Closed Spineless in My Tomb of Silence

[Arachne Westwick]

Arachne Westwick was confused and scared. Never before had she been in a fight with Nessie. Was that what this was? It was the day after Halloween, and she had gone over the exchange with her sister all night, thinking it over until she fell asleep, then dreaming about it too. Her dreams had been more like nightmares, full of shadows and spiders. She knew she had to talk to her sister, to explain, but she also knew Nessie always had a way of twisting her words around. Of making her do what Nessie wanted.

But as she woke up and went about her day, her nightmares from the night before seemed to come true. As everywhere she went, she saw Nessie lurking from the corner of her eye. During breakfast, where she had tried to hide herself between the Hufflepuffs. In the hallways, after her classes. Nessie seemed to be everywhere, but she also wasn't actually saying anything to Arachne. It was stressing her out. Partly because she was sure Nessie was skipping classes to do this, and even now she didn't want her sister to get in trouble. She crossed the courtyard on her way to her next class, when she felt a presence behind her. Arachne stopped walking, then took a deep breath and turned around. Maybe it was time to confront her sister.

 

[Nessie Westwick]

Betrayed. The word echoed and echoed through Nessie's every thought, following her through the corridors, ringing like a bell, calling her on. Betrayed. Practiced silence as she peeked around corners, watching her mirror image from afar. Betrayed. Ghosting mute through groups of strangers, eyes locked, teeth gritted. Betrayed. Gradually coming closer but never enough to speak, just watching. Watching the stranger in her sister's skin, this unfamiliar intruder who had replaced everything she held dear. Betrayed.

It wasn't impossible to hide in the courtyard, but Nessie had spent the whole day hiding, watching from a distance, using all the silent tricks she and Arachne had once used together to scare people, watching her sister flinch and scuttle as though it were a stranger stalking her. It was enough. Nessie didn't bother to hide as she followed her sister across the courtyard, matching her step for step. Identical, even in pace. Left with Arachne's left, right with her right. Stop when she stops. And then finally, finally watch her turn around. Nessie didn't say anything, cold gaze meeting her sister, two reflections of what she had thought was one whole. If they were really, truly broken, Arachne would be the one to break them.

 

[Arachne Westwick]

Arachne stared at her sister, a cloud passing overhead throwing a shadow over her face for a moment. Arachne took a breath, then stepped forward. "Nessie, we should talk." She said quietly. "I know I hurt you last night, but- but it doesn't have to be like that. It doesn't have to be us or no one. We can have each other and also have friends." She said quietly. "Maybe.. maybe being in different houses wasn't the worst thing." She added, though she knew that Nessie disagreed. "I know you're angry, but... I hope you can forgive me."

 

[Nessie Westwick]

Nessie had hoped desperately that she was wrong, that Arachne had seen past... whatever momentary madness had been gripping her tighter and tighter these last months, but... but there it was. She didn't hide her snarl, teeth bared and eyes narrowed as she watched a stranger wearing her sister's face - her own face - jam the final nail in this horrible, horrible coffin. She stepped closer, gripping Arachne's shirt by the collar and tugging her close enough for their noses to touch, wishing she could set fire to her sister's eyes with her own gaze. "You are dead to me." She snarled, boring the words into Arachne with her gaze. "You are a thing wearing my sister's skin."

 

[Arachne Westwick]

Arachne realized he had miscalculated this when Nessie moved closer to her. She had thought her sister's desire to be together would be bigger than her anger at her, but she was wrong. She let out a small whimper of fear as her sister pulled her closer, feeling very small for a moment. But a small fire of defiance lit inside her too. Nessie was always doing this- intimidating her, trying to scare her. Arachne didn't want to do this again. To fall back into this routine. So even though a part of her longed to beg and plead for Nessie's forgiveness, she pushed her sister back without much force. She had a lot of words swirling around her head, but she couldn't say most of them. "I love you... but you can't be the only person in my life forever." She said softly. "Especially if you're mean." She added more quietly. "I'm sorry."

 

[Nessie Westwick]

Nessie snarled again when Arachne pushed her, shoving her sister away hard in response. "You're not my sister." She repeated, sneering furiously. "Arachne wasn't weak. She didn't want to be part of the herd. She knew what it meant to be herself, to be us" Nessie felt herself choke slightly on that last word and bit it back, building a wall in her mind. She wasn't going to think about it, what it meant not to be an us anymore. It hurt too much, like ripping off an entire half of herself. "My sister is dead, and you will pay for walking around in her skin, pretending to be her."

 

[Arachne Westwick]

Arachne should have expected it, but she didn't. So when Nessie pushed her, she stumbled back and fell, hitting the ground, a jolt going up her spine. She had tried to catch herself and her hands burned, she was sure she had chafed them. She looked up at Nessie, tears filling her eyes as she listened to her hateful words. That, combined with the shock and sudden pain, made the tears start flowing. She wiped at her cheek aggressively, then got to her feet. Without another word to her twin, she turned around and walked away, not wanting to look back at her. She wondered if she had made a terrible mistake.