Twin Cousins

I had a twin cousin. She and I were close, having known each other since we were six years old. She'd smile and laugh with me, play games with me. Normal cousin stuff. I never met my aunt and uncle. Mom and dad wouldn't allow it, and I didn't know why. I asked my cousin about it once, asked her to describe them for me, show me a picture, anything. She just smiled at me. That smile with a little smirk on the side.

When we turned twelve, she started...changing. She avoided me most of the time. Cousin didn't have any friends, but she used it as an excuse to stay away from me. I didn't know why. No more smiling, no more laughing, no more normal cousin stuff. She seemed to be in the woods behind our house all the time and came back well past midnight. When I asked her where she'd been, she just smiled and went back to bed. That troubled me. We were twin cousins. We were supposed to know everything about each other. I was asleep in my room. I stirred to a frantic knocking and sobbing on my door. Thinking it was Cousin, I switched on the lights and opened it. I froze. I saw Cousin doubled over and sobbing at my doorstep. Her raven hair dripped with blood, her clothes smeared with the same stuff. In her hand she held a knife, which she dropped. Cousin hugged me and sobbed into my shoulder. "What happened to you?" I asked. She didn't reply. She looked at me with wild, frightened eyes as I headed into the bathroom for a towel to clean her up. I didn't ask any questions. I wiped her hair and let her borrow some of my clothes. I sat down on the opposite side of the bed as she kept crying. And crying. And crying, hugging her knees to herself. "Do you want to tell me what happened now?" She choked out, "you...you..." "I?" Cousin let out another loud bawl. "You should know! You should know, you, of all people, should know!"

After that, Cousin avoided me like the fucking plague. She never came over anymore, only on Christmas or New Year's or thanksgiving or Valentines. I didn't see her much. Four years passed and I almost forgot about her. I never did. Her words kept ringing in the back of my head. What should I know? You should know. On a hot summer afternoon I had my girlfriend over. We cuddled on the couch, watched a few chick flicks and action movies. A few movies later there was a knock on my door. I stood up, gave my girl a quick peck, and headed to the door.

"Hi." Cousin said flatly. I blinked. "Hey. You..." Cousin waved me off and reached into her bag. She looked different now--beautiful. Like, her hair had this sheen and she let it loose over her shoulders. Her brown eyes shone with a different light--everything seemed to have changed about her. Cousin handed be an envelope and a small package. She leaned over my shoulder, looking at my girl. "Hm." "Yeah, I sort of broke my promise." When we were ten, I promised her I'd never get a girlfriend without telling her first. "Anyway..." Cousin began, awkwardly rubbing her shoulders. "...know that I love you, alright? I love you. We're twin cousins. Promise me you won't forget me?" I nodded slowly, not knowing where she was going. "Alright."

I opened the envelope after she'd gone. Inside was a small note and plane tickets to her homeland, the Philippines. The package was barely longer than my arm, but was heavy and rattled when shook.

I never forgot her.

On March 25th, a police officer knocked on my door and asked me to come with him. He led me upstairs into the attic, handled his gun, and kicked open the door. The reek inside was disgusting. I hadn't visited that attic in four years. Four years too long. Inside, a man was writhing about on a noose, yelling out that my Cousin was a witch. "Heartless daughter of the devil!" On the ground underneath him was a gun and two large bags. A rope was wound tightly around his feet and he was close to death. The man had been trying to rob me.

Question is...

I went to her house. The door was opened by a woman with striking resemblance to Cousin. For a moment, she looked at me with grief-stricken eyes. "Oh..." she sobbed. "Oh, hello." She invited me in and sat me down at the dining table. Aunt started cooking, serving up some meals I'd never had before. They tasted tangy and sweet at the same time. Aunt sat across the table and sighed. "It's funny that you just visited now," she said sadly. "We've been trying and trying to contact you. For years, she just locked herself in her room. She sang...sang sweet lullabies...sang about her life. She had nightmares every night. She was sleep-deprived most of the time and suicidal..." Aunt looked at me. I saw sadness and confusion in her eyes. "She was having nightmares about you." I furrowed my brows. "What?" "You...you were in her nightmares, she told me. Torturing her, stabbing her over and over..." Aunt choked back a sob.

"She's been dead for two years now."