OneShot Compilation

[12] The Flower Vase

***

Agatha paused. For some reason, what Samantha said rung suspicion.

"She had probably seen more. Lord Bently was right. We must end it tonight before it's too late."

Although they are already away, Agatha had perfectly heard what Sir Sharpe said. She's uncertain what needs to come into an end, all she's certain is they need to leave the place right away, so she went to Samantha to wake her up.

It already took her a couple of pinches and shakes; however, her sister is not waking up at all. Panicking, she checked her vital signs and sighed in relief.

"Her heartbeat is normal, they must have injected her some sort of sedatives or what to stop me from leaving," Agatha thought, biting her fingernails in frustration. "Whatever it takes, I need to stop what they're planning."

A sudden thud broke Agatha's mental monologue. She turned left and saw a paint brush on the floor. Out of curiosity, she walked to pick it up and she knew it wasn't hers right away.

The paint is still wet and she had never used a blue paint brush before.

She looked down to see paint droplets on the floor, which weren't there a while ago, and it leads to somewhere, so she followed it until she came face to face to her cabinet.

Slowly, she opened it up. She moved her hanged clothes sideways and swallowed when she saw hand prints, out of paint, on the wall.

Agatha moved closer and knocked on the wall. Basing of the way it sounded, the other side should be hollowed.

By instinct, she grabbed the wall sideways, revealing a pathway behind. Without second thoughts, she entered to see framed photos which are capable of making her finally go nuts. Now, what she encountered in her dreams are finally clear to her.

She walked closer towards the photo of two familiar girls and laughed in disbelief.

"Magdalene," she mumbled. "She's mother's twin sister."

She then eyed every framed photo and all she sees are a pair of happy and young twin sisters which she concluded to be their ancestors who lived in that very mansion. Her mind's too baffled to come up with an epilogue, how much more with a solution?

She can't keep her head straight thinking that one of them will become a sacrifice tonight for who-knows-for-whom. Whether it's her or Samantha, she's not letting it happen.

She's about to leave to think of a way out when she stepped onto something-a diary darkened with old age. She quickly picked it up and read what's inside.

11-31-1788
I noticed something's going on with my parents. They are acting different. The bankruptcy within our business might be a factor; nevertheless, I could already hear them praying loudly and even see them sacrificing animals in front of a Baphomet statue.

02-02-1818
My parents had gone mad and now I can hear them plotting on how to offer my sister in exchange of the family's wealth. We need help!

07-12-1878
Today marked the day of my sister's death and how I was forced to end her life with my own hands. My life is already meaningless. I have to die in vain.

04-06-1908
I beg of you! Whatever you do, never go inside the red door or you will die!

05-14-1938
I tried finding out how to break the bond between this family and the devil; however, it only made me kill my own sister. Please help!!

02-04-1961
Nothing's helping. A human could never win against the devil! We're now all helpless and bound to burn in hell.

02-04-1961
Why are we forced to suffer the same way as our ancestors did? Now, I have lost my beloved sister in order to save this rotting generation. What am I supposed to do?

03-24-1989
To our descendants, please don't give up. No matter hard it is, bonds are surely bound to be broken. Please don't stop finding a way on how to end the contract between this family and the devil.

02-15-2016
Too late when I found out how to end all of this, my sister is already gone, and I couldn't do anything to bring her back.

Agatha released the breath she didn't know she was holding. She read everything in the diary, which obviously been written by those who kills, but it only gave her a clearer vision of what more to come, not a solution.

She had counted only nine generations basing on the dates; supposedly, there should be ten already.

"It seems like mother is the only evil sister existed, ah?" She could only laugh in dismay. "She completely fooled us."

Agatha had no choice, but to find a solution on her own. She closed the book, placed it beside the nearest photo frame, and left.

Nevertheless, when she's about to close the door of the hidden room, a pair of hands suddenly grabbed her from behind; she could do nothing, but scream.

She looked at the two persons who were dragging her downstairs; they're both wearing the same hooded black cape she saw in her dreams.

Now, she realized Sir Sharpe intentionally let her hear what he said before they left and the setting sun, behind the windows they pass through, made her come up to a peroration that she had also been injected with sedatives and she just woken up.

Suddenly, she loss all hope; principally, when she saw the red door she read in the book. The moment it opened, an immense stench of death and decay penetrated her sense of smell, she almost retched in disgust.

And there-she saw Samantha tied on the same pole, she's at in her dreams-still unconscious.

Agatha coughed the moment they dropped her in front of her sister. She's too discombobulated, she didn't even notice Lady Sharpe sitting beside her.

"The two of you are too young to experience this; however, it can't be helped. You've already known too much."

Agatha looked at Lady Sharpe who's looming at her. Never in her entire existence did she ever think she'll fairly look into the face of the devil and had it look back into her in the form of her mother.

"Don't worry, she won't feel any pain," Lady Sharpe smiled and handed her the silver wavy knife and the silver sacrificial bowl.

She felt someone placed a similar black hooded cape on her-with that, she took the knife and the bowl, stood up, and faced the numbers of people in black capes inside the room they're in. Agatha assumed they're a part of the family's generation; otherwise it won't make sense.

Sir and Lady Sharpe stood in front, looking all proud to see one of their daughters kill and the other one get killed.

"If one of the dead sees the chosen, we can never take it back, and everything our ancestors built will fall out of hand."

Agatha's eyes closed in tranquility, knowing very well she already found the solution.

"I'm the chosen," she whispered; still choking at the fact that her death will be the only way to conclude everything. Either way, she have to accept her seemingly pitiful fate.

Trembling, she turned to face Samantha, let go of the bowl, and stabbed herself with the knife. She made sure to hit her heart, so she'd die right away.

She heard everyone screaming, but then it went faint and then slowly... slowly... everything went peaceful and quiet.

The very last thing she saw is the vase with its dying flowers-on the table, behind Samantha-in front of the Baphomet statue.

Agatha's last breath was surely a win and she died with a smile on her lips. She might have not saved Samantha; however, at the very least, she had broken the contract their family had with the devil, freeing her entire generation and the generations to come.