Prologue

The taste of the fruit Eve ate was sharply satisfying.

Her fingers clenched on the fruit, her eyes closed, her mouth savoring the taste of what was
supposed to be forbidden. Oh, how joyous it is to have her curiosity quenched. She had always
wondered, it was itching at the back of her mind, questions after questions, imagining scenarios
on what would have happened if she ate it. There was nothing but satisfaction.

Then comes a voice. It was the continuous echo of laughter within her ears, that seems to be
entering through her head. It was like something had gained access to her mind; the laughter
seemed to mock her as her hands covered her ears.

“Once, twice or more within your eyes. At the back of your mind, it’s itching to recognize. Your
body responds to its temptation, yet it’s a thin line between discovery and foolishness.” It says,
while her breath becomes hitched, her hands slowly uncovered her ears and her eyes rolled
backwards, while her mouth agaped. It was suffocating, she tried to gasp for air but it’s as if she
had forgotten to breathe. How could this be? What was happening to her?

“Pathetic.” It says, laughing. “You should’ve remained ignorant.”

Welcome to a different world than you know of. A bit different but yet the similarities are often
familiar. The similarities? Well, have you resisted the urge to do something so tempting? It feels
as if your body itches? But because its consequences can bite your head off as an exchange, you
often try to ignore it. Curiosity, its beauty, hypnotizes you to do it, the feeling of pleasure. Ah yes,
the allures of a taboo. In your world, the taboos are laws that aren’t supposed to be broken, it’s
supposed to be kept away from a human’s reach. Yet, humans have choices, most of the times
consequences are almost equals to none in the world you know of.

The deities that humans believed in, the beliefs that that they created, and the curses that
they’ve broken. These things exist only to harm, this world doesn’t exist to give you the benefit
of warmth when the taboos are broken. They’re here to get a taste of human curiosity, how
delightful would it be. They know that. They know they exist.
“You can’t run here, not here, not in this endless darkness. Is your soul lost? Or is it just wandering
because you can’t escape? No one knows, no one knows. No one knows you exist. You’ll die, you’ll
die and no one will remember. Helpless, just crawl on the ground, you don’t deserve those limbs,
grovel. It hurts, where does it hurt? Don’t know, don’t know. I don’t want to… die.”

Can you continue on?

 CHAPTER ONE: “The Illusion: Beginning”

It was cold. The wind blowing unto the tall grass, the small animals huddled for warmth in each
other, in the big old oak tree. The tree was beside a small a fence that was too weak to even
withstand the wind that was coming, its smaller roots were starting to dig up the fences. At the
sky, the stars and the moon only hid behind the dark clouds as it was hovering over the skies.
Minutes passed and the droplets of water started to fall, everything started to get darker and the
rain started to get louder as its pitter-patter sounds fell over the roof of one woman’s home.

She had a small smile on her lips, her green eyes watched as her friends talked about things that
they would normally talk about, school, their interests, and most of all; they talk about the
legends of a woman in red. The small town in Valerie had always recognized the existence of a
woman covered everything in red, it was said from her eyes, to her hair, to her tears, down to
the dress she wears, it was red. Her skin was covered in blood, the blood colored each of her
existence, as if a painting.

“Ugh, why can’t we just summon her? Aren’t you guys curious what she looks like? Why she’s
covered in blood? How she came to be?” One of her friends said, groaning. She then laid on the
bed. The brunette had been wondering about this since she was a child, she had read a lot of
books about her, yet none of her questions were answered.

“Leah, curiosity? You do know what happens to those who get too invested in something that
are forbidden right?” The other girl replied, she had notable freckled pink cheeks, she was
nervously scratching her head.

“I already know the consequences, Robin. Everyone knows the story of Eve.” Leah told the girl. It
was a world known fact that too much curiosity can harm the people here. You can either
discover knowledge or your death bed. The story of Eve highlights that. It was a story to warn
people.
“Then why do you still want to know?” The green-eyed girl asked, she didn’t understand why
Leah had always taken an interest towards the legend.

They already know that these “beings” existed, yet a lot of people like her friend still wanted to
know more. It was like a thirst for wanting to know more.

Everyone knows that in this world, being too curious will end up in a horrific outcome.

“Come on, Aya. We’ve been searching for a lot of things since we were young, we got answers
and we got satisfaction from it, right? Let’s just try and do it.” Leah replied, remembering how
she and Aya used to explore forests and caves to find out the answers to their long-time
questions. Discovering things was one of the things they enjoyed doing. Mysterious legends like
the Lady in Red are one of the things they wanted to know about.

“I love learning about new things, alright? But I am not just about to break a taboo because of
it.” Aya said, her fingers reached for Robin’s brown hair, softly humming a lullaby to herself, while
brushing the brunette’s hair. Although, she looks calm, with a small smile adorning her lips, her
mind was slowly asking the questions the same as her friend’s. Leah had always dragged her into
different messes, but at the end of the day, they always escaped. It was like a daily occurrence
for them to get into trouble, Robin had to drag them out of it.

One time, when they were kids, they wanted to know how their favorite blueberry pie was made,
so they both went to gather random ingredients and threw them in the hot pits of fire along with
the cake that Robin’s mother baked, burnt to crisps. Robin cried along with the both of them, for
Aya and Leah, they cried disappointed at what they did, on the other hand, Robin cried because
she thought that the both of them got burnt.

Aya snorted at the memory. Her fingers running through Robin’s hair, while putting the flowery
hairclips.

“Why do you have that creepy smile on your face?” Leah playfully told her, jokingly acting like
she was shuddering.
“Don’t do that while fixing my hair, that’s creepy. You’re in love with my hair or something?”
Robin also said playing along with Leah, a small laughter escaping her lips.

“Oh, shut up, who would fall for your lice-infested hair?” Aya retorted, rolling her eyes, Leah on
the other hand laughed loudly, her hands on her stomach.

“Uhm, You? They need a wife, they need to start a civilization there, you’re perfect for the job.”
Robin joked, this time, laughing along with the two of them.

“I hate you so much.” Aya responded, her laughter dying down. As she finished braiding her hair,
she added a lot of butterfly-shaped clips in blue to make it more exciting. Aya wasn’t the best at
styling hair, but she was trying at least. She had read this in a book before, she just wished she
did it right.

“Done. Do you like it? I did my best to practice, but I guess I have to learn more.” Aya said, giving
Robin a mirror. The reflection of her brunette friend showed how delighted she was, her grin
reached her eyes as she turned her body around and hugged her friend.

“It looks great! I always wanted to try these clips out, but it would always look awful whenever I
did them. Thank you.” Robin told her with a soft giggle, squeezing her friend harder from the hug.

“Y-you’re always like this when you’re too happy, you’re going to bust my insides out. It isn’t that
great.” Aya stammered, gasping for air. Leah joined in for the hug, now all of them were pushed
down on the bed.

“You guys always hug each other first, how unfair.” Leah jokingly said while pouting.

“Because you’re the last puzzle piece to complete us.” Aya said. This made Leah smile as she sat
up.

“Do mine next, please! Besides, I’m leaving this town soon with my Dad, again.” She said, her
eyes glimmered through the candle-lit room. She looked like an excited puppy about to get a
treat.

Aya and Robin could only look at her sadly. She always left the start of Spring and came back at
summertime. It was months before they could see each other again.
But as always, they’ll just make the best out of this before she leaves.

“Yes, of course Leah! Let’s share Robin’s clips.” Aya responds.

“I’ll help, I want you to teach me.” Robin said grabbing her extra butterfly clips. Aya nodded,
smiling at her.

That night, the three women enjoyed the warm atmosphere surrounding them, their laughter
echoed throughout the cold, stormy night.

Then why.

Why was everything red.

“Why was her white dress covered in red. Why are her hands cold? Why was her body far away
from each other, why… why was her body mangled? Where is her head? Where is the warm smile
that they just saw yesterday? That’s her face, her smile, it’s torn. It’s not there.”

“R-robin?” Aya’s eyes wouldn’t blink, her eyes stared at disfigured body in front of her, her heart
beating at a fast-pace, as if it was about to explode. Her lips hung open; the words wouldn’t come
out. She can’t scream, she doesn’t know how anymore. Her eyes stared at the butterfly clips that
she just put on her hair minutes ago.

Suffocating, it was suffocating. She needs to call for help but the only thing she could do was stay
in her place.

“Robin? Y-your clip—” Aya said choking, her tears falling from her eyes, slowly dripping on her
face the cold wooden floor, but her eyes never left the torn-up body of the brunette.

She couldn’t breathe. It was starting to suffocate her. What can she do? She couldn’t hear
anything over the sound of her heartbeat.

Then, she heard a horrifying scream. It was making her ears ring, waking her up from her tranced
state. She looked at the other side of the room, a figure holding a limb, it was too dark to see,
but the screams won’t stop. She slowly let go of the butchered hand, the floor was giving her the
shivers as she crawled over to where the figure was, the blood was underneath her, she still
couldn’t process what had happened.

As she got closer, she looked up and saw the figure. It was Leah.

Her screams won’t stop, her eyes were blood-shot open from tears and the shock. She slowly
stood up, her hands shaking as she took Leah’s hand. She took notice of the limb; it was Robin’s
arm. Leah’s breath only became labored as she screamed into nothingness, as if asking the gods
what is happening? Why did this happen?

Aya could only hug Leah as her shock turned to petrified cries, it dawned to her. They only wanted
to visit their friend but this happened.

Robin is gone, and the blue butterflies that seemed to represent their soft smile is covered in
Red.

It was ironic. The sun was out casting its warmth, the flowers looked healthy in different colors;
as if they were dancing under the sunlight, the birds were chirping happily like it just sang a song,
and the grass was greener and healthier. It was a nice day, like it was painted to be a good one.

Yet, why does it feel as if it was mocking them? The day continues being beautiful, but how can
someone appreciate it if their minds were clouded with pain.

“Why?! Who did this to my daughter? How could this happen to us?!” Robin’s mother wept as
she clung to the coffin desperately, as if asking for her daughter to stay one last time.

“Auntie.” Aya whispered to herself, green emerald eyes that used to shine brightly with the
sunlight, has now dulled. She clenched the bouquet of roses in her hands, she wanted to cry some
more, she wanted to scream, but she couldn’t do it anymore. Her hair was unkept, the dark circles
below her blood shot eyes, and the only thing she could do was remember her childhood friend’s
smile. Her lips were dry, she was thirsty, but she needn’t need water, she wanted answers.

Her eyes travelled to the girl beside her. Leah’s hands wouldn’t stop shaking, her eyes blankly
stared at the coffin. Aya could only stand beside her, while they helplessly watch their friend say
her goodbyes like the sun-setting after a tired day.
A few hours passed, one by one each of the visitors left, said their condolences to the family and
friends. They all parted with heavy hearts and the only left were the two. Still staring at the
tombstone. Time seemed to go slowly, they felt as if everything was heavy, breathing seemed to
be hard, their shoulders stiff and their minds full of the scene that happened last week.

Aya lets out a heavy sigh to make her heavy chest a bit lighter. This made Leah look at her.

“The hairclips, she took all of them. I thought we would share them.” Aya quietly says, her voice
about to break. Another set of tears were coming out of her eyes.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Th-there’s nothing left. She took—” Before she could continue to talk, she could
only stare at her hands, it was starting to get blurry again. Tears seemed to be the only one that’s
normal for this past week. It was tiring.

After the cries, there was a long silence. The wind was blowing, enough for the trees around them
to sway, it was like telling them to go away. If it were a normal day for them, they would’ve been
fine with the wind, but instead, a day like this… they could only stay in their place, as if the strong
wind didn’t exist.

“I’ve been thinking.” Leah said, starting the conversation again, her blank eyes seemed to find
hers, her friend looked like she was about to faint from the number of tears she’s been shedding,
she looked weary. Even so, she waited for her childhood friend to continue.

“I want to know who did this, whatever it takes. I’ll do anything.” Leah told her, her voice seemed
to sound stronger and louder as she spoke the last sentence. Aya’s hands unclenched the small
bouquet in her hands, the roses’ stems were now a bit crushed from the amount of strength she
had to hold them. She slowly sat beside the tombstone as she gently put the roses down on the
freshly dug ground.

The emerald-eyed girl already knew what her friend was thinking. Leah always started
everything, from questions to searching for something and then arriving at the answers. This
time, the joy from asking questions turned to desperation for answers, the beauty of wonder
turned to nothing but a curse, and the excitement of everything turned to nothing but wanting
to arrive at the destination in a hurry for peace, if not, they’ll be full of nothing but insanity.
“What do you have in mind? How do we start?” Aya asked, she wanted to know where to start.
She still felt lost over everything that happened, but she wanted to wake up and move. She just
wanted justice.

“I mentioned earlier that I’ve been thinking, I’ve read tons of books about this. They always seem
to mention the same thing.” Leah said as the girl sat beside her, her pale hands held Aya’s as she
put her head on her shoulders.

“Mention what exactly?” Aya asked her. The girl was clearly determined as she is to find at least
something. Their childhood friend, a bright and sweet young girl, found dead at her own home
chopped to pieces, mutilated, as if the one who did it didn’t want their friend to be recognized,
it was gruesome. Every time Aya remembers the memory, it just made her sick to her stomach,
it was like the horrifying event covered the good ones, she just won’t stop remembering it.

The cold body on the floor, her limbs in their hands. The scattered hairclips.

They were supposed to visit her, but Aya ran late because she was busy tending to her mother,
so she told Leah to go first but when she arrived, everything turned dark. She already knew that
Leah couldn’t move from her spot, she saw Robin’s body first.

“The cursed shall fall, the wishful shall be granted the opportunities of death, and those who are
wondering shall stay with the wishful.” Leah answered, it was a small clue in the book she read.

“I want to call her. The lady in Red.”

 CHAPTER 2: “The Illusion: Foolish”

A loud thud echoed the quiet room, the moonlight shone through the glass window, giving a little
light for the helpless dark room and to the figure of the woman who dropped what she held.
Everywhere was quiet, except for their footsteps and the series of books falling unto the floor.
Hurried steps went to each shelf, as they scanned each book, they threw those that served no
purpose at all for their current search.

“Leah, are you sure you want to do this? Shouldn’t we just ask the soldiers for help?” Aya
questioned her friend, she was hesitant. What they were doing right now could get them burnt
through the stakes, they’ll be accused of witchcraft. Aya didn’t care one bit if she was burnt
through the pits of hell if it meant to find the one who murdered Robin, but not like this. Not
when Leah was here with her, no one really knows what happens when they break the taboo. In
this world, the legends were like Pandora’s box, a beautiful thing, too much wonder can cause
for it to open, because humans are naturally curious beings.

She honestly didn’t want this, she didn’t want to lose Leah if this happens, not again.

“The Soldiers? Do you think they’d care? I read that in one of the books, these beings know
everything and that…” She said and paused, getting another book from the shelf.

“The only way to summon The Lady in Red is to find that one book. Besides, the soldiers couldn’t
find any clues, they won’t even make the effort of doing so.” Leah explained further. It was clear
to Aya that there was nothing to sway her friend.

“Besides…” Leah whispered but Aya couldn’t hear her, so she hummed in question.

“What did you say?” She asked.

“Nothing. I just said that I found the book.” Leah told her as she raised the book, they both sat
down on the floor as Leah scanned through the pages, Aya opened her mouth to speak but she
decided not to, she closed her eyes for a little rest, and a bit time to think.

Her childhood friend was right, this town were bustling with people in each street, they were at
the furthest one. And each time, a lot of soldiers would sometimes use their street as a resting
place, every time they would encounter them or when they even just sat near them, they could
hear their conversations as children and even as they grew up. The amount of corruption being
unnoticed, the unjust and the apathetic use of power in order to feed their greed, sickened them
down to their stomach. That’s why when trouble arrives, most of the townsfolk don’t get ask for
help. They were scared of being used for their greed, the fear of encountering a soldier clouded
with monstrosity ran deep in their hearts.

If only there was another way. The town of Valerie was not as large as the other ones, but it was
always busy with visitors from different places. There were a lot of things to consider when the
incident happened. Her whole body suddenly shot up as she remembered the memory. It was
like an automatic response. Her heart quickened its pace, but she managed to suck in a deep
breath and let out a sigh to calm herself down. This wasn’t good, she needed to concentrate and
just think about it, they need some clues.

The incident happened before she and Leah arrived. The first one was there was Leah, she had
been frozen in her place, and she arrived after a few minutes. She could only feel her legs shake
from the scene she had witnessed.

She stared at Leah, they were about to commit something that could potentially harm them. She
didn’t want it to happen again, so instead she needed to at least find some clues, so at least they
could find other ways.

“Leah, when it happened, did you see anyone or anything around you? A shadow? Footprint? Or
anything at all?” Aya asked, Leah could only let out a sigh, she already knew what Aya felt, judging
from the shaking hands that was on her chest and the eyes that was hesitantly staring at her, as
if thinking for a way.

“If I had a lead, I wouldn’t be doing this. All I know is that her body was still fresh when I arrived.”
Leah answered her.

“That’s the point, Robin’s body was fresh, someone could’ve—” Before Aya could continue to
speak, Leah snapped her head towards her.
“If there was someone, I could’ve noticed it, Aya.” Leah responded, standing up from where she
was seated, her back turned away from Aya as she let out a sigh.

“Look, if you’re hesitating, I’m doing it myself.” She said, Aya could only look at the floor, she bit
her lip and shook her head to stop herself from overthinking.

“I’m with you. What do we need to do?” Aya asked her, she went towards her friend. Leah
opened the book with a specific page in mind.

“The Legend of the Lady in Red, Chapter 33, The Call of Torture. Use your voice to call her, a candle
in hand and a mirror to reflect, at devil’s hour with nothing but the candle to trust for a light, just
call her by her name Bloody Mary and she shall answer with her a smile on her appearance.”

They looked at each other whilst processing what they had just read. The lady in red’s name was
Bloody Mary. Aya looked at her friend, again. She knew that glint in her eyes, the happiness of
finally finding an answer. Leah’s going to do it, no questions asked. She’s going to break a rule
that could hurt her or even kill her.

Aya didn’t want that. She doesn’t want to feel that sense of horrifying lost again. The pain always
pricked her chest, it was like everything on her shoulders was heavy and the sense of being
helpless. She doesn’t want to lose Leah.

“I’ll do it.” Aya suddenly told her. Leah shook her head in return.

“No, I’m doing it.” Leah replied, she pressed her lips together as she saw the worried expression
on Aya’s eyes. She could only look away and walked towards the door, ready to leave the place.
Before she could go, she felt hands on arm, stopping her from going, she stopped on her tracks
and met eyes with her green-eyed friend.

“Just please, please. Let me do it, for Robin and for you. The both of you always looked out for
me, this time…” Aya’s hands found her friend’s and gently held it. Leah softly sighed and hugged
her.

“Okay, but if something bad happens, I’m stopping it right away.”

After rearranging the library, they hurried towards Aya’s home, the old house further away from
the town, her home was always peaceful, even during the day, the only ones that would keep
her company were the animals that left the forest time to time. They went inside her house, her
hands searching through the drawers for matches to light the candle-lamp. When she finally
found it, she finally lit the lamp and went towards her room alongside Leah.

Her home used to be warm, but ever since she lived alone, it looked bigger than it was. It was
looked spacious even though the furniture covered most of the corners in her home. The
average-sized round table for eating, the chairs that occupied the small living room, the kitchen
that looked a bit burnt from the one accident she almost caused and her books that sat on the
bookshelves near her room. She felt a bit empty whenever she looked at it.

Well, she used to live with her grandmother since she was a child, she was told that her mother
and father died due to illness they caught when they were at the other town. Unfortunately, her
grandmother died when she was nineteen years old, she was now twenty-four. It had been five
years.

She didn’t like the pain of losing people. She already knew that, from her pets to her grandmother
and now, Robin. She felt as if the feeling of being alone only increases. Yet, the memories she
had with them felt warm. It was one of the things that’s keeping her from looking forward to
tomorrow.

Besides, she still has Leah.

“Aya? Are you sure you’re doing this?” Leah asked again, she was worried and scared for her. Aya
gave her a reassuring smile.

This time, she had been given warmth and protection. She wants to help Leah. This was the only
way for them to find Robin’s killer. Even if it meant she had to break off a rule.

“Yeah, I’m ready. You should probably go out for a while.” Aya said as she mustered up a small
smile.
“Why don’t we do it together instead.” Leah proposed but only for Aya to push her slowly out
the door while shaking her head.

“No, it’s fine. I should probably hurry before Devil’s hour arrives.” She responded as she looked
at her quaint wall clock, shaped like the moon that was giving them a bit of light right now.

“Hey, if something happens, you better call me alright?” Leah said and she nods in response.

When her friend had closed the door behind her, Aya heaved a deep sigh, she closed every curtain
to block out anything that could light up the room, except for her candle. She didn’t know
whether she was shaking out of fear or from happiness of finally finding the answer to their
question.

She knew, in the back of her mind she’s committing a grave mistake that could cause her life.

She closed the distance between her and the human-sized mirror in front of her. The candle in
her hand made her see her reflection, she looked like a mess, her face was painted with worry.
She breathed in and out to calm herself, and with her voice, Aya spoke.

“Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary. Red dress, red dress, did you paint it? Red eyes, red
eyes, did you cry?” She chanted but stopped as soon as she felt a soft blow on her skin, she jolted
up from the cold, almost letting go of the lamp. How? The windows were close shut, along with
the door, was it already here?

Her grip on the candle lamp tightened, her eyes stared at her reflection, ignoring what she felt
as she continued.

“Bloodied red skin, did something happen? Answer my wishes, I summon thee with plea[]/0.
Bloody Mary, the Queen of Red.” She finally said the last words of the chant. The chant was like
children’s song, she reminds herself that, no matter how unsettling it was, she had finished it.

She closed her eyes for a second, heaving a deep sigh, trying to relax herself. As she opened it,
all her movements stopped, her body froze and her eyes couldn’t look away from the mirror in
front of her.
All she could see was the red hue on the mirror, it was like a smoke. She was stuck in place, like
a statue, she couldn’t move her body even if she wanted to. It felt like something was holding
her down, her body felt heavy as if she carried a boulder on her shoulders, and her knees were
shaking, it was about to give up on her, and the cold touch that was lingering on her shoulders.

She was confused and scared, her eyes kept on wandering between the mirror and the candle
lamp she was holding. Aya felt her shoulders getting heavier and colder, she felt her knees
growing weaker as she tried to carry her weight. Her heartbeat paced a bit faster when she saw
the red fog on the mirror getting clearer, and her breath stopped.

No.

No.

NO.

She clutched her chest as she fell on the floor, she covered her face with her hands, she hid
behind her knees, her breath became hitched as her tears wouldn’t stop falling. She was gasping
for air. She wants to leave, she wants away from here, but she can’t move. She felt trapped. She
wanted to ask for help but her lips wouldn’t move.

The cold was becoming apparent as she felt liquid falling unto her clothes.

It was hovering her; it was over her.

This fear, this was different from what she felt last week. This felt like it was eating her slowly
from the inside out. It was as if she was restless and the only thing she could do was cover herself
with her hands and knees.

It was helpless.

Her eyelids were shut close, she wants nothing more than to see nothing. She wants to gouge
her eyes out, if this was the only way she could escape, then she will. She’d rather see the
darkness forever than to see it again.
Because if she were to open her eyes, it would feel as if she would only see mirrors. The mirrors
mean, she could see that thing.

What was she doing again? What was this for? What was the purpose?

She had forgotten. She had nothing to remember.

Seeing that mirror once, she saw everything that no human alive should. It was horrid, cruel to
her mind. She’d rather die any other death than to die here.

She’d rather die. Yes, just die.

It’s better, better than this. There was no purpose, nothing happened.

She’d rather kill herself than to see herself experience those horrors; she’d rather die Robin’s
death than to die in their hands, she’d rather be in her place.

Aya opened her eyes, widened by what she had thought.

She looked up and her breath halted. It was a mistake. She had forgotten why she was here in
the first place.

Aya committed not only the gravest sin, but she was about to lay her life; along with the
gruesome mirrors she had seen.

” You’ve finally opened your eyes, a pity I may only play on the third of sunrise.”
CHAPTER THREE: “The Illusion: Helpless”