Double Vision

26

026. lyra .

mar. 20, 2024.

2:45 p.m.

"Goddamn it!" I screamed, throwing an arrow at one of the pillars. "What am I supposed to do now that Ben's dead?! V will be onto me soon enough!"

Harshita turned her head to me, the clink of the diamonds dangling from her tiara echoing throughout the cathedral. "It'd be wise to relinquish your title as Aneri and find someone else if you're this perturbed."

I glared at her, clenching the other two heart shaped arrows in my hand with my fist. "No one else is smart enough. They'll get caught immediately."

"V is already onto you." Harshita shrugged, hovering above me as I sat perched on the throne in the empty room. 

"She thinks it's Ben right now," I began. "I need to get rid of her. It was only pure luck I happened to know Bella's name."

Harshita furrowed her brows. "You should've been more careful. If Bella had unfinished business  there's a good chance she'll come back as a vengeful spirit. That causes nothing but irritation for me."

I whipped my head around, eyes wide as I bore my eyes through Harshita. "You didn't think to tell me this?!"

"I'm not on your side. I'm simply spectating."

"It still would've been helpful to know she could come back! I don't know anything about her, what's not to say she doesn't have a ridiculously strong will and will come back to kill me?!"

"The chances are slim," Harshita murmured, floating upside down and staring at me from above, her hair falling down while her tiara stayed perfectly perched atop her head. "I'm merely here because my sister killed me before I could kill her."

"That doesn't reassure me at all. I killed her before she could kill me." I crossed my arms.

"Yes, but she didn't love you." 

"Who's to say that?"

"Number 4."

I narrowed my eyes. Number 4, Caisen. As far as I know, he can tell who loves who and whatnot, and anyone he kisses will die. He's certainly not bad to look at, but I doubt his kisses are worth dying for. I've never had a conversation with him, so I'm not 100% sure how he came to be an apparition, but Harshita told me he died of a broken heart.

Dying of a broken heart sounds impossible. It sounds like something straight out of a fairytale. But swans can die of a broken heart, so who's to say humans can't? At the same time, though, my life has felt like something out of a fairytale ever since Harshita came into my life — maybe if it was one written by Edgar Allan Poe, anyway. 

I don't exactly have a way out of this life. Harshita tells me I can forfeit my title as Aneri at any time, but the only way out is to die. 

There's two ways to die from an apparition. One, if you're bonded together and you say their name, you die immediately. Even if you think they're not listening, they always are. That's why I refer to them all by their ranks, rather their actual names.

Two, if you want to be unbounded, they'll kill you as to make sure you can't tell anyone else about them. 

There's only seven known existing apparitions. Most are stupid and get exorcized fairly quickly. Harshita is the highest ranked of them all. Number 7, although I think it would make more sense for us to call her Number 1. 7 makes it sound like she's last place. But everything is backwards for the dead.

I drummed my fingers against my thigh, resting my head on my free hand. "I need to figure out V's name so I can kill her."

Harshita leaned forward from behind me, her lips inches away from my ear. "You'd be smarter to kill the entire police force instead," she remarked, the red skull imprinted on her cheek glowing slightly. 

"I'd be setting myself up. If everyone but me dies she'll know."

Harshita chuckled, the sound echoing eerily in the empty cathedral. "You've already set yourself up quite nicely, haven't you? Ben's death has surely raised suspicions, and your desperate attempts to divert attention might draw even more scrutiny. Killing V won't solve all your problems, darling."

"So what do you suggest, then?" I glared at her.

"I suggest nothing." she replied, twirling her hair with her index finger. "I couldn't care less who dies as long as you continue to kill at least 40 people per day for me."

I took a deep breath, trying not to look too annoyed. I pulled my sweater tighter over my body, shivering. Something about being with Harshita made me cold all the time. Her disregard for human lives were disturbing.

I regret ever making a deal with this stupid ghost.

"Fine," I said, pushing myself off the throne and standing up straight. "I'll handle V, and I'll keep up with the quota. But I need more information. Anything you can give me about her."

Harshita shrugged indifferently. "V is cunning, but she's not invincible. She has weaknesses, just like anyone else. Find them, exploit them. That's all I'll say."

"I'll do what I can."