Dying to Breathe

4.3: played like a puppet

A/N: Random shuffle came up with this old cutie ~ it doesn't fit the vibe of this story AT ALL but whateveer. I've been feeling lazy lately. Enjoy the 2016 throwback/obscure music taste I have. (I actually have every English song in the world on my playlist... I literally have songs from 1910, u dont understand. I have a gem moon and a million aqua placements. I horde music because. I. like. everything. and. can't. choose. ~ air signs ~)

iight, get your detective caps on. Pen's diving in. Feel free to add anything she missed in the comments ;)

*Trigger warning: brief mention of suicide*

Chapter 4, Part 3: played like a puppet

Penelope wondered if her roommate was ever going to show up. She looked over to her side of the room, itching to make use of the room.

It was weird being so alone.

Sitting on her floor, she had gathered the few new articles of clothing she had ended up buying earlier that day—she would need to get a job to keep up with the girls' shopping habits, the city prices were no joke. Pairing them with her older clothing, she quickly made up a few outfits—hooking them onto a hanger and sticking them into the closet (that was quickly filling up, thanks to both receiving the box of Millie's clothes from her parents over the week, and Nina giving her clothes that she didn't want anymore).

Closing her closet up, she sat back onto the rainbow rug—pulling her textbooks out of her schoolbag. She hummed a tune, reading over her notes. Everything was normal. Everything was fine. Everything was—

"Fuck." She hissed out.

It was of no use—distracting herself.

The questions crawled around her brain, begging her to complete the puzzle. The incidents over the weekend thudded along her cranium, each word like a dagger to her brain. She had to write it down before she went crazy. She had to destroy the suspicion—the ugly, awful suspicion of her sunny, bright sister.

It was Millie for Christ's sake. How could she think those things about her? Besides, she didn't completely disappear—she's waiting for Penelope to find her. Why do all this—leave her a note to find her—if she wanted to disappear for good?

Grabbing an empty notebook and a pen, she began scribbling:

Millie's puzzle pieces:

(a) She left me a note, telling me I'm the only one able to finish our story. I'm the only one able to figure it out. Why?

(b) The night she disappeared, she said it was for a dare. What was the dare? Does it have any connection to whatever is going on here? (Doubtful, but I should ask around about what it is.)

(c) The academy, why did she apply for me? Why did she want me here? What's here that made her want to be here or for me to be here? Is it something more than the city itself? Or was it a random choice – made because the academy was trying to recruit students at our school back in March?

(d) Did she fake her own death back at home? Why? Was she so desperate to leave the town that she set up this whole act? Millie wouldn't kill herself. Something must have forced her to pretend she did, right? For attention? For the hell of it? I doubt even her ego was large enough for something so cruel. Or did she need to disappear... for reasons?

(e) Mom said they found blood and a note at the old mill. Why there? Was it just an easy spot for her plan?

(f) There was a fire at the old mill a few months before Millie's disappearance (back in February). Why did she pick this morbid spot?

(g) Girl at the club said she knew me. That she had seen me during the summer with blonde hair. She even called me L. Who is she? She looked spooked. Did she know Millie?

(h) The deadline to apply to the academy was in March—was she already planning her disappearance back then too? She disappeared in June. How long has she been planning this for? Why?

(i) What did Millie get up to all those nights she'd leave? Was it dangerous?

(j) Is Millie in danger?

(k) Why couldn't she come to me about all of this? Why couldn't she have just -

Her pen stilled as the tears blurred her sight. Her heart felt like it was breaking. Why didn't Millie tell her anything? Why was everything some huge game to Millie? It felt like her limbs were being played like a puppet. Millie was using her like a marionette, and she couldn't do anything but go along with it.

Wiping her face of the few escaped tears, she exhaled quickly (shaking her emotions out of it). There was no point in crying or being upset. Millie was who she was and being used by her wasn't new to Penelope. She could ask Millie when she found her why she didn't just tell her. Right now, she had a job to do—to somehow put together the pieces Millie left for her. Penelope was never great at puzzles; however, this was one she couldn't fail at. She had to put it together, no matter what it took. She'd seen Millie plan and plot many things in their 17 years of life; she would just have to channel her and learn from her.

No matter the cost, Penelope would find out what happened the night Millie disappeared. She would find her sister and take her home. She'd clean up this whole confusing mess.

With a humourless laugh, she shook her head. Even with Millie gone, Penelope was still happily cleaning up her messes. Was she pathetic, loyal, or a maybe a mixture of the two?

Closing the journal, she lifted the orange bed skirt, planning on keeping her research under there as a secret. Her breath, however, halted; her eyes staring at the badly decorated large box Penelope had given her sister back in elementary school as a gift. She couldn't have mistaken the green and blue confetti glued onto the purple box, even if the wanted to. The butterflies and ladybug stickers themselves were a staple in her childhood—Penelope would run around and stick them everywhere she could. She remembered seeing the box under Millie's bed at home a couple of times when she'd enter her room unannounced, but she never thought anything of it at the time.

Dragging it out, she took a deep breath, seeing her and her sister's names sketched roughly onto the top, inside of a shaky heart outline. Any shred of doubt whether it was the same box died with it. Was Millie in the dorm room at some point? When? Before she had arrived, or had she snuck in at some point and left it for her to find?

Opening the lid, she instantly felt her soul slip from her body as she took in the contents. She felt physically ill as she stared at it all.

"What the actual fuck, Millie?" 

End of Chapter Four

A/N: yeah, it's the WORST cliffhanger ever. Well. Enjoy that, ig. 

HA. So, what do you think was in the box? A severed head? Who knows ~ (I do. I know.) 

Okay, thank you sooo much for reading and for all of your wonderful support! We're so close to hitting 300 votes! If you know anyone who'd like DtB, recommend the crap out of it to them (please). Let's get to 1k reads and 300+ votes!! Feel free to help out by clicking that cute little star. :)