Chapter 98Â
***
#Fifth Door
Boris and Joseph waved as they walked toward Oscar.
âHey, long time no see.â
Oscar smiled awkwardly and shrugged.
âItâs been a while. I heard what happened⊠Iâm really sorry.â
âYou mean about my little sister dying?â
They started talking about how Yudis had a miscarriage and how her health had gotten worse.
âHonestly, I didnât need another sibling. Two are enough. But Oscar, you were right. She really hated bugs. Even bug toys.â
âSo you gave it to her anyway? I told you to give a doll to a girl!â
Joseph shook his head.
âI canât give anything anymore. I got caught last time too. Izana screamed so loud when she saw Borisâs gift, and I got scolded again. Mom said weâre not allowed to give her anything.â
âWho said that?â
âYour mom?â
âWhyâŠ?â
Boris frowned, looking confused.
âShe said never to talk to her again. Said not to even think of her as our sibling. She said⊠she has dirty blood.â
Oscar looked shocked again.
âWell, maybe she is dirty. She doesnât wash, you know.â
âHey! Mom said this was all a secret!â
âOh, right. I forgot.â
Boris scratched the back of his head.
âAnyway, I donât know anymore. Maybe she did something really bad that we donât know about. Mom said sheâs sick because of her.â
âThatâs crazy!â
âI donât know. Thatâs what she said. Whenever her name comes up, the whole house gets tense. We canât even talk about her.â
âShh, stop.â
Joseph tried to stop Boris again, but Boris kept scratching his head like he still didnât get it.
ââŠI think Iâll 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?â
âDonât do that! Please, just donât do anything. Just leave her alone!â
***
#Sixth Door
Thud, thud, thud.
The sound of hammering echoed as the three boys built a dog house together.
âThis tiny thing is pretty cute, right, Joseph?â
âI think itâs kind of annoying. It keeps bothering me when I try to read.â
âI want to keep it. Donât you?â
âItâs fine if you play with it. Just donât dump all the work on me like you always do.â
Soon, the doghouse was finished.
Oscar brought Love (their dog) over to see the house, but then his face fell.
âItâs too small!â
Oscar looked down at his bandaged hand.
âI worked so hard, but itâs useless. Love, why are you so big?!â
âUgh, yeah. It really is small.â
Boris and Oscar kicked the doghouse out of frustration, but Joseph jumped up and stopped them.
âWe worked so hard on this! Why break it?â
âWell, we canât use it. Might as well take our anger out.â
Joseph sighed deeply.
âThatâs not fair. I worked so hard, I donât want to break it.â
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.
âLove⊠this isnât real, right? Love? Whatâs happening⊠whatâs going onâŠ?â
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 âerror.â
âRaglia, Iâd really appreciate your help.â
[Why should I? I donât want to.]
âWhen someoneâs in a good mood, their wallet opens easily.â
[Watch out! Thereâs 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 Oscarâs best friend, had all four legs broken and was foaming at the mouth.
Oscar stood frozen, hands shaking.
âWhatâs wrong with him? Tell me, Boris! You brought me here! What happened? Did he fall off a cliff or something?!â
âNo, thatâs not it. But Oscar, why are you crying?â
âWhat do you mean why?! Love is hurt! What should I do? What do I do?!â
Oscar started crying hard, gasping for air. Boris gently wiped his tears and said,
âDidnât you complain that Love was too big for the house? So I fixed it. Why are you crying now?â
âFix it?! What are you talking about?!â
âLook.â
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.
âSee? Now Love fits inside the house. Our hard work paid off, and he got a gift too. He must be happy.â
âYelp!â
Love rolled his eyes and had a seizure.
âNooooo!â
âHe canât walk anymore, but thatâs fine. Your pet spider doesnât walk either, right? It lives in a tiny box.â
Oscar pushed Boris away and hugged Love tightly, crying loudly.
Boris fell and scraped his hands and knees, tears welling in his eyes.
âOscar, that hurt!â
âWhat do I do? What should I do? What should I do?! My Love, my poor Love!â
Oscar was panicking and stomping his feet.
âWhatâs going on here?!â
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,
âGrandpaâŠâ
Oscar also cried out, showing the dog.
âSir! Youâre a wizard, right? Please fix Loveâs legs! Boris did this! Please do something!â
Count Bluebell looked shocked as he glanced between the two boys. He checked on the dog and said,
âWhat happened here?!â
Boris stepped forward and explained confidently,
âWe made a house for Love, but he was too big to fit. So I made it so he could fit inside!â
Count Bluebellâs 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.
ââŠOscar, I healed him, but he probably wonât walk again. Iâm truly sorryâŠâ
Oscarâs arm dropped.
Then he screamed and charged at Boris in anger.
***
âI canât find it! I canât find it!â
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 personâs 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.
âI wonât let this go! Never! What are we gonna do about Love?! My Love!â
Oscarâs cries got louder. I could also hear Count Bluebell shouting to calm them down.
âI didnât⊠I didnât do anything wrongâŠâ
Then I heard another voice whispering those same words.
âWait⊠who said that? Joseph?â
But Joseph wasnât here. It was Boris with Oscar now.
Then I heard it again.
âI didnât⊠I didnât do anything wrongâŠâ
It was clearly Josephâs voice this time. But where was it coming from?
Then Raglia muttered in disgust:
[This is disgusting. I havenât seen something this twisted in a long time.]
âWhat? What did you see?â
Raglia moved my hand on her own, making me point in a certain direction.
I followed where she pointedâand then I saw it.
At first, I didnât get what I was looking at.
But thenâ
â!!!â
I had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming.
I saw Josephâs faceâŠ
Growing out of the back of Oscarâs head.
It was horrifying.
One head. Two faces. One crying in despair, the other watching the surroundings with a cold, strange look.