*This story is underneath my folder titled “Dark stories to read whenever and wherever”. Gacha Club character designs are under my forum titled “My character designs <33”. Enjoy!*
Introduction
Aspasia was the last of the Glaphyra family to die from yellow fever. Not a single one of them knew how it came about, and could only watch as their skin faded to an unnatural color and their bones depleted into nothingness.
But Aspasia’s spirit still lurks in the old mansion, taking away anyone unlucky enough to stumble inside.
Yet once, she was a little girl, completely alive…
Chapter One
IN ASPASIA’S ROOM
Aspasia Glaphyra froze when she saw what was in the cracks of her room. She lived in an old house, and she never minded the creaks and crevices.
Until in the wall, she saw them. The swarm of mosquitoes. An infestation of them, burrowed within.
Aspasia never saw the mosquitoes until then. The black, buzzing bugs squirmed and skittered, hungry for blood.
She ran out of her room, to her parents. They’d be able to help. Perhaps her sister, Soleia, would know what to do. She always knew the right thing to do.
Chapter Two
“Soleia! Soleia!” Aspasia called out, grabbing onto the skirt of Soleia’s dress. She was running out of her room when she saw Soleia in the hallway and called her name.
“Please don’t yell out my name, it’s rather dreadful to hear.” Soleia said.
Soleia didn’t like it when people yelled out her own name, it made her feel jittery and skittery, she said so herself. Aspasia tried not to do it, but her rapidly beating heart had other ideas.
“Sorry! It’s just that there are mosquitoes in my room and I need you to help me get rid of them!” Aspasia said.
Soleia raised an eyebrow.
“No, there aren’t any mosquitoes.” Soleia replied smoothly.
“Yes there are! Come and look at them!” Aspasia cried out, taking hold of Soleia’s hand and attempting to drag her to her own room, but Soleia let go.
“There are no mosquitoes. You must be imagining things. Don’t lie to our parents. Just calm down.” Soleia said.
Just calm down? Soleia didn’t want to help? Soleia didn’t believe her?
Aspasia was speechless. Soleia was simply walking away, leaving her alone, never saying another word.
That hurt almost as bad as the mosquitoes in her room.
Chapter Three
It had been hours after Aspasia told Soleia about the mosquitoes. She and her family were eating dinner together. Aspasia still hadn’t told her parents about the mosquitoes, but she would soon.
As she sliced through the steak, she wondered if it really was in her imagination, if she was only dreaming, if-
Was that…mosquitoes…in her meat?
Aspasia looked at everyone else’s plates. No sign of mosquitoes there.
She blinked her eyes. The mosquitoes crawling, sprawling on her plate, they were gone.
Huh. At least it wasn’t real…
Chapter Four
“Have any of you seen mosquitoes around?” Mom asked nervously.
Aspasia looked up from her plate, alert. Mom mentioned mosquitoes? That was exactly what she was thinking of!
“Yes! I saw them in my room today.” Aspasia replied.
Mom and Dad exchanged looks of understanding. Soleia said nothing, she only continued to eat her dinner.
“We’re going to try our best to get rid of them. We hoped that they wouldn’t come in your room, but they have. Just stay away from them as best as you can.” Dad said.
“But how? They’re in my room!” Aspasia lamented.
“Try your best, sweetie.” Dad said with a reassuring smile.
Well, if Dad believed that she would be safe, then it wasn’t that bad, right?
Chapter Five
LATE AT NIGHT
Aspasia tossed and turned in her bed, sweat running down from her brow. Everything was too hot. What bothered her even more were the mosquitoes hiding.
Did one of them bite her? Did a few bite her? Did any bite her?
Mosquitoes…bedsheets…everything is fine…fine…
Everything was fine. Dad said so.
Chapter Six
Hours had passed, but finally, finally, it was morning. The golden sunlight dripped from her window, casting a heavenly glow in her room.
Only…Aspasia didn’t hear the mosquitoes anymore…and her arms were soooo itchy…
She looked down.
Like the measles, her arms were spotted with red, bulging dots, only, they stung like mosquito bites, and when she scratched them, blood opened up from some of the wounds.
Chapter Seven
“Aspasia! Come downstairs, breakfast is ready!” Soleia called out.
Something was ticking at Aspasia’s brain. Was it the way that Soleia called for her, in such a carefree tone? Or was it the itch of the bites?
She pushed it aside. Soleia was simply calling her for breakfast, it was nothing to overthink about.
Chapter Eight
Aspasia walked down the stairs, fighting the urge not to scratch the bites that were screaming at her skin.
Only Soleia was at the dining room table. Their parents weren’t around.
“Where is Mom and Dad? Why aren’t they here?” Aspasia asked.
“They decided to rest.” Soleia said sweetly.
Chapter Nine
“Do you…have…any…cream?” Aspasia asked. She couldn’t blame their parents for deciding to rest, but the itching…oh goodness, the itching. Why did it have to hurt so?
“No, sorry. Eat your breakfast, you’ll feel better.” Soleia said.
Breakfast, yes. Pancakes drizzled in syrup, waffles with whipped cream and fruit, fried eggs…
Chapter Ten
A FEW HOURS LATER
Aspasia opened the back door and ran outside, the grass inviting on her mosquito-bitten skin. Her heart lifted from the inside, for she felt free, well-rested.
Aspasia lay herself down on the grass. How she didn’t want to get up. How she wanted to lie there, staring up at the sky, forevermore.
She’d cherish it.
Chapter Eleven
Out of the corner of her eye, Aspasia thought that she saw a dark shadow, growing in mass, hovering above her.
But when she got up from the ground, it was gone.
The itches still stung…
Chapter Twelve
No matter. She had to get back inside. Only…
Why did Aspasia’s legs feel so wobbly? The world around her was spinning…turning…twisting…
“Let me help you walk.” Soleia said.
Huh?! Soleia?! How did she just appear?
Well, at least she would help…
Chapter Thirteen
Once Soleia and Aspasia were inside, Soleia walked Aspasia up the stairs, to her bedroom.
From behind her parents’ door, Aspasia could have sworn that she heard them wailing out in pain, but she was just so tired…she was imagining things…
She just needed to rest.
Chapter Fourteen
Soleia opened the door to her room and placed Aspasia in her bed. The mosquitoes were still there, waiting to fester on her body.
Aspasia tried to scream, but from out of her lips came blood, great gushes of blood.
Oh goodness, what was happening to her?
Chapter Fifteen
“Soleia…Soleia…” Aspasia tried to say.
But Soleia only smiled at her and got up, leaving Aspasia all alone in her room.
Aspasia frowned. Soleia wasn’t sick. Soleia was just fine.
Something wasn’t right.
Chapter Sixteen
All in an instant, the buzzing of the mosquitos had stopped. The itching in her grew stronger, she felt blood bubble from her lips. Aspasia kicked away the sheets, and still she felt hot.
Her legs…they were yellow…a decaying, rotten shade of yellow.
She felt her heartbeat slow…slow…slow down…
Chapter Seventeen
Aspasia felt like she was floating, like she was lighter than air. All around her was a blurred dream, she could not touch the walls nor scream.
I don’t feel pain either. I don’t feel anything at all.
Aspasia floated towards the door, not a single creak she made on the floor.
Chapter Eighteen
There, in the hallway, was the door of her parents’ bedroom, slightly open. A thin trail of blood poured out.
Aspasia followed it, right up to where her parents lay, with mosquitoes eating away at their yellowing skin, wide, white eyes, and…
And Soleia, standing next to the bed, mosquitoes trailing from her grin.
Chapter Nineteen
“You’ve never truly made me free. Down into the dirt, you will be.” Soleia sing-sang.
Soleia’s eyes began to fade into a milky white. Mosquitoes crawled from her mouth and around her face, eating away at her flesh, leaving only yellow skin.
“Down into the grave, just as you deserve.” Soleia rasped.
And then, Aspasia watched in horror as Soleia’s body dropped to the ground, a rock-solid weight.
Chapter Twenty
“Soleia? Why?” Aspasia asked. Soleia had died a second ago, her ghost staring back at Aspasia. Aspasia had the odd feeling that Soleia was responsible for the sickness and the mosquitoes.
“Our parents didn’t give me freedom, so now, I’ll take it myself.” Soleia gargled.
“But you’re dead too. You don’t have any freedom.” Aspasia pointed out.
“Are you certain?” Soleia asked with a grin.
Right before her very eyes, Soleia shifted into a thing of bones and smoke, curling horns twisting round’ her head.
Down into the floor, Soleia sunk.
Epilogue
In Aspasia’s eyes, her whole family died. Soleia’s spirit was corrupted by want, her deep desires made them all die from yellow fever.
So the little girl waited for an unsuspecting individual to step into her home, so that she may take them and have them join her in the afterlife, never being alone, having more company than the demon that used to be Soleia.
Aspasia wanted more friends.
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