ACHICHIBO~ The little girl I knew

chap10(how we spoke at last 2)

Ten minutes was all it took, for the door to open again, "I need to talk to you" Lilly stated when she walked out of the room. I looked behind her trying to spot jazz but she closed the door before I even could.

I studied Lilly's stance and determined expressions before I answered "Sure". I waited for her to insult me since she had every single right to but-

"I will keep it short and simple. Since it seems like you don't know, I will tell you."

"What's going on? Is there anything wrong with her test results?" that was all I could think of from what she said.

"No, she is fine. I meant that... I will tell you the story behind her illness."

"What do yo-"

"Jasmine's mental growth stopped due to a shock when we were twelve, and she is stuck at that age. We never told anyone the reason, but I think you deserve to know..." She paused like she was contemplating whether or not to tell.

"If you and your family found it right to not tell anyone, I think you shouldn't tell me. You don't have to Lilly. It's okay."

"I hated her..." her confession startled me.  "I was so jealous of her. So I messed around, bullied her, scared her, did all I can to show my hatred towards her, and let it be known... Until one day, mom and dad left us alone. She fell asleep beside me as I was playing and I used the chance to make a whole scene pretending that I died... I sat in the tub and filled it with water and red paint from the tubes we used in the art club. Even put a knife on the side. I made the perfect scene for her... Then to make it even worse, I screamed." she swallowed her saliva, or was it her tears? Before she looked away for me to the ground, most likely feeling shame.

"That was the first shock; she woke up with a scream. The second was not finding me beside her. She searched the house, and she called for me as I was holding my laughter in the tub... And just when she found me, the play started, I stayed wide-eyed looking at the wall, but my ears were concentrated on her. I heard her, I listened to her weird intakes of breath, her whimpers, and the thud her body made when she fell..."

WHAT?!

"She saw her lifeless sister, add to that she saw an image of herself covered in blood, completely soulless. I messed with her brain and it couldn't handle it... I did this to her. I made her this way."

"Then?... What did the doctors do?"

She wiped her tears aggressively before she answered me "Send me away for years. Not the first thing they did though, as they tried to heal her while I was around but she fretted every time she saw me. So they tried to do it when I was away, in another room, where she couldn't see me. It worked for a while and she got her voice and her words back. But that was it. They thought that sending me away would help her, so I was sent to my grandparents for six years before I went to college. During all of that, nothing changed, she remained the same way I left her."

"She doesn't fret now when she sees you."

"She thinks I'm her friend, who is by coincidence her doppelganger... All that we know concerning her condition, is that Jasmine goes back and forth between a five-year-old and a grown woman because her mental age is just in the middle... Luckily, she is the same she used to be as a kid, calm and collected, warm-hearted and innocent." she breathed in loudly before she wiped her tears again "I hurt her, and I regret it so bad so I'm using the remaining years of my life to protect her. So, if you dare hurt her, I won't hesitate for a second before I inflict the same pain on you."

"I won't. But I still need time to process the whole story... Let's get one thing straight for now... You don't mind?" I asked her, not believing what she was saying right now.

"What?"

"I get from your words that you don't mind me liking your sister .." I elaborated

"As long as you can keep her happy, none of us would ever dare say a thing. She's my sister, Toby. Even if we didn't spend most of our lives together, she remains my sister and my blood"

I didn't know if thank you for thinking that way or I am sorry for using you or maybe I hate you for doing this to her was more fitting in this situation but before I can make up my mind she spoke again.

"I don't know if you can handle it, but there is more."

I did brace myself before coming here and before talking to Lilly, but this is much more than I can handle "Listen, i-"

"I!.." she interrupted "I saw the footage from when she was attacked!.. I just-" her voice broke.

She seemed to hold herself back from crying since she took a deep breath and stared up at the ceiling before looking back at me "My parents told me when I grew up that when we were kids we always heard our dad say that he was in love with our mom and when Jasmine tried to imitate the words, he said, it came out as achichibo since then our parents used it instead of saying I'm in love with you.." she stated before she remerged through her bag "With that being said... I think that you need to see this" she handed me her phone and I saw a video displayed on the screen "I would appreciate it if you delete it before you give me my phone back" she said as she turned around and back into the ward. 

Letting my curiosity get the best of me, I pushed the play button...

Hoping in the end that I never did, the same way I hoped that I didn't answer the call that day.

"ah.. chi...chi ..boo" a breathless small cry came out of her lips, waiting for me to come and help. But what she got was her body drowning in a pool of blood instead ...





















I guess our destiny might have been simple but our lives weren't.
Just how much have you gone through, Jasmine?