Chapter
1 – Till Death do us join
“This is not what I had in mind
when I met her for a date,” Peter says as he looks outside the abandoned house for
Rebecca.
In Peter’s mother’s will, she
mentioned that one of her wishes is for Rebecca and him to be together or at
least try. Rebecca is a daughter of the friend of the family that always
interact with one another as if they’re blood-related family. Since he isn’t in
a relationship and fondly remembers his time with Rebecca, he decided to drive
all the way out to her to give her a chance, however, after some pleasant conversation
about memories of the past, Rebecca took a kitchen knife and went after Peter.
“Woah! What’s wrong Rebecca?”
“I love you, Peter. I love you so
much that I want to kill you!”
“Hey, watch it! What are you talking
about?”
“We’ll be together forever in
death. We’ll be happy forever.”
After that, Peter ran from Rebecca.
He couldn’t drive away because she’s been on his heels. Only now has he managed
to get some distance between them and hid in a nearby abandoned house.
“Man, I wasted the time getting all
dressed up and my haircut. Where is she?” Peter wonders to himself as he looks
out the window with his fists clenched.
“I found you!” Rebecca says as she
pops out by the side of the window.
Peter jumps back as Rebecca breaks
through the window. Now in a mode of self-defense, Peter fights Rebecca, takes the
knife from her hand, throws it away, then holds her hands against the wall to
restrain her.
“Stop this already! Let’s talk it
out!”
Rebecca tries biting at Peter’s
face.
“Rebecca!”
“Haha, you don’t know how much I hate
you, but how much I want to kiss you.”
“Tell me why. What happened to you?”
“I’m in love.”
In the side of Peter’s vision, he
sees that the broken window is now fixed.
“What the?”
This distraction allows Rebecca to
lean in and give Peter a passionate kiss on his lips. Both he and Rebecca are
stunned as they look at each other not knowing what to do next. Suddenly, the house
starts to change to a familiar setting.
“Why does this look like my mom’s house?”
Peter asks himself.
A steel rod then goes through the
stomach of Peter and Rebecca. This rod then becomes a connecting force for them
that they can’t break with their hands. Peter’s strength is taken away from him
while Rebecca isn’t affected.
“Hello, Peter and Rebecca, or should
I say husband and wife?” a female voice in the house says.
“Who are you?” Peter asks.
“Nobody that you should concern
yourself with. You should instead focus on being with each other. Here,
Rebecca.” A rug moves by itself and gives Rebecca back her knife. “Do what you
know is right and kill him, so you can live together forever in happiness.”
Rebecca creepily smiles and stands
still while Peter tries to slightly move away but is unable to.
“Don’t listen to that voice,
Rebecca. We don’t need to die to live happily together. This isn’t right at
all.”
With her knife, Rebecca tries to slash
and cut the string connecting them.
“Can you cut it?”
“No, I can’t.”
“We’ll find something to cut it.
There has to be a way out of this place, or we could make one-”
“This is perfect.”
“What?”
Rebecca starts slashing at Peter
until he grabs her hand. His weakened state makes it difficult to push her away,
so he starts backing away and up the stairs with the house closing its wall in
on them. He keeps backing up to see that the walls behind him are closing in as
well. To avoid being closed in, he opens the door to a small room that he has
to duck into to enter. When they’re in the room, both Rebecca and Peter become
children.
It’s suddenly years ago when they
were children. They look out the small window in the room to look at the beach,
ocean, and clear blue sky.
“We should live down here when we
get older,” Peter says.
“That’s a great idea! We could go
down to the shore and having a picnic every day then!” Rebecca says.
“I don’t think we could eat down
there when it rains or storms.”
“Then we’ll build a camp down there,
so we don’t get wet or anything.”
“What about the waves?”
“We’ll have defenses set up to protect
us!”
“What about the seagulls?”
“I’ll shoot them down myself if
they bother us! Why are you asking so many questions?”
“I’m just concerned about everything
that may ruin our dream.”
“Well don’t worry about it because together
we can accomplish anything!”
“Wait, that’s not what was said.”
“What? That’s a great idea! We
could go down to the shore and having a picnic every day then!”
“We could build our house down
there!”
“Yeah! But wouldn’t the house sink
into the sand?”
“Oh yeah. No, wait don’t you want
to build the house on top of the sand or some other kind of foundation?”
“I don’t know.”
The memory of the past begins to
fade as the present comes back to its proper place in their mind.
“What happened?” Peter asks.
“This is just a small taste of the
joys that will await you. You can relive the memories of your choosing and live
them again, but you can also change them so that they can be better than you
remember,” the voice in the house says.
“How? Did we really go back to the
past?”
“No, it all happened in your mind,
but it feels so real. Isn’t it worth it just to live your best moments again
and again?”
“No, it isn’t.”
“You may not agree with me, but
Rebecca will, isn’t that right?”
“Yes! Nothing would be better to
live out my memories over and over with him!”
“There we go. Enjoy yourselves in
the room you spent so many summers in.”
The room itself is one large bed
with a small closet and a TV with a cable box and gaming console near the door.
It’s a relatively small room with only one way in and out. Rebecca keeps
pushing Peter further and further into the room as she tries to push the knife
into chest. His strength isn’t allowing him to push her away as Rebecca’s
murderous intent is giving her the edge in the struggle. He is backed into the
corner of the room and the struggle is at a standstill. Rebecca lunges forward
to push the knife into Peter’s chest, but misses, however, the knife is very
close to his chest.
She leans in and kisses him on the
lips again. She holds this kiss while trying to stab him, but she keeps missing
and stabs the wall repeatedly until she strikes something fleshy.
“Ow!” the voice in the house says
as a small door in the ceiling opens.
The door opening gets Rebecca to loosen
her hold on Peter. He uses this opportunity to knock her out or at least he
hits her hard enough for her not to move much.
“Go ahead and kill her, Peter. If
you do so, you may be able to have more control over the memories you’ll share
so they can play out the way you want them too.”
“I’ll pass.”
“Aww. Do you still care for her
even though she’s been trying to kill you? You truly are her true love.”
Peter carries Rebecca to the door
in the ceiling and their memory of a starlit night takes over the present
reality. The two are children once again and have brought up snacks and soda to
enjoy another cool summer night with each other.
“The stars look so beautiful,”
Rebecca says.
“You always say that when you look
at them,” Peter points out.
“Well, that’s because they are, and
I’ll say it another thousand times until I get one! I’ve already asked my mom
and dad and they said I’ll get me one when I get older, but I can’t wait that
long!”
“Why would you want a star?”
“I’d get one to light up my room
and since my mom and dad say they’re really hot we can make roasted marshmallows
and maybe cook other things. Just imagine how things taste when you cook them
with a star.”
“Is that all?”
“Maybe I would get a star to give
to people who need one. Don’t you want one?”
“No, I’m fine without them.”
“Why? Don’t you think they’re the
most beautiful things ever?”
“No.”
“What could be more beautiful than
the stars?”
“I think you are.”
Peter tries to appear confident while
holding in the little bit of embarrassment within him as Rebecca blushes.
“D-do you really think so?”
“Why wouldn’t I? Every time I look
in your eyes, I see a beautiful star that shines brighter than any star.”
“You didn’t say that.”
“That’s what I meant.”
“I know you did, but it came out
more awkward.”
Peter and Rebecca are still caught
up in their moment despite being somewhat conscious about it. They then embrace
while watching the stars. All the sugar causes them to fall asleep with Rebecca
embracing Peter. The roof of the house then tilts downward which forces them
off it. They fall to the ground and become adults again. Peter looks back to
see that the house appears to be monstrous with multiple arms with every window
being an eye.
The house says, “You can live in
these memories for all eternity if you kill each other now.”
“That’s not going to happen!”
“Then I’ll kill you both!”
The house then moves by itself with
its many hands dragging it across the concrete. Since Rebecca is still woozy
from being hit with the fall from the house keeping her dazed, Peter lifts her
up and carries her to the beach while running away from the house. Since he’s
feeling weak, he can’t run very fast while carrying her. Still, he manages to
keep a safe distance away until they reach the beach where the house sinks
under the sand. The long hands from the house try to make it claw it out of the
sand while trying to grab the two, but it is unable to as Peter continues to
run away. He falls on the ground. They’re both children again and run into the water
and play in it before sitting in the sand.
“I wish the summer would never end.
We never really see each other much outside of it,” Rebecca says.
“I wish we could see each other
more too. When we grow up, we should definitely live with one another so we can
see each other every day,” Peter says.
“But what about now? We don’t live too
far away from one another, but it’s going to be a while before we see each
other again.”
Peter tries to hide his sadness.
“Peter?”
“We’ll always be together no matter
the distance if we keep each other in our hearts. I’ll always keep you in my
mind and prayers, so I’ll never forget you and the promises I made.”
“Me too. I’ll do the same!”
Peter and Rebecca embrace with tears
in their eyes but a smile on their face. They are then turned back into adults.
“That’s why I have to kill you. I
never want you to leave me again.”
Rebecca puts her hands around Peter’s
neck and tries to strangle him to death as they both sink in the sand.
“Rebecca…please…”
Seeing Peter in pain causes her to
let go of his neck. Once she does, the sand under them disappears and they
appear back in the house.
“I see that you won’t kill Peter
the slow way and I understand. It’s difficult to kill the one you love the most
in a way that causes them pain, but don’t you worry Rebecca, I have many more
tools that you can use,” the voice in the house says.
Rebecca begins to cry then laugh at
the same time. Meanwhile, Peter thinks to himself as to how he’s going to
escape with both of them making it out alive.
