Upon hearing what she said, I sunk my head even deeper.
You know, making those lovely bubbly sounds while soaking your body inside the bath tube. Childish huh? Bold of you to think that I wouldn't want to feel this... silly stuff.
And by doing so when it's reversed, I felt a sense of ease.
I shook myself mentally, tugging my attention back.
The day still demanded me—drills, instructions, pretending to know what I was doing. But now I also carried a little reminder: I could feel, I could ease, I could exist without strategy or pretense—at least for a moment.
As a female, that is.
Other things like soft warmth, unguarded moments, and the silliness of letting oneself just to be or not to be. That's when the image drifted into my mind: the sound of bubbles, the quiet weight of water around me, the ease of being… just a girl.
I'm just a girl, after all.
Alright, enough playing.
My—beautiful?—no, refreshed body finally decided it's a perfect time to get out.
Or what ever was this coy playing with watery stuff all about, heh.
Slowly but sure, I raised my head, wanting some fresh air.
But I felt like something or... to be precise, someone was holding it.
My head... it was too forceful. No, as if someone really wanted me to die.
I then forced my way out of the water but then...
The pressure was all gone. Just like that.
Annie was standing beside me.
Still the same as usual. In a quite distant position.
What the fuck was that...
Was that just my feelings? No, it cannot be.
Or maybe I was hallucinating again.
"Yes, you were."
Okay, stop reading my mind...
No, wait.
I took a silent breathe, composing myself like what I thought of Mirielle.
Exactly the same as what I imagined her to be.
"Perhaps, you should learn on how to be polite next time."
"Annie."
My tone was sharp. A bit too much for my usual lacklustre, lame and exhaustive self.
"Pardon my rudeness, Miss Mirielle. Is there anything else I can assist you with?"
Doesn't that sound a bit too polite?
I ignored that, thinking it was just some kind of default factory mode.
"Yes."
"I have one question for you in-fact, Annie."
I delivered it vaguely. Assume whatever you want—it never bothered me anyway.
Even if it seemed obvious.
Nope, it never was.
"Oh? And what is it, Miss Mirielle?"
I sighed, holding my breath a moment before slowly but sure, releasing it out.
My chest under water, heaving naturally, straightened themselves.
A commanding posture.
"Just now... you did notice it, didn't you?"
Her eyes rapidly blinked, then her pupils dilated.
As if realizing something eerie.
Simultaneously, my heartbeat increased.
Followed by those wavy, chaotic ripples coming from the bathtub.
"I- I don't understand, Miss Mirielle. Pardon me but what was your probing on about?"
I sighed once more, then my pointing finger lazily hovered towards her.
As if targetting her. Something like that.
"I said."
"Did you notice it, Annie?"
At first, she didn't react until...
Don't play fool with the fool, you fool.
All of a sudden, her eyes blinked. This time much faster than before.
Okay, holy shit-
I had so many terrible feelings about this. My first coherent thought was simply: get out of this hell. Preferably before my very naked body decided to react voluntarily on its own.
And before my mind could even react, my soul already had.
My body followed on pure instinct.
Feet pushing off the slick porcelain, as I launched myself into an acrobatic move—
A fucking backflip. A perfect landing.
The one I had never expected to pull off.
Ever.
What I witnessed right after was a pure cacophony disguised as blissful fantasy.
A maddening symphony that teased terror as if it were beauty.
A blitz sound of sharp laser tore the bath tube with a terrifying precision, its vibration berserk into my ears. As if it aimed to maim me into a flawless, yet horrifying split.
Nope, I definitely would've been really dead had I stayed.
Okay, what the actual fuck was that?
"Oh... that wasn't her at all. I see."
She chuckled — an eerie, bone-chillingly grim voice shreeking into all of my senses.
Terrifying, and yet unexpectedly emotional — a voice I wished I could never prefer to be considered human. Yet it sounded so real...
"Oh my… you noticed."
"I really got caught. How terribly impressive, Mirielle."
"Or should I say... a poltergeist pretending to be one?"
This is annoying.
"Shut up."
I tried to steady my ground, perhaps my head was feeling dizzy after yet another insane sommersault stunt I just pulled earlier.
"Earlier, were you the one holding me back?"
She never answered.
No, more like it's not her answer I really wanted.
Instead, it was something else entirely.
"You should have been dead, Mirielle."