10
Before renting this apartment, Blake lived in a cramped attic room at the top of an old building.
In the summer, the room was stuffy and hot, like a steam room.
Back then, we were poor and had no choice but to tough it out.
We endured it for two years.
Later, when Chloe arrived, we moved out together.
That attic was so dilapidated that the landlord halved the rent, and still, no one wanted to live there.
The room sat empty, ignored.
Blake always told me how much he missed those old days.
I stood at the door, took a deep breath, and pressed the keypad.
That was the day we first got together.
The door pushed open easily. Sure enough, Blake was huddled in the corner of the room.
“Skylar, I knew you’d come for me!”
He lunged and embraced me, as if I were his only lifeline.
He held me so tightly, as if I would vanish if he let go.
“You don’t know, Chloe almost drove me crazy these past few days.”
“She’s always talking to herself, waving at thin air, as if conversing with someone. I never thought she’d turn out like this…”
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“Skylar, you’re the only one in this world who truly cares about me.”
Listening to him sob as he finished, I finally understood why he was so terrified of
ghosts.
Chloe always rambled about connecting their destinies with a red string.
She was beautiful, and Blake, in a moment of confusion, agreed.
But when he woke up the next day, the red string was gone, as if it had grown into his
skin.
Hearing this, I subtly curved my lips into a smile.
Heh, so they were already bound, then.
Good.
That saves me the trouble of getting revenge one by one.
I took the doll from my bag and handed it to him.
“This is what made Chloe go crazy. After much thought, I believe it belongs with you.”
“You became like this because of this doll…”
I didn’t say anything more, just patted his shoulder gently, and turned to leave.
“Don’t go… Skylar, can we go back to how we were?”
How we were?
Back to those days when I was treated like an object?
I scoffed inwardly, but my face remained gentle as I comforted him. “Weren’t we fine before Chloe came along?”
“Now that things are like this, whose fault is it?”
A pang hit my eye, and two hot tears rolled down, landing on the back of his hand.
He shivered, muttering to himself.
“Whose fault… whose fault is it really…”
Suddenly, a memory flashed in his mind.
“Ch-Chloe.”
He violently snatched the doll and rushed out like a madman.
What would happen next?
I couldn’t care less.
I glanced at my watch. There was still enough time to clock in at work.
From then on, I devoted myself to my career.
Blake and Chloe never appeared in my life again.
I successfully completed the collaboration project, delivering a proposal that satisfied the client.
Looking at the long string of bonus numbers in my account, I couldn’t help but smile, tears welling in my eyes.
Now I could finally get a better apartment, at least one with secure entry and
surveillance.
The next time I heard about Blake and Chloe was at a public awareness lecture against
superstition.
They became cautionary tales, their story retold by many.
“Have you heard? That brother and sister were messing with some weird ritual, and they ended up dying together!”
“They did some truly disgusting things before they died. No shame at all.”
“Their deaths are a blessing. That woman kept babbling about dolls and shared
sensations; she even scared my kid, who came home asking if there were invisible things!”
“Superstition really causes a lot of harm!”
Although I don’t know the exact details of what happened, I believe they didn’t have an easy end.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been worthy of living this life again.
Yesterday
