Beyond the abyss

Every scar tells a story. With each passing year, the sands of time continue to tick on. The slow methodical clock changes with each second. Humans throughout the ages leave their mark on the world. Some enhance the times of the decades while others plunge it into the ethological primordial of a bygone era.

Humanity brings with them a deep and complex system consisting of various traits. At the universal level human-beings all share some form of culture, society, behaviour, language and mind. Alongside these universal commonalities, humans are susceptible to death. Yet, there are those who desire to live in the reality amongst the chaos that is life.

Those that cling to every breath wish to continue living in the abyss of deceit, murder, war, famine, pestilence, slaughter and the grim darkness of a never-ending nightmare. For the humans who wish to continue living on in that world are known as the children of Eros. They desire to live and continue to strive for a better tomorrow – a future of hope. Contrast to this were the children of Thanatos who desired death, hoping to leave the present and forsaking another abysmal tomorrow.

Fraternal twins Aneko and Aniko knew the everlasting love of Thanatos, the affectionate mother that the two of them longed to see. They had grown tried of the mundane life in which they simply trudged through the motions of – like the gears in a pocket watch. Pretending to smile, keeping their happy appearance up for those around them was normal for them.

“Hey, Anineko, do you two want to grab some food and hit up a karaoke joint?”

As both twins slipped off their indoor shoes the school provided to all students, they turned to the small group of girls. In truth, the two twins hated the nickname everyone had given them – as if they were a facsimile of one person and not two separate people. Continuing to keep up their facade, the two twin remained in character and smiled. Their slight mannerisms were in-sync, from the cheerful expression to the subtle tilt of the head at a 23 degree angle. Even their pigtails managed to move like an elite military unit, swaying in tangent.

“Sorry, Kuyashii…”

“We got to study for a test tomorrow,” Aneko said as she finished her brother’s sentence.

Both twins were often in perfect harmony with one another to the point they had a sixth sense. The bond between the two of them was almost always in-sync that they could step in for one another without skipping a beat. Had they not been in the same classroom, the two of them could easily pass for the other.

“All right, no worries. Laters!”

Once the group had left, the twins slipped on their shoes and turned to each other. They both did not have to speak to know what the other was thinking. Without any sort of exchange, the two of them made their way home.

With their mother being the director of the academy they attended, the penthouse was often empty and silent. They would go through their routine as they did every other day: remove the false mask that was the mundane existence of their life. As the two of them entered the penthouse, they quickly removed their shoes and threw down their school bags. While Aniko loosened his neck-tie, his sister helped him with his hair ties.

“Yakisoba?” Aneko asked.

Aniko nodded as he started to remove his pair of loose-fitting knee-high white socks. Once his sister had finished, he began to remove her hair ties for her. After they had both finished, the two of them took a second to relax on the couch.

Aneko stretched out her leg and skilfully grabbed the television remote with her toes before handing it over to her brother. Both of them had agreed to take turns in what they watched on the television. Aniko flipped through the channels before stopping on the local news. On the screen was an anchorman in a navy blue suit, shuffling a few papers in his hand.

“In other news, a couple was found dead six days ago after falling from the roof of a building. It has been confirmed that the two committed suicide which is now rising awareness about mental health issues in teenagers and young adults. More on this story in the coming hour.”

The twins both turned to each other. The two of them understood but still decided to voice what they were thinking in unison.

“We should end it together.”

A genuine smile arose on the two twins. For once there was no fake intentions behind it, a smile of true happiness. The two of them had tried many times before to end their lives and always failed.

“Where should we end it?” Aneko asked.

Aniko stood to his feet and grabbed his sister’s hand.

“The place where it all started. We can begin our life anew.”

Aneko hugged her brother gently and headed to her room. While she made her way up the stairs, Aniko headed for the master bathroom. Making his way to the tub, Aniko turned on the warm water. As he started to unbutton his white dress shirt, Aneko returned with a dagger in her hand.

“I can still see the bloodstain on it,” Aniko spoke.

“Yeah, I never washed it,” Aneko said as she fixated on the dried up blood.

After Aniko had unzipped his sister’s skirt, the two them helped each other strip down before entering the warm water and allowed their bodies to truly relax. Aniko gently wrapped his arms around his twin sister – the only person in his life that understood what he had been through. As fraternal twins, they shared nearly everything with each other: food, toys, books, presents, even the darkness they hid from the rest of the world.

On Aneko’s left arm was a long scar that travelled down to her wrist.

“The scars we live with everyday…”

“Everything that he did to us…”

Aniko traced his finger down the scar his sister had. That day marked when their lives changed and spiralled down into a constant state of endless nightmares.

“I should have killed him.”

“It’s all right, big bro. You never left me,” Aneko said as she grabbed her brother’s arm.

On Aniko’s right arm was a long scar that was similar to what Aneko had on hers. She gently traced her fingers down it and smiled. They had each other and for them, that was all that mattered.

“I’ll never leave you, big sis,” Aniko said as he gently rested his chin on his sister’s shoulder.

Aneko giggled as she grabbed her brother’s left arm. She slowly began to slit downwards from the joint to his wrist, following along the blue vein and opening it up – filleting it like a fish.

“Funny how our mother never bothered to tell us which was the first born,” Aniko said in a joking tone.

“Yeah, the joke has always been the both of us are the older siblings. But I wouldn’t mind being your little sister,” Aneko said as she handed the dagger over to her brother.

Aniko grabbed the dagger and held his sister’s right arm down in the pool of warm water that was starting to turn crimson red. Slitting the vein open in the same way his sister had done, the water quickly turned into a deeper red.

“This time, we won’t fail…”

“…and we can live together in the abyss,” Aniko said as finished his sister’s sentence and held her tightly.

The two of them remained silent for a moment as they awaited the warm embrace of death. Neither of them believed in a higher power or any sort of deity but they were perfectly happy to drift off into the void of eternal slumber. All they needed was each other. No one else.

“Hey… bro?”

“Yeah?”

“Should we use this as a contest to see who is the older sibling?”

“First one to die is the younger sibling?” Aniko asked.

“Mhm.”

“All right. Let’s see which of us is the older sibling and the younger sibling.”

The minutes ticked by as both twins started to see a change in their vision. They could tell the blood loss was starting to take a toll on their bodies. Aniko leaned back against the tub while Aneko leaned into her brother’s body. A few more seconds passed until their bodies started to go numb.

Both of them felt their eyes getting heavy like a brick. The two of them continued to hold each other and remain silent as they awaited the sweet embrace of death. As their consciousness started to drift into a state of haze, their breathing slowed to a crawl before the ticking of the clock finally stopped. There was still one question that remained. A question that they never learned the answer to.

Which of them was the older sibling?