~POISON~

Thana grinned wildly, eyes blazing. This was it, the day she could finally be free. The rising whistle of the teakettle was a soothing sound. A chorus of encouragement for what she was about to do. The other ingredients for the tea were beside her; teabags, cream, sugar, and of course, the small vial of poison she was ever so eager to use, colorless and tasteless. The perfect weapon of murder. 

She gently poured the boiling water into two mugs, one for her, and one for her sister, Aleah. Soft tendrils of steam curled around teabags as they descended into the hot liquid. The tea was left to steep for a moment, and Thana recalled her exact reasoning for what she was about to do. The sisters had yes, always had an intense rivalry, but she never could have imagined that it would go so far. Perhaps it was the incident of a month ago, when Aleah had taken the credit for Thana’s essay and gotten the 100. Or maybe when she started the many rumors that lead her friends all ignoring her. Or, possibly, how she always convinced everyone to be on her side. Even when she was so blatantly wrong. 

Whatever the cause, Thana had had enough. She already had made arrangements to flee the country, and that was that. Thana would be happy at last. 

She smirked happily to herself, adding the cream and sugar to the identical mugs, and the poison into just one before making her way down to the cozy living room. 

“Finally.” Aleah grumbled, grabbing the warm mug out of her sister's hands. Thana smiled softly to herself. All of Thana’s problems would be gone with Aleah just taking a single sip of the tea. She put her mug down on the table between the two and watched her sister intently. 

After about ten minutes, Aleah finally broke the uncomfortable silence. She still had yet to drink her tea. “Sister,” She whispered sinisterly, placing her mug down as well. “You must know why I’m here. Mother and father have requested me to visit you about some of their absolutely pressing concerns. Your grades are inadequate, so much so that they can’t bear to be in your presence.” She smiled. “And they want to know about all the talk around the college. About how you copy off everyone’s work? Even your dear friends?” 

Thana mumbled incoherent insults under her breath, cursing her sister’s existence. She’ll be gone soon. She reminded herself. She’ll be gone and dead, and I’ll be happy on my little island, far, far away. No one will hurt me ever again. She sighed happily at the thought, and forced herself to reply to Aleah calmly 

“You know that my grades are only dropping because you keep stealing my work.” She murmured with a glare. “And you know the rumors you spread aren’t true in the slightest. I’ll tell them what you’ve done, Aleah. They’ll check our computers and realize it was my work after all.” She played along. 

“Oh, but Thana, no one will believe you! It’s only us within these walls. Only us. There will be no one that knows of this conversation but us. No one that knows these secrets. No one to know that I’m the one doing this to you. That I’m trying to ruin your life, dear sister. And even if they knew, no one would care. I’m the better twin, and I always have been. They will love me more, even if I die. You are absolutely worthless, and everyone on this planet knows it.” She took a large sip of her tea, and Thana did the same. Despite her blood boiling with Aleah’s words, happiness bubbled within Thana. Aleah had drunk the poison at last. 

Her heart pounded within her chest, pure excitement taking over her. Her hands were sweating in anticipation. Her eyes scanned over her sister’s body for any symptoms of the poison. It should have started working the second it had entered her mouth. 

“Maybe, sister. Maybe they will always love you more than they love me. Maybe you will remain the favorite until the world turns dark and cold.” Thana grinned smugly. “But I know that I will soon find out.” 

“You mean with your poison?” Aleah questioned with a smile. “You really should keep a better eye on your surroundings, Thana. No greater fool than you would have missed me switching our cups. You know what it does to your body. You’re as good as dead.” 

Thana’s blood turned colder than ice. Her heart was pounding in her ears, struggling to stay beating. Her hands were coated in sweat. Her chest was tightening by the moment. She thought it had been from excitement. From anticipation. 

She had thought wrong. And she would pay for it. 

 It was too late for an antidote She had not even gotten one. Why had she been so stupid? How could she not have recognized the symptoms in herself? And how had Aleah known? Had she been spying? Did someone find out and tell her?  

Thana buried herself deep in these thoughts. She had almost missed Aleah’s next sentence. 

“It’s a pity I won’t be able to steal your work anymore, but I’m glad you’ll finally be gone from this planet, sister.” Aleah cackled. 

Thana’s vision was blacking out. Her muscles and bones were dissolving within her. She couldn’t breathe. 

“And the best part is, no one will ever know what I did. You’ve already given me an escape plan. And as you can, see, my gloves have never come off. So, thank you, for this wonderful opportunity, Thana.” 

She had only seconds left. 

“Good riddance!” She flipped her hair behind her back and walked towards the door. 

3......2...... 

There was a knock at the door. Aleah froze suddenly. 

“New York police!” Someone shouted behind the door. “Open up, or we’ll shoot! 

1. 

Hi! Thank you so much for reading. Just a couple notes: 

1. This has not been proofread. Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes 
2. I know this is probably not a very good writing piece. Constructive criticism is always welcome, but please don’t be overly rude. 

That's all! Thanks again for reading!