Such The Liar Painted Me

10. Flickering Lights Just Died

"Er...no. It was Greta and her relationship troubles. They did it both together, still Greta lived. Apparently, Della did not." She clasped my hands together. "I checked on them later in the washroom, Ovi, and I fled from the scene...I didn't want to get linked. They were the only ones who knew for certain."

I felt myself shuddered when her nails dragged themselves back and forth on my skin. "But you found me later after the party, you were still searching for them."

"Sis, I'm not talking about this time. I'm talking about the time before we both travelled back in time." She watched me shudder again. "I took advantage of her death, I chose an excuse that would bring me all the marks I wanted. For the rest of the year, Olivia, I blamed your mischiefs being on my way.

"I told mom you bothered me, and she grounded your ass. I? I got the chance to meet Tyler at the picnic, to pick up what we left. But because of my ways, my besties abandoned me at the Musical Scholarship Contest, where I coould've had the chance for money. To save mom and yours life. To be the hero."

I shook myself out of her grasp. "Why... why would you do this to me...to us? We're twins, we're supposed to love each other..."

A chuckle elicited from her throat. A sad one. "Love, Olivia. Love. Remember when you were driving us home after Mads? We came to this bridge, and our car started skidding, off the rails. You had only choice--pull the gears and then brake, so from the impact, one of us might die.

"We went over the bridge, though, surprisingly, and our little car ended up landing on these, sideways. One of us, again, had to tip the balance and get out, let the other and the car be pushed into the water. And judging by what I told you earlier...now you know how you ended up on those cables."

"I ca--I can't remember any of this!" I started freaking out. This can't happen.

"But as I watched you sacrifice yourself, I became the audience of an unnatural event. You were tied up and I was soaking wet in the water. The only problem? There was a literal guy hovering, y'know, in the air."

"Oh, no, no. This is a children's story...right? This can't..."

"He wasn't death, Ovi. He wasn't a supernatural person. He talked about stuff like managing matters like who'd deserved to live, how many years one should live, and that he had a very hard time deciding regarding your case.

"According to him, he knew us before we were born. He was only gonna let you, Olivia, come onto this Earth, but he let compassion overtake him and allowed me too. Same had happened a lot of times to him, because of which he was gonna be stripped away from his power.

"This might seem like a bedtime story, dear sister. But you've no idea how sober I was and real he was. He told me that Della, after her blah blah death, along with some others were gonna be his successors, or whatever.

"And that since I'd abandoned them, let her die, he didn't know what to do. But I told him if there was anything I could do reverse this situation, I would. He came up with a plan, told me to undo every deed of mine, to stop her death, that he would rewind the time for only us.

"You know, I was actually feeling an eruption of guilt, Ovi. That car just didn't skid around on its own...you had told me some days ago that it had been off its hinges for a long time, you repeatedly reminded me to get it fixed.

But I was so focused on my revenge on my besties for the Contest...I forgot all about it. Later, it was because of me, you were going to die because I freaking made a mess of it all. He said, if I failed, I'll die, since technically I wasn't supposed to even live. And," she stopped, struggling for words, "kinda traded yours for mine."

"I guess you remembered that part of our strange conversation, but you were in too much pain to realise that. I don't him, who he actually is. I didn't even believe him when he said all that crazy stuff, nevertheless when we returned and I became kind of a ghost, I'd had to take care of few things, I believed him."

A tear slipped from my eyes. "So these dreams--these hallucinations I had been havin'...? All of this...oh my god!"

"He's here, Olivia. I can all but sense him. I failed, Ovi, that's what I was muttering about that night. Today, you might finally find yourself in your reality. The reality."

My mind still reeling from this storytelling, I tried to shake away angry tears. "Why today?! Were you even gonna visit me once if you decided to be the martyr?"

"I took care of all the dark spots in our life, Ovi, from now on, you may live your life spotless and people will remember my death to be more than a tragic accident...I'm sorry I...never um..." She hesitated, her eyes filled with tears too.

"I hated your existence, you know, but I never wanted you-u to-o..."

"I hated you with every muscle in my body, Olivia, yet that night you confessed your undying love for your sister before dying...I wasn't able to be the perfect kid...but--"

As I moved forward to embrace her, she slipped out of my hold. "How can I live... knowing all this? Huh? Do you even care..."

But she was already turning away from me, gliding her hand against the bridge's side, and before any warning, she turned to say one last thing: "My death won't rattle you, sis, you won't ever remember any of this... you won't. I made sure of it. I hope someday, we meet."

"But--you're, like, my other half...how could I?" Tears were streaming down my face, but I didn't care. This information was too much.

But all I got in response was her going over the bridge, the water never splashing. As if she disappeared. My knees sunk down as I cradled my head, swollen eyes staring at the cables.

"You, hey girl? This is a renova--"

Yet I could only keep hearing buzzing voices and flickering lights. They were back. They were showing me images...images of that day, and I sat there crying, alone.

I could feel myself be pushed. Talked. Roared at. But there was a numbness in me I couldn't stop. I waited for me to return to reality, to be given the chance to erase everything. To forget who I was right now, and live, like always.

In Sophie's name.