[V1/C4] PHANTOM

"Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday, happy birthday. Happy birthday to me."

In a house painted black, a small candlelight shone in the middle of the darkest night. A teen celebrating his 16th birthday along with his dear Mother, lying down on the cold bed, in a vegetative state.

Blowing the candle, I took out a dull knife and sliced off a piece of leftover stale bread.

It took me several tries to properly cut it. Some crumbs were spewing out and about whilst slicing the bread.

Upon successfully cutting through it, I then grabbed a worn-out plate from the broken table right in front of me, and there I placed the piece of dry bread.

"Mother, here's some cake."

As soon as I extended the plate towards her, I was reminded once again that she wouldn't be able to take it, nevertheless eat it.

Gently putting down the plate onto her thin and malnourished hands, I tried to not tear up in front of her, so I continued to compromise and smiled ever brightly.

"I'm sure you'll wake up someday, Mom..."

Standing up, I kissed her forehead, bidding her a good night's sleep.

"Goodnight, Mom. Have a sweet, painless dream."

I trudged my way into my bedroom which was already filled with trash and insects.

With a quick open and close, pathetically seeing my once bright and radiant room into something where even a dog house is better in comparison, I trudged my way into the bathroom.

Gazing upon my reflection in the broken mirror. It's so pathetic of me to try to forcefully look at myself in a better light.

"Is this truly our fate?"

Once again, I doubted myself. Doubting myself in front of this broken mirror has been a repetitive daily habit, a month after my Father's death.

"Look at me. Were we wrong to begin with?"

I focused my line of sight on the mirror, asking if I was wrong.

'....."

"Haaa... I thought so... Why would I answer myself...?"

Having checked my daily routine of self-questioning, I turned the handle of the faucet to wash my face, eventually forgetting that the power, along with the flow of water, had long been cut off.

Clean water... Is most definitely a luxury for us in our current state.

I then closed my eyes and once again looked at the broken mirror right in front of me.

"PIKABOO~"

Surprised by the sudden voice upon looking at my reflection, I fell backward leaning on the other side of the wall.

I thought I was dreaming when I saw my reflection saying and acting things without me doing anything.

Definitely upon seeing my reflection moving on its own accord, my whole body started to tremble in fear.

With a shaky voice, I questioned and pointed at the mirror, which still had my reflection even after parting my own body away from it.

"Y-you...! W-who are y-you...?"

My reflection grinned at me as I stuttered and shuddered.

"I'm not sure~ Maybe you'll be most definitely excited to see me if I were to say."

My reflection then leaned closer right toward me as if it was about to face the boundaries between us.

"I'll be ending all of your pain."

With his expression alone I knew that what was stuck on the other side of the mirror is most definitely something that shouldn't be left to exist in this world, but.

"Replace me? Haa... I wish you could do that, but you're in no position to replace me, as you're just something made out of me!"

I pulled myself together, and slowly, I managed to stand back up by myself. Upon standing up, I then walked closer to the mirror, staring eye-to-eye at myself.

"Even if the whole world falls apart. You'll never be able to truly replace what was once here. Besides, what can you do when you're stuck in that mirror?"

It was too good of an offer for me, who was always left in doubt, so I tried to push it away by my own hands to try and see if the person who was exactly like me could truly replace me.

The me within the boundaries of the mirror didn't reply and was definitely on the verge of laughing.

"Pfft!

HAHAHAHA HAHAHA HAHAHAHA.... HAHAHAHA HAHAHAHA!

You probably haven't thought about this but... I know what you're always thinking, and every action you've so far taken, there will always be "Me" no matter where you go.

If you wish to know the truth, I'll give you one final chance. Upon knowing the full truth, you decide whether you truly wish to keep on living in this world or to take my hand and sleep for all eternity as my shadow."

Utterly confused at where he's getting at, I questioned.

"What kind of truth are you talking about...?"

I then placed my hands on the edges of the sink as I converse with "myself."

The mirror version of me went straight to the point upon having asked him my question.

"Look for the man named "Frenre" and ask him yourself."

Hearing the name of the man who died along with my Father, an unknown emotion which I lost a year ago grew ablaze.

"FRENRE?!"

True madness overwhelmed me as I heard that man's name once again. To top it all off, it seems that the "Me" in the mirror was hinting at something.

"That's right, Frenre, the Archbishop of Sloth has always been alive and well~"

With the truth coming out of my own mouth, I threw in a fit of rage, lowering my gaze; I punched the very same mirror into a much more sorry state than what it was before.

My left fist bleeds upon having made contact with the broken glasses.

I was silent for a few seconds before questioning my other self again. In a low voice, I asked.

"Hey... is that true...?"

However, as soon as I gazed back at the other end of the mirror, what was reflected in the mirror was only a blank slate. The glasses eventually fell through the sink and what I punched was the concrete wall right behind it.

My expression turned darker, being reminded of the killer's name.

I let out a sigh of regret, not knowing where to look for that person because of my brash actions.

However, as I slowly separated my fist from the wall, the blood that was splattered on the wall started forming.

With how things were going, I was not a bit least surprised and continued watching it form into something similar to a map.

A minute later, a detailed map was formed by using my blood.

"So, that's where he's hiding at."

As I looked at the "X" mark on the wall which is painted with the use of my blood.

My blood started boiling like it was about to burst through.

My heartbeat started to beat at an abnormal rate.

Looking back, I knew something was amiss. I then slammed the wall using my injured hand, looking to the side beyond the door where a newspaper lies right below a broken family picture frame.

"If this is the whole truth. I don't care even if I sell my soul to a devil. So long as I can exact my revenge."

Suddenly a roaring thunder struck the sky.

A huge shadow reflected itself from the cold floor, appearing right as the lightning struck.

The shadow in question appears to be smiling as it creeps into the dirty bedroom, lurking around in the darkness.