“MIRA! MIRABELLA! HURRY UP!” called Anastasia, who was waiting down the stairs for the two of them.
“Coming!” Mira responded as she quickly ran down the stairs wearing a long sleeve red dress flaunting her figure and thigh-high black boots. Mirabella, who was wearing a red ribbon wrapped around her collar, barked in response as she led Mira on the stairwell.
Mira suddenly remembered something important in the middle of their joyful stroll down the street, looking forward to seeing the birthday celebrant.
“Oh, no!” Mira let out a gasp. “I forgot my gift!” She placed both of her palms over her mouth as she realized she had forgotten to bring her birthday present for Bella. Mirabella made a squealing and whining sound. Both of her ears, as well as her tail, are dragged to the ground.
“What?!” exclaimed Anastasia with a tinge of annoyance in her tone. “You know what, just give it the next day,” Anastasia remarked with a tiny sigh of displeasure in her voice after having to wait for Mira back in the house for an excessive amount of time and yet failing to remember to bring her present.
They had already walked more than half the distance to Bella’s house, and Anastasia had made the decision that she did not want to travel back all the way back to their house.
Mirabella’s demeanor began to brighten as soon as Mira stated, “You can go ahead first.” Mira beckoned Mirabella to come with her and said, “We’ll catch up as quickly as we can.” She dashed back to their house to grab Bella’s present.
Mirabella rushed over, her tongue sticking out on the side of her mouth as she led the way ahead Mira.
“W—wait! Ugh!” When she couldn’t have done anything else, Anastasia couldn’t help but groan a little.
[¬º-°]¬ [¬º-°]¬ [¬º-°]¬
A sound of a doorbell rang from Bella’s place.
When Bella heard the doorbell ring, she immediately lifted her head. Her eyes convey no emotion. She gradually stood up and made her way down the stairs, passing her mother’s lifeless body. She stepped on the cold blood spilled on the floor and left bloodstains in the path of her tread.
Bella half opened the door for Anastasia.
“Oh, hey!” Anastasia was taken aback when she realized that it was Bella, rather than her mother, Macy, who had opened the door. “Greetings and best wishes for your birthday!” she greeted, extending the box of cake in her hand. Anastasia was even more surprised by Bella’s reaction. “H—happy birthday!” She hesitated and smiled a little.
Bella wore a neutral expression on her face the entire time.
Anastasia was a little uncomfortable with Bella showing no expression after greeting her. She averted her gaze after taking a close look at Bella’s devoid reaction. “Uh...” she buffered and pouted her lips as she bit the lower part while trying to think of a way to break the ice between them.
“I—Is your mother here?” Anastasia segued, her brows furrowed in wonder, and her lips formed an awkward smile. In the past, she had never felt uncomfortable with Bella, and she had no clue what was going on as of that moment.
“In her room,” Bella replied after a few seconds of silence. “Sleeping,” Bella added, her voice sounding a little monotone and not even bothering to move a muscle from her face as she answered.
A look of bemusement could be seen in the lines between Anastasia’s eyebrows. “O...kay?” Anastasia breathed in to lighten the atmosphere before walking into the house with a smile on her face as she breathed out.
When Anastasia walked through the door, she immediately noticed the blood streaks on the tiles that came from Bella’s footprints.
“Oh my god!” It wasn’t until she turned to face Bella that she got a sight of her having blood all over her body. “Are you hurt?” Anastasia exaggerated a little the moment she saw Bella’s hand with blood.
Anastasia didn’t notice it right away since Bella was dressed entirely in black sleepwear, and she wore down her long wavy hair full of volume. Bella has long hair that reaches all the way down to the bottom of her thighs, covering the curves of her pubescent body. Besides, Bella had not fully opened the door, and Anastasia was also surprised because she had not expected Bella would be the one to open the door since it was her birthday.
When Bella screamed out of nowhere, Anastasia was utterly taken by surprise.
A series of voices in Bella’s thoughts taunted her to murder the woman standing in front of her. “Kill! Kill! Kill!” The voice within Bella’s head kept repeating itself.
When Bella felt as if her brain was being smashed, she tightened her grip on her hair in an effort to stifle the unbearable pain.
“STOP!!!” cried Bella in the midst of an argument with her other half. “MAKE IT STOP!”
“H—how?” Anastasia freaked out. “M—Macy?!” she called.
“STOP! STOP! STOP! MAKE IT STOP!” Bella shouted, beating her head against the wall.
Anastasia restrained Bella in order to keep her from injuring herself. Bella crumpled down on the floor and continued pounding her head with her fists, her face contorted not in pain but with fear.
Panicking, Anastasia hurriedly opened the drawers and quickly read the medications she found. But she had no clue what to give Bella and ran to Macy’s room to ask and inform her of what was going on with her daughter, Bella.
When Anastasia reached Macy’s room, she gasped and plummeted on her knees the moment she saw Macy drop dead on the floor. She froze as her entire body was trembling.
A few seconds later, Bella’s scream was replaced by the sound of footsteps that echoed through the room.
Anastasia’s entire body tensed. When she heard the heavy footsteps, she gently turned her head toward the stairwell, where Bella was taking her time in walking. She crawled on all fours inside Macy’s room, dragging her bottom as Bella slowly walked her feet to where she was.
The footsteps halted when Bella reached the door.
“M... Mom?” sobbed Bella in a gloomy tone the moment she saw her mother’s lifeless body.
Bella walked up to Anastasia and gave her a suspicious look, believing that Anastasia was the one who killed her mother.
With her hands trembling, Anastasia shook her head. “I—It wasn’t m—me who did it,” she uttered in a shaky voice.
Bella’s eyes welled up with tears. At the same time, when an unexpected tear dropped down her cheeks, her demeanor changed dramatically. Her lip has a slight upward curve at the corner as she stated, “I know.” She then snatched Anastasia’s neck with one hand and dragged her away at breakneck speed.
Anastasia was trembling uncontrollably. She held Bella’s hand wrapped around her neck.
“I love that look on your face. It makes me want to...” Bella moved her lips closer to Anastasia’s ears and whispered, “Kill you.”
Anastasia’s pupils constricted as her eyes expanded. Her hands were still trembling as she struggled to free herself from Bella’s tight grip around her throat.
“NO!” yelled Bella, dropping Anastasia to the ground.
“Hush! Don’t be stubborn!” silenced the voice as she switched back to Bella’s body and regained control over her mind.
Bella raised her arm in the air. Her nails got longer and were stained with a bloody red tone. She raked her long fingernail through Anastasia’s neck, causing her to shiver even more. “Beg,” Bella instructed.
“S—spare me. P—please.” Anastasia pleaded. Her eyes were full of fear.
When a tear after another streamed down Anastasia's trembling eyes, Bella couldn't stop herself from smiling. She brushed away Anastasia's tears that were flowing down to her cheeks.
“That’s how I like it,” Bella whispered and burst out laughing.
“Hey dear Bella...” says the other half, who is trying to communicate with the real Bella, the original owner of the mind but currently imprisoned in her own body.
“Happy birthday!” Bella’s other half continued as she gashed Anastasia’s throat with the use of her long bloody fingernails.