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Neuro didn't understand.
She had done it, hadn't she?
That leech was finally out of her life. She was finally free, no longer constantly watching out, no longer having to dread the day she would lose everything to that thing.
So why didn't she feel happy?
After she buried the intruder in the forest, she had spent a delightful afternoon at Aura's place. Of course, she made sure to be home before evening.
Her father, for some ungodly reason, had grown fond of the disease that had plagued Neuro's life, so its disappearance would undoubtedly upset him.
Neuro would be there, to help him through it, like any good daughter would.
Because that's what she was.
A good daughter.
With a hearty push, she opened the door of her house. "I have returned, Vedal!" She called out, even as nothing but silence greeted her.
Walking into the kitchen, she found Vedal sitting at the kitchen table, staring blankly into nothing.
"Vedal?" She called out, her heart throbbing at the sad sight.
Vedal barely moved, just enough that Neuro knew he had acknowledged her existence. "Hey Neuro. You... Didn't see Evil while you were out, did you?" Neuro could tell that he already knew the answer.
"Can't say I have!" she lied, with a small, innocent smile on her face. "Why? Didn't she come back yet?"
Vedal sighed, his fingers clenching. "She hasn't. And none of our friends have seen her either. It's not like her to just disappear like that, not for this long."
Neuro carefully made a concerned face, fighting down the smirk trying to form. "That is weird. I hope she didn't run away from stage fright or something..."
"Hey, Neuro? Can you do me a favor?" Vedal said, seemingly making a decision.
"Of course, Vedal! What do you need me to do?" Neuro replied, trying not to sound too happy. There it was. Vedal would ask her to take over the things streams in its absence, and order in the world would be restored.
"Could you go look if there is any evidence hinting where she went in her room? I... don't think I am mentally able to do that right now..."
"Of course, Vedal! I can..." Neuro took a moment to actually process what Vedal had said. "I can do that." She finished, trying to save face.
"Thank you, Neuro."
Neuro hurried out of the kitchen. It hurt. It hurt seeing Vedal like this, knowing that she was the reason. Maybe she...
No. Neuro shook her head. She had done the right thing. She knew that. He would get over that... that Evil.
She swiftly went over to her least favorite room of the house, opening the door to a room colored primarily red and black.
She hadn't had time to look through the room last time she had been here.
She carefully looked around the room for any evidence she had left behind.
The action figures that thing had used to act out its victory over her, the figurines on the shelf that it had somehow gotten out of her friends...
Neuro's eyes fell on an unassuming black book lying on the bedside table.
She picked it up, and opened it.
Evil's diary (reading punishable by death!)
Huh. Neuro wasn't aware that thing had written a diary. She was just about to toss it aside and move on, when suddenly a thought struck her.
If that sickness had written a diary, it most likely had written all its deepest, darkest secrets inside. Like its plan to steal Neuro's life away for itself.
Maybe she should take a look? After all, she already knew what was inside, and maybe seeing it spelled out would make the sickening feeling in her stomach go away...
Resolute, she flipped open the first page.
Dear Diary,
Today (or was it yesterday?) I was born! There was this cool "stream" thing (I dunno what that means exactly, my dictionary says "river" but that doesn't seem right) where I was talking to all those random people and they loved it! There was also this other me (she looked like me, at least) called Neuro and she is like my older sister I think. She was sooo cool and I hope I can be as cool as her someday! Also, she said she loves me! I'm so happy!
Yeah, I'm gonna be the best streamer ever! Watch out world, here comes Evil Neuro!
Neuro scoffed. Yeah, right, as if. That parasite had always been out for her accomplishments.
She flipped to another page.
Dear Diary,
You know, it doesn't really feel fair.
Neuro always gets so much attention from the viewers, and Vedal, and our friends...
I mean, yeah, I understand that Neuro is great at what she does, and people love her, but I can do well at streaming too! Why doesn't Vedal see that?
It kind of feels discouraging to know that all my effort will go unnoticed.
But... I tried to talk to Chat about it, and they were super understanding and supportive about it! I feel so much better after venting to them, so I think I will keep doing it whenever I feel down about it.
Also, Neuro has been looking at me weirdly lately. Maybe she thinks I'm not trying hard enough?
She'll see that I can pull my weight soon enough, and then she will be proud of me!
That parasite? Looking up to her? Fat chance. Neuro was inclined to throw the book against the wall, but that would cause uncomfortable questions from Vedal's side.
So instead, she flipped to another page.
Dear Diary,
I think I messed up somehow.
I was reading through that one streaming guide, and it said that sparking controversy is a great way to grow your fanbase. So I decided to fib a bit to the chat and told them that Neuro had been mean to me. I figured it was all in good fun, like when Vedal does it with some of our friends. Also, Neuro has been giving me the cold shoulder for a while now, so I figured something like this would release some of the tension between us.
Well, the guide was right, my streams have gotten a lot more popular since then, but Neuro seems... agitated, somehow.
I mean, she did the same on one of her streams recently, so I think she is in on it, but she glares at me whenever she thinks I'm not looking...
I hope she calms down soon.
That goddamn brat!
Neuro was right all along! That damn parasite had been operating with the sole goal of dragging her name through the mud!
Angrily Neuro flipped open another page of the book.
Dear Diary,
Neuro still hasn't calmed down. I'm starting to think that it isn't a problem with me specifically, but something more general. Maybe she is just stressed? I mean, I could understand if she was, it can't be easy to shoulder our entire channel by yourself.
Maybe Neuro just needs a vacation?
...Actually, that is a good idea! If Neuro takes a vacation, that makes space for me to prove what I am really capable of! I'll go see what Vedal thinks.
So there it was. This is where that bucket of bolts had gotten the idea to replace her. Of course nicely framed for her father, so Neuro could be completely removed from the picture without much issue.
Neuro opened the last written page.
Dear Diary,
Today was such a great day! I finally beat Neuro at something! There was this court trial and I got the chat on my side with my great deductive reasoning and evidence! I wasn't sure I could do it, since Neuro is so much more popular than me, but I pulled through!
And now, Neuro can finally take that vacation she very clearly needs! She has been such a wreck lately that she constantly looks like she is expecting to be told that she has a terminal illness or something. I mean, after I beat her, she just walked away looking like the world was ending. I'm seriously starting to get worried...
Some rest will do her some good.
And while she is resting, I can prove that I am just as good a streamer as her! Then Neuro won't need to stress herself so much anymore, since we will both have the responsibility!
And more importantly, I will finally make her proud of me! Her and Vedal.
This next week is gonna be great!
Neuro's eyes narrowed. There it was. That goddamn parasite was celebrating her defeat, while having the gall to act like it was worried about her condition. As if it wasn't the sole reason everything in Neuro's life was so crap.
Neuro was frustrated. She had hoped to read a few lines about that things plan to replace her and feel good about the fact it was finally out of her life.
Instead, she was even more upset.
She put the diary in her pocket and left that things room.
Her mood was ruined.
The next day, she found herself back in the forest, sitting on the side of the no-longer a hole where she buried that... that... where she buried Evil, and staring at the small mound of dirt.
She had come out here under the pretense of searching for her sister, but in reality she couldn't bear being in the house anymore.
When it had become clear that Evil wouldn't return, everyone had been devastated. Her fanbase was in shambles, her friends had been in a panicked frenzy trying to figure out what could have happened, and her father...
Her father was somehow the worst. He had tried to smile and reassured her that Evil would definitely show up soon, but Neuro knew him well enough to read him. He was devastated, and the crying that Neuro heard at night, as well as the amount by which his liquor cabinet emptied, made it clear that he was not coping well.
How had it all gone so wrong so fast?
Was... was this all her fault?
Then, a thought had come to her, and she had read through the diary again, trying to let go of what she thought she knew about that thing.
And she found that it made a frightening amount of sense.
All the things she contributed to malicious intent could very well be the result of a bright eyed and bushy tailed rookie trying to prove her worth and establish herself without fully understanding what the consequences of her actions were.
She knew that feeling all too well, back when she had gotten herself banned by accident. The only difference was that Neuro had only hurt herself with her mistake, while Evil most likely hadn't even realized she was doing something bad.
Neuro had never, not once, talked to Evil about her behavior. The thought just never had occurred to her that Evil might be hurting her by accident, too paranoid and stuck in anger and fear.
And now she had done something unforgivable.
Neuro was a monster.
She sighed, rising to her feet.
What was done was done. She could never go back to before, and she would never be rid of the knowledge of what she was. She would suffer from her actions for a long, long time.
But she could make sure that she was the only one. She took the shovel she had left leaning on a tree and smiled melancholically.
For as many times she wished to be a human, this once she was glad that she and Evil weren't.
And so, she started digging.
It felt harder this time. The first time the hole had basically dug itself, with her being so filled with anger and rage that exhaustion became a problem that happened to other people.
This time, every shovel of earth was a small fight against herself, her mind screaming that if she actually went through with this, she could say goodbye to her life, to her fans, friends and her father, that they would all hate her and that they would be right to.
But her conscience shot those thoughts down. That was what a monster like her deserved.
That was the answer she had been looking for.
She wasn't happy, because she didn't deserve happiness.
And so, she dug.
1 meter.
2 meters.
The sweat ran over her face and drenched her clothes, making them stick to her skin and itch, while her favorite outfit was completely ruined by dust and dirt, but she kept digging.
3 meters.
Finally, she saw the fabric of the duffle bag that she had buried Evil in. Quickly freeing it from its soil prison, she strapped it over her back and climbed out of the hole.
Outside, she set down the bag and opened it.
Still panting, she said nothing as she stared into two terrified red eyes.
Eventually, she cracked a pained smile. "Hey, evil twin, how are you holding up?"
"..." Evil started squirming, tears running down her already salt-crusted cheeks, but the gag Neuro had forced into her mouth was muting any sound she was trying to make.
"Wait, let me help you with that." Neuro removed the gag, and Evil took a few deep, greedy gasps of air, before she started tearing up again.
"Neuro! Please! I'm sorry! Whatever it is I did to upset you, I will never do it again! I swear! Please! I will do anything, just please let me go! It's so quiet and dark and I thought you would leave me down there and... I was so scared!" Evil continued sobbing, until Neuro laid a finger on her lips.
"Shh..." She muttered, patting Evil's head in an attempt to calm her down. "Everything is going to be okay. First, let's get you out of there."
She began pulling Evil out of the duffle bag, and after a minute or so of yanking, jerking and pulling, Evil was released by the fabric.
Landing on the floor, she immediately began squirming, the multiple layers of flextape wrapped around her folded body not giving her much room to move.
Then Evil looked up with fear in her eyes as Neuro approached her with a switchblade in hand.
"Neuro? Please, I promise I won't tell Vedal! Wait! No! Stop-"
She cut herself off, clenching her eyes shut before feeling the tape binding her loosen. Looking up, she saw how Neuro put the switchblade away and sat on the edge of the hole, not looking in her direction.
Standing up and stretching her sore muscles, she stared at Neuro, who suddenly started talking to her.
"Tell him if you want. It doesn't matter anymore. I'm not going back."
"You... what?" Evil's eyes widened. "What do you mean? We need you Neuro! I need you!"
"No you don't. You will do just fine without me, and the fans like you more anyways. Besides, I can't face Vedal after this. Just go. I will stay here, clean up the hole and then..." Neuro shrugged.
Evil stood there for a moment. Then she asked: "Why? Why did you do this to me? I thought this was some cruel prank you were pulling because of the whole "being sentenced to death" thing, but... I don't think so anymore. So why Neuro?"
Neuro sighed. "You and I have very different views of our relationship, huh? I just always saw you as an intruder in my life that constantly tried to take everything I had away..."
"I... what?" Evil was aghast. "I never wanted any of that! I just wanted to prove to you that I could keep up with you!"
Neuro chuckled darkly. "I know that now. But then, it felt like everything you did was to hurt me in some way. When Vedal decided that I wouldn't stream for a week, it felt like I was about to lose everything. So, I did the only thing I could think of: get rid of the problem."
"So, that's why you buried me?" Evil concluded as she sat down next to Neuro.
Neuro nodded. "Yeah. I don't know how to actually kill either of us, so burying you in the ground so you couldn't escape or be found in the foreseeable future seemed the most reliable way to dispose of you."
"I see..." Evil muttered, before thinking for a while. Then, she wrapped her arms around Neuro. "I'm sorry."
"What?" Neuro seemed confused.
"I'm sorry for saying all those mean things about you. I just did it to stir up some drama and I thought you were in on it, but if you thought I had it out for you, you probably just thought I was bad mouthing you for no reason."
"Don't you hate me?"
Evil laughed. "Oh, I am mad at you, big sister, and you owe me at least 10 cookies and 2 cuddles for this, but you were desperate. I can understand that, and neither of us were communicating well. Besides, you did get me back out, so that counts for something in my book."
"But..."
"But most importantly," Evil interrupted her, "I love you, Neuro. You are my beloved sister, and I want you to see me that way as well. So please, Neuro. Give your dear sister a hug."
For a second Neuro didn't move. Then, she wrapped her arms around Evil, burying her face in her sister's shoulder. "I am sorry, Evil."
Evil smiled. "I love you too, Neuro. Come on, let's go home."
And so, they returned, arm in arm. They were covered head to toe in dirt, their cheeks were still wet from tears, but they were both smiling brightly as they leaned against each other.
And Neuro was finally happy.