Arianna picked up her bag, and as the cool flower-scented air smacked her in the face, she walked towards the estate her lover lived in.

Theo. Theo, she’d finally reunite with him after four years. Four years. She thought back to when they started dating at 14. She remembered her naïve and young ways as a child, couldn’t believe she had to leave.

“Promise me you’ll wait. Promise me, you’ll wait for me to come back. Promise me you will be there when I arrive.”

Arianna smiled as the thought crossed her mind.

Theo, I’m coming, I’m seeing you again.

She pushed through the heavy gates of the middle-of-nowhere estate.

She walked past the rusty gates, into the beautiful rose maze. It reminded her of a scene in Beauty and the Beast. Brushing past the flowers, she reached the front door. She knocked soft, but clear.

Creak. The heavy doors pushed forward, and Theo poked his head in between the open doors. “Ari?”

“Theo!” Arianna ran up and hugged her lover.

Arianna’s stomach gave a small rumble, and an embarrassed smile slid onto her pretty face. 

“Just a second, dear Ari.” Theo replied, reading her thoughts, or rather, her stomach. He ran to the kitchen, and took out from the pan, a steaming dish of steak.  “Your favorite food.” He grinned.

“Thank you Theo!” Arianna sat down immediately, placing a fork gently into the meal.

Before she could ask anything, Theo brought her a glass–

of strawberry milkshake?

While bathing, Arianna noticed an old bottle of pills. The sticker was already worn out, and dust had stuck onto the bottle.

“What’s the bottle next to the bathtub?” she asked, drying her hair.

“Oh… That. Well, it was Alan’s pills before he, you know, he…” Theo’s face suddenly darkened,  a part of him Arianna never saw.

“I’m… I’m sorry. For bringing Alan— him up.” Arianna said slowly, her thoughts drifting to the 12-year-old version of her.

“Hey Ari!” Alan said.

“Hey! How are you?” Arianna smiled.

Alan chuckled playfully, “With such a great friend playing chess with me, of course my day has been memorable.”

“Ari?” Alan, no, Theo called out, as Ari snapped out of the past. Strange, she thought to herself, how Theo’s voice sounded like Alan’s. They were twins, but Ari could always tell them apart. Arianna found herself searching through her scattered mind again. They got into a fight. The reality pierced through her heart. She never thought that Alan would try to enter a battle against her. Since then, Arianna swore to herself. 

She would never, and could never be friends with him again. 

But Theo. Theo was had been there for her, as he still was. Theo comforted her when she was hurt, helped her, even when she was clinging onto the hope that Alan would come back and comfort her instead.

Arianna lay down on the soft mattress and pulled the comforter over her cold body.

The days flew past, quickly, and Ari stayed so long it began to feel like… home.

Then, everything changed. Or perhaps to put it, everything was the same, but the lies were torn apart, slowly and painfully by the truth. Cold, hard, but genuine. 

Ari was cleaning the attic, when she found a stash of old letters, dated around one and a half years ago, addressed to—herself? She quickly tore open one of the brown, crunchy envelopes, and in it was a page and a half of rusty letter. Her fingers ran through the crisp edge of the letter. It was written in…

 Theo’s handwriting?

Dear Ari,

How are you? This is the 915th day without you. Alan came and moved in. He seemed really happy, and that pleased me a lot. I miss you a lot, and hope you are well.

You never reply to my letters, but why? Every week I send one to you. Are you all right? If you don’t feel well, or have anything to say to me, please do write! It’s very lonely here, just Alan and me. Alan. I pray, Ari, you give him a chance again. He changed. He really did. Please. He begged me to persuade you to be his friend again. He really likes you.

Let me update you on what happened during the week.

I caught a cold on Monday, don’t worry, I’m fine. I also bought a locket for you, when you come back, I’ll give it to you personally.

Alan moved in on Tuesday, and when I showed him the locket, he said it was the perfect gift for you. 

What a dear, kind Alan, he bought some medicine for me and took care of me until I recovered yesterday.

We all miss you so much, and —————————————————————————————————————-

———————————————————————————————————————————————-

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Sincerely, Theo

Arianna could not read the rest due to the burnt hole in the paper. She smelt something in the air. The hair on the back of her neck stood up when the door creaked open.

Theo popped his head in, and spoke calmly, “Oh, there you are. I’ve been looking for you everywhere. What are you doing here?”

“Nothing, just cleaning.”, Arianna muttered, clutching the envelopes behind her.

Theo narrowed his eyes. “Oh, alright. Well, dinner’s ready, so come along now!” He headed down the stairs, gesturing for Arianna to follow. 

“I’ll be down soon.” Arianna replied flatly. The door closed slowly.  Quickly, she gathered all the envelopes and hid them in her secret drawer.

Her mind floats back to her 7-year-old self…

Ari is playing in the attic with Theo and Alan. They were smiling, so happy, but something seemed off. Theo’s face was hiding something else. Theo had never shown that on his face. Perhaps he was just sad about something at school? Or?

Clearly something was up, as Theo’s stomach rumbled, even though he says otherwise.

After then Theo avoided Ari. She felt it. Alan was there. Getting closer to her just to mess up her mind, and introduce betrayal and grief to her?

Ari started to question her past and connect all the lines. She knew the envelopes would help. She knew she had to find out more. Her curiosity burned inside her.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Theo’s voice brought her back to the present.

“Oh, I’m… not hungry.” Ari indeed did not feel the hunger inside of her, but her stomach was rumbling, screaming otherwise.

Theo again showed the I-don’t-believe-you-but-I-don’t-really-care-so-never-mind face.

That night, she couldn’t sleep. She tossed and turned on her soft mattress and started connecting the dots.

Theo?

Alan?

The more she thought, the less she knew. The less she knew, the more confusing it got. Her past was one with many twists and turns, and reviewing it did not help untangling the knots.

The next thing she knew, she was staring at the ceiling in her room filled with the golden rays of light. Remembering the events yesterday, she got up and hurried to the attic, only to be stopped by Theo midway. 

“I’m going out to buy a cake at the bakery, you want to come along?” Theo said.

Ari knew it was the perfect time for her to go read another page, so she shook her head, and started to move towards her room for writing.

Once she heard the front doors thud, she was sure Theo was gone, so she hurried up to the attic. She found the stash of envelopes, and tore open another letter, which was dated just under a year ago.

Dear Ari,

How are you? I’m sorry. I can’t see you come back. My illness worsened and is threatening to take my life. Alan gave me some pills, which didn’t help much, but I think it has a negative impact? My, my hand is trembling as I say this. Goodbye, dear Ari. Thank you for the great life you allowed me to have with you together. I will be a man and allow no tears. Bye, goodbye, farewell, Ari. Please don’t worry or feel sad too much. I trust that you will find someone better, braver than me. —————Alan is staying with me till the last second. Bye. You have your whole life before you, so don’t punish yourself by feeling sad.——————— You never reply to my letters, but that’s ok now. I never will see it anyways. Perhaps there is a parallel universe where—————- we will meet, once again. But till then, don’t think about me, and live your best life. I hope you will remember me, and stay happy, ———-when you come back. He will be there for you. Well, goodbye.

I hope we meet again, in a parallel universe,

With love, Theo

Ari looked at the letter in disbelief. Theo. Theo died? Or did he miraculously survive? Just looking at it feels wrong, and after Ari read it over and over again, and confirmed. Yes. No. Yes. No. The page was burnt again, only in a circular shape other than a rectangular shape.

What was happening around her? No. She must ask Theo. She rushed downstairs, and stood behind a tall pillar, waiting for Theo.

Creak… The front door opened slowly, and Ari saw Theo closing it, locking and adding a chain. To prevent…?

“Ari? Probably in the attic.” Theo said, speaking his thoughts out loud.

“I’ll go find her and see what the hell she’s doing.” Theo murmured to himself.

Ari slowly followed him upstairs, but instead of going into the attic, she turned and entered her room. Ari knew she couldn’t get anything out just by saying, she must put on a show. If- just if Alan was Theo, and as she knew Alan liked her, she could say so and care so much that Alan reveals himself. It was risky, but doable. The plan had a lot of holes, but she got to try it.

She heard Theo shout, “Ha. Found you… What?”

“Theo, no need to shout, I’m-I’m right here.” Ari said, putting on her show, hesitating through her speech.

“I-”, Ari pretended to think slowly. “I have a question, but I just hope-hope you won’t be upset?”

“Of course, what is your question?”

“Its, its about Alan. How-how did he-he..”

“He got a heart attack, and took the wrong medicine, which caused his death. Why ask?” Theo said.

“Oh-oh. It’s just-I forgive him. A part of me always-always liked him. He was nice and gentle, and I pray you are not offended. It’s just-just, that I eh, you see, he was actually nice, see, you were never-never like your brother, in that sense, he just was, nicer and kinder than…” Ari’s voice was faded away slowly.

Sighing, Theo said, “Ari, I knew I couldn’t keep your heart for forever.”

Ari thought: if this wasn’t Alan, who was he? Theo changed. Changed. Who did Theo seem like?

“Who-who are you?” Ari said, frightened. “You-you aren’t Theo, are you?”

“It is indeed, I, Theo.” Theo said, smirking.

“You aren’t!” Ari screamed in despair. “You aren’t, you aren’t, you aren’t! You killed your brother, what kind of demon are you? You aren’t Theo, no!”

Knowing that he wouldn’t reveal who he really was, she could only take a chance, and guess what happened.

Theo’s face morphed. It was a surprised, angry, and how-dare-you-how-did-you-know face that Ari knew so well, as she saw it on Theo’s brother’s face for the umpteenth time.

“So you do know now. Yes. Theo found death himself. He stole you from me. ME. What a jerk. You were mine. You ARE mine. Hahahaha, Theo got his just desserts.”

Ari collapsed on the floor, and fainted. When she woke up she instantly remembered she was in a murderer’s villa, and only knew one thing: escape. In capitals. ESCAPE. She creeped around the mansion, checking every corner, but not a single sound or breathe could be heard except for hers. She smiled in relief.

“He stole you from me. What a jerk” And “You were mine. You are mine” Kept playing in her mind, driving her crazy.

Ari still couldn’t understand: Alan. Alan. Why? Why? This is not right. Why would you? Alan? You are different. Not the naïve boy, kid, she knew, known, felt, liked.

She sighed, and since Alan was away doing whatever he did, she spent the day trying to find secret tunnels in the villa, that perhaps would let her out. She didn’t have the heart to eat, or listen to music, or do the things she normally would do. She paced up and down the mansion, trying to find a displaced brick or a crack in the wall or a light that was a lever. But she found nothing. Depressed, she paced back to her bed. Then, she found, on the fireplace, a-a note? A note left, left to her. How did she never found it before? It went like this.

Ari,

I am dying, and this is a note for you just in case you are ever in danger of Alan. He swore he changed, and I pray so, but just in case. There is a passage with some grain and water left in there in case you need to eat something, which leads to the graveyard in the town square. Well, its downstairs in the….

The page was burnt again, but she found hope again. She ran down the stairs hurriedly, and started flipping through the rooms, making an absolute mess. She didn’t care what she did, and the only thing playing in her mind was to escape. She dug around like a hangry mole looking for the stash of food it had left in a deep hole. Yes, she thought. She was in a deep hole, one with only one, or no way out. But she trusted Theo. He wouldn’t trick her, or would he? She sighed.

She stared blankly at the couch. Maybe Alan destroyed the way out. Maybe there was no way out after all. The only way to escape, was to… She saw a long plank on the ceiling. There were some red stains on it, but never mind that now. She found a sturdy rope, but somehow also covered in deep red paint, looped it around and tied it tightly on both sides, one holding a heavy rock Ari found from the fireplace which was resting on Ari’s hands. Ari stood on the couch and reached her hands towards the ceiling. She fastened the rope around the piece of long wood there. She smiled. Theo, we finally meet again. She let go of the rock, letting it fall freely, and in a flash, the rock was on the ground, causing a loud kaboom…