Mine

Chapter 14

The room felt smaller tonight. The ceiling hung low, pressing down on her, and the walls crept closer as if to suffocate her. Maria sat hunched over the counter, the dim light flickering, its rhythm slow and irregular—like a dying heartbeat.

The laptop's cold glow splashed over her face, making the dark circles beneath her eyes look even deeper.

A bottle of familiar pills rested on the same counter, rattling faintly when she shifted, a sound that had become too known. And next to it—those strands of hair. Light brown with some silver strands, soft, fragile.

She was born like this, as long as Maria remembered, she called her the fairy of moon with those moon kissed strands hiding between the brown waterfall of her hair.

Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, the DNA test form glaring back at her. All filled out and ready to be sent. The cursor blinked like it was mocking her hesitation.

Test subject candidate: Lee Cherry

The girl whom she had rescued a few days back. It was just a task done for money, or it was supposed to be until she saw her. A face that felt too familiar, like a ghost of the past!

What are you even doing, Maria? The voice inside her head was sharp and unforgiving. This? This is pointless.

Her gaze dropped to the chopped hair strands resting against the counter. She had taken them so easily—just a quick snip while the girl had dozed off, unaware, in her bed.

This is just... just for me and my Cherry, I mean no harm to anyone....

Is that what you're telling yourself? How long are you going to chase shadows, Maria?

Her breath hitched. She forced herself to look at the screen again. It was just a form. Just a few keystrokes.

Submit it.

And then what? Get another empty result? A dead end like always? You really think this is gonna give you the answer? That she's her?

She's not. You know that. She can't be. Her throat tightened. She felt pathetic, holding onto these strands of hair like they were a lifeline. Let it go, the voice whispered. Let her go. But the words tasted bitter, like bile rising in her throat. 

Why can't you let this go? Why do you keep chasing ghosts? She dragged a hand down her face, rubbing hard against her tired eyes.

"Because what if..." The thought slipped out before she could stop it, quiet but deafening in the hollow room. Her heart pounded harder.

What if.

That stupid, dangerous what if had been living inside her for too long.

She's not her.

"But what if she was?" Her fist closed around the strands, crumpling them like they were nothing but fragile threads.

Tears welled up, burning.

You're pathetic. The voice inside her was venomous now. Holding onto scraps, chasing shadows like some broken thing. You know how this ends. Empty. Like always. She squeezed the hair tighter, until her nails dug into her palm.

You're being ridiculous!

You swore you wouldn't do this again, remember? Swore you'd stop chasing this dead end because it's pathetic. You're pathetic.

What's it going to prove, huh? That she's another girl who looks a little too much like her? Acts a little too much like her? Is that all it takes for you to spiral again?