Chapter 1

'Don't we call it a day?' – K

'Don't change the subject and evade whole scene.' – E

'Why the drama?' – A

K rolls the eyes, E makes an angry grimace.

'This asshole tries to get away with another trashy murder.' – E

'Whoa-whoa! Not a murder!' – K

A raises eyebrow, puzzled looking at the scene.

'Ok, ok maybe?' – K shrugs.

'Maybe?!' – E raises voice.

'Maybe you can explain?' – A lets out a sigh.

'Jokes, just jokes.' – K pulls E along with him.

'Not alone, are we now?' – K smiled

'Don't pull that on me.' – E replied

'But?'

'No buts, you piece of work…'

'Still mad?'

'Mad? Mad?! Are you for real?!'

'Oh am I?'

'You… Grrr… You've no sense, do you? What do we do with this body now?!' – E was at loss of what to do.

Alastair walked the garden at night, overhearing the two arguing. Hidden just behind the rose wall, he listened to the banter.

The two cousins were up to no good.

'You know what this means? Do you even KNOW what this means?!' – Edric paced back and forth, wiping his forehead with palm of his hand.

'Well…' – Kayden rolled eyes, then pressed lips.

Edric looked at him in utter disbelief.

'Now your head, my head and whole lot of our families is going to die like rats in this castle. How could you just…' – Edric opened mouth to say more, instead let out long breath and bit lower lip.

'Wait, wait, brother, are we that doomed?' – Kayden was still smiling like this was nothing.

'You…' – Edric took a long breath in. – 'This is the goddamn sister of Alastair, you dumbass.' – Edrick hissed at his brother.

Alastairs hand was grabbed and pulled away, he almost fell as he was dragged, yet when he looked at the perpetrator – instead of fighting back, he smiled and allowed to be pulled along.

In the depths of the garden, Neali was now softly, slowly walking alongside Alastair.

'Quite the prank you pulled, dear sister. They will be in a lengthy turmoil and panic for a while.' – Alastair remarked.

Neali just smiled.

'How are we to deal with them? Who is it really? Did you get a double or someone?' – Her brother kept asking.

She shook her head, meaning no. Alastair stopped, so did she.

'Nah, that damn brat did pull one on me and killed me.' – Neali put the stray strand of hair behind her ear.

'What do you mean?' – Alastair could not understand at all.

'Well, you remember how that old faith crone came to give me a blessing and how none could understand what it was?' – Neali turned to face her brother. – 'Guess that's the blessing. Being no longer alive, yet alive and not really dead. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.'

'Wait a moment… What?' – Alastair softly took his sisters hand in his.

'I know I died. I felt the grip on my neck and last breath leaving body, but somehow I'm here. Although, them two are also with my body. As it's mine, though dead. And I'm here and alive, with another body. I'm not making sense to me either, believe me.' – Neali shook head, letting out deep sigh.

'So what now?' – Alastair let out.

'No clue, to be honest. I don't know how it works. Although I don't feel like I'll vanish in thin air. Just that I won't be alive the same way.'

Once guards found both brothers and incarcerated them, it was a matter of days until guillotine. But as the day approached, as the two stood in the square of the castle, tied up, kneeling and hissing at one another – Alastair came out to be the executioner. For the sake of royal decree – there were only the two guards stationed, besides the two brothers, no onlookers, no other witnesses.

'Not the deal we expected, brother.' – Kayden smiled at Alastair.

'Neither did I.' -Alastair looked aside, to see Neali near the statue.

Edric took a look and saw Neali.

'That can't be real.' – His voice shook in terror as he said it.

The being that looked back resembled Neali, but the eyes, the hands and body seemed morphed, like the monster in old lore books they've read, the one that haunts until all whom hurt the body it inhabited – died an excruciating death.

'Alastair! Alastair! That's no longer your sister! That's the monster! The demon! It's not her!' – Edric cried out.

Kayden was too shocked to avert his gaze from that monster.

'Don't worry, your death shall be swift.' – Alastair had spoken.

With that – the sword slashed through air, knocking down the heads of the brothers to the ground.

'They finally saw the real fear, did they not?' – Neali softly spoke to Alastair, as they sat on the balcony, overseeing the garden.

'They sure did.' – Alastair looked at the sky.

Neali turned to face her brother, her fingers softly touching his cheek.

'Look, I'll have to go now. And with the light of full moon I'll transcend into light, leaving this world behind. She'll come soon, you'll know when you see. Trust your sister, trust me.' – Neali smiled.

Yet as Alastair turned to face his sister he finally saw the demonic body that stood in front of him. Gruesome sight. Fear crept up and left him with no breath to gasp.

'I know, I know.' – Neali let her hand down. – 'But I made sure she'd find you. You'll know when you'll see her. Trust your sister one last time. I love you, brother.'

She jumped off and into darkness she disappeared.

Months. It took months to recover from the whole situation. The ones who hurt Neali through her life, who never apologised, were dying at light speed. Mercilessly cleaned up.

Alastair researched the monster in the books and found what it was, yet was surprised that this kind of being was soft with him. Maybe due to love his sister had for him? Maybe that kept it in a way to show him only the looks of his sister, until the last moment. And then as if out of respect – revealing itself.

Alastair had no understanding of what went on. He tried reaching out to the crones of old, to figure out the case, yet none cared to reply. Not a single answer to this distress.

Another late night in the garden, Alastair walked, slowly, softly.

'Sulking, are we?' – A voice came from behind.

Alastair pulled sword and held it tight. Yet he was met with a smile and a pair of green eyes that he could not stop looking into.

She took the blade with two fingers and pulled it to side.

'Now, what manners, put that poker away. You don't want to harm self now, do you?' – She let out a giggle.

'Who are you?' – Alastair seethed the sword.

She grimaced, put her hands up like paws and made gesture of claws.

'I'm a scary being here to eat your soul u-u-u.' – She laughed. – 'But seriously, Alastair, my name is Arika. Your sister sent me letter some while ago. And spirits know how long it took for me to travel here from the other side of continent. What persistence that lady had.' – She yawned.

'My sister?' – Alastair was puzzled.

'Oh yeah, she was quite persuasive in her letter for me to come. Not that I leave the Forest of Magic at all. To be precise – ever, but what she wrote of got me and my bag on the go right after I got it. By the way, my condolences,' Arika scratched her forehead, – 'I was the one to purify her out from this plane. That 'blessing of cursing by crone' is only to be removed by the witches of certain sort, you see.'

Alastair felt pain, anger, he came closer to Arika, grabbed her by shoulders and growled at her.

'You! You were the one to kill her?!' – His fingers pushed into her bones.

'Eiii, tsk' – Arika cupped his face with her hands. – 'You angry mammal, subdue self. She was already dead, the morphed creature took over her strongest emotions and memories. She was no longer there. So I purified what was left for her to be able to reincarnate, you brute creature.'

Arika pouted, as Alastair put ice on her shoulders, apologetically mumbling 'sorry' every so often.

'Instead of that sorry you keep saying, try saying something else. Anything from are the stars beautiful, or how may I accommodate you here for all your hard work, or maybe…' – She turned to face him, and his face was mere inch away. She held her breath. His face was handsome, the features present only in royal family – grey eyes.

Alastair was too much in his head to notice anything.

'Somnum petala' – whispered Arika.

Alastair fell on the bed, sleeping soundly.

She let out deep sigh.

'Neali, really? Now it seems like a setup more, than anything else.'