“I finally understand what my answer is…"
“A-wha…what’s happening to me?” Her hands rumbled on their own.
“Holy shit,” Allyson instinctively rushed to grab the medical kit that was dropped during the fight and kneeled next to her roommate. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know,” she scrunched her face while holding the wound again. “Something sharp hit here but I never saw anything come at me.”
“What’s going on?” Jansen escaped and returned to the two students. He quickly grabbed the medical kit from Allyson. “How did this happen?!”
“I don’t know!” Allyson vigorously shook her head, grabbing the rubbing alcohol from the bag. “It’s ok, Julia.”
"Nnggaaahh!" The application of the rubbing alcohol burned through her warm flesh.
Jansen took several gauzes, applied them on the cut, and wrapped them around Julia’s waist with bandage tape. Julia gently covered the bandage with her right hand and slowly stood up. She held her drawing tablet with her left hand but constantly had to reposition it. “What's happening to me?”
The other Julia stood up, mirroring the same way Julia got up. Her face was dark. The wound she suffered only left a scratch, no crimson liquid gushing out.
“It hurts, doesn’t it?”
None of the students spoke a single response. All frowned.
“What it takes to face yourself, how much does it hurt you?”
Julia gazed at her right red hand.
“Will I go through all this pain to look at the ugly side of me?”
“I’m not going to sit here and listen to this shit!” Allyson targeted her left palm at the other Julia, sparks of bolts emitting.
“Allyson, stop!” Her roommate’s cry diminished the voltage of the swordfighter’s electro vision. Allyson turned to Julia, furrowing her eyebrows. “I… don’t want to do this anymore.”
“What?!”
“No more pain, not after what I’ve done.”
Jansen was left speechless and lowered his guard.
“You can’t be fucking serious,” she scoffed, frowning at her roommate’s decision. “You’re going to die if you don’t-”
A single snap created another iteration of an assassin that wielded a gun on the side of its belt while brandishing two daggers. The enemy sheathed one of the daggers before pulling up the gun and firing a bullet at Allyson.
BANG!
The bullet pierced through Allyson’s left shoulder blade, engendering her to twirl then collapse into the ground. Julia’s eyes bulged, her body froze, and refused to budge a single movement. The assassin shifted its hand to the left.
BANG!
Jansen hurriedly jumped in front of Julia and barricaded with his shield. Soon a myriad of bullets began rushing. He shouted at the artist to assist her roommate while attempting to hold off on the bullets. However, Jullia’s body resisted moving again.
“Come on, Julia!”
With the voice cracking through the impenetrable barrier, Julia kneeled down, grabbed the medical kit, and tried to tend the wound on Allyson. She was breathing faster as she merely held onto the materials.
“A-Allyson, are you ok?” Julia slowly pressed the gauze against Allyson’s shoulder blade.
“It kinda fucking hurts,” Allyson grunted, dropping her Jingum next to her. “I need to get up and fight.”
“Don’t be crazy!” Julia shouted, shaking her head. “You’re being too reckless and it nearly got you killed!” Once the gauze was sealed tight, the swordfighter got onto her knees and pinned an icy stare at her roommate.
“How am I being reckless? I’m trying to help you find your answer here, and now you want to back out?!”
“I’m terrified…”
“Of what?! Finding out about your answer? Why?! Does it really hurt you that much???”
“...”
“Hey!” Jansen hollered, feeling his left arm increasingly numb. “Stop bickering and give me a hand!”
Allyson stood up, brandishing the Jingum in her right hand. “You came here to find out your answer. You better damn search for that answer, even if it hurts you. Jansen! We’re moving forward!”
“Huh?”
“Now!!”
Allyson ran forward while her left arm hung low. Jansen quickly caught up and was in front of her, blocking every projectile directed at them. Once the assassin equipped the twin daggers, docking the pistol in its pocket, the figure flew forward.
Allyson, fighting through the pain, swooped past Jansen from his left. She raised the Jingum above her back and struck down at the assassin. However, the assassin sidestepped before driving one of the daggers. Jansen rammed into the assassin who then leaped to the opposite side. The assassin redirected its focus and lunged at him, crossing its arm across from its chest and delivering a diagonal downward strike. Jansen turned his body left and lifted his shield, clashing with the dagger.
Clank!
In a deadlock, the assassin sheathed the other dagger and pulled out the barrel.
Ch-ch.
“AAAAAGGGHHH!!” Allyson pushed the Jingum in a straight line, aiming at the assassin’s left side.
The assassin swiftly pulled back the dagger causing Jansen to stumble forward before receiving a roundhouse kick to the face. Its body twirled around and faced Allyson. The residue from the barrel coldly breathed on her forehead.
Ch-ch.
With a single trigger pull…
BANG!!!
The other Julia's lips traversed straight up. “Finally, she’s gone.”
However, a pearly purple mist radiated through Allyson's temple. Her eyebrows raised with whites showing in her eyes. Arms, legs and even her Jingum glowed. “How the hell am I alive?”
“WHAT?!” The other Julia’s body flared up.
Allyson stood steady, and the assassin immediately tightened its hand. Ch-ch. Bang! However, the bullet collided with the purple aura and fell dead to the ground. The right side of her lips slowly crept up. With the hilt of the dagger facing away, the assassin smashed the weapon down at the swordfighter. She casually stepped to the right before stabbing the assassin right in its chest.
However, the assassin managed to move its left hand. With its final breaths, the assassin pierced its dagger into Allyson’s wound.
“Ggggnnhh, fuuucckk…” Her grip loosened but reapplied her strength to hold on until the assassin melted into ink. Crimson liquids poured down from her left shoulder. She fell to her knees, covering the wound with her right hand, still leaking.
“I’ll find my answer,” Julia slowly walked closer to Allyson and Jansen. Her drawing pen was coated with her flesh. “I won’t like it but I just have to do it.”
“Oh, now you decide to come in at the right time?!” The other Julia threw her arms up in the air. “None of that will matter if you can’t get past my art.”
The other Julia raised her right hand once more. Allyson mustered all of her energy into raising her left arm. The laceration of her left shoulder blade would not allow it. It was immovable as if trying to move a broken hand. Desperate for a change in the tides of battle, Allyson dropped her Jingum, using her free hand to grab her left wrist, and lifted her palm pointing at the other Julia. A single snap was heard from her scapula. Her face scrunched, feeling something was going to fall off. Strings of static sparked from her left palm, Allyson fired a strand of lightning, stunning the other Julia’s hand.
“Hnngg…why you…”
“Allyson, I need you and Jansen to buy me some time,” Julia started drawing on her tablet while her gauze soaked. Her eyes closed tightly. “Gah…”
“We can, but will you be okay?”
“I don’t know,” her dark eyes pointed downward. “Just don’t worry about me.”
Allyson left a gap in her mouth, shook her head, and grabbed her Jingum with her right hand. She crunched her teeth. “Fine…please don’t push yourself.”
Julia began her focus on her tablet, drawing the object that she imagined.
“Jansen, get up!” Allyson commanded as her friend slowly got up. She brought her left arm down to the side after several attempts and pointed her Jingum at the other Julia.
The golden-dressed woman chuckled before conjuring up a sword with her left hand, resembling Allyson’s. She then directed her copycat sword back at her. “Fine then, the show hasn’t ended yet! My final masterpiece is still waiting!”
Allyson and Jansen charged towards the other Julia. Her left arm never moved while running. She swung horizontally but the other Julia hopped back elegantly. The golden-dressed woman retaliated by striking forward her sword to Allyson’s face. Allyson's back arched matching a rainbow so much that she fell on her back.
The other Julia quickly stood over Allyson and raised her sword, pointing the tip at Allyson’s chest. Jansen swung his baseball bat in the same motion Allyson did. The other Julia guarded by angling the sword diagonally across her body. The collision caused her to stumble backward a few times. Jansen continued on by ramming her with his shield. The other Julia blocked also with her sword. Allyson quickly stood up and pierced her Jingum at the other Julia.
Then the woman in the golden dress flicked her left shoe up, smacking Allyson’s face who then clanked her sword against Jansen’s shield before dropping her guard. The other Julia, while still blocking Jansen’s attack, hopped twisting her body to the right, and delivered a heel to Allyson’s face, compelling her to fall on her back again. Jansen saw his friend vulnerable. In that split second, the other Julia extended her right leg, stretching as far as the sea, wrapped around Jansen’s legs, and pulled back, causing him to fall on his back. The impact of landing coerced him to drop his shield. The other Julia floated above the man and raised her sword before driving the weapon straight to his chest.
SLASH!!!
“AAAGGHH!!” The other Julia felt a sharp deep cut on her left calf, forcing her to fall and roll on the ground. She struggled to stand as she lifted herself by impaling the sword through the ground.
On the other side, Julia stood firm, shaking her left leg uncontrollably. The cut coursed deep. Crimson droplets flowed down her calf, which progressed to cover her entire ankle. Her heavy breathing mirrored the air coming in and out of her wound.
“Aren’t you scared of how much this could hurt me? How much it hurts knowing that I’ve become like this?”
“I thought it was the case,” Julia’s pen halted in the middle of the tablet screen, her vision becoming blurry. “But no, I wasn’t scared because of what might hurt me. I was scared because I didn’t want to see the other part of myself.”
“Don’t you know that facing yourself will always hurt? There are things you’re not proud of. It consumes you, eating every single fiber of your sanity until you fail to notice why the scars are there.”
Meanwhile, Allyson and Jansen got up to their feet. Without a single muse conjured in her head, Allyson shortened the distance between her and the other Julia. She held the Jingum over her head and swung diagonally down. The shadowy sword scraped and hung against the metallic cutlass. The warm flesh on her left shoulder began leaking more as she tried to hold her Jingum with both hands.
Jansen rapidly strode to his friend and rammed into the other Julia.
WACK!!!
The woman in gold flew several feet back whereas her dark blade spiraled further away. Her feet slid but never hugged the ground.
“Julia! Do it!”
The artist's name was barely legible, summoning two different weapons: a long silver, sharp scythe and an arrow with feather fletchings. Using the select tool to control her scythe, she released the button on her pen and threw it at the other Julia. The scythe spun while on a target route to the golden-dressed woman.
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Slash! Slash!
Two direct hits at the other Julia’s right oblique and left hand.
“Rrrrnnggghh,” Veins popped on Julia’s neck, her right hand transferring all the stress onto her pen. Hanging her head backward, wrinkles festered all over her face. She regained her composure, blowing heavy and sluggish air. “Just…one more.” The artist barely selected the arrow, moving her pen down a few feet like performing in archery.
The other Julia’s right hand regained control. “Not this time!” She began to snap her fingers.
Thud.
The tip of the Jingum appeared below her head, above her stomach. Allyson pushed her sword deeper and sacrificed her left arm's feelings to restrict the other Julia's right hand.
“Yeah, for you! Julia!!!”
The blonde artist’s drawing arm rocked heavily, grimaced her face, and clear droplets hung down her face. Everything became quiet, time was frozen in place. Her heartbeat echoed throughout her temple. One final serene whistle before opening her eyes.
“AAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
She traced with her pen in a straight vertical line. The arrow gained a rocket boost and approached the target at supersonic speed. The dangerous velocity, aided by the breeze, sparked Allyson’s body to spike up high heat. The only vivid image for the swordfighter was the projectile coming at her, approaching closer and closer to striking the source of life inside her physical form.
A message brightened inside her mind. Without constraints of her mind and heeding to her heart, she retracted the Jingum and left hand. The arrow was meters away. Allyson leaped, head first, to the right, escaping death’s door hanging behind her.
A soft thud.
“A-aa…uh…uack,” the woman layered in gold eyes bulged while gazing at the arrow piercing through her heart.
“Aa…auck…kknnngggh,” Julia coughed up a puddle of crimson, dropping her drawing arsenal and pressing her chest with both hands. Her eyes became drier by the second. Black dots sprinkled in her version before hijacking all parts of it.
Both Julias took a step forward with their left leg, stumbling on their right.
THUD!!!
She collapsed to the ground, rendering her body completely still.
“JULIA!!!” Allyson carried her legs until she fell next to her friend's motionless frame. Jansen caught up from the opposite side.
Allyson moved her roommate's back so that it was cushioned against the ground. She clawed on Julia's shoulders and forcibly rocked back and forth. "Ju…lia…please…wake the hell up," her voice cracked each time she opened her mouth. She shook her roommate again with less effort. Eye sockets unleashed a wave of transparent round crystals. She gently pressed her head on Julia's chest.
Jansen pressed two fingers on the side of Julia's neck, in the area of the soft hollow area just adjacent to the windpipe. No rhythmic bumps. He closed his eyes and waited. Nothing. His body sunk lower with the heavy realization crushing against him.
"Jansen, do something."
"I can't feel her pulse."
"Try something else then!!" Allyson twisted her head, face flaring up and hair masking her face. "Anything!"
He never let another word escape from his lips, only granting air to exit from his nose. His eyes locked on Allyson's burning vision before closing his. Slowly, Jansen weaved his head sideways.
Allyson buried herself deep into Julia's upper body, a screeching cry strong enough to shatter the sound barrier. "UUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!! UAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHH!!!" She lifted Julia one last time and embraced her roommate's head as warmly as she could. "I wanted to help you so much in finding out your answer…but I couldn't do that. I just wanted a friend again. Please, not again…not again."
Jansen got closer to Allyson and wrapped his left arm around her.
Allyson coughed and then sniffed. "I-I wanted to help and b-be there for you and look where that took us. Why is this so hard for me? I can't bear this anymore. I hate this feeling. Why does it always happen to me?!"
"..."
"I'm sorry, Julia. God…fucking damn it, I'm so sorry!" Allyson resumed sobbing, unwilling to let go of her roommate. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…"
"Why…are you…sorry?"
Jansen raised his eyebrows. Allyson froze, droplets continuing to rain from her face.
"Shouldn't I… be the one apologizing to you? Isn't it my fault that this happened?"
Allyson slowly pulled back until she saw Julia's soft eyes. The warm waters soaked her face, her lips rising like the morning sun. "You fucking bitch…hahaha…" She enveloped Julia with her soft arms like a blanket.
Julia reciprocated, lighting up a smile and patting Allyson’s back. Jansen joined in. The world had frozen in its tracks, not one sound at all. One single moment, although short, lasted a lifetime.
After they separated, Allyson absorbed the tears with her right sleeve. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
“I’m not done here,” Julia gazed ahead, seeing the other Julia hunch her back.
“Her again?” Allyson grabbed her Jingum and stood in front of her roommate. However, the artist walked past her roommate.
Julia remained silent as she approached closer to the woman in gold. Hunching forward, dragging her left leg while loading stress with the opposite leg, the artist hand-locked her tablet and pen.
Until she finally stood face-to-face.
“I wasn’t scared at how all this could hurt me,” one ruptured heartbeat caused her vision to fizzle for a split second. “I was scared because I refused to look at what I’ve done wrong.”
The other Julia softly spoke, “I could blame Cree for ruining my passion. I could blame my art group for betraying me. I could blame Allyson for being a nuisance.”
“But in the end, I let everything consume me.”
“And what did I do with it?”
“Trade it all for money. Trade it just to please whoever. It didn’t even satisfy me. No. I was never happy.”
“It had nothing to do with the money.”
“I wasn’t happy with myself for making that choice. The money was merely just a distraction. My choice burned and etched into my heart. I couldn’t escape it. I didn’t understand why.”
The other Julia dropped her head low.
Julia revealed her drawing pen, palm exposed, reaching closer to her other self. She locked eyes until the woman in gold looked up. The other Julia covered the artist’s right hand with both of her hands.
“I realized that my other face is a part of me. The way I gave away my art for clicks and money…that is me. The way I succumbed to using artificial art…that is me. The way I mistreated Allyson… that is me. The woman in front of me… that is me. All of those faces are me.”
The other Julia’s left cheek left a trail of clear beads.
Julia took one deep breath. “I won’t forget the face I once wore. It’s a reminder that if I become that again, I'll stop straying off on that path. This time, I’ll follow my path as an artist as Mrs. Daniels said. I’ll follow the ones who’ll be there for me. My friends. Jansen. And most importantly, making sure I’m there for Allyson, too.”
A small warming smile took control of Allyson.
“I finally got it. I finally understand what my answer is.”
The other Julia slightly tilted her head right, closed her eyes, and radiated a smile filling it with peace and joy. Julia’s lower lip quivered before the barrier in her eyes broke, creating a river of water.
The golden-dressed woman’s form began to lose opacity, her body fading from existence. Her serene expression unchanged. Before Julia could blink, the other Julia shone golden yellow for a brief stint.
What was in front of Julia was a radiant yellow sphere floating. The sphere flew up until it was level with the artist’s upper body before floating towards her. Packing the drawing pen on her belt socket, she covered her right fingers with her left fingers in a cross hand gesture. The sphere was approaching closer. Julia had her hands beneath the sphere but never physically touched it, merely aiding its travels.
The sphere entered Julia’s heart. Covering her chest with her graceful hands, Julia shut her vision down and felt her heartbeat echo.
She opened her eyes, noticing that her pen, tablet, beret, and glasses all had their outlines emitting cyber-yellow flames. As if her heart directed her mind, Julia opened her right hand, revealing her palm. All four flames converged in the resting area transforming into a rectangular object.
BUZZ!!
On the screen, there floated the yellow sphere again. It quickly was erased by a circular cursor. That same cursor then began to scribe on the screen.
I, Julia Svihia, have opened my heart to the Soul Portal.
The message then melted away and the screen became black.
Julia looked around the arena. The canvases remained intact. No images were altered. Her vision went dark and hung her head low several times. She turned to Allyson and Jansen.
“Julia, are you ok?” Her roommate used her right palm as a bandage on her wound.
“I am,” she beamed a warm smile. “I think I’ll be okay.”
“That’s all I need to hear,” Allyson chuckled.
Julia's vision suddenly had black dots everywhere.
“Woah, Julia,” Jansen locked his right shoulder under Julia’s left arm. She started to feel thumping pulses in her head. “You’ve dealt with a lot here. You need some rest. Come on, let’s get out of here.”
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
Allyson nudged her left shoulder, matching Jansen’s side. “How are we going to explain our injuries?”
“We’ll just have to figure that out soon enough.”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
September 29 - 4:42pm
The classroom remained unchanged. The gate of the classroom denied any bystanders from entering. The three students were pixelated in front of the monitor screen, luckily still standing.
“Doesn’t seem like anyone’s been here,” Jansen scoped the dark classroom, removing his weighted support on the artist to walk towards the blinds.
“How’s your shoulder?” Julia asked her roommate.
She pulled her collar, exposing the wounded area. All she saw was a dark purple circular bump. “Huh? It’s not there.” Allyson pressed on it. “Ow…” Another press. “Ow…”
“Uhh, I think I should be asking if you’re okay,” Julia crept up a smile while exposing her dimples.
“Ever since she committed seppuku, I don’t think she’s ever okay,” Jansen pulled the blinds, illuminating the classroom.
“Hiss!” Allyson left a gap in her mouth exposing her teeth. “I did it to save her.”
“See? Definitely not normal.”
“Heh!” Julia giggled, shaking her head sideways. “You guys are such weirdos and I love it.”
Allyson’s heart danced. She had no choice but to ray a light of smiles. “Let’s go home and rest up.”
September 29 - 11:56pm
Jansen dropped off Allyson and Julia at Parkside before departing for his shift tonight. Once the orange skies changed their saturation to a darker color, Allyson and Julia dined in on chips, chocolates, and beers. In the living room, the large screen displayed a film, but the two spent time conversing about their experiences in the other world.
“What’s so cool was that you made all that art shit and it became real!” Allyson grabbed her tall glass of alcohol and took a sip.
“It’s hard to make art at such a high speed,” Julia mimicked her hands as if she was trying to generate art and sign her name in the air. “Nothing stuns me more than seeing you with that sword and summoning lighting!”
“Tch, well, I’m pretty electrifying,” she twirled her hair, flicking her head in the opposite direction.
“Hahaha!” The artist then crossed her right arm on her waist and bowed in front of her roommate. “I’m honored to serve you as your digital artist, fair lady lightning.”
“Join me and we’ll rule this campus.”
Without hesitation, they both cackled, faces glowing cherry red.
“Allyson?”
“Hmm?” Her eyes inched closer to shutting off.
“I’m still sorry for making you feel unwelcome…” Julia wrinkled her eyebrows while her eyes were moist.
“Hey, Julia…”
“No really,” she downturned her head. “I made things so much worse for you. I couldn’t imagine how you felt during all that time.”
“It’s cool, I forgi-”
“I’m going to do everything I can to make this right. My world showed me a lot of things about myself that I ignored, so this time, I’ll make the effort to be better.”
“That’s more than enough for me as long as you and I are friends.”
“We are friends. Thanks for being there for me.”
Allyson and Julia embraced each other, feeling their comforting warmth.
12:00am
THUD!!!
The TV screen went black. The lights of their apartment lost its strength, shadows enshrouding the area.
“What’s going on?” Allyson furrowed her eyes and jumped up from the couch. She ran to the windows, gazing at every single building and street with no lights. “Is there a blackout?”
“Allyson…please come here,” she saw Julia curled up in a ball and burying her face between her knees. “I’m scared…”
She quickly knelt on the carpet just in front of the couch and rubbed Julia’s back. “It’s ok, it’s ok. I’m here.”
HMMMMM!!!
Allyson bulged her eyes and stared at her right pocket. Pulling out her phone, the color drained her face, seeing what was displayed on her screen.
The same icon from that app with the ember displaying deep pink. Allyson’s body turned into stone. She regained movement when the TV screen revealed the same image on her phone.
However, the image fizzled out before projecting a dark room. Small for a bedroom, small for a classroom, but larger than the hallways. Allyson and Julia hardly depicted what was transpiring.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” A blood-curdling scream sent waves of terror to both roommates. An unidentifiable figure ran closer to the screen before slamming fists onto the screen. “P-please help… me. Someone’s… going to kill me. I don’t want to die. I have everything ready ahead. I can’t die…”
Click…Click…Click
“Oh god, oh god, oh god, someone’s getting closer…” the person’s voice was muffled. Tone was too static to decipher the person's identity. "I can't move…"
Click…Click…Click
"..."
"..."
Ch-ch…
“UAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!” The figure viciously banging on the screen. “SOMEONE PLEASE SAVE ME! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE! AAAAAA-”
Blip
Nothing was displayed, only their reflections.
Silence distilled the area. Weak airwaves brushed through the room, darkness still enclosing the walls.
“What the fuck was that?” Allyson glanced at her phone. The app was no longer in use. She dialed Jansen. “Please pick up.”
“Hey, it’s Jansen. Sorry, I can’t talk right now, but leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.” Beep!
“Jansen! It’s Allyson! Please answer me! Something’s wrong right now!” She hung up and dropped her phone onto the soft floor.
“W-what’s going to happen?”
“I don't know. Let’s just hope it isn’t serious and just some shitty prank.”
September 30th - 6:23am
Campus police barricaded the area in front of the McKeldin Library. The statue of Testudo had speckled stains of crimson liquid around it.
One officer closed his eyes. “Fuck…”
A body was found planted on the ground. Arms angled acutely. Legs straightened out.
Another officer walked up and took a step back.
"Where's the head?"
Nowhere near the body. Only one place.
On top of Testudo’s shell.