Twinkle's Story: Chapter 16

*Hi, readers! I know I haven't posted a new chapter in almost a month. So sorry about that! DX*
*WARNING: Mentions violent scenes/situations.*
*WARNING: This chapter is going to be sad and emotional. (Lol, that's why my previous post was a happy and funny post. o3o) If you're already sad for whatever the reason is, I recommend you not reading this chapter until you're okay again.
*Please don't leave goofy comments in this post. Please act maturely in the comments. (Not like I don't think you guys can do that or anything... just saying.) Believe it or not; when I read funny, goofy comments on a serious, emotional post (which this will be- read the actual story chapter below) I find it a bit insulting because then you don't really get the point of this chapter.*
*Be prepared! If you're expecting a calm-like (idk) post, then I'm sorry. You've come to the wrong place. And, if you want to remain happy all day and then read this post- and afterwards, you're sad, don't blame me. Okay, guys? 'Cause these WARNINGS are here for a reason. I am completely serious about these WARNINGS- especially the violence ones. But you should remember that I do type these WARNINGS for a reason. 'Cause I really don't want to ruin your fun days with reading this sad post. Another thing I have to say is this. There are some situations throughout this story (and in future chapters especially**) that have elements in them that are unsafe. PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU GUYS, DO NOT DO SOME OF THE ACTIONS IN THIS STORY. ESPECIALLY ONES THAT DUKE DOES/WILL DO (you'll understand why I say this in chapters way later on).*
*Now, if you're all ready and prepared, here's Chapter 16 for you to read. Please, please, please remember what I typed above. I really do mean it. This is a topic I'm very serious about; this is like a safety reminder (idk). Enjoy! (Actually, I only allow you to enjoy the end of this chapter. You'll understand after you've read this chapter.) Thanks for reading this! ^.^*

DUKE

Not all stories have happy endings. It's just the sad, honest truth. Every single one of us wishes for endings to have at least some happiness in them. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Reality is not like fairytales. I'm not just thinking these ideas suddenly because of my own life. My life. Where I have to pretend like there's nothing wrong; that I am actually happy. But that's not the truth. All the times when I've laughed- with my friends at school or with Twinkle- were complete lies. Like I'm sugarcoating how I really feel to them. Because I don't want to hurt them. I don't want to hurt the ones I care about. I hang my head down sadly, thinking about the hallucinations. And I definitely don't want to hurt Twinkle. It's like my duty. Like I have to protect her, so those hallucinations will never become reality. And also because I love her with all my heart. That just makes the situation around me far, far worse. Who knew loving somebody could end up like this?

Not all stories have happy endings. That demon-fox is right. No matter how much I despise him, he's correct. I look at my claws. Now, they're completely red. More redder than just a few moments before. But wait. How in the name of Mira is that even possible? For my claws to be more red than before, then I would have to be the one that's bleeding. Not that hospital worker that brought me here. I look carefully at my claws again, and I can't identify where the blood might have originated from. Puzzled, I glance behind me. That fox is still there; blood still drips from his cheek. The middle of where I deeply scratched him. So that explains that. My claws, even more red, makes a red drop fall off the edge of them; it falls onto my foot. Inside my head, I panic. How in the world is this possible? This can't possibly be real, right? Then I remember how that demon-fox's voice is vaguely familiar to me. All of a sudden, an answer comes over me. It scares the living daylight out of me. But that is the only logical answer there could possibly be, so I believe it. The reason why that demon-fox's voice is familiar to me is because... because I'm the demon-fox. The demon-fox is just the darkness of me. And since he's me, we both suffered some pain. The demon-fox vanished right after I punched him, only to be replaced with that hospital worker to blend in with the situation around me in reality. My own darkness made me, myself, go against it. So I basically fought against myself. How great- not. And his eyes. I remember that moment just before he vanished. His dark red eyes, the color of blood, also had opened wider. And in that brief moment, I saw a ring of purple around the outside of his eyes. Then this somehow-real hallucination ended... somewhat. An unsettling feeling comes to me.

A few minutes later, I turn around. But no. I don't move forward into the room where Twinkle's in, which is just a step in front of me. I'm still in-between the hallway and that room. The space that appears when a door is opened. I just stand there, lost in my own chaotic thoughts. I think back to that night when Twinkle and I were on the Tall Tower's roof. I remember the glasses I stole from my mother many months ago, and how I brought them with me that night. One reason I brought the glasses with me that night was for the romantic part of it. Glasses, toasts, at night... that romantic feeling of spending the night with Twinkle. The other reason I brought the glasses and broke them afterwards was to show that we're both breaking away from our awful past lives. The glasses symbolizing our lives. However, I didn't know at the time that that meant breaking away from Twinkle. Losing her. I take a step forward, so I'm now in the room. I didn't mean for the few precious moments of Twinkle and I to be broken, too. But sadly our time together in the past has now been broken as well. Now the glass shards of the glasses that I've thrown over the edge of the roof take a new shape in my mind. The shape of a broken heart- and that's the part in all of us that hurts the most. If one is hurt all over their body, their injured, broken heart will clearly hurt the most. And now, as I move more into the room, that broken heart is my own. Then the worst sound in the entire world rings out, loud and clear. So much that it makes my ears bleed just as much as my claws.

BBBBBBBEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPP! The machine doesn't give out another beep. Right after it rang out that long, single beep, it didn't make any other beeping noises. Just silence follows; deadly, deadly silence. And this time, it really is deadly silence. I can't even look at the machine that made that noise, but I still look up. There are only two chairs in this room. They're both occupied by Twinkle's parents. I guess I'll be standing up then. Their facial expressions haunt me almost as much as the fact that I'm part-demon. Her parents suddenly look much older than they really are, sitting so still that I almost mistaken them for being statues. They're looking behind me, and that's where the beeping noise originated from. But I don't turn around- yet. Eyes dull, grim looks, almost empty-like to me. But no, they don't cry; not a single teardrop falls from their eyes. Their eyes remain completely dry. I take a deep breath and sigh, then I look behind me.

I was expecting the machine that gave the long beep to be an unimportant machine. Like, I don't know, the machine that, uh.... detects how much pain one has.? The machine that detects how stressed one is.? The machine that detects if one's conscious or not.? I desperately think of all other machines it might've been. But no. It wasn't any of those. I feel myself about to cry again; I'm too defeated to try to stop them. So they don't. The machine that gave the long beep was the heart monitor. A line slants from the top left to the horizontal, green line in the center in the far left of the heart monitor. At the base of that diagonal line is no more ups or downs of a heartbeat. Just nothing. The black line of the heart beats is matched up on top of the green, horizontal line. The black line remains horizontal; it doesn't move up nor down. I quickly glance at Twinkle who's lying on the uncomfortable-looking hospital bed. In that moment, I could feel my cheeks being wet with tears. No, these aren't just tears from remembering those awful days when I was four. These tears are purely from here. About Twinkle. And how she's now.... gone.

 I now look at the doctor who's to the other side of me. I see a worry-like look in his eyes, and his paws shake just as much as his voice does when he speaks. "I... I am so sorry for your loss." He sounds like a robot. That just makes me more desperate. I say, desperately, "Doctor, please tell me the heart monitor only broke. That it's just an error. Twinkle still has a heartbeat, right? Right? Please, doctor, please...." The doctor sniffs and replies, "No... no. The monitor's working completely fine. I just checked it now. I am so, so sorry. She's gone now, kiddo." I feel my own paws shaking now, my fur standing on end, my eyes dilating- like I might break at any given moment. "No! This can't be happening. No!" I yowl, my voice shaking at every word. "You could've saved her! And you didn't. Why!?" The doctor looks at me, almost right through me. "We've done all we can to save Twinkle. It's like she just... drifted off." I feel the flames of fire burning in my eyes. "DRIFTED OFF? IS THAT WHAT YOU SAY WHEN A PACIENT OF YOURS DIES? IS THAT WHAT YOU TELL YOUR PACIENTS' LOVED ONES WHEN YOU FAIL YOUR JOB? OF KEEPING YOUR PACIENTS ALIVE!? WHAT THE HECK!" The doctor takes a step back, moving farther away from me. Oh, how I just want to rip that doctor apart. Then I hear Twinkle's father say, "Calm down, Duke. Calm down." I turn around and look at both of Twinkle's parents. I'm surprised that they didn't see the flames of fire in my eyes- mixed with the water of my tears. I screech back, "CALM DOWN!? YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN? WHAT THE.... Wait. WHY AREN'T YOU GUYS," I point a claw at Twinkle's parents, "SHOWING ANY SIGN OF EMOTION? ESPECIALLY SINCE YOUR DAUGHTER JUST... I DON'T KNOW... DIED!? HUH!? CAN YOU PLEASE GIVE ME AN ANSWER TO THAT!?"

Silence follows. Wow, they can't even give me a logical reason for why they aren't crying over their own daughter's death. It makes me sick. Another sick thought comes to mind. I remember how I killed Twinkle multiple times in my hallucinations; in the cruelest ways. I remember when I stepped into this room, and the heart monitor beeped that long beep. I can't believe it. I can't believe what I've done. I actually did kill Twinkle. I remember right after that first hallucination I had. I remember screaming, "'I KILLED TWINKLE! I KILLED HER!'" I then remember our prophecy. What would happen to the prophecy now? Totally forgetting about the question I've asked her parents (who both remain completely silent), I walk closer to the bed where Twinkle's in. None of them notice that I moved. Now I bend down, so I'm on my knees. I hang my head down. Even though now I can't actually see Twinkle (I only see the side of the hospital bed), I pretend that she can hear me- wherever she is. Pausing before shakes or choking up in grief, I softly whisper. "Oh, Twinkle. I am so, so, so, so, so, so, so sorry. For everything. I should have protected you, not hurt you. I thought we would be together like... like fire and ice. Y'know?" I take a breath before continuing. "Twinkle, I've spoken to you wrong that time. Because... because... I do care if you're gone. Twinkle, I just want you to know that I do care if you die. And if you have to die for me to realize that...." I choke up again. I then say a simple sentence, but with a much deeper meaning. "I love you, Twinkle." I wipe away some of the tears, and come back up onto my feet.

I turn back towards her parents. Now her mother speaks. "We, Twinkle's father and I, have become numb to the deaths of loved ones. We've seen too many deaths already. Fauna, now Twinkle. It's... it's just too much to handle. You do understand that, don't you?" I glare at them once again, with more hatred than before. "Yes, I do understand. But you guys," I accusingly point a claw at both of them, "don't. I've seen far more deaths than anyone my age has ever seen. Probably in a lifetime. And you guys are numb to the fact of 'too many deaths'? Oh my Zios. Please tell me you're kidding. Right? You've got to be kidding me. You've only experienced with dealing with the death of Fauna, am I correct? Well, guess what." I swallow, then continue. "I have dealt with, and moved on, to the death of my uncle, my aunt, my father, and maybe even my friend." I think back to when my friend did a crazy stunt, and fell down. He became paralyzed. I don't even know if he's still alive today. I shudder so small that the others here don't even notice that. "I'm not 'numb to the deaths of loved ones'. But you two are? Come on!" I have to admit, they both looked pretty surprised. I sigh. But what Twinkle's father says next is one of the most shocking news I've heard in my life.

"Well... Twinkle kinda deserves it. She should've been protecting Fauna at the battle- not leaving her defenseless. She's Fauna for crying out loud! She's like a symbol of peace, and Twinkle thought she should leave her to defend herself? To add to that, she's blind. Twinkle was supposed to protect Fauna! And then at the field trip. Just staring at phantoms in the eye when everybody else evacuated from there. How senseless can Twinkle possibly get?" I feel sad for Twinkle when I hear her own father say that. "We might've known about the prophecy, but it doesn't mean we approve of it. At least this time around, it doesn't hurt as bad." My shoulders droop. I say, "Why is Twinkle getting all the blame here? You're her parents. Shouldn't you be at least a little devastated to know that your other daughter just died? You're her parents. Where were you during the battle? Clearly not with your two daughters! You should've protected both of them! Of course one of them might die- you weren't with them at the battle fighting among them, as a team. How could you!? HOW COULD YOU!?" Twinkle's mother speaks this time. "And that's why we locked Twinkle up for nearly a year. To punish her for not doing her job- protecting her little sister." I feel the flames in my eyes again. I yell back, "HOW COULD YOU!? No wonder Twinkle doesn't have any friends. You know what? I might be her very first friend. And what about your jobs? Isn't it a parents' job and responsibility to protect and care for their child, or children?" I take a deep breath, cry a little bit more, then continue. "To tell you the truth, I don't know. Okay? I don't know! Maybe it's because I don't really have parents. They... they fought with each other more than actually caring about me. My mother even killed my father! I've never known the true meaning of love until Twinkle. Sure, I had my aunt and uncle. The best one could ever ask for. But we've only seen them once or twice a year, and in the years back then, the days they came were the only days when I actually felt like somebody cared about me. Like there was a reason for me to be in this blasted world. And now to hear this.... I can't believe you. I can never trust anybody else ever again." Twinkle's parents look at each other and sigh. "Wow, Duke. We... we didn't know. We're so, so sorry. And okay, we'll admit it. Ever since Fauna's death, we've made Twinkle's life utterly miserable." I just look at them, suddenly expressionless. Then, we all forget about what we previously said. We then join together as we begin to mourn Twinkle- but it's not as long as we've expected.


TWINKLE

In my vision, it's not really me. It's my spirit. But it feels so real, it has to me. But it's not. It's just my soul with what looks like my body on the outside. But to tell you the truth, I don't know where my body is now. Eh, too confusing. I then adjust my eyes to the sudden brightness. I close my eyes for a brief moment.

I blink open my eyes again. The colors in here (wherever I am) are like the definition of warmth. No, not orange or red like a fire, but more soothing and soft. White surrounds me with traces of a pale golden yellow. The prettiest color I've ever seen. I smile as I look up, absorbing all the calm and peacefulness of it all. "This is beautiful..." I breathe. Suddenly, I hear shuffling of what... wings!? Before I can see who made the noise, the voice (female), says this. "Oh my gosh! What in the world... Why are you here? You're not supposed to be here- get out! Now! Why are you in heaven, Twinkle!?" I hear wings flapping, and the fox that spoken lands at my feet, right in front of me. As I recognize who it is, I gasp in astonishment. "Fauna! Is it really you? And you have wings! Whoa...." The angel-fox that looks like Fauna says, "Yeah, Twinkle. I'm Fauna." She spreads out these two huge and fluffy-looking, white wings. "When I died, I became an angel. So I'm an angel-fox. Awesome!" We giggle for about a minute, but then I notice there's something different about Fauna. "Oh my gosh, Fauna! Your... your eyes! They aren't cloudy, but they're still white. They're shining beautifully, Fauna. And they look perfect on you! Aww... I swear, I bet you placed diamonds and crystals in your eyes! Wait, can you... umm, see me? And whoa, whoa, whoa.... this place is heaven? Wow!" Fauna takes a deep breath, and says, "So many questions, Twinkle! Geez! And yes, when one goes to heaven (when they're supposed to), all their... what's that word? Ugh! I'll just say 'injuries' for now. Okay so yeah. When one goes to heaven, all their injuries are lifted away. Mine being blind. Like for any type of injury. If one doesn't have a paw, one is deaf, one has... I don't know, the list could go on, and on! Anyways, I'm no longer blind. So yeah. And yes, this," she flaps her wings up and down, but stays on the floor. Or what I think is the floor. "is that majestic place called heaven. So, even if you're not welcome here, welcome!" We giggle again, and as I try to hug Fauna she flies upward. Confused, I look up at her with a look that says hey-what-was-that-for. Instead, Fauna says, "Follow me." I nod and follow her, more into the light.

I hear two male voices and one more female. I hear one of the male voices explain, ".... They should have them equipped. Who knows, maybe another catastrophe will happen." I hear him sigh. Then the female voice says, "Ugh. Do you two have to always be so negative? This place is supposed to be positive, and I want to keep it that way. So stop it, Eternal." Wait, did she just say 'Eternal'!? I remember when Duke told me what happened when he eavesdropped on his mother's phone conversation. Eternal is Duke's father, and he's just around the corner. Being overly excited, I ask Fauna, "Wait, wait, wait. Fauna are you friends with them?" She continues on; I run to catch up with her. She sighs, "Yes. We're friends. Anything wrong with that? It's not like anybody my age is here. Yours too. They're like the youngest foxes here too- excluding me, of course." We turn the corner. All other conversations stop. And all eyes are on me.

I shuffle uncomfortably, embarrassed by everyone looking at me. I'm not a very beautiful fox or anything, even if Duke did say I am, so I don't really like getting all the attention. "Umm......" I begin, uncomfortably as I balance on one foot to the other. The one named Eternal is the first to speak. "Hey, who in the world are you? Haha. I remember now." Eternal ends up laughing. The other male fox and the female fox look at him weirdly. Eternal then coughs. "Oh yes. I've seen that your Duke's girlfriend, huh.? That's nice." I don't really know what to say in this awkward situation, so I stammer. "Uh.... yeah. Thanks that you approve of me being your son's girlfriend.? Uh....." Eternal just grins. Fauna pokes my side. I cock my head to the side. She whispers in my ear, "Twinkle. You're turning... how to put this? You're turning red, Twinkle- almost purple, at that!" I whisper back, "Yeah. I guess since blue and red together makes purple.... uh.... I never was called somebody's 'girlfriend' before. So that's pretty awkward to hear that from the dead dad- no offense." Fauna replies, "Well, just tone the blushing down a bit." I nod, and then look at them. I have a small smile on my face again. The other male fox interrupts the very awkward moment here, but then I realize what he says is even more uncomfortable to me. I take a step back after I heard what he said. "I don't know how I came here. I'm telling the truth! There was this fork in the road, and this voice made me very nervous, so I panicked. And I was sick of being in the dark for so long, that I headed towards the light side, which is this place. So....."

This time, the female voice interrupts me. "Yes. What he said," she points one of her wings at the fox that just talked, "is true. We're all related. I'm Duke's aunt, and he's Duke's uncle. And that guy over there is his dad. Don't talk about our deaths though, or I swear you'll regret it." I look at the three adult foxes, wonderstruck. "I promise." I say to them, meaning it. Then I turn to Fauna who's right by my side. "Is it a coincidence that you found them? Or that they found you?" She just shrugs and simply says, "I guess so." Duke's aunt speaks again. "Us four share lots of details about your two lives. We know about the prophecy, too. And now that you're here, that can't really be fulfilled...." I gasp. "If what you told me is correct," I look at Duke's uncle, "that if I'm in heaven, my body is dead, then they must be so devastated. Oh my gosh, I have to go back. I'm so sorry, Fauna." I say, turning towards Fauna. "I never finished that story for you, but I don't think this is the right time to do it. Please forgive me. For everything. Goodbye." Fauna solemnly hangs her head. "It's okay, Twinkle. I already made up what will happen after that, and I think that if you tell me what you had in mind, it would just ruin the story. And yes, I forgive you, Twinkle. And they were wrong; it wasn't entirely your fault. We all make mistakes, okay? Anyways, goodbye, Twinkle! And I hope I don't see you back here in a long, long time. You're the best sister anyone could ever ask for."

We then hug each other, then as I head back towards the darkness, I take a final glance back. I wave goodbye to them, even if they can't see me anymore. I head towards the dark side of that fork in the road. The side where my body would become alive again. I take a deep breath, and cross into the darkness. The next thing I see when I open my eyes again is the hospital room where I've been. I also see my parents and Duke comforting each other. I sit up in the hospital bed, and smile.