Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 140940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
“What?” I turned her way.
The little girl nodded.
“No.” My nerves frazzled. “I-I’ve been in charge. I am. . .I’m the main person. . .um that’s been. I had the baby—”
“You’re the Boss.” The little girl pointed at me and then gestured to Lunita. “And she is the Monster.”
Thunder boomed in the sky.
I struggled to keep my balance. “Okay. so. . .maybe I didn’t come first, but I did. Like you all think I didn’t because I’m split into—”
“You’re the Boss.” Lunita leaned awkwardly to the side and raised her hip up. “I’m the Monster. She’s the Little Girl. Everyone knows that.”
“So. . .” I shivered and felt like passing out, but somehow I remained standing. “So. . .you’re saying that the little girl is the host?”
“What’s the host?” the little girl asked.
“The original person.”
They both exchanged glances and then looked at me.
I sighed. “The one who was born Emily.”
Lunita rolled her eyes. “We were all born Emily.”
“But, she was the first one.” I touched my chest. “And. . .I think. . .that’s me.”
Lunita chuckled. “We always think that.”
“Listen.” My hands shook. “I know Max—”
“We all know Max, except M.” Lunita shrugged.
Every nerve in my body felt like it was on edge as if my skin was a live wire.
They watched me in silence.
I didn’t know how long it took me to get back some semblance of mental control. A cold shiver ran through me. “W-who’s M?”
Lunita shrugged. “The Professor.”
My heart hammered against my ribcage. “T-this is another. . .personality?”
“No.” Lunita appeared confused. “M is another one of us.”
Sorrow hit me.
“No.” My vision blurred as tears formed in my eyes. “N-no more. . .people. Okay?”
The little girl picked up the lion and hugged him to her.
“P-please, guys. T-that’s it. No more.”
“It’s time for you to wake up.” Lunita began walking my way.
“What? No!” Panic surged through my body, and a primal instinct to survive kicked in. “Stay over there. I need more answers before I kill you.”
“Bye bye.” Lunita raced toward me.
“Fuck you. I’m staying.” I got in a fighting stance, feet planted firmly on the roof, ready to counter her attack. My muscles tensed.
Once Lunita came close, she reached out to shove me off the roof. Her movements were wild and lacking the precision of a trained fighter.
I acted on pure instinct, seizing her outstretched arms and using her own momentum against her.
Lunita crashed to the ground.
The little girl watched us and clutched the lion to her chest.
“Okay then.” Lunita looked up. “Super charge!”
“What?”
She roared and shot up from the ground, charging my way like a maniac.
In a swift, fluid motion, I twisted, flipped her back to the ground, got over her, and placed that knife to her neck.
She widened her eyes. “You really want to kill me?”
“I don’t know if I am the host or the original or whatever, but I do know this.” I pressed the blade closer to her throat. “I’m going to get rid of you no matter what?”
To my utter shock, Lunita laughed. The noise rang out, sharp and unsettling, as she lay beneath the knife.
“You think that’s funny, bitch?”
“Kill me.” Those eyes gleamed with a mix of madness and challenge.
I recoiled slightly, shocked. “What?”
Her voice rose. “Do it. Right now. Do it. Do it. Do it.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“Do it. Kill me!”
I hesitated, my hand trembling as I tried to move the knife away.
But suddenly, she grabbed it, pulling it back to her own throat with a disturbing eagerness. “Come on, Minnie Mouse.”
“Minnie Mouse. Huh?”
“That’s you. Minnie. Minnie.”
“Shut the fuck up—”
“Make me! Cut my throat!”
Blinded by rage and consumed by madness, I lunged forward and plunged the blade into her neck. “Fuck you!”
But, blood didn’t spray on my face.
It was red petals instead. They spewed out of her neck, spilling over my hands and the ground.
I stared down at all the petals. “What?”
Lunita laughed so loud it echoed around the rooftop. “You see? No one can die here.”
I staggered back. The knife fell from my hand. “Last time, you threw me over the ledge, I woke up.”
“You switched.”
“Switched?”
“You got control.”
“So. . .if I throw you over the ledge—”
“I will be in control.” A wicked smirk spread across her face. “We can’t feel any pain in here because this is the Source. The super center.”
I considered her words. “This is the Source? The super center?”
“You shouldn’t listen to Lunita.” The little girl shook her head. “She’s crazy.”
“But, I know things.” Lunita’s face split into a wide, unsettling grin. “This is our mind. You can’t kill a part of yourself. Everyone knows that.”
I stood there, stunned.
Lunita got up off the ground. “Now, you should go.”
“I’m not going without getting answers to. . .”
Lunita leaned her head down to her shoulder. “To what?”
“I need to heal.”
“We are healed.”
“We are not!” I jabbed my finger in the air. “We are fucking. . .several sandwiches short of a picnic.”