BEST ENEMY!

Tap! Tap!

She heard a knock in the distance. She ignored it and stood still, simply staring at her reflection in the mirror.

Tap! Tap!

She rubbed her hands, trying to wipe the remains of her actions. She wasn’t wrong, she said, repeated.

Tap! Tap!

She opened her bag, took the lipstick, and applied a thick layer. She clapped her hands and chuckled looking at herself in the mirror.

“I am not wrong.”

Tap! Tap!

The knock grew aggressively louder and the distance reduced.

Her smile evaporated and her hands shook. She repeated, again and again, “I’d run away. No one would know”.

Tap! Tap!

Her knees gave out. She leaned on the wall, trying to calm herself down. Her body trembled and whatever she did couldn’t get control of her body.

Tears trickled down, making a beeline towards her pale cheeks, bearing the first sign of her lost composure and her obvious loss in a fight with herself.

She hadn’t thought it would come to this. She never imagined she would live such a night where all her morals would vanish away. She never realized that she would brace the evil so willingly.

Evil, she would say, for the sake of her lost morals, but those thoughts of hers weren’t evil, were they? They were just intriguing, interesting, a bit dark, yes, but still, their charm can’t be denied.

She can't deny the exhilaration she got the first time she saw red that night. She wasn’t prepared and maybe, that’s why she gave in to that rush.

She gave in and opened that little window to the evil her. She gave in to the persistent knock of darkness, left the side of one she had been raised to believe and trust.

Her breathing was still labored. But she stood up, gripping the sink tightly. She did not smile nor did she cry anymore. All she did was give out a blood-curdling scream that took all her doubts and worries. She was no longer hesitant, she no longer wanted to back off from the forbidden pleasure.

 She stared at her reflection. Her hair was disheveled, her lipstick smudged. She looked like the epitome of a monster she had always resented, feared, hated. The monster she wanted to run from. Instead, she allowed herself to be that monster. Her lips curled upward and a peal of sinister laughter tore through the washroom.

She no longer was the same person who lived a normal, happy life with sweet parents and close friends. She joined hands with the evil and tapped into her darkest desire. Blood! Red!

She walked out of her rented room with a confidence she never had, a sinister smile she never carried, and hollow eyes that would twinkle in joy at the pain of others.

She hadn’t ever realized the power of letting loose, the pleasure, the euphoria she would feel. Now that she experienced it once she had been addicted to it, drawn towards it and itching to feel it again. She wanted to be that powerful woman again.

Now her legs didn’t shake when the siren blared, but her eyes hardened and blazed with excitement. She found joy in the cat and mouse chase between the police and her, seeing them failing to catch her was a bonus.

It had been a year since that night and she lived a very different life now. This day was the same date when the incident happened and she walked towards the grave to pay her credits and express her gratitude. She felt grateful to have become a person who has so much power in her hands.

She placed the bouquet and sat down. She smiled at the engraving – best friend, best daughter, best sister. Her lips curled up in a frown. Why isn’t there ‘best enemy’ engrained? She has done most in that role.

She shook her head and chuckled at her foolishness. The world didn’t know, her parents didn’t know what she had done for her as her enemy. She was here to make her enemy proud, happy of what a person she had made out of her before dying.

“Hey! How are you doing? It’s been a year since that night when I was scared beyond my wits. I was afraid and shocked. You were my enemy but I never wanted that for you. I wasn’t such a person. It was all because of that brawl we had. It wasn’t planned, we even met by accident. It was all fate, won’t you agree? Our teacher once said, grow a personality and stand out from everyone. That night I finally had a personality of my own, unique to me. “

“It was an accident. I never meant to push you hard enough for you to fall down and on top of that hitting your head hard on a rock. The truth is you tripped and fell down or at least that’s what your family and the police believe. They did no justice to you, did they? You were very persistent. Didn’t die as easily as they say.”

“I still remember the color red, the blood. I think at that point everything changed. My favorite color too.” She chuckled.

“At first I was petrified and helpless. No one was around and you were crying in pain. But you know what terrified me the most?” she paused, her eyes hooded in the memories of that night, memories that she remembered fondly.

“That I liked it. I liked how you were lying there so helpless, so pathetic. I liked the power I had on you. My curiosity sparked a sense of awe at the prospect of wielding such power. Your eyes seemed too dull of their usual shine. You realized, didn’t you? Realized that I was enjoying it more than I should? Isn’t that why you started fighting me with your poor, weak, powerless hands? You were brave. I have to give you that though. You were resolute. Never gave up ‘til the last breath.” She enjoyed the cool breeze blowing on her face. This was what she wanted, reliving her loved memory in such a beautiful place. How many here have been her victim?

“Your persistence fueled the monster inside me. I wanted the look of helplessness in your eyes, not a determination to fight. You can’t blame me for hitting your head hard on the stone again and again ‘til you bled out. My parents had asked me to do what I liked, to do what made me happy and I did just that. I am such an obedient daughter, aren’t I? I wanted to feel that rush I felt when your heartbeat stopped. I wanted to see that helplessness again. So I made more and more people helpless and drank that power. You may call me horrendous or even a psychopath. But all I am are just a simple, happy person trying to do what I like. Thank you for what you did for an enemy.” She smiled. Finally, she could express her gratefulness to the one person who deserved it, the person who made her reborn again, who helped knock the window to her sadist.