The Man in The Mask and A Dark Alliance

     I can now tell you that what happened last isn't the end of it. I wasn't - really - dead. Something had rescued me. It wasn't Eden, or, surprisingly, Kieth. They hadn't even come looking for me, not that they'd even know where to look. Eden didn't know what I was capable of doing. Maybe I'd hurt someone, but he never considered me a killer. Even though I had once. He didn't think I would ever again. He'd though...I'd changed.

     My eyes fluttered open to see the ceiling, and my vision was blurry. Kieth was asleep in a chair beside me, and soon Eden walked in with a tray, smiling to see me awake. "You were unconscious two days," he told me. "I wasn't sure what to think, but I knew you were alive."

     "How did I get here?"
     "A man brought you. Wore a white mask. Thought you'd know who he is."
     "I don't," I said slowly.
     Eden handed me a piece of white cloth with a bloody hand mark on it. "Well he left this, anyway."

     That's when I realized it was Victor who brought me home. Home. We were still in the Shangri-La, I noticed.

     "So then where's Lily?"
     The boy shrugged and sat at the edge of my bed. "She hasn't come back, but Kieth told me she called. She told him what happened, and he gave me the message, too." Surprisingly, Eden didn't look angry or upset. "I suppose you're a little weak. The man must've healed you some, but you still gotta rest. I gotta go out and get some stuff, but if you need anything, wake Kieth." Smiling at me, he kissed my forehead softly, then walked out the door.

     I waited a while before heading out. The first place I checked for Lily was the park. she wasn't there, but soon I found her nearby at a small stream behind the shack. She was leaned over Jed's body, sobbing, trying to get him to float in the shallow water. Trying to get rid of the body. "Not going to tell his parents, huh?" My voice triggered her instincts to attack, and she came lunging at me full speed. Don't forget, she was blind. It wasn't hard to get her pinned onto the ground. "I'm sorry!" I screamed at her while she flailed on the dirt. "It wasn't me!"

     "Then who was it, bitch?!"
     "Sybil! Ugh, god, you won't understand! You never will! I'm not one person, Lily!"
     She calmed down a bit, but didn't stop crying. "How does that work?"
     "My personality is split into seven - Threnody, Cat, Jubilee, Violetta, Sybil, Sophie, and Cassandra. Sometimes they all combine, but rarely. I dunno exactly how to explain it...it's just..."

     She'd gone limp, still awake, but limp. She was probably just...in shock.

     "Carrie's gone, Lily. Not completely...but she's not the same. And somewhere...she's in there somewhere. You'll get to see her once before she disappears completely. I'm trying really hard, Lily...really hard to make her come out...it's painful, it really is. For you...I'm trying." I rocked her slowly in my arms. "I don't know who I am, but I still love you. I'm still your sister, I promise. Please...please try to love me..."

     I carried her all the way back home, since Eden took the car out. She was thin, thin as a twig. Looked so easy to snap, and I admit it was tempting. But Carrie told me no. Carrie kept me from switching back to an animal. I love her. I'll never try to hurt her again.


     Now she's in her bed. She has been since I started posting again. Life's gone on. I know I'm supposed to be dead, but thanks to an old - I dunno what to call him - I'm still somewhat alive. And I'm going to savor that. Once Lily gets better...we're heading back to the mansion. Maybe I'll continue to search for jobs, maybe not. I'll think it over while we wait.

     But I know Sybil and Violetta aren't going away anytime soon. I haven't heard their Voices - I'm becoming them. If I don't do something about it, I'll kill Kieth, Eden, all of them. So I've had an idea.