Abruptly, the ache stopped but Eva's body continued to spasm as her chest heaved up and down and she grabbed her head in her hands and squeezed hard.
Diana tutted, touching her bottom lip with her forefinger. "Physical torture is always temporary. It comes and goes and then you slowly heal. But do you know what type of pain never goes away?" she asked, and Eva lifted her head with her remaining energy and glared.
"Mental torture," spoke Diana and backed away from her.
"I am Diana, remember my name because I want you to know the name of the woman who ruined your life."
Eva stared as a familiar bright light burst from her body just like Stanley's had done a while ago. She squinted her eyes, placing her arm before her eyes to not get blinded by the luminous glow. The ray soon diminished and Eva could only blink stupidly, unable to believe the sight in front of her.
It was her sister who stood in front of her. Eva blinked her eyes rapidly.
Reason 1: To stop her tears from flowing out.
Reason 2: She was starting to think that this all was just a dream.
"Vanessa?" she whispered and received a sharp cackle in answer.
Getting up to her feet with wobbly legs, she gripped the bed tightly with her hands and stared at her sister with glossy eyes.
"What did you do to her?" asked Eva and gritted her teeth to refrain from shouting out.
Vanessa looked like she was thinking hard as she stared at the ceiling and tapped her finger against her chin. "Did you know what you have to do to steal somebody's appearance?"
She waited for Eva to speak and seeing that she didn't utter a single word, Vanessa giggled out bringing tears to Eva's eyes since she had seen her sister laughing like this many times before.
A cold, hard expression betook her face as she snarled out, "You have to kill them. To steal somebody's body, you have to brutally murder them so that you can act in the world as their replica."
Eva furrowed her brows, unable to think clearly. She must have heard wrong. Did she just say that she had murdered her sister?
"I had killed poor little Vanessa when she was a ten-year-old child. She screamed a lot but in the end, the job was done and I had to bear with you and your mother for the rest of her living years," she told with an evil grin and Eva's knees threatened to buckle up again.
"You're lying." she choked out, shaking her head in denial.
Vanessa— or Diana —tilted her head and smiled. "Why are you so sad? Don't tell me that mommy never told you that you were adopted when you were a baby." she paused. "My, my, judging from your expression, I guess she didn't tell you."
Staring at the still frozen Eva, she finally landed her last blow which she knew might be the biggest impact of all.
"I guess mama bear might never be able to tell you either. She might already be under the ground by now."
At that exact moment, it felt like the last straw for Eva. She fell to the ground with a big thud though the pain in her knees didn't matter right now. Her sister's and mother's faces swarmed into her head in the shape of happy memories. She gazed at her mother's kind face with an empty look, though her eyes were full of tears. Her sister when young, played with her and taught her half of the things she now knew.
As if realization suddenly dawned on her, she let out an agonized scream as a blast of power erupted from her, throwing Vanessa back with its extreme force. Her back hit the wall, making it crack up, and she touched her head in disbelief to see her hand come out with red liquid dropping from it.
For the first time since she stepped into the room, she felt afraid of the frail body that was still lying on the ground. After the scream, Eva let her tears flow out freely as she wept her heart out and cradled her head in between her arms.
She had done what she had intended to do and with a satisfied and anxious grin on her face, she slowly stepped over Eva's body, walking towards the door and closing it shut behind her with a sharp click.
By now, Eva had started choking on her own breath as her tears didn't stop, no matter how much she continued to wipe them away with her palm. Her chest ached as she clutched her gown in her hand and punched the ground weakly with her fist, feeling her mind and heart giving up.
The two people she had cherished the most in this world had left her. Her father was gone, her mother was dead, her sister was killed when young and now a woman just told her that they weren't her biological family.
Was there something worse that was left to happen? Something that could break her further because her heart was shattered already.
How much pain does a person need to bear to finally be happy?
She could never be happy, she realized with a choking sob and buried her face in her arms.
Never.