The Gift

"Sevina, you have a package." Zienna stood over her younger sister, who was curled up in the corner shackled from her neck, ankles and wrist from the basement wall. "Blood... I smell blood. What is it...?" Sevina asked weakly as she sat up, body all grimy and painted with blobs of sweat. "I'd love to know. Roma had to fight a stray that stole it from the yard to get it back. But more importantly, how are you feeling?" "Better." "You look like shit, sister." "It's okay. I only need three more days." "What do you have to prove? Malara is already taking care of the Paragons. She may have already destroyed them herself." "And this is my punishment for not being there, to wring the life out of them with the very hands they nurtured to carry out their plans" "What about the crew you've abandoned? You could easily take them apart at your discretion." "They are not true Paragons. They were merely tools." "And what about you?" "I will take my own life, and start anew. Reincarnation. This world has many followers of that thought. I will be reborn pure." "You are hopeless. It pains me to see this pathetic husk. I should have freed you from this, but I'm too weak to let you go. I know you are too far gone. You are no longer the sister I know." Sevina smiled sadly. "I know... I'll never be good enough." A silence fell between the sisters. Zienna dropped the box in front of Sevina. Without a word between them, Sevina drove her fingernail into the tape and ripped through the length and opened the box. Both were greeted with the smell of rot. Sevina's jaw opened and shut, swallowing with a dry throat as she pulled out a blood-stained deer mask and a lump of meat. "A tongue?" Sevina nodded before she licked the dismembered tongue. A smile crept up her face. "Kofi," she delighted. Zienna was horrified enough that her sister would bring such a disgusting thing near her, let alone lick it. More disturbing was she seemed to identify who it belonged to. She watched as her sister pressed the severed tongue against her neck, seemingly trembling with arousal. Zienna clenched her teeth and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her grating teeth could have echoed in that basement. "Unbelievable. You disgust me." She turned and left her sister do with the rotting flesh as she pleased. With any luck, maybe that will fix her, because in all honesty, Zienna was done. The older twin stormed up to the hall that connected the basement with the rest of the house and was met with a fit blond-haired woman with emerald eyes. "I'm sorry. I should have known better than to keep a package addressed to her." "No." "..." "Now we know someone is after her." "Do you believe that was a warning?" "Yes." Zienna, with eyes clearly holding back tears looked at the woman with a rarely seen face of concern and devastation. "Roma. You've seen through my eyes. What do you think?" "You know what I think, Zienna." Roma crossed her arms and sighed with her head shaking. "I do, but I want you to say it." "Alright... Your sister is far too gone, and quite frankly, I can't bear to having to see you like this. And I know you can't bring yourself to do what we both know is best for the both of you. I'll do it. I'll make it quick. I'll make it painless. She might not even know." "... Thank you. But I can't... She--" "She's the only one you have left. I know. I know..." Roma hugged the distressed Zienna, which brought the latter to her breaking point. She cried into the woman's shoulder, frozen in place. "Go ahead. I told the others to go shopping. Be as weak as you want. We have time, love. We have time." ======== "I liked you, Kofi. I really did. You were the one person I really wanted to kill with my own hands. I wanted your beautiful eyes on my wall to keep watch over me. I wanted your skin to wrap around mine to keep me warm. And I would have preserved your hands and what made you a man I so desired so you could still feel me. And I could feel you. So we could still have fun together. So you can still find enjoyment in the afterlife. Someone stole you from me, but you can still be inside. We will still be together. Your flesh will bind with mine, and together, our children will cause beautiful havoc. Inside me, they will feast. Let not a single piece of you go to waste. My dear Kofi."