Playmate

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 5: ᴀ ғᴀᴛᴇғᴜʟ ᴅᴀʏ

You looked at him in confusion, and the dread followed.

Aeron's eyes shone at the realization on your face. He gestured around the room. As your eyes followed the motion of his hand, the scenery changed.

The Grandfather's clock once again rang hauntingly from outside the room.

Tristan looked up sharply and glanced at you, then looked away and left. Emily escaped Persephone's arms and sprinted for the door, smelling of cigarette when she ran past.

"It's thirteen minutes after the hour of three," Aeron spoke, maintaining eye contact with you. "From that minute onwards, a newly wed man argued with his claimed bride. They were on the same bridge as Persephone. She was with a very close friend in his car."

Water clambered up to your knees, and you could not see through your feet. The walls became a murky brown, like the ceiling and the floor. Your breathing became harder as the dirty water was on your shoulders before you could bail for safety. You stretched up your arms to swim above, but a hand grabbed your wrist and pulled you down, firmly locking you in place.

You were suspended. The water stung your eyes, but you could breathe. Squeezing your hand was Aeron, who looked to you silently. He turned in front of him, and suddenly a blue-gray van appeared. You swam back, nearly hit by its side mirror.

Inside was Persephone, fists banging on the closed window as the water filled in until you can only see half of her face, until she can only writhe with her arms, and then she was out of sight. The water was light brown, dirt swirling about.

You yelled at her, but only bubbles of air were released. Desperately, you tried pulling the door open but could not feel where its handle was. Aeron was holding you captive, so you tugged at his hand to let you go.

His face was unclear. Your eyes were stinging. The view of the van was going to be gone. Persephone was drowning.

Harshly, you pulled your hand away from his, and the flooring beneath your feet was gone. The ability to gasp without swallowing water was taken away. Now all was forgotten. Your survival was a must.

You stretched your arms up and attempted to rise to the surface with eyes closed. Your lungs were begging, feet kicking with all what was left in your muscle to leech on to keep you active.

There was never a surface.

After a short while, the remaining air slithered through your nose, carrying the life of your body.

But a pair of arms found you and you felt their embrace. There was a constriction in your chest, lack of oxygen.

And then the water was gone. You gasped greedily, longingly. Air rushed in but you coughed out. The arms let you go and you were on the floor fighting to kick out the filthy water from your system. A pair of shoes invaded your vision, and Aeron's voice.

"Look."

You raised your head. The van was here, in the middle of the soaked living room. Murky water occupied every space inside like an aquarium. Persephone was a living fish.

"This is Persephone's game. If she can get out of the van within an hour and fifty minutes, good for her. If not, I don't think anything changes." He shrugged his shoulders. "It's just how she died. I'm just here to do my job."

The dirt from the water clogged the back of your throat and you gagged. Bent over on the floor, on your knees with your palms against the surface, you were weakened. Tears overwhelmed your face.

There was a dead look in your father's eyes when he told you how Persephone died. You had asked when you were younger, over and over. You could not understand. It was a car accident, he said. You didn't need to know more than that.

"Get me away from here..." You croaked, shielding your eyes from the scene.

Aeron sat beside you, his knees folded up slightly as he watched without a flinch. "She died within two hours in the water with her friend," he said in a low voice. "Can you imagine? Drowned in a van in a big body of water." He looked to you, patting your back to help you cough out the water until you were more comfortable then earlier.

This was too surreal to be reality.

"The man tried overtaking a truck that Persephone's friend was going to overtake." He shook his head. "I don't think I need to say more than that. The bridge was an old structure. It easily gave way for the van and the couple's car into the water, like small rocks in a pond."

You were going to stand, run for her and open the door, but he kept you by his side. "You have to save her!"

"She was," he said. "I saved her from the physical agony. I gave her room in my house and she has been here since. It's the price of the life she lived."

You stared at Aeron. "What are you? What did she do?"

"I'm your friend, remember?" His coal eyes were like the starless night sky. They watched you grow from childhood to who you are now. "You told me your heartaches and joys, each one. Persephone did the same. I showed her something like this." He turned your cheek slowly to the van, but you avoided his touch, too disturbed to look.

The hairs on your skin were about to uproot themselves. His hand on your arm was cold. He held you there.

"I showed her Emily's game. It was a hide and seek with her kidnapper," he said. "It was on an abandoned building near her house. She woke up from a drug-induced sleep at forty six minutes past two in the afternoon and tried to leave. She was battered in the head but I saved her from the pain. She died at three. I told Persephone all this, but I wondered why she chose me over an ordinary life with your family."

Shaking, you couldn't form a word nor had the strength to leave his side.

"I was Emily's. Persephone picked me up from an old shop. She stole. She said she wanted to be a singer, so I did what I can, gave her a talent, good friends from celebrity families. Persephone had a future with her friend in that van." He pointed again to the car, looking empty. "I was going to make her a beautiful singer. I love her voice. Unfortunately, the chance was taken away from her hands. I mean, I could have kept her alive had she not given me away to you." His smile was crooked as Aeron threw you a glance.

You shivered in disbelief. The ball-jointed doll. It was a gift from her to you... a curse passed down. The fourth presence in your home was Aeron all along.

"Emily, on the other hand, was a sickly child, unwanted. Her mother held me once, and she lives on until now." Aeron sighed and turned to you with a smile. "Ah, it's insensitive of me to bring you here and let you watch your sister die." He stood up and pulled you with him. "You should go. It's not yet past two hours. We can talk more later. The others' games are going to be around midnight and early in the morning. I have time for you after this."

When he let go of your hand, you ran to the door and slammed it shut. Your knees nearly caved in. You trembled from the slight cold that brushed over your wet clothes and skin. The situation was too overwhelming to be processed. You were frozen in shock.

The door on your right opened, making you flinch hard. A pair of gray eyes peered in, then studied you from head to foot. Tristan opened the door wider, a knowing look in his eyes, and walked towards the door to your right. "Come on, let's get you new clothes."