Hi! Annie here~ This is my first fanfiction so sorry if is horribru lol I did my best.
I want to give special thanks to Pinkeu, who volunteered herself to help with the edition of the text. Thank you so much~
.................
Working in an aquarium may seem monotonous to some.
There are only large voluminous tanks; and with those tanks comes the resounding noises of bubbles everywhere. Not to mention all the fish you could imagine.
I don't complain because that's not my story. I love fish.
There's nothing in the world that I love other than fish. Well, I'm actually lying because I have someone I love with all my heart, someone I would die for. That person is no other than my brother Naisom.
We are more than just brothers, we are twins, and our souls are the same just as if we were one person.
He's the reason I don't get bored, especially when I'm working. My coworkers don't know I have siblings, and you can imagine all the fun we have here!
It's not that we are completely similar like, they copy and pasted us. To be honest I'm the one who's slightly different having an Asian half and an European half that you can only notice if you look into my eyes, even then it's difficult. So, I tend to not worry.
Today is one of those whimsical days. He came to visit due to his day off, he's an art teacher at a prestigious university here where we live. Once a month, on Friday, his students are told to do volunteering at a kindergarten. Spending time with kids there's no need for him to be there. We are planning to fool my workmates by making them think I'm at several places at the same time. We are dressed identically, a red polo shirt with a small logo of the place. Light brown shorts and a pair of white sneakers. Hope nobody finds out. I can tell he is kind of down, so I have to do my best to cheer him up!
We do nothing to stand out that much, I'm the kind of person who doesn't want that many eyes staring at them. Naisom is the same. We Keep ourselves occupied by doing work tasks making sure we don't bump into each other.
Seems to be working out because Jessica just wanted to ask me something and before doing it she just made a confused face and said "Never mind, I recalled I have to talk with boss" before she left back to work. The shift finished and everything went as planned.
I told Naisom to meet at the back of the building when all of my colleagues had left. I went out first with them and then came back to meet him. Five minutes passed. Twenty minutes. Half an hour. I started to get worried, where was he? The aching in my stomach told me there was something odd going on so I decided to go back inside the aquarium. Which was to be closed shortly. I had to hurry! I didn't want to annoy the guard by asking him to let us out, I hate to be a nuisance.
I search in all places and nothing. Was he playing hide and seek now?! What if he's having one of his panic attacks?! He is a mess when that happens, starts to have a mix of emotions and it never finishes gracefully. The last time it happened half of our house was destroyed. I'm now more worried, I don't want him to destroy my paradise, nor do I want him to get hurt. He's nowhere to be found around the fish tanks, so he must be in the back where you can find the offices and the infirmary/hospital. Hoping he is in the office I head there.
While walking in the hallway the lights are suddenly cut off. I stop in the middle. I'm not as bad as Naisom having panic attacks but I do have them. I start cold sweating.
"Naisom? ... Is it you?" I said almost whispering. The intention was to speak loudly but I'm so nervous right now.
I can hear footsteps in the distance; that must be him! I never felt his presence, but I know he was there.
I follow the "tap tap" sound trying not to trip on something. I can barely see with the flashlight...and it stops where I didn't want him to go; the lights turn on and that confirms my fear. I walk another few meters to reach the small infirmary we have at the aquarium. The tension is unbearable till I hear silence sobs.
"Naisom?" I ask while getting closer to where the sobbing came from. I get to where he is and I kneel down to be face to face "It's Sethie", I say holding his chin so he can see me in the eye. "It's time to go home, bro." I stop. When he turns at me and I see his face noticing what I heard wasn't sobs. He's laughing. "Naisom?" I ask and as I do he starts laughing louder while tears fall on his face.
"Hey, bro~" he says while standing up, I go back a few steps. He has a creepy smile on his face. I can only think of ways on how to get out of here, but that won't do. He's my precious brother and I have to help him. "Naisom, are you OK?" I foolishly ask. I can't think straight in this kind of situation. I hate it! "Do I seem Ok? Say, Seth, was I OK in my whole life?!" He says. I knew something like this would happen; he's not in his right senses. Now he's crying. I come closer to hug him, but as soon as I'm a few centimeters from him he moves and run away as he places his hands holding something and points at me. "Don't dare to come near me, Seth! I hate you! Leave me alone!" Now this is dangerous, where did he get a knife?! He had it with him since the beginning? That doesn't matter right now, I have to solve this.
"Come on, Naisom. We have to get out of here and head home, remember today is Karaoke Friday!" I say as I try to grab the knife out of his hands, failing. He steps back saying "I'm not stupid, Seth." "I screwed it up", that's what I told myself when I felt something sharp on my cheek. I was slow, it cut me. Even if I love him I have to get away from him now, I'll make him pursue me outta here.
I run. Slowly, making sure he's following me. I forgot the lights were off, "Shioot!" I shout as I run over some boxes that were in the hallway. Naisom reaches me quickly, jumping on me and holding my hands. His eyes are dead. He's not Naisom "Naisom!" "Snap out of it, you'll hurt-!" He starts laughing as he stabs me in my shoulder "Ugh!" I cry out, it hurts as hell! He suddenly lightens the grab. He stares for few seconds before saying something "Oh my god." He yells as he drops the knife right away after he sees the wounds he has inflicted upon his twin brother. He Starts to cry as he tries to stop the blood "Seth, I-I'm" Tears keeps falling "It's ok, it's alright Naisom, I know that wasn't you. Now let's go home and take care of this." I say holding my shoulder as I help him stand. He stares at the floor as we walk.
We head to the exit and as we walk out we bump into someone. I hear a scream
"Seth! What the hell happened to you?!" Jessica panics as she tries to find out what took place in the darkness of the closed building.
"Uhm, nothing, just a little bruise." I say trying to hide Naisom on my back.
"Who did this? Was it Naisom?" Jessica questions as she stares hard at me "Why? You were doing just fine! I knew something was odd when I saw you walking everywhere earlier. What happened to make you go back to this state?" I knew we made a good job with our joke! But, Wait! Does she know about Naisom? "What are you talking about, Jessica? You know I have a brother? How? Did boss tell you? I'll complain to him tomorrow! Earlier we were just joking around. Right, Nai-" He's not here. Don't tell me he just ran away! I ignore her and start looking for him.
"Seth!" She turns me around to look her in the eye. Why is she crying? "He's not here anymore! Please, stop this! You're just hurting yourself." What is she talking about? Naisom was with me. I know it! There's no way I won't recognize my twin! Eh? Why are tears falling? Oh. That's right. He's gone. It was too much blood. My vision is blurry.
//
"What's your name?" The lady in lab coat asks me. Who am I? I can't remember. I just remain silent. After a few minutes, she decides to speak "Who is Naisom?" I recall that name, that's me! "Me, I am Naisom." I answer with confidence. "If you're Naisom, who is Seth?" I stay silent for few minutes and then talk "...I am..." I can't be two people... What's happening? Who I really am? No, I'm sure I'm Seth "I am Seth... Na-Naisom is my dead brother..." I say, my voice cracks with the memory of my brother and silent tears fall. "Alright, that's all for today." She says as she leaves the room. I can hear them talking outside but I don't know what they are talking about... Wait, why was I crying?
"Please make sure to keep sharp things away from him. He's not in a good state. Although it's been a year he doesn't seem to improve. We don't know when he is Seth or when he is Naisom."
The End
