#Sixth Door

Thud, thud, thud.

The sound of hammering echoed as the three boys built a dog house together.

“This tiny thing is pretty cute, right, Joseph?”

“I think it’s kind of annoying. It keeps bothering me when I try to read.”

“I want to keep it. Don’t you?”

“It’s fine if you play with it. Just don’t dump all the work on me like you always do.”

Soon, the doghouse was finished.

Oscar brought Love (their dog) over to see the house, but then his face fell.

“It’s too small!”

Oscar looked down at his bandaged hand.

“I worked so hard, but it’s useless. Love, why are you so big?!”

“Ugh, yeah. It really is small.”

Boris and Oscar kicked the doghouse out of frustration, but Joseph jumped up and stopped them.

“We worked so hard on this! Why break it?”

“Well, we can’t use it. Might as well take our anger out.”

Joseph sighed deeply.

“That’s not fair. I worked so hard, I don’t want to break it.”

Annoyed, Oscar and Boris gave up and went to play with wooden swords in the corner.

***

#Seventh Door

A wide, green field stretched out. Oscar stood among the tall grass, looking pale and muttering to himself.

“Love… this isn’t real, right? Love? What’s happening… what’s going on…?”

This is it!

The seventh memory door was on the ground.

As soon as I came out of it, I knew I might lose it. The field looked the same in every direction.

So I grabbed a bunch of grass near the door, tied it together, and marked the spot.

Then I hid in the grass and started looking for the “error.”

“Raglia, I’d really appreciate your help.”

[Why should I? I don’t want to.]

“When someone’s in a good mood, their wallet opens easily.”

[Watch out! There’s animal poop ahead.]

I kept my ears open and my body low, crawling through the field like a mouse.

Eventually, I found Oscar crying while looking at Love lying on a rock.

Love, the white dog and Oscar’s best friend, had all four legs broken and was foaming at the mouth.

Oscar stood frozen, hands shaking.

“What’s wrong with him? Tell me, Boris! You brought me here! What happened? Did he fall off a cliff or something?!”

“No, that’s not it. But Oscar, why are you crying?”

“What do you mean why?! Love is hurt! What should I do? What do I do?!”

Oscar started crying hard, gasping for air. Boris gently wiped his tears and said,

“Didn’t you complain that Love was too big for the house? So I fixed it. Why are you crying now?”

“Fix it?! What are you talking about?!”

“Look.”

Boris pulled over the doghouse and carefully picked up Love.

Then, he tried to force Love into the tiny house, bending his broken legs to make him fit.

“See? Now Love fits inside the house. Our hard work paid off, and he got a gift too. He must be happy.”

“Yelp!”

Love rolled his eyes and had a seizure.

“Nooooo!”

“He can’t walk anymore, but that’s fine. Your pet spider doesn’t walk either, right? It lives in a tiny box.”

Oscar pushed Boris away and hugged Love tightly, crying loudly.

Boris fell and scraped his hands and knees, tears welling in his eyes.

“Oscar, that hurt!”

“What do I do? What should I do? What should I do?! My Love, my poor Love!”

Oscar was panicking and stomping his feet.

“What’s going on here?!”

An old man with blue hair and a blue beard suddenly appeared from beyond the field.

Boris looked down at his bleeding hand and whispered,

“Grandpa…”

Oscar also cried out, showing the dog.

“Sir! You’re a wizard, right? Please fix Love’s legs! Boris did this! Please do something!”

Count Bluebell looked shocked as he glanced between the two boys. He checked on the dog and said,

“What happened here?!”

Boris stepped forward and explained confidently,

“We made a house for Love, but he was too big to fit. So I made it so he could fit inside!”

Count Bluebell’s face froze in disbelief.

Oscar cried even harder, and Boris, too, looked like he might cry.

The Count examined the dog and shook his head.

“…Oscar, I healed him, but he probably won’t walk again. I’m truly sorry…”

Oscar’s arm dropped.

Then he screamed and charged at Boris in anger.

***

“I can’t find it! I can’t find it!”

Meanwhile, I was running all over the field, breathing heavily.

I even stared at the ants crawling at my feet, but everything seemed normal.

Then Raglia whispered to me:

[This type of magic reacts strongly to the person’s emotions and memories. You need to get closer!]

If I got any closer, Oscar might see me. I bit my lip.

But in the end, I dropped to the ground and crawled up the hill where the chaos was happening.

“I won’t let this go! Never! What are we gonna do about Love?! My Love!”

Oscar’s cries got louder. I could also hear Count Bluebell shouting to calm them down.

“I didn’t… I didn’t do anything wrong…”

Then I heard another voice whispering those same words.

“Wait… who said that? Joseph?”

But Joseph wasn’t here. It was Boris with Oscar now.

Then I heard it again.

“I didn’t… I didn’t do anything wrong…”

It was clearly Joseph’s voice this time. But where was it coming from?

Then Raglia muttered in disgust:

[This is disgusting. I haven’t seen something this twisted in a long time.]

“What? What did you see?”

Raglia moved my hand on her own, making me point in a certain direction.

I followed where she pointed—and then I saw it.

At first, I didn’t get what I was looking at.

But then—

“!!!”

I had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming.

I saw Joseph’s face…

Growing out of the back of Oscar’s head.

It was horrifying.

One head. Two faces. One crying in despair, the other watching the surroundings with a cold, strange look.