The Nutcracker & Licorice: Part Two (special preview)

The young men are both handsome with strong jaws and slightly buck teeth. The one in black looks serene, almost half asleep, the one in red looks anxious, almost near tears.

I sigh to myself as I look at their handsome faces. “I see, so that’s what you used to be.” I hear a clatter in the hallway, so I duck myself behind the paintings. It’s there I lay myself down and fall asleep.

I wake up and crawl out from behind the paintings. As I do, I see Seraphina standing there, staring at the picture of her younger self. I stand up, hugging my bag against my chest.

“You won’t find the box.” Her gaze does not leave the painting. “So you are not a threat to me.” She drops the tarp, covering the artwork again. Her black eyes fall on me, if she even has eyes, they could be voids for all I know.

I frown at her. “I need that box, you know I need it. I won’t stop trying to look for it. You know that too.”

“But you will never find it. That’s the thing. You will never open it, thus ensuring that you do not get your way.” Seraphina smiles at me but it quickly fades, seeming to hurt her.

“You cannot keep going like this forever! You will crumble and you will bring everyone else down with you. What’s the point of living this way if you know it is only going to end in the misery of so many others?” I approach her with my bag still clasped in my arms. “You can’t possibly want that.”

Seraphina glares down at me. “What was it you called yourself? Phiphi?” She sniffs, turning her nose up at me. “I had time before you showed up. I still have it, so long as you never touch that box again.” She places her hands on her hips as she turns her body towards me. “And you will never sway those who remain here. They are all loyal to me.”

“Is that what you call it?” I mock her stance, standing in front of her like a mirror. We stare at one another, into our own face. “Then they are loyal to me too.”

Seraphina scowls. “You are not me.”

I return the expression. “And you are not me. We are neither, Seraphina. We aren’t anyone without each other.”

“I am somebody!” Her voice comes out a low, hungry snarl. “You are the nobody. You should have stayed in whatever rat hole you came from.”

I’m starting to grow angry again. “I was with our father, you know this.”

Seraphina inches closer towards me. “I have no idea who you are or from whence you came. I only care that you go back to it so I can continue to know you don’t exist.”