Tears had blurred Mmachi's vision by the time she got to the top of the stairs. She was so engrossed in trying to wrap her head around what she had just heard that she didn't know when she bumped into Chidiogo.

Chidiogo yelped, spinning around from the impact. She took a moment before she regained her balance. When stable, she turned to reprimand the cause of her fall but closed her mouth on seeing Mmachi.

She turned around on the spot and started walking to her room.

"Chidiogo!" Mmachi called out, hot on her heels.

She didn't respond, rather, she increased her pace, her footsteps echoing through the empty halls. Mmachi doubled her pace, unwilling to loose the chance to talk to her.

Chidiogo had just wrapped her hand around the door knob when Mmachi reached her and yanked her hand away from the knob.

Mmachi held onto her hand, tightening her grip on reflex. Chidiogo glanced at Mmachi's hand wrapped around hers before glancing at Mmachi.

"Leave my hand," Chidiogo said.

Her tone was low and with the murderous stare she gave, any one would know better than to object. But not Mmachi.

"I didn't mean to—"

"I don't want to hear it!" Chidiogo interrupted her.

As a reflex (and in an attempt to block her ears) her hands shot up. Mmachi's hand restricted hers from any further motion, leaving them hanging midway.

"You have to believe me, putting you in trouble wasn't part of—"

"SHUT UP!"

Chidiogo's voice resonated throughout the hall, leaving echoes in its wake. Wired by a sudden rush of adrenaline, she gave Mmachi a violent push. The push sent Mmachi stumbling back a few feet, forcing her to release her grip on Chidiogo.

"It's enough!" Chidiogo's voice resurged again before Mmachi could even recover from the push.

"I've had enough of all this and I don't want to hear a single thing! It's my fault for believing you every single time. I'm the reason you only get worse by the da—"

"I didn't mean to—"

"LET ME FINISH SPEAKING!"

Something in Chidiogo's tone made Mmachi keep her lips sealed. She couldn't tell if it was really the tone or the fire in her eyes as she glared at her. Her eyes were coated red, her pointer hanging midair.

Her body trembled a bit but it seemed more to do with her initial adrenaline rush than anything else. For all Mmachi knew, she wouldn't mind killing her on the spot.

"Every time. Every fucking time I decide to think you've changed, you only prove to me why I shouldn't have freaking trusted you in the first place! When have you not gotten me in trouble?"

The gentle hum of the air conditioner filled the air for a minute and Mmachi seized the chance to speak.

"Everything started with you—"

"FREAKING LET BYGONES BE BYGONES! I CANNOT KEEP LIVING LIKE THIS!!"

Chidiogo raked her hands through her hair, almost uprooting the hair from her scalp. She paced about muttering unintelligible words as Mmachi watched.

"You don't get to act like the victim, okay?"

Chidiogo stopped pacing at that moment and focused on Mmachi. "Why can't I act like the victim?"

She waited for Mmachi's response but only got an almost distant sound of a whistling bird.

"No, tell me. Why can't I act like one? You've been putting on this your victim act for way too long. I should also get a chance to play one."

"Don't test my patience, Diogo. This isn't about playing victim. You don't get to play something when you're already one—"

"Of course"—Chidiogo let out a small chuckle—"why don't we get you a fucking sticker while we're at it. Best actress of the year, huh?"

Mmachi's eyes dimmed and she pinned Chidiogo with a glare. "Do you hear yourself right now? Have you forgotten what you did?"

Mmachi's carved brows arched up at the end and she looked like she found it difficult to comprehend what was going on.

"I might have if you didn't sing it to me all the time. Might as well be a fucking lullaby by now."

Chidiogo's voice came out flat, devoid of all emotions. Her and Mmachi engaged in a small staring contest before Mmachi shook her head, trying hard to keep the tears that threatened to fall.

"Unbelievable!" she said under her breath but Chidiogo picked the comment.

"What do find unbelievable?" Chidiogo asked, cocking a brow, "The fact that I'm done being your puppet?"

Mmachi's chest was almost heaving when she said her next words. "I swear, if you say one more word—"

"Do whatever the hell you want to. I'm not scared of you."

And with those words, Chidiogo turned around and entered her room, leaving Mmachi in the hallway.

———††††———

The rest of the days that succeeded the twins' return home up till the point of the end of their mid term exams were uneventful. Four weeks to be precise.

Four weeks with no drama. No stalker, no blue eyes tormenting Chidiogo. No events that ended up in a visit to the hospital. No single drama.

It felt weird in a place where a day couldn't pass by without any kind of drama. A new but welcomed change. A breath of fresh air.

It made Chidiogo rethink a lot of things. First off, the thought of transferring schools again. Not that it would work anyway. After the last stunt Mmachi pulled that left their parents enraged, she could only hope they ever spoke to her again.

As at the last time they left home, her parents didn't even utter a single word to her. They hadn't even come to bade them goodbye. And that was the last time she heard from them.

She had tried to contact them several times through the hostel mistress but got the same reply that they were too busy to speak to her. It hurt, a lot but she couldn't give up.

Mmachi on the other hand had been silent. The kind of quiet you experience before a storm. The kind of eerie silence which would leave anyone wondering what could be brooding under the calm.

And as much as Chidiogo refused to admit it, she couldn't be more terrified of Mmachi than she was at that point.

Her late night adventures had gotten worse. There wasn't a day she would be back to the hostel before midnight. There also wasn't a day she wouldn't return without an injury.

As much as Chidiogo tried to, she couldn't ignore the concern that crept up her chest each night as she stared at the door, awaiting Mmachi's return.

Slowly, the concern gave way for dread. She first experienced the dread when she fell asleep while waiting for Mmachi to return. She woke up hours later with swollen eyes.

Her eyes throbbed from the contacts she had forgotten to take off before dozing but it didn't stop her from noticing that someone was staring at her. It was no other person than Mmachi.

Her heart lurched forward when she first noticed the pair of eyes trained on her. Her eyes hurt but she tried to keep as still as possible as she watched the person watching her.

She could make out the pencil sharp chin in the darkness. She couldn't see much apart from the brown lens made visible by the rays of the late night moon, casting it's shadow through the windows.

Even though she couldn't really see properly, she needed no angel to tell her that it was Mmachi. She could make out her face anywhere.

She tried to restrict her breathing as she remained staring at Mmachi. From the little she could make out, Mmachi kept a straight face, not even blinking as she watched her.

She wasn't sure if Mmachi was aware that she was awake but she tried to stay up for as long as she could. The both of them engaged in an unspoken, and perhaps even unknown, staring contest.

By the time Chidiogo fell asleep, Mmachi hadn't changed her position. She hadn't fallen asleep either. The next morning, Chidiogo woke up to find Mmachi gone. After that singular incident, she had been trying her best to avoid Mmachi.

But she couldn't do much since their mid-term exams were over and she had to return home together with Mmachi for the mid-term break.

"Is that all?" their driver asked, perusing through the luggages they piled at the back.

"We could pack the whole school if you don't mind," Mmachi said, beaming at the driver.

Chidiogo rolled her eyes. She really would never change. "That's all," Chidiogo said with a smile.

The driver who was first confused by Mmachi's statement nodded when Chidiogo spoke. The engine came to life few minutes later and no sooner, rolled out of the tarred parking lot.

Throughout the drive home, Chidiogo had her heart in her mouth. She tried to distract herself by glancing around but changed her mind when she met the disturbing sight of a rotting corpse left to lay waste by the roadside.

The driver turned off the air conditioner when they got towards the body but wafts of the putrid smell still managed to force itself into the car.

Chidiogo held her breath to prevent her breakfast from resurfacing while Mmachi just stared out the window with just about the amount of fascination of a child forced to do his school work.

By the time the car pulled over at the garage of the taupe duplex, all Chidiogo could make out was the drumming in her chest. Mmachi got down when the driver turned off the engine but she remaining seated and thinking.

Were her parents still mad at her? Would they at least listen to her? Would she get a chance to apologize and explain to them? All these were question which wearied her mind.

After a few minutes of staring at the taupe duplex, she picked up the courage to step out of the car. She hurried inside the building, brushing past domestic staffs who were hard at work.

She first went to her parents' room but found it empty. Waving it aside as nothing, she went through the rest of the house, her continuous trudging up and down the stairs disturbing the serenity of the atmosphere.

When she had checked every corner of the house and still found no sign of them, she approached a particular domestic staff who was talking to Mmachi.

"Lydia," she called out, causing the girl to stop speaking as both her and Mmachi turned to look at Chidiogo.

The girl had the same light complexion as the both of them although hers did lean a bit towards albino with the blonde hairs lining her skin surface.

She was closer to their age. No more than nineteen. So they got along with her more than the others.

"Have you seen my parents?" Chidiogo asked when she noticed both of their questioning looks.

Lydia sighed, tucking her hands into the checkered apron she wore.

"Well... They went on a trip."

"A trip? What kind of trip?" Chidiogo asked before Lydia could say anything further.

"I don't know. They just left a note saying they were going to clear their heads and they weren't certain they'd be back before the end of the year. The note mentioned them leaving for a very long while."

They all fell silent after Lydia's words. Chidiogo tried to understand what Lydia had said but none of it made any sense.

"So in essence, no parents throughout our stay at home?" Mmachi asked, breaking the silence.

Lydia nodded and a smile broke out on Mmachi's face.

"Well, it's been a while since I threw any kind of party. Let me go call my friends."

Mmachi exited the place almost dancing while Chidiogo remained unmoving for a few minutes until Lydia tapped her.

She seemed to snap out of her reverie at that moment before turning to Lydia.

"Can I get their numbers?"

"Unfortunately, they didn't leave any means to contact them. They said they didn't want any form of disturbance. I'm sorry."

Chidiogo nodded, hardly paying any attention to Lydia's request to take her leave. She stared into space for a few minutes, ignoring everything going on around her. All she could think about was finding a way to get in touch with her parents.

A/N: GOOD EVENING! PRETTY UNEVENTFUL CHAPTER HUH? GUESS WE ALL DESERVE A CHANCE TO BREATHE AND NOT ONLY CHIDIOGO.

NOW I REMEMBER SAYING I WOULD TRY DOING A DAILY UPDATE (YES, I REMEMBERED) AND SO I'LL START WITH AN APOLOGY. AT THIS POINT I'M SURE YOU'RE ALL TIRED OF MY APOLOGIES 🥲. SO WHAT'S MY EXCUSE NOW? AN IMPROMPTU TRIP THAT TOOK MOST OF MY TIME.

BUT AT LEAST I'M BACK NOW. I WON'T PROMISE A DAILY UPDATE (ALTHOUGH I WOULD TRY TO DO THAT) BUT SOMETIMES IT TAKES ME LONGER TO WRITE A CHAPTER. ESPECIALLY IF I DON'T WANT TO END UP WITH A HALF-ASSED BOTCHED CHAPTER LIKE THIS ONE. ALL I CAN PROMISE RIGHT NOW IS THAT YOU WON'T HAVE TO WAIT TOO LONG FOR THE NEXT UPDATE.

AND BACK TO WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE STORY. WELL PRACTICALLY NOTHING FOR NOW ALTHOUGH I STILL WANT TO SEE HOW THE NEXT CHAPTER WOULD GO😂. I CUT A WHOLE LOT OF STUFF BECAUSE I FELT LIKE THERE'S BEEN WAYYYYYYY TOO MUCH DRAMA AND MY CHARACTERS NEED A FEW MINUTES TO CATCH THEIR BREATH BEFORE I SET THEM UP FOR A FINAL ROUND OF TORTURE.

SO YEAH, I GUESS WE'RE COMING TO THE END (BY COMING TO THE END, I DEFINITELY DON'T MEAN I DON'T HAVE LIKE 30 CHAPTERS LEFT WRITE😂). IT'S TIME TO START TYING LOOSE ENDS AND WELL, ANTICIPATE MORE DRAMA. UNTIL THEN, I HOPE YOU CAN TAKE THIS BREATH OF FRESH AIR PEACEFULLY.

AND DON'T FORGET TO VOTE AND DROP YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE CHAPTER.

BUENOS NOCHES❤️.