“Joke?” Rebecca’s expression turned slightly cold. She was already in a bad mood because of what happened to her sister. If not for the fact that it was Brian who brought the doctor, Rebecca would have lashed out at him by now. “Mr. Brian… Do you know what’s the most difficult thing to achieve for any artist?”“Um, I’m not an artist, so I’m not sure what it is,” Brian replied.“It is to replicate what you see in reality or in imagination, and take it to perfection,” Rebecca said. “It applies to businessmen or anybody for that matter because we are all artists in our respective professions. The beauty of the world, or the complexity of our lives cannot be fully captured in mere pictures or books. But we still do our best to bring our artwork to life just like how you do your best to satisfy customers and at the same time earn as much profit as you can through your businesses.” She pointed her thumb back at the image of hers. “This art you see is the result of an honest replication of r
Selena was not at all surprised by Rebecca’s remarks because this was how Rebecca had been treating her lately, as if she was her enemy.“I admit that I treated him a bit unfairly, Rebecca, but what’s done is done,” Selena reasoned with her. “Benjamin is gone. There’s no point in wasting your life over a dead guy that will never return.”“Yeah, he’s no longer in the world, Mom, but…” Rebecca touched her own chest, “he’s still in my heart. And he’s still greater than any man out there in the world. I don’t think that will ever change.”“A-Are you saying you’ll never marry anyone ever again?” Selena couldn’t help but ask, looking baffled.“Unless Benjamin rises from his grave… yes, I won’t be marrying again,” Rebecca replied without a shred of dithering.“Are you sure you’re not making this decision purely based on emotions?” Selena asked again.“If that’s the case, then there’s no need for you to worry now, is there, Mom?” Rebecca said. “I’m tired. So, if you leave, I’ll get some sleep
Early in the morning, Dorothy was sitting out on the balcony, next to Rebecca, basking in the morning sunlight. “Are you sure this would help, Rebecca?” Dorothy looked very doubtful. “Don’t they say that sunlight causes cancer? You’re not trying to fuck with me, are you?” “As long as you don’t put on sunscreen lotion, then you’re going to be fine,” Rebecca said. “Sunlight heals, so stop getting anxious about it. Why do you think I’m sitting under it now? Because it cures depression without me having to do anything about it. Isn’t it making you feel better?” “Well, I still feel cold out here, but slowly, my body is warming up,” Dorothy said. “Nevertheless, the UV rays are a killer, aren’t they?” “No they are not. Like I said, as long as you don’t put on toxic chemicals on your skin and eat a proper, healthy diet, being in the sun is beneficial to your health, Rebecca assured. “I’ve asked some of my most trusted friends about this. One of them released multiple research papers on thi
Roshan was a tall and good-looking boy. He had many friends among both boys and girls, but he preferred to spend more time on the mobile playing games and chatting with strangers. He got a thrill from doing that.Currently, Roshan clumsily swam while video-chatting with a random girl he met online. “I did what you said. Now, it’s your turn.”“I don’t think I can do what you did,” she laughed, “because I’m an organic robot.”“Haha, good joke,” Roshan laughed along, “but there’s no way you can be a robot. I mean, you are so gorgeous.”“Thank you,” she smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. “What do you want me to do?”“How about you stare at me without blinking?” Roshan said. “Whoever blinks first will get a command from the winner.”“Sounds fun.”They both started staring at each other. Roshan was good at it, but this girl seemed like an expert at doing it.“Roshan, what do you think you’re doing?” Rebecca entered the scene, startling him.“U-Uh, Aunt?” Roshan didn’t want to revea
After Roshan went into the building, Rebecca was sitting by the pool.“What are you thinking about, Aunt?” Lisa came to her, wearing a two-piece. “Aren’t you going to jump into the pool with me?”“No, I don’t like the pool, so you can swim by yourself,” Rebecca said.“Why not? I’ve never seen you swimming before. Are you afraid of water or something?” Lisa queried while jumping into the pool.“Not really, but I don’t like to use the pool that others use,” Rebecca replied.“Why not?” Lisa began to swim.“Long back, when I was in school, I went to the pool to swim and relax,” Rebecca explained, already shaking her head because of what she was about to say. “There are over a dozen women swimming in that same pool. I didn’t mind it, but then I saw the color of the water changing around a particular woman who was dancing. At first, I thought something was wrong, but then I soon realized that she was actually urinating.”“Ew,” Lisa suddenly felt like she was in the wrong place. She stopped
Rebecca fell into the pool.Lisa laughed happily and splashed water in her aunt’s face. Rebecca should have gotten angry, but she smiled instead. However, she did not swim but came out of the pool, despite Lisa asking her to swim with her at least for a few minutes.“I’m sure Aunt Veronica is going to get off the bed and act all cheery soon,” Lisa said.Rebecca’s expression, however, stayed the same. Even though she was somewhat smiling, Lisa could feel the sadness hidden beneath that soft face of her aunt.“Are you… still thinking about Benjamin?” Lisa hesitantly asked.Rebecca briefly looked at her and said in a voice that subtly melted in pain, “It’s very hard to forget someone who has given you so many memories. When he was with me, I did not think of him. Now that he’s no more, I think of him a thousand times a day. Every day feels like an hour, and I still look toward the gates every time they open, as if some part of me still believes that he’s going to come walking through tho
Bunny came to Brian’s home to give him an update, but Brian wasn’t in the mood to hear, so Bunny talked with his mother instead. “I’ve pretty much confirmed that Rebecca’s sister is infected with a parasite. A strong parasite at that, but what I’m not sure is if that’s a natural parasite or a synthetic parasite.”“Synthetic, you say…” Brian’s mom frowned. “Has technology progressed that far already?”“Yes, ma’am. The technology of The Swamp is at least half a century ahead of what the public is aware of,” Bunny said. “The technology of cloning, holograms, nanobots are being perfected for decades already. So, it could be possible that it’s a synthetic parasite.”“Are those the only two possibilities?” she asked as she wondered if Andrew Sehla was behind this.“There’s the third possibility, too,” Bunny frowned this time. “I read in ancient books that they fed parasites to indirectly kill people in babylonian times. Demons used to possess these parasites and make people go crazy. It’s h
“Are you talking about me, my loving sis?”Veronica’s voice suddenly came from behind, making the hearts of Rebecca and Akash jump into their throats.When they turned, Veronica was right behind them, appearing normal, but there was something different about her eyes and her smile. It was very subtle, but both of them felt it.“What are you two stupidly staring at me for?” Veronica asked and looked around. “What with all this garbage? Are these microscopes?” she waved her hand before her nose. “Hmff, what’s with this bad smell? It smells like chemicals.” She looked at Akash. “Is this your doing? Are you trying to get a PhD in biochemical engineering or something?”Her slightly arrogant look melted Akash’s heart, and he immediately stepped forward and hugged her emotionally. “I thought I’d never see you like this again.”“Huh, what are you saying? Why do you sound like I woke up from a coma?” she asked.“Because you kinda did,” Akash quickly told her what happened, even though Rebecca