My heart was pounding as we were led to the sacred grounds.
This is it. This is where we will meet our end.
I stole a glance at my brother. He gave me a sad encouraging look before being shoved up front before me.
How did it end up like this? How could we have become like this?
I never wanted us to end like this. I never wished for this to happen. Even though it is expected, I wish it would not have to come to this.
My brother and I were inseparable. He's about 5 minutes older than I am, and though we're fraternal, thus we look nothing alike, there was no stopping us from being like peas and carrots, and we were the pride and joy of our parents.
Then the great big flood happened. My brother and I were trying to catch fish for dinner that day and we were sent adrift. Then we woke up to find ourselves in a cabin surrounded by fire outside the yard. Apparently the big flood triggered and broke some sort of seal that kept the ancient undead at bay and the family that found us adrift rescued us and found the next best shelter they could find to barricade us in from the mob of zombies that swamped the earth. We couldn't leave, because if we leave, we'll be in the risk of being attacked by zombies, who were somehow terrified of fire.
So my brother and I ended up growing up with this foreign family, surviving in cabin after cabin as we led a nomad life. We never knew what happened to our parents, but we assumed they could've either been killed by the flood or by the zombies. Fire-salt became the new rage as people used it to create fiery barriers around their homes to keep the zombies out. We watched as the world slowly and mysteriously become some sort of post-apocalyptic/communist world. The rich were able to afford secure homes and better wards against the zombies and the poor were left to fend for themselves, scrounging on scraps and trying to get by with whatever fire-salt we could get our hands on.
Somehow along the road, my brother and I developed an incest romance for each other. We knew our relationship was taboo and breaking the communist law, but we didn't care. We only had each other and, despite them rescuing our lives, we've never felt any sort of belonging towards this foreign family who took us in. We only had each other, and it was so right between us that we couldn't see anything wrong behind this. We planned to run away together, to cut all ties with this foreign family and depend on each other and start our own. We had to sneak about, of course, but it was worth it to feel each other's lips, each other's touch, each other's skin against skin...
It was a matter of time before the law-enforcers managed to capture us. We didn't know who ratted us out, but I wouldn't put it past our foreign family. They made us renounce our relationship if we didn't want to be put to jail. They even implemented torture on us to give in but we refuse to cooperate. At the back of my mind through the pain, I remember it's something to do with crushing my hands and feet. But we held strong. There was no way in hell they can separate us, and we were going to make them get it into their thick skulls.
Then we were taken to separate rooms to see this woman who claimed to be our mother who supposedly survived the flood and had been searching for us. We were almost fooled--almost--but we soon knew she wasn't our real mother. Something about her didn't sound or look right, and she could be one of the law enforcers whom they use to break us. She tried to convince us too but we wouldn't budge.
Finally the law enforcers, seeing that we would not break, found us guilty of incest and sentenced us to life in prison. Which brings us to where we are now. As we were brought up stage and displayed about to the people to be made an example of, I stole a look at our prison that was put on a table before us.
There were two weird-looking jars where we would be sucked in, one for me and one for my brother, and that we have to drink the solution in the jar to shrink us so that the jar will suck us in. Then bottom of the jar was some sort of pebble-like substance, but we're not supposed to eat that. I think from what I heard from other inmates about this life sentence was that the solution was supposed to sustain my life, since we're gonna be there for eternity without food and water, and the pebble-like substance with sand-like material will be the only luxury of a bed we'll ever have. And once we're sucked in, the seal will be permanent and no magic or weapon could ever undo it. We would be kept in a dark cupboard along with all life sentence inmates in their jars, never to see the light for all eternity, alone in that jar with only our thoughts until we drive ourselves insane with solitude.
This was where we would be for the rest of our lives. Apart from each other, unable to see each other, unable to hear each other's voice and feel each other's loving touch.
The time has come. It was now time for us to drink the solution and serve our time.
No, this cannot happen!
I will not let it happen!
I will not be separated from my brother! Not like this!
We were both force-fed with the solution, but in the midst of the chaos and struggle, I managed to reach out for my brother's hand in time. They did not see me and by the time they did, we were already shrinking and I was sucked into the jar along with him, hand in hand, and try as they might, they couldn't get us out, even with guns and knives and magic chants and all the weapons in the world, and we watched in triumph as they try in vain.
We are now happily imprisoned together for eternity. We joined the other inmates' jars in that legendary life sentence cupboard and every once in a while, we would be taken out of the cupboard for the law enforcers to try a new weapon or a new spell so that they could extract either one of us out and separate us, and whenever they fail, our smug smile rubbed it in on their faces.
I can't wait to see their faces when my baby bump starts to show.
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