I woke up at around 5 am to go see the moment Millie would wake up. First I went to the kitchen, only to find the person I least expected to.
,,Midari, what are you doing?” She turned around in shock.
,,LUNA PLEASE DON’T TELL MILY ANYTHING, I PROMISE I’LL PUT THEM BACK! Also did you hear that the teachers found your sisters corpse?”
,,Ok I won’t tell a soul about you stealing food this early. Don’t put them back though. And yes I do know that they found it. What I don’t like” I said while grabbing some milk ,,is that Millie’s classmates still made fun of her. A CORPSE!”
,,They’re just stupid, ignore them. Today, is the day when she wakes up, right?”
,,Yes, that’s why I’ll be the first one who goes to see her!”
,,Can’t wait to meet her!”
The morning went by smoothly. I made up with Edgar at some point during the day, Mily and Saki were back on track, Lord wasn’t angry or whatever he was anymore and everything was going perfect.
At some point I decided that it was time to go check on Millie, too see if she was awake. I thought about all the fun stuff we would do together after she would have woken up. I couldn’t wait to introduce her to everyone else, especially Midari, who was really excited about meeting her. The others would have totally liked her and I was sure that she was going to make friends and have a good time. I used to think about death as an escaping method. Now it’s just a cruel thing.
,,Come on Millie! Wake up! Your sister is going to kill me a second time!” I could hear Lord’s shouting trough the door, so I opened it. Lord literally jumped, turned around and waved, trying to hide the fact that Millie wasn’t waking up.
,,WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! WHY ISN’T SHE WAKING UP?!”
,,I’m sorry, please don’t yell at me. I don’t know why she isn’t waking up, I need a little more time…”
,,GO AWAY. NOW!” Lord must have gotten scared or something because he quickly ran past me.
I looked over at Millie’s dead body (soul? Since these aren’t physical bodies). She looked like she was sleeping. I didn’t know why she wasn’t waking up, but I intended to find out.
Jokes on me, I didn’t find out until a year later. One year, exactly one year, I had to wait to find out. One year exactly I was upset with Lord, only to find out that all that time he was trying to help me. One year exactly I tried figuring everything out. One year! One year I searched illegally trough Mily’s books, with no luck though, because the thing I was searching for seemed to be missing. For one year I cried in my room, with Edgar trying to calm me down. One year, until I would find out that someone I trusted had betrayed me for a stupid reason.
The day had started normally. Lord had been bothering me since a week, that he was feeling tired, and that he couldn’t maintain Millie’s soul in this world any longer. The conversation I had with him ended up with me screaming about how useless he was. Lord did end up crying (I guess he really didn’t like to be shouted at), but I didn’t feel a bit of remorse at that time.
Midari tried comforting me the best she could: she would think of stuff we could do together, so that I would be distracted from the whole Millie situation. Edgar started spending a whole lot of time with me, and even though Erika was also around me a lot often, he tried tolerating her as best he could.
That day I decided that doing nothing was the best option for that day. I got some pencils and started to draw, drawing which was later complimented by many, with Edgar acting like a proud father.
I then went to lunch, and after, reading seemed like the best option, so I got out this fantasy novel Midari had gifted me (I don’t know where she got it from) and I tried understanding the story, since it was based on science, and I suck at that. On the other side of the room, Edgar took out a newspaper and started making comments while reading. The whole reading time then shifted to a really long conversation about zodiac signs, and then to another conversation about hobbies. Then Edgar decided to change the subject.
,,So, do you like anyone?” He asked.
,,Like as in romantically, no, I don’t think so, plus there aren’t any cute boys. Like as in “wow what a great person” , sure.”
,,Thought you might be into girls.”
,,Nah, but why are you so preoccupied about that? What about you?”
,,Oh I’m definitely into girls, in fact-“
,,Luna, Edgar sorry for interrupting, but THIS IS URGENT” Midari said as she stormed in.
,,DID MILLIE WAKE UP?” I asked, but careful, not to get my hopes up.
,,No, sadly, but I just saw Mily doing some weird incantations on Millie and giving her something to-“
I didn’t wait for Midari to finish her sentence, because as soon as I heard something about Millie, I teleported to the room that was specially made for her.
Next to Millie, Mily was looking at her, saying something along the lines of: ,,I hope you never wake up.”
,,MILY WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!” She turned to me in shock. Then her expression changed to anger.
,,What are you doing here?”
,,What do you mean?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY SISTER?!”
,,I’m…”
,,YOU”RE WHAT MILY?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HER?! DON’T YOU WANT HER TO WAKE UP?! WHY?!”
,,…I don’t want another you here.” I started at her angrily. That was a really stupid reason!
,,MILLIE’S NOT LIKE ME AND I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOUR PROBLEM WITH ME IS BUT I DON’T CARE. JUST LEAVE MILLIE ALONE, SHE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING TO YOU” I yelled while getting closer and closer to her. She backed away a little.
,,What did you give her to drink?”
,,…I’ll give you the antidote if you stop this nonsense.”
,,Nonsense? NONSENSE?! YOU’RE THE ONE DOING CRAZY STUFF MILY!”
,,Shut up Luna. I’ll give you what you need, ok? Just stop. Your hair turned black and it looks weird on you.”
,,FIRST OF ALL HOW DARE YOU INSULT MY HAIR. SECOND OF ALL I DON’T CARE THAT IT RANDOMLY CHANGED COLOR. THIRD, HOW DARE YOU ASSUME THAT GIVING ME THE ANTIDOTE WILL CHANGE ANYTHING YOU’VE DONE?!”
,,I…just calm down already. It’s not a big deal anyway.”
,,Not a big deal?! MILLIE’S BEEN UNCONCIOUS FOR A YEAR. I BLAMED LORD FOR EVERYTHING AND NOW I LOST A FRIEND!”
,,Thought that you weren’t friends with him anyway.”
,,I don’t know ok? But that’s not the point.”
,,Alright, the antidote is in the kitchen, in that cabinet I never let you look at” she said and tried to walk past me.
,,Don’t you dare” I said and with a small hand gesture, I lit up the floor, almost lighting up her dress. She gasped.
,,From what I’ve heard” I moved closer to her, until out faces almost touched ,,you don’t like fire. Witch.” The I grabbed her by the collar. She closed her eye, waiting for me to hit her or something. Instead I teleported us in the hallway. Didn’t want to disturb my sister.
Lighting up the floor around us I asked if she was happy with what she had done.
,,No Luna. Is that what you would like to hear? Of course it is. Well, even if I say no, you’ll still be angry.”
,,Maybe if you actually regretted what you’ve done, I wouldn’t be angry” the fire started to spread. Mily was terrified and demanded several times that I’d put her down. I wonder why she didn’t fight back, since she was a lot stronger than I was. I guess she really did feel guilty.
The situation ended with me throwing Mily on the floor.
,,You know what Mily” I said and looked at her trying to get up ,, I hate you Mily. I really fucking do. Hope you die again or something. At least now you know that the feeling is mutual.”
After that I went straight to the kitchen to get Millie the cure.
,,Are you sure this will work?” I asked Midari who was trying to make Millie drink the cure.
,,Nope, but let’s stay positive!” she said ,,Ok, it’s done. Based on the instructions written on the back…God I can’t read this. It looks like my brother wrote this, but worse.”
,,Here let me see” I said and took the tiny bottle ,,It says here that we need to wait around 10 minutes and she will wake up. Perfect, just in time to gather everyone here.”
In a couple of minutes everyone (Erika, Edgar and Saki, who actually didn’t have anything to do with Millie) had gathered. Lord was missing, but I didn’t bother to go get him.
And finally, Millie would wake up, after such a long time. Edgar had this huge smile on his face and so did Midari. Erika looked like a proud teacher and Saki was looking at Millie like she was an antique in a museum.
,,I’m so excited!” Midari said.
,,Imagine if she doesn’t wake up again” Erika said and earned a few angry stares from Edgar.
And just as we were laughing at Erika…
,,L-Luna?”
I quickly turned around. Millie was still in her coffin, looking very disoriented.
,,MILLIE!” I hugged her. Finally, after all this time. I could see Lord sitting in the door frame, looking all proud of himself. I reminded myself to apologize to him later.
,,I did it…didn’t I?” Millie asked.
,,Yes, you did. I’m so glad you’re here! Allow me to introduce you to everyone!” Millie looked at everyone around the room. Edgar smiled at her.
,,This is Midari, my best friend!” I pointed at Midari and Millie waved. Midari, instead of waving, immediately hugged her. Millie gasped the same way Mily did.
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,,I’m so happy to finally meet you Millie! I HOPE WE GET ALONG WELL!”
,,Yes…hi…”
,,This is Edgar, I told you about him.”
,,…Yeah, you did.” Edgar waved but Millie didn’t wave back.
,,Erika and Saki” I introduced them ,,and Lord, you remember him, is there” I said and pointed at him. He tried to force a smile, which ended up looking creepy.
,,Alright, bathroom boy. The annoying one.”
,,Oh come on, he’s really not that bad” I tried, but Millie wasn’t convinced at all. She seemed so different.
,,Anyway, what would you like to do now?” Millie didn’t seem excited about doing anything. She seemed sad, but when I asked her if anything happened she denied, saying that she was feeling just fine.
I got scared that she didn’t like the others or me or that she was upset with me, so after everyone left (including Edgar, I asked him to give us some space) I made some conversation.
,,Millie are you ok? You don’t act like yourself!”
,,I told you Luna, I’m fine.”
,,But…”
,,…but??”
,,But you seem upset.”
,,No, I’m not. I don’t have any reason to be upset.”
,,I trust you, so I won’t bother you anymore. Do tell me if someone bothers you. You’re my sister after all” I winked at her and I could swear that I saw her smile.
,,Sorry for bothering you” a voice suddenly said ,,but where are we?”
Both me and Millie turned around. There stood a girl, clearly shorter than me. Behind her there was a boy, who looked really confused.
,,Hello? Wendy’s question?” he frowned at us. Their faces were kind of similar. Their looks were completely different. The Wendy girl had white hair (how natural!) while the boy black. He looked similar to Saki, but somehow he was different. Still Wendy’s dress was gorgeous. Those must have been Millie’s companions, and I had learned that some ghosts can have two. Sometimes I wished I had two. It’s not like I didn’t like Edgar, but after I learned he was old, I just wished for someone who was more around my age.
,,Welcome! You are currently in a school. In like, the middle of nowhere. You guys are dead! And out of a sudden, you became this random girls companions! And I don’t really know what that means, but I’m sure you’ll do great!” I cheerfully replied.
,,…How…encouraging” the boy said.
,,Nononono. You’re doing it wrong. Be polite!” Wendy said and then looked down at Millie ,,HI! I’m Wendy! And this is my cousin, Kevin! He doesn’t have the necessary communication skills, thus resulting in his really poor vocabulary.”
,,How rude” Kevin frowned at his cousin and then smiled at Millie. She didn’t return the smile.
,,Oh my God, you’re so cute! Look how adorable she is!” Wendy then squished Millie’s cheeks ,,Can you give us a biiiig smile??”
Millie did smile. But then she returned to her sad self again, still, Wendy seemed pleased.
,,Please do that again! No really, it’s cute!” Wendy smiled. The girl was veeery cheerful.
,,So, Millie!” she turned to me ,,How about I give you a tour of the separate hallway! And I believe your room is ready! And then we could go to the kitchen for lunch! She skeptically looked at me. Millie probably thought that I wasn’t trustworthy or something.
Still, she followed me. Millie’s room wasn’t big, but it wasn’t small either. Her bed was bigger than mine and she had a nightstand next to it. Someone thought that I didn’t deserve one or something. She was missing a table though, while I had one, on which I was keeping all sorts of food, from Doritos to an old cupcake. Next to my table I had two chairs: one for myself and one for Edgar. Millie instead had three chairs: one next to a desk and the other two in on corner of her room. On her desk there were pencils and markers, the fancy kind that weren’t affordable. Millie also had an extendable couch, while I didn’t. Wendy immediately jumped on it, recognizing it as her future place to sleep. The girl then inspected Millie’s closet. It was separated into three parts: one for each one of them. Made me wonder why I had my own closet while Edgar’s was in the other side of the space. Probably because he owned so many suits and ties.
This would be the best time to explain how the rooms have been created. First, every time a new ghost appears a certain spell is activated. Midari explained, that it was all Mily’s doing. Before Saki appeared in her life, she wanted to make the place she was trapped in a little more cheerful. And since new people started coming in she made the spell work automatically. So, it was supposed to read one person’s mind and create a place based on their preference. The hallway, the kitchen, even the bathrooms and the water were in fact fake. Even so, Midari wouldn’t tell me if the food we ate was also fake.
Millie seemed to be enjoying her room. She kept looking at her new expensive markers. In between she kept looking at her new friends, who were fighting on the closet, even though they didn’t have any clothing, besides the one they were already wearing.
After some time I brought her and her two new found friends to the kitchen. Wendy got all excited to see “this year’s food” which resulted in her basically jumping all the way there. Her cousin seemed to be looking everywhere, overanalyzing everything and silently judging his surroundings, as if looking for any possible threats. Millie was also silently walking between me and Kevin, not saying a word. She seemed to be focused on Wendy’s sprint.
I opened the kitchen door for them and Wendy proudly entered, followed by Millie and Kevin.
,,Hello random people inside the kitchen!” Wendy shouted as soon as she noticed the Mily-Saki duo. Mily turned her head away as soon as she saw me. Saki seemed a little nervous but he soon relaxed.
,,Alright Millie! Meet Saki!” he stood up and shook Millie’s hand ,,And this is the other Mily. The one with the same name as you.”
,,Hello!”
I couldn’t believe my ears. My sister had been quiet the whole day only to happily say “hello” to the girl that wanted to sacrifice her or something?!
,,…Hello” Mily tried to say.
,,Nice to meet you!”
,,Nice to meet you too Millie” she gulped ,,I’m glad you’re here with us.”
,,May I take a seat?” Millie politely asked. Mily gave me a look that clearly stated “you have no manners. Be more like your sister”.
,,Of course” Millie took a seat next to Saki. The other two decided to explore the kitchen and were now looking at different types of cheese Mily had put in the fridge.
,,Look at this!”
,,What’s this?”
,,I looks terrible. And what’s this? It’s weird.”
,,It’s called plastic” I told them and they looked amazed, trying to poke it, but with no success.
,,GUYS BIG NEWS!” Midari stormed in, hoping to get everyone’s attention. And when the cousins didn’t pay attention to her, she grabbed the cheese with a half-ripped plastic, put it inside the fridge and shut the door closed.
,,Now that everyone acknowledges my presence here…MY BROTHER IS COMING TO VISIT! AFTER A LOOOOOONG SUMMER! AND I WANT MILY TO BAKE COOKIES! AND I WANT MILLIE AND THESE TWO RANDOM SPIRITS” she pointed at Wendy and Kevin ,,TO ALSO MEET HIM! ON SATURDAY AT 11 AM RIGHT HERE!” she then bowed at us and ran straight through the door.
,,Who is her brother?” Millie quietly asked.
,,A guy that’s really boring. Unamusing.”
,,I would describe him as rather calm” Mily told my sister and she seemed happier with Mily’s response.
,,But look at him. He’s like an older, emotionless version of Midari. He doesn’t even look good.”
,,I would say that you’re on the same page as him, but Millie here looks like you and she’s too cute to be dead” Mily decided to talk back.
,,Annoying” Millie laughed at this.
,,You guys are funny. I think…I think I’m going to like it here!”she exclaimed, showing some excitement.
,,Have fun” Mily then signaled Saki to get up and follow her.
Saturday arrived in no time. Millie got pretty used to everything, but she still seemed sad. Actually up until this point, I was convinced that she was upset. But she didn’t want to tell me what bothered her and I didn’t force her.
She was enjoying her time with Kevin and Wendy and she was getting along with Mily (I decided not to tell her about what Mily did). And if my sister was happy (even though her expression suggested otherwise) then I was happy too.
I wasn’t looking forward to seeing Misaki. From my point of view he was boring. But he had drawing skills. Which I also had, so sadly we had something in common.
So at 11 am I was already in the kitchen, waiting. And soon everyone Midari had reminded of the visit were also waiting (Mily, Saki, Millie).
,,Alright people!” a loud voice yelled ,,We’re here!” Midari entered and behind her was Misaki He placed a pink bag on the table and without saying hi he took a seat next to Mily.
,,Alright! So tell us the reason for your visit!” Midari flapped her arms trough the air.
,,Uhm, I just wanted to visit you, I guess.”
,,Alright show us what you have in your bag!”
,,No. I’ve changed my mind.”
,,I won’t force you. But I still think you should show them. It’s really good.”
,,Oh come on. It’s cool” none of them noticed that I took the bad and opened it, taking out a really cool drawing of a building.
Still, Misaki seemed relieved. There was one more paper in there, next to some biscuits. I took that one out as well, revealing another drawing of Midari, me and Mily. I hated the fact that he put more effort in drawing Mily than me.
,,It’s amazing! How do you manage to color things like that?” Millie asked.
,,Practice. Very much practice.” Millie didn’t seem satisfied by his answer. He wasn’t interested in her.
,,SAY MILY? DO YOU LIKE IT?”
,,Sure. It’s pretty.”
,,Thanks.”
,,YEAH IT’S PRETTY” I tried to make them acknowledge my presence in the room and the fact that I was also in the drawing.
,,But why didn’t you want to show it?” Saki questioned him, but instead midair answered:
,,My brother is the kind that gets really shy, even though all of his illustration are amazing! I especially love the way he draws me and my friends!” she hugged him and he smiled.
,,I like the one with the building” I told him. Misaki looked pleased.
,,Misaki wanted to become an architect! I’d say he’s pretty skilled!” Midari squished her sibling’s cheek.
,,You’re talented.”
,,Thank you everyone, it means a lot” Misaki smiled.
Maybe the guy wasn’t as bad as I thought he was. Maybe he really was just calm, like Mily said. Or maybe Mily liked him? Misaki was friendlier with her than the rest and he put more effort in drawing Mily. Maybe they liked each other.
,,I should get going” Midari made a sad face ,,sorry Midari’ I apologized.
,,HEY Misaki! Did you know that Luna is also into drawing?” Mily suddenly declared ,,And she likes that novel you like. It’s all she talked about these days.”
I did in fact read this book. For the past few days, both Millie and Mily had to bear my constant rambling about this one character.
,,Oh. Cool, maybe you could show me your drawings sometime? Since you’re busy now. And if you’re up to it,we can discuss the plot and characters of the novel.”
,,Suuure!” The sudden change in attitude frightened me. It was clear that Midari and he were siblings.
,,Alright then, it’s settled. When I come over next time, we can talk.” He happily waved as I left the room, trying to find something to do, because I wasn’t actually busy.
I went back into my room, since I left Edgar there. Midari had decided that he was too much of an adult for the “meeting Misaki activity”. Well, he was in fact an adult. From what he told me, he was quite old.
Edgar was a really cool person, with a certain love for literature and sweets. He loved spending his days in peace and quiet, reading, or drinking tea. Because all of this, I enjoyed his presence and I was glad to have an awesome, older friend.
,,Done with the meeting?” he asked, as soon as I entered the room ,,Did you have fun?”
,,Oh yeah, it was alright” I took a seat on my bed next to him ,,Misaki isn’t as bad as I thought.”
,,What does Millie think about him?” my companion asked, not taking his eyes from the book he was reading.
,,Which one? It’s really hard to distinguish Mily with the weird magic, from Millie with the suicide.”
,,Millie, as in your sister. Luna, is she ok? I don’t know why, but she won’t talk to me!” he complained. Taking a moment to think, I replied:
,,Maybe she doesn’t feel comfortable with you. Since you’re older. Maybe she thinks that talking to an adult is weird. Not me though! You’re like my second best friend!”
Edgar’s expression went from shock, to sadness, to cheerfulness as the sentence formed.
,,And your best friend is Midari, correct?” he asked, placing his book down.
,,Yes! She’s so cool! And smart!” I exclaimed and Edgar looked pleased.
,,I’m glad you made friends. How about Millie?” he asked about her again.
,,OH YOU WON”T BELIEVE IT!” I also started complaining ,,OUT OF ALL THE PEOPLE HERE! She could have been friends with, I don’t know, even Lord! And yet she chose to befriend the one person that didn’t want her here!” Edgar shook his head in pure disappointment.
,,I personally don’t like Mily, even so…if Millie likes her enough to hang out with her…”
,,You know Edgar I’ve always wanted to ask you something.” Edgar’s eyes widened, but he quickly changed his expression to a clam one, trying to hide the fact that my question kind of shocked him.
,,Yes?” he innocently asked.
,,Do you have anything to tell me? You always start saying stuff and never finish them. Or you get interrupted.”
,,I…well…Alright you won. What do you want to know?” he gave up.
,,Tell me something about you! Anything!”
,,I like to read…”
,,Something I didn’t know would work better” I laughed.
,,Mhm, okay…let’s see…”
,,Come on! Say it already!” I got excited.
,,Shut up. I’m debating if I should tell you or not” he crossed his arms.
,,Spill. It. Out.”
,,I’m married” he confessed. My original reaction was confusion. But then I started to realize that it was plausible. I mean, he was old and he looked good. How could he not be?
,,TO WHO?!”
,,Your mom-“
,,Stop iiiiitttt! I can’t deal with that joke anymore.”
,,I’m sorry. But you’ll be hearing it a lot now. I’ve recently discovered this app called Tik Tok…”
,,OH NO NOT YOU TOO!”
We then laughed and changed the topic of the conversation. Edgar did share a little of his backstory with me. Well, only a little little. And that meant literally nothing to him.
Edgar told me that I didn’t know the woman he was married to and decided not to tell me any further information about her.
Millie started hanging out with Mily, ditching me in the process. It looked like she was even better friends with Saki than me.
I knew I wasn’t supposed to feel jealous or anything, but I did miss the times where it was just the two of us. I should have been happy for Millie, be happy that she finally found friends and that she was doing better, and yet…
Slowly I started seeing everyone drift away from me. Midari hardly ever got out of her room anymore, because she was busy with the thing that was supposed to bring us all to life. Millie was busy with Saki and Mily. When she didn’t hang out with them, she spent time with her two companions. All three of them were trying to get a hold of their abilities, so they asked Mily for help. I was disappointed that they didn’t ask me for help. Especially Millie, who had the same ability as me, but her fire was this really bizarre color, that didn’t fit with her personality, or preferences, at all: neon pink.
Edgar started training Millie in combat too and she was very good at it, yet she had the same problem as me: without a weapon, she was basically useless.
I started wishing for a friend, for someone to talk to! I felt as if everyone moved on and I was just some old forgotten thing.
Mily was also giving me weird looks and every time I stepped into the room she would give me a murderous look. Normally I wouldn’t have been scared of her or something. But I knew what she was capable of, being a ghost and a witch at the same time. I was scared, but not for me. For
Millie. She was there, with Mily who could hurt her at any point of the day, just because I annoyed her or something.
I couldn’t imagine going through the fear of losing Millie again, and yet, I was the cause of losing her in the first place.