𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐌𝐞

32|| The Comfort of Dying

Dante // February 23
•••

I hadn't seen Celeste in two days, but that may have been for the best.

I didn't know I was capable of growing so.. attached to something, and that something was fucking her.

It was unnerving how much time I spend thinking about her sounds, her skin – just all of it, and it's nothing more than an unwanted distraction.

I've spend the last few days burying myself in work. Now that I know Celeste's real name and have pictures of her face, I send my hacker out to get more information on her and her family. Information that had finally reached my inbox yesterday night.

Celeste Monet, born on January 7th in Bordeaux, France. Younger twin sister to Celia Monet, and daughter to a mother who overdosed eleven years ago and a deadbeat father who is currently serving life long in a French prison for numerous crimes.

She and her sister had been placed in Dupont's orphanage immediately after birth since their mother left the hospital without them. The orphanage had newly opened and when I saw that Celia was the nineth girl that was registered there and Celeste the tenth, I finally understood her obsession with the numbers 910.

Celeste did good in school, remarkably good for a kid who lived under her circumstances. The orphanage was soon accused of creating an abusive living environment and ignoring the health and safety guidelines, so it's not surprising that there're countless of medical records.

There's something about a psychiatrist visiting her for examination when she was two, five, eight and again at fourteen. But I decide it's best to leave that document closed.

Other than that she didn't get into much trouble, unlike her sister who had multiple notes from teachers and even a few encounters with the law on her name.

Most noticeably though, was the fact that both Celeste and Celia Monet vanished out of existence the day of the fire that burned the mansion in their village down.

Celeste had told me Celia died and she hadn't lied, that much I was sure about. But there was no documentation or other proof of her sister's death to be found and if my hacker couldn't find it, then it wasn't there.

I'm so caught up in reading about her life that I barely notice the pile of papers that gets thrown onto my desk.

I look up to see Celeste standing before me, her skin paler than usual.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

"It's a list," she answers as if it makes perfect sense.

I quickly realize that her list consists of very detailed steps on how to murder Tobias Dupont. From what kind of burning poison she wishes the robes holding his limps to a chair would be dipped in, to the order in which to rip his fingernails out.

"Dante."

I look up from step 11, slightly alarmed on how serious her voice sounded.

Her posture is candle straight, more tense than I've ever seen her. "I need you to promise me to honor the list."

I automatically straighten as well, laying the paper on my desk as I ignore the urge to get up and walk towards her. "What's wrong?"

"There's no easy way to say this." She inhales deeply before meeting my eye. "But, I'm dying."

My eyebrows furrow in confusion, scanning her body for possible injuries yet finding none. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"It's nothing to get emotional over." She awkwardly straightens out the fabric of her top with her hands. "It's just a part of life, everyone goes someday or another and I think-" She pauses as she nods to herself. "I think this is my karma."