Elodie

It was much too hot outside for Charys’ tastes, the air was warm and sticky. Like one of those insufferable saunas her mother tried to get Charys to like. It was so warm that even the pool felt like a boiling pot. The concrete had even burned Charys’ feet as she raced back to the house.

It was cool inside, wonderfully cool. She slid off her sandals and plopped down on the bottom step of the marble staircase.

This was the biggest staircase Charys had ever seen, in fact, her house was the biggest she’d ever seen.

In this small town everyone else’s homes looked the same, except for the Olisters.

Charys’ father, Mr. Olister, used to be a professor down at the university. But after applying for a grant, he’d made a magical breakthrough in human evolution science and sold his findings for a fat sum of money.

Charys had only wished that her father had made a discovery on how to cool the temperature outside. Charys heard heavy, uneven footsteps. She knew who it was before she even looked up-Csepel, her older brother was bounding down the steps at an unusual speed. In his arms he held a dark blue notebook that made Charys grin knowingly.

Though she’d never admit it, Charys had a knack for rummaging through her brother’s things. She’d found the notebook not too long ago; it was practically a love letter that never ended.

Csepel had spent the first ten pages pouring his heart out to a girl named Elodie. It was rather dull and unoriginal, Charys had thought when she read it.

If there was a prize for making a love letter as unromantic as possible, Csepel would win. He’d described Elodie as “pale skinned” and “enchantingly horrifying.”

Charys hoped her brother had enough tact to not call his crush pale and horrifying. It was bad enough as it was that whenever he drew Elodie, he attached horns and sickly features. He made his crush look more like an urban legend than a beautiful girl.

Charys would voice all of her opinions, but Csepel had surprisingly never brought Elodie up to his little sister which bothered Charys more than she’d like to admit. She told her brother everything from her headaches to her silly crushes at the community center. Maybe Csepel was keeping more from Charys than just his love life. Maybe he had a plethora of things he didn’t tell her.

“Where are you going?” Charys hoped off of the bottom step, watching her brother as he slid on his shoes and reached for the door.

Csepel looked back at Charys with brown almost black eyes- the same ones she had. Except Csepel’s eyes seemed darker somehow. “Out.” He said simply.

“I’m coming with.” Charys put her sandals back on and followed Csepel out of the house into the bright summer day.

Csepel frowned. “I don’t want to babysit. Go back inside.”

“But there’s nothing to do.” Charys sighed. She didn’t want to sit and watch her mother paint her nails. And she surely didn’t want to boil like a fish in the pool. “You’ll barely even know I’m there.”

Csepel looked like he wanted to throw his sister across the field in front of their house. But instead he gave her an odd smile that didn’t quite fit his face. “Alright.”

Charys bounded across the tall grass field after Csepel, ignoring the sweat building on her brow and the burning sun above her. Though she slowed her happy pace when Csepel stopped in front of a tiny house at the edge of their parent’s property.

Charys had never been in this house, but she didn’t need to be in it to know what it housed. “Csepel…” she called, but he didn’t bother looking back, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring of keys. Charys hurried towards him. “Csepel!”

This time Csepel turned, but only slightly. He gave her an odd glassy eyed look that made Charys’ skin crawl. “What?”

“We’re not supposed to go in there- Dad said so”, Charys warned. Usually it was her older brother that told her to steer clear of her father’s laboratory. “You know that.”

“When did you start to care about the rules?” Csepel’s voice was low, it sounded almost like a growl. “Do you want to come or stay in that house?”

“We better not get in trouble.” Charys said softly, as she wondered what other rule breaking things her brother did when she wasn’t around.

The laboratory was cold and sterile, if the outside looked inviting the inside was anything but. It felt like a doctor’s office.

The first room they stepped into was a simple lab, large and lined with white stone counters. The floor was covered in smooth clean tiles. The counters were littered with beakers filled with oddly colored liquids, boxes of blue medical gloves, and anatomy textbooks books.

“…why are we in here?” Charys questioned as she eyed a beaker filled with neon green liquid that was labeled with a large word she couldn’t pronounce.

“To have fun.”

“In here? It smells like the dentist.”

“Are you scared or something?”

Yes. “No.” Charys swallowed. “Can we leave soon?”

“We just got here- don’t you want to see the good stuff?” Csepel’s eyes twinkled and he reached for a door on the opposite side of the room.

Charys nodded and followed. The room on the other side of the door was less sterile. It looked like a scene from a detective movie. There was a desk at the far end of the room, and the walls were adorned with pictures and writing. The pictures were taken by Polaroid and the writing was the same scribble as her father’s.

The first photo she saw was a girl who looked a little older than Csepel, maybe 16 or 17. She was curled into a ball on the ground, her skin paler than paper.

The next photo Charys saw was of the same girl. She looked a little sicker, her eyes bulging and her body frail. She was skin and bones. Charys’ stomach churned with the promise of bile when she spotted the next one; the same girl-or was it? Charys couldn’t really tell anymore. The girl was standing tall and lanky, her skin was peeling off of her and her hair was thinning while her eyes glowed oddly. Charys gagged when she spotted the wet blood around the girl’s lips.

She pushed away from the wall, noticing that all of the photos were of the same monstrous girl. “Csepel, what is this?” She pointed to the photo she’d just seen.

“Elodie.” Csepel said in a dreamy voice. Charys’ eyes widened as he continued. “She’s beautiful isn’t she?”

“Why is her picture Dad’s lab? Why do you know her?” Charys didn’t want to ask the last question on her mind- did you do this to her?

Csepel didn’t answer for a while, simply staring at a photo Charys could see. Finally he said, “She’s my girlfriend,”

Girlfriend? Charys wanted to leave, immediately. Elodie looked less like a girlfriend and more like a monster. She was something from a horror film, not a romantic interest. “I want to go home.”

“There’s a shortcut through here.” Csepel nodded towards a small door, painted in white and the only part of the room clean of photos and writing. “I’m going to stay. I’ll see you at home.”

Charys couldn’t move faster if she tried, she opened the door, already thinking of the things she would tell her mother of this trip. Before her was a long staircase; maybe it led to the back exit? Charys didn’t really care at the moment. She rushed down the dark steps, the door closing behind her.

She heard it lock. Good, she thought. I don’t want Csepel following. Or maybe Csepel had locked her out to force her to go home?

Charys finished the descent clumsily; it was hard to see with such little light. At the end of the steps she spotted a light switch, and she flicked it up. The room erupted in harsh white light, and Charys could finally see clearly. She blinked and felt her blood turn cold-or boiling hot, either way she felt terror grip her tightly.

Sitting in front of her, in a plush sitting chair, as if she were a guest, was a horrifying Elodie. Charys could smell the rot from Elodie’s skin, it hung off of her like it were simply clothing. Elodie’s eyes were much too big for her head, and she barely had any hair left. She smiled at Charys, showing stained sharp teeth and fingers that resembled claws as she waved delicately.

“Hello, little Charys.” Her voice was a rasp.

Charys looked back at the staircase, and though she already knew it was locked, she ran back up as if the truth would change. But as she rattled the door knob with shaky sweaty hands, she wondered if Csepel had done this on purpose.

Charys let out a sob as she pounded on the door. “Csepel! Let me out!” She screamed.

From the other side of the door she only heard laughter, the same as her brother’s-a mix of snorts and giggles.

Charys looked back down the steps. The sitting chair was empty. She carefully descended, legs shaking and eyes watering.

Elodie was nowhere to be found.

That same evening a boy with brown almost black eyes left his father’s laboratory carrying a pair of pink sandals in his hands. They were much too small for his feet, and they were splattered in blood.

The boy smiled at the memory of the girl who used to wear them.

He smiled as he dropped the pair of sandals in the river behind his house, watching as the current played with them and carried them far from here.

“Goodbye, Charys.” He whispered, standing up. He stared at the sky, and turned away from the last remaining pieces of his sister.

The boy never looked back.