The Alchemist's Starling

The Pact...

Chisa's POV

*Suicide attempt trigger warning*

The clear, crystal-blue water ripples below me, illuminated by the light of the moon. The stars are shining brightly, too. For once, I'm happy with what I see - a pure, peaceful setting, uncorrupted by the monsters who stalk me everywhere I go.

The wind blows my long, purple hair into my glass-green eyes. I blink furiously, and smooth my hair back. This is the last time I'm going to see this world, I want to remember it the way it is now - perfect.

Even though I'm standing on the edge of the London Bridge, the river looks so far away. Perhaps the creatures know what I plan to do, and they're looking for someone else to follow now, I feel sorry for that person. But at least they won't be following me anymore. I'm being selfish but...

I don't want this life anymore...
No one will notice if I'm gone...
When I'm gone...

*****

I'm Chisa Hatori. I had a Mother, a Father, a little brother, and the best twin sister anyone could ask for, Chise. We were each other's shadow's. The only way to tell us apart, was our hair colour. Chise had vibrant red hair, the colour of a summer sunset; while mine was a dark purple, the colour of the sky at twilight. But our cursed, grassy eyes, were identical. Why were we cursed with these eyes? Eyes that had a rare ability to see the monsters of this world that were hidden to so many. Black, slimy, pulsating creatures, with sharp teeth whispering to us in hoarse voices about how delicious we looked. They frightened us senseless, and we were powerless against them.

Despite this, Chise and I were inseparable. We never left each other's side. We had secret handshakes, a secret language, all the normal twin tendencies. We always slept huddled together. I never knew why, but I always felt stronger when she was with me - perhaps it was just a bond that twins share. Perhaps that's also why the monsters were always after us, they could sense a bond between us.

We always comforted each other, but we could never defeat the monsters by ourselves. Our Father - Dad, always protected us - all of us. He was never scared of the creatures - they were scared of him.

We all possessed the cursed Sight, it is far from a blessing. Despite this, we were all happy together and tried to do normal things as a family, though we knew we weren't normal, but it was normal to us. Trips to the zoo, the park, long walks around the city, they were happy times, because we were together.

Mum... she was everything a child would want their mother to be. Kind, caring, sympathetic, loving and warm. She knew how to distract us when the monsters upset us; drawing, colouring, baking, cooking, we did it all. I knew she loved us, and our little brother. He was the cutest, sweetest baby. We managed, even with the unwanted visitors who plagued us day and night.

But then it all went wrong...

One night, Chise woke up and was thirsty, she wanted to get a drink and of course I went with her. But the light in the hallway was already on. When we investigated, we saw Dad opening the door with Fumiki in his arms.

"Where are you going, Daddy?" Chise asked.

"Girls! Do you want to... no, stay here, I'll be back soon." He looked hopeful for a second, but then sad.

"Okay, Dad. We'll be good." I replied.

With one final smile, he closed the door behind him...

We never saw him again...

Mum was devastated. I know that now. But we didn't at the time. She worked so hard, to try and keep us healthy and happy. However, Mum was frail, like us, and she soon grew tired.