I love you deeper then the oceans depths. I'm scared of loving you with this quantity, because you could be drowning me. Darling, I can't swim. I'm lost. Lost in the color of your perfect orbs. Perhaps I'll be lost forever, for when I fall, I fall hard. But Alice didn't find Wonderland without falling, did she? I'm ready to feel paradise with you, but maybe you are paradise. Are you waiting in Wonderland for me? Or am I diving into an adventure not worth living? Did I breathe in your high with hopeful eyes? Am I too late? Will the Queen accuse me? Or perhaps she should accuse you of thievery. You stole my heart and you took it to Wonderland. But you left me up here with the damage.

I'm not sure yet what the title will be. Enjoy.

Heaven and Hell are on Earth. No, not metaphorically. I am talking literally on Earth. Hell isn’t located in the molten center, and Heaven isn’t up in the clouds somewhere. The fact that there are people who think so, is ridiculous. No, Heaven and Hell are surrounding us. Almost no one can see these separate planes. A few more people can sense them, and a few more than that can communicate with them. Those two usually come together.

My name is Sydney and I have seen Heaven and Hell. I don’t know why I was chosen and sometimes I wish I hadn’t been. I’ve been able to see it all for as long as I can remember. My parents put me in a hospital when I was 8, and I was diagnosed with chronic Schizophrenia. After months of group therapy and pills that turned me into a zombie, I started lying. They were never going to believe me anyways. I was finally released the day before my 9th birthday. Being away from my parents was hard, but being away from my sister felt like I was being ripped in half. My twin sister, Lacey. She was my best friend and soul mate.

When I got home the morning that my father picked me up at 5:30am, I immediately ran upstairs to our room and climbed into bed with her.

“Sydney”, she smiled sleepily, and we both began crying. The connection we had was indescribable and pure. I know that there are people out there who will try to pervert it in some way, but it wasn’t even close to anything like that. We shared a womb, we shared our nourishment, and we even shared a pinky. Her right pinky and my left were fused together when we were born. They were easily separated, and now we have only small identical scars as proof. Oddly enough, she was right handed and I am left handed. Well I suppose I am ambidextrous, as I wield my swords in each hand.

Oh, yes. I forgot to mention this...

I am a demon slayer.

“What the heck?!?!”

“Heather, will you calm down?”

“How the hell am I supposed to calm down Brittany? My leg is stuck in a freaking fence!”

I look at my sister with eyes opened wide and filled with panic. I’m breathing so hard I’m practically panting. My left leg is in an odd angle and my foot is stuck at the bottom of a ripped out hole in a chain-link fence that’s large enough for someone to go through if they duck. Brittany crouches down and looks at the cuff of my jeans which has been caught by the sharp barbs of the chain-link fence. I start feeling claustrophobic and whip my head back and forth between trying to see what she’s doing and looking back at the river behind me that’s coursing down so loudly it sounds like a thunderstorm is happening.

“Will you stay still?” Brittany mutters at me. Brittany has always been more level-headed than me, even though I’m older than her by two years. It’s weird that someone’s who’s just fourteen is much more mature than me.

I didn’t realize how worn down my jeans were. From what I can see, the cuffs are more string than jean and the string has become entangled with the chain-link. It’s like trying to unknot necklaces after transporting them together in a bag: a pain-in-the-ass. Her impatience isn’t helping.

After five minutes, at least I think it’s that long, could be shorter for all I know since I’m not timing her, Brittany’s able to untangle my jeans by ripping off the strands connected to the fence. I’m not overly concerned over the damage. It’s long past their time to be thrown out.

“There you go!” Brittany springs up and bows at me. She straightens up and gives me a goofy smile. I’m not in such a good mood.

“What the hell took you so long?” I gingerly move my foot away from the fence and step on it warily. Did I twist it?

“You’re very welcome. Pleased to be of service”

“Stop being such a smarty pants. Let’s get out of here.”

We start running but we don’t go as fast as we hope, or at least as fast as Brittany wants judging from her whispers at me to hurry up. My legs feel stiff and I’m limping; I think I really did twist my foot.

“Remind me again why we’re in a hurry?” I gasp out at her, holding onto my side that feels like it’s on fire.

“Because if you don’t get back home before mom comes you’re going to get caught for skinny dipping in the river and get into so much trouble you’ll forget what sunlight feels like.” Even though she’s running faster than me she isn’t out of breath or clutching her side. In fact, she’s holding herself up pretty well. I, on the other hand, think I’m going to pass out if I don’t get to take a break soon.

“Right. And why did we go skinny dipping again?”

“Because mom forbid you from going to the river and since we never agree with her, your first instinct was to do what we knew would piss her off the most,” Brittany’s face is now positioned in what I affectionately refer to as her bitch-face. I laugh at how serious she is but have to quickly stop because I don’t have enough oxygen to laugh and breathe.

We soon arrive in front of our white-picket fence with the red mailbox standing guard in front of the gate. I pat the mailbox affectionately and go ahead in front of Brittany to enter our home first. In the front hallway I hear an excited bark and our golden-retriever Max runs up to me, his tongue lagging out and his tail wagging. I hug him tightly and look up at Brittany who’s smiling at Max, her eyes gleaming. When he looks at her he suddenly starts growling and bares his teeth at her. Brittany’s face falls and she steps back when he starts barking at her. The last time he barked like that was when someone was trying to break into the house.

“Stop it Max! What’s wrong with you?” I try to pull him away from Brittany but he won’t budge. Every muscle is on high alert and he looks more like a wolf than dog right now. Brittany’s now glaring at Max but her lips are curled in a half-smile. She walks towards him and laughs when he starts whimpering and runs away.

“What the heck was his problem?” I ask and look at Brittany helplessly. She always has the answers. She just shrugs and heads towards the staircase.

“Ignore him. He probably ate something weird outside.”

We both walk up to the bedroom we’ve shared since Brittany was born. My side is covered in posters of Lana del Rey and Ellie Goulding and my clothes, makeup, and books are scattered everywhere. Brittany’s side is completely clean. Nothing hangs on the walls and her possessions are all hidden in drawers; even her bed is plain, just a white sheet and pillow cover it.

“You should really spice up your side,” I remark at her, “Why did you take down your drawings?”

Brittany briefly glances at her bed and shrugs, “I like your stuff better. I feel like you have more than we need to decorate this room.” She stops talking and whips her head towards the door. I also heard the front door open and mom’s greeting.

“Heather, where are you?”

“In my room, mom!” I yell back at her. I furtively glance at Brittany. “Do you think she knows about the skinny dipping?” I’m suddenly nervous. I know we should have never gone down to the river after that time Brittany and I almost drowned in it last summer during the hurricane, but I couldn’t help it. Brittany was so excited about the idea and her excitement is infectious. Now that we’re home though and I’m about to face my mom, I don’t want to get into trouble. I look at Brittany in panic and she smiles at me.

“Stop freaking out! You’ll be fine. I doubt she’ll know what you did.”

We hear footsteps on the landing and soon my mom walks in. I can tell she’s had a long day. Her hair is limp and there are bags under her eyes. She hasn’t been feeling that well. Actually, she hasn’t been doing well ever since last summer. That’s why she’s made me come to therapy with her, so that I can understand what she’s going through. I don’t like her therapist. He never makes a lot of sense and says ridiculous things so I’ve learned to just tune him out and use the forty-five minutes to plan what I’ll do with Brittany later.

Mom walks over to me and gives me a wan smile.

“Hi honey. I got dinner from KFC. If you set the table we can eat.”

I grin. KFC is our favorite fast food. Something about heaps of fried chicken is like an art form for us. I turn to share my excitement with Brittany but mom interrupts me before I can speak.

“Honey, what are you looking at?”

Brittany glares at her and gives her the same half smile she gave Max. I look at mom in surprise.

“Brittany,” I tell her confused. I don’t know how I didn’t notice before but my mom’s eyes are red and now they’re slowly filling up with tears. Completely ignoring Brittany she walks to the plain nightstand Brittany’s standing in front of and picks up a framed photo of the two of us that we took last summer, two weeks before the hurricane. Its Brittany’s favorite because her blond hair is glowing in the sun and her blue eyes are shining. I look almost muted in comparison with my black pixie cut and pale face. Mom puts down the frame and I hear her take a big sniff.

“Okay. Well honey, come when you’re ready then,” She turns back to me and gives me a watery attempt at a smile. She touches my arm lightly, and still completely ignoring Brittany, walks out of the room.

I look at Brittany, “What was that about?” I ask, “Do you think working long hours has finally gotten to her?”

Brittany doesn’t say anything and just continues to look at the door where our mom left. I wonder what she’s thinking. I shrug and follow my mom out to set the table. I turn to look behind me but Brittany doesn’t move, just glares at me while giving me a half-smile.

<p>You thought I was gone for good

blood dripping from the knife that night.

There's something you'll never understand

I've come back for a fight.

Lay her down on the duvet

you'd never hurt her.

I've risen from the ground

to create a new murder.

Honeymoon happiness

will come to an end.

I had love for you

but she was never a friend.

I appear myself

to the traitor.

You've created the match

so meet your maker.

</p>