— GWYNETH —

FOR THE WHOLE NIGHT, I can't sleep, even after the new day dawns on me. I had no idea what was in store for me when I picked up that phone.. it left me so helpless. It left me shouting for my friend, and it left me screaming and yelling about how I had let him die.. again.

"Gwyn.. you failed me," says Kunboss' voice. "I only had one simple wish, yet you couldn't keep it. YOU LET ZOEY DIE. And now, you've let me die too. How could you?"

Suddenly, a red line draws itself onto his throat, and he falls down, gasping for his breath. "I thought you were my friend," are the last words that come out of his mouth until his lifeless eyes stare up at me and roll to the back of his head.
BOOM!

I look back at Kunboss. He was right.. how could I? 

How could I just leave him selfishly for my own good? Why-how? Now, I feel even more like I've betrayed him. And the cost is far worse than losing Kunboss' trust - or Zoey's. It cost not only everything I am - it also cost Kun's life. And what good did I do? I lost a best friend - a brother, a twin. I lost one of the only people I was living for. 

A girl appears behind a tree, brandishing knives and throwing stars, and I look closely. Charlotte. Charlotte Levine. 

What is she going to do? I shudder as she struts out, chest out, just as how we were taught in school - to walk like a lady. Charlotte never walked like this - she refused to conform to the rules we were given at school by Byrok - yet this version of her is fearless and sends chills rolling down my spine as she taunts me.

"Fancy seeing you again, Gwyneth Anderson," she says, smiling and showing her pearly white teeth. "NOW YOU'RE OUT OF THESE STUPID GAMES, I'M GOING TO KILL YOUR WEAKLING FRIEND TO MAKE YOU GO CRAZY, AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO!" she smirks and whips her first throwing star out.

But it isn't directed towards me like I thought. Charlotte's head jerks towards the floor and for a second, my blood turns cold as I realize her intentions.

I inhale in horror following Charlotte's cold gaze towards Eunice's feeble figure on the floor.

So this is what she's trying to do. She's killing all of them. All of my closest friends. And saving me for last, like what she tried to do to me in that first arena. The only difference is, last time I got lucky, powered by my desire for revenge. This time, the trauma will get to me, and the moment her throwing star pierces my chest, drawing blood, will be inevitable.

My best friend shudders as Charlotte approaches. My hand stretches towards where Eunice lays, but it's like there's an invisible barrier between us. I can't touch her, I can't squeeze her, I can't push Charlotte away.

Eunice looks at me with pleading eyes, as if asking me to please, please help her. With that, my hands move faster that they've ever been, pounding against the barrier blocking me from her, and I want nothing but to just run out there and be by her side.

It isn't the first time I see Eunice helpless in front of me, and I'm sure it won't be the last. Until I see she's safe in real life, Charlotte and Nathan, or any other souls that fell to me and my best friend, will haunt me in my dreams.

But the world isn't on my side, and I'm forced to watch as my best friend is beaten, tortured - by another one of my close friends. "This is for Nathan, this is for me, and lastly, THIS IS FOR ALL THE PEOPLE YOU FREAKING KILLED!" Her throwing stars embed over and over again in Eunice's chest until it's bloody and beaten.

"NO!" I yell out, trying with all my might to break free, but she can't hear me. This is not Charlotte Levine. This is a mutt. This is a monster. But then again, I am one too.

Eunice collapses to the ground. "Gwyn... h-how could you-" she manages to get out before her eyes turn glassy, fixated on me, and her body convulses.

BOOM!

"NO! NO!" I yell out, but Eunice is gone. Too far gone. 

I take a moment in attempt to console myself - and to tell myself it's not real. But I can't seem to differentiate reality and fabrication anymore. As far as I know, Eunice - my soul sister, and my partner in crime - is dead before me, for the second time. But this time, she wasn't sacrificing herself for me, rather; she begged me for help and I stood there like a robot mannequin yet again. 

I didn't deserve her. And what'd she do to get me - a "best friend" who promised to help her, yet left her there stranded alone?

Charlotte storms over and pushes me to the ground, effortlessly breaking that barrier I struggled to pass through, once again proving I'm insignificant compared to this new version of her, and I melt to the floor, my subconscious struggling against her and her strength.

"Now that the stupid weakling is dead, it's time to have fun with you," she says and starts to carve on my face with her knife. 

I yell at the top of my lungs, but Charlotte doesn't budge at my ear-piercing screams. Normal Charlotte would have slapped me playfully and told me to shut up, but this clone is emotionless, only out for blood. Out for my blood.

I scream until my throat is raw and my flesh is numb. At first, it doesn't hurt, but in the middle, with every single cut Charlotte makes which burns off my flesh, I remember all the pain - all the bad times. I remember every sad scene, every time I betrayed her... them.

I recall the memories - the originally happy memories - but they're tainted. Tainted blue by all the sadness and pain inflicted on us and our friendship.

Kunboss laughing on the beach, singing summer songs with Zoey and I. It does nothing but remind me that they're gone, and soon I will be, too.

Eunice and I making figure eights skating on the frozen lake. I see her body just sitting there all bloody and remember - she's gone too.

Charlotte is holding the fire to my fuse, and it's burning hot. They're all gone. Soon, it will explode. Every cut she makes, the memories are stained. And I'm afraid it won't ever return to normal.

Like the helpless girl I am, I spit blood in Charlotte's face, still wriggling in her grasp as my flesh and blood melts like wax down my tear-stained, non-existent cheeks. With one last spur of force, Charlotte sticks her knife into my chest, and I give up trying. I watch the world spin before my eyes until coming to a stop, and...

Everything goes dark.

I wake up screaming and crying, sweat all over my body and my sheets. All the pain seemingly has been inflicted on my body, and I quickly rush to the bathroom and look at myself in the mirror. Although there is not a gash, not a scar on my face and body, the person I see is not me. I visualise the girl in the mirror turning into a mutt. Turning into a monster. A "perfect" version of me on the surface, but a dark and poisoned heart inside. Just like Charlotte Levine.

I quickly turn away from my shuddering figure, stuffing two pills into my mouth and struggling to swallow.

The melatonin pills induced a dreamless sleep, one that I could never have argued with. No dreams are better than nightmares, but I'm starting to learn that a painful life might be more valuable than an empty life.

Charlotte's life is over, gone... and so is Kunboss', as hard as I find it to cope with the loss of my might-as-well-have-been twin and brother.

But as hopeless as this might all seem, I have to stay strong.. because Eunice is still fighting in there.