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“I don’t know about this…” Nelly murmured nervously, running a finger along her necklace, “You know that fashion’s never exactly been my sorta thing.”
“It doesn’t matter how good you are at fashion,” Lina said, completely unconcerned, “I’m not expecting you to win or anything. The only reason you’re going to be there is to try and get in between that nail tech and her nurse.”
Nelly nodded. “I know, I know. It’s just… a lot.” She understood the plan bright and clear: take away the one person Lana loved most from her side.
But admittedly, this plan made Nelly a little anxious. For one, she’d never even met Julie before; she didn’t know how Julie would react to anything. Lina had a far stronger connection to Julie than Nelly did, but it was clear that Julie wanted nothing to do with Lina.
And, second, this plan involved Nelly having to face Lana again. Nelly both hated Lana and was terrified of Lana at the same time. She’d watched countless people die by Lana’s hands. Hell, she herself had nearly died by Lana’s hands. How could she possibly face a monster so merciless?
But she had no other choice if she wanted to get revenge. Making Lana pay for the lives she took was only way Nelly could soothe the fiery emotions in her heart.
“It’s going to be okay, Nelly,” Lina assured her, gently squeezing Nelly’s hands, “You can do this. I believe in you.”
Nelly simply nodded. “I sure hope you’re right…”
*****
“Ugh, what an exhausting day,” Lana muttered, wiping her brow with her sleeve, “As entertaining as it can be watching all those models get at each other’s throats, I’ll admit, their attitudes can get rather grating after awhile.”
“It’s like some people are just allergic to being kind,” Julie added, rolling her eyes. As much as Julie wished that rotten people were exclusive to the modeling industry, unfortunately that was far from the case. Back in the hospital, the senior nurses were downright cruel for no reason; they’d treated Lana like she was some sort of monster over having a few meltdowns the first few weeks of her stay.
Julie was honestly just glad to see Lana was doing okay now, despite the treatment she’d had to endure.
“At least having you here makes it a little more bearable,” Lana said, smiling, “Honestly, you don’t have to be here if you don’t want to.”
Julie just shrugged. “I mean, I don’t have anything better to do. This is at least a good way to spend my time until I can get my life together.”
While Julie knew she had to take things slowly for the time being, there was still a part of her that kept screaming at her to keep driving herself forwards. After all, everyone else her age already had their lives together, and here she was, with the road ahead of her still a complete mess.
Long ago, she’d been on a perfect track, but now she was lagging behind. As much as she tried to remind herself that it was okay to take her time considering her circumstances, there was still that part of her that kept reprimanding her, calling her a failure for daring to fall behind.
“Hey, take as much time as you need,” Lana told her firmly, giving her a small kiss on the cheek, “Just remember, I’m here for you, no matter what.”
“Thanks,” Julie said sheepishly. Even though she felt pretty horrible regarding the current state of her life, it was at least reassuring to know that Lana was by her side through it all.
Just then, Lana’s phone began to ring.
“Who is it?” Julie questioned curiously.
“Strange,” said Lana suspiciously, “It’s my mom. She doesn’t normally call me while I’m at work.”
Pulling away from her desk, she added, “I’m gonna head outside and take the call real quick. I need to make sure everything’s okay. Would you mind cleaning up a little while I’m gone?”
Julie eagerly nodded. “Of course! That’s what I’m here for.”
“Thanks,” Lana said, smiling graciously, “I’ll be right back.”
Once Lana exited the salon, Julie was left to clean the desk. She pulled out some wipes and began ferociously scrubbing away at some nail polish stains. She’d hoped the task would be easy, but those stains were stubborn as hell and simply wouldn’t come off. Julie practically had to put her whole body weight into scrubbing just to chip the tiniest bit off.
God, how could Lana handle doing this every day? Julie sure as hell couldn’t. After all, this was far what she wanted out of life; it was merely a temporary gig she had until she could get herself back on track.
“Hey,” came a voice from just beyond the salon’s entrance.
Julie perked her head up, meeting eyes with the source of the voice.
“Oh, hey Serena,” said Julie, “What are you here for?”
“Just wanted to check in on Lana,” Serena said, “I heard this was a busy day for her.”
“Yeah, it was quite busy,” Julie said, “And the models that came in today were a particularly bitchy bunch.”
Serena just shrugged. “Eh, kinda normal in this industry. Do you know where Lana went?”
“She went outside to make a call for a bit,” Julie explained, “She should be back in a few minutes. I hope you don’t mind waiting.”
“I don’t mind,” Serena assured Julie, “Besides, I wanted to check on you, too.”
“Oh? How come?” Julie questioned.
“It’s just been awhile since I saw you in the hospital,” Serena admitted, approaching the desk, “I wanted to know how things have been for you lately.”
Awhile was certainly an understatement. As much as Serena was skirting around the truth, both she and Julie knew just how long it had been since Julie had interned at the hospital.
“Things have been fine, for the most part,” Julie said, continuing to scrub away at the desk, “I mean, it’s been rough trying to get adjusted to everything again. After all, it’s been so long. But I’m trying my best.” She felt a little bit of sorrow in her heart as she spoke. Everyone she’d known had kept moving forward, yet she’d been stagnant for all those years, trapped inside that hospital’s walls. She’d missed out on over ten precious years of her life; time she’d never get back.
“Figured,” Serena murmured softly, “I mean, just being in the hospital for two years of my life made me feel like I was behind. I couldn’t imagine what it must be like for you…”
“But, hey, at least I’m making some plans,” Julie said, trying her best to brighten the mood.
“Oh really?” Asked Serena curiously, “Like what?”
“Well, I’m planning on taking a couple classes at the nearby community college this fall and get a couple courses finished,” Julie explained, “From there, I’ll decide what I’m doing next.” As much as she wished she could do more beyond that minuscule step, it would be pretty difficult considering she’d been possessed before she could even graduate high school. So the path ahead was going to be far messier than she had hoped.
“Oooo,” said Serena, “I take it you’re gonna try and go into nursing again?”
“Maybe,” Julie admitted, feeling that same sorrow tinge in her heart once more, “But I’m still unsure. Even though it’s my dream, I… well, after all that’s happened… I’m not so sure I can handle the memories it’ll bring up.” She fought back the cry forming in her throat as she spoke. She just couldn’t help but feel so torn; her heart longed to reach for her dreams, yet they felt so far out of her grasp.
“I… can’t really blame you for that,” Serena murmured softly, averting her gaze.
Julie simply nodded; as much as she tried to forget about what had happened, it was impossible to banish the memories from her mind. The sight of Agamemnon’s shadowy figure, the sound of his deep and eerie voice, the feeling of losing control over her own body as he took over… those memories would forever haunt her brain. As much as she wished to erase them, she knew they’d always remain, like a big, dark stain in her mind.
When she’d visited a hospital for her leg a couple months back, she felt uneasy the whole time. Through the entire surgery she underwent to remove the damaged limb, she was paranoid that her entire story of being possessed would repeat all over again.
She wanted desperately to follow the same path she’d wanted to take since childhood.
But could she really handle it anymore…?
“Have you thought about anything else you’d want to do?” Serena asked in an attempt to lighten the mood, clearly noticing Julie’s quickly devolving mental state, “Like, if you were to choose something other than nursing, what would it be?”
Julie paused; she hadn’t exactly thought that through quite yet.
“I… honestly don’t really know,” she murmured, “Maybe psychology? I can see myself being a therapist.”
“Girl, you know damn well you need therapy yourself,” came Lana’s teasing voice from the door.
“Oh, shush,” Julie said with a massive grin on her face, “You know damn well that you do too.”
“Don’t we all?” Serena cut in, smirking.
“Say, how was the call?” Julie questioned.
Lana paused upon hearing that question; she seemed hesitant to answer.
“Lana? Is everything okay?” Serena asked.
“Not exactly,” Lana admitted, her voice growing softer.
“How come?” Julie asked, voice rising with concern.
“It’s just… I’ve got a little family emergency,” Lana admitted through troubled breaths, “I don’t want to talk about to right now, but… I might need to call out tomorrow.”
“Oh shit,” Serena murmured, “It’s that bad?”
“Yeah,” Lana went on, anxiously pacing the length between the door and her desk, “But I’ve got a lot to do tomorrow. I’ve gotta run Style Showdown, and I can’t just cancel this close, but at the same time I have to make sure everything’s alright, but I have no one to fill in for me. Maybe I should just cancel anyways? I hope the contestants would understand. But then again, considering the way those models are, they’d probably complain, and—“
“I could fill in for you,” Julie suggested.
Immediately, Lana stopped, shocked. “You sure? It’s a lot of work.”
“I know what I’m doing,” Julie said confidently, approaching Lana, “I’ve watched you run the show plenty of times before. I know the script like the back of my hand! Plus, you’ve taught me all the basics of doing nails.”
“The models wouldn’t be thrilled to see someone else in my spot,” Lana went on, twirling a loose strand of hair around her finger, “You should’ve seen how outraged they were when Lina took my place a few months back.”
“Well, if they have a problem with me, then fuck them, that’s their issue, not mine,” Julie said nonchalantly.
Once she was within arm’s reach, she placed her arm around Lana’s shoulder, holding her tight.
“I can handle it,” Julie said with a confident smile, “Trust me.”
“You’re positive you can handle it?” Asked Lana worriedly, “You know I can just find someone else to run things for the day. I’d hate to make you bite off more than you can chew.”
“Don’t worry, Lana, I can do this,” Julie assured her firmly, “I know I can.”
A small, gracious smile appeared on Lana’s face. “God, Julie, you’re literally an angel for this. Thank you.”
“It’s no problem,” Julie assured her, “No problem whatsoever.”
Julie gave Lana a kiss. “I promise, Lana, you’ll have nothing to worry about. Just take time off tomorrow, and I’ll handle the rest.”
*****
Julie peaked past the curtain, anxiously tugging at the hem of her skirt as she watched the models file in.
“You sure you can handle this on your own?” Serena asked Julie worriedly.
“I’m sure about this,” Julie assured Serena, “I mean, I could handle juggling all my responsibilities at the hospital. Surely I can handle this.”
“Well, if you insist,” Serena said, voice full of doubt, “But if you have any issues, don’t hesitate to ask me for help.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Julie assured Serena, “I’ve got this.”
By now, the models were gathering at the foot of the runway, awaiting for the competition to begin.
Admittedly, the thought of going down the catwalk and addressing the crowd frightened Julie a little. But she had to do this; she didn’t want Lana to have to worry about anything.
“Well, I think it’s time I start,” Julie said, “Wish me luck.”
And with a small breath, she stepped out, strolling down the catwalk towards the crowd of eagerly awaiting models. She could just feel the stares of the crowd landing upon her, but she tried to ignore them and keep herself composed. She knew what she was doing; a couple stares couldn’t stop her.
“Welcome to Style Showdown!” She announced cheerfully, trying her best to follow Lana’s usual script, “In this cutting edge game of fashion survival, you'll be playing against the fiercest competitors to flaunt your styling abilities through challenges!”
The models watching just looked on, perplexed.
“Uhhh, who the fuck are you?” One questioned.
“Yeah, you’re not Lana,” another one chimed in.
“I’m Lana’s girlfriend,” Julie quickly explained, trying her best not to let the crowd’s ice-cold gazes phase her, “And I’ll be filling in for her today!”
Julie hoped this would change their attitudes, but nothing could salvage just how rotten of people these models were.
“Girlfriend?” One of the models scoffed, “Wow, that nail lady’s really sunk to a new low.”
“And here I thought we wouldn’t see shit like that here,” the another model added.
“And what’s with the leg?” Another piped up.
Harsh whispers echoed from the crowd down below, pricking Julie’s skin with the judgement and hatred their sharp edges carried.
Julie gritted her teeth in frustration. God, these people were unbearable. She had to deal with this if she was going to run the whole thing herself.
“If I hear another homophobic or ableist comment,” Julie growled to the antsy audience, “Then you’re getting eliminated.”
Immediately the models shut their mouths and quieted down with the threat of elimination over their heads. Even though they were quiet, however, Julie knew what judgements still swarmed about in their hearts.
Julie hadn’t even finished the damn introduction, and already these people were pissing her off. God, the strength it probably took Lana to not lash out at these people honestly astonished her. This was going to be one long day.
While Lana typically handled stuff like this with sass, Julie was far from a sassy person. But she wouldn’t let that stop her from having a little bite.
“As I was saying, I’m Lana’s girlfriend, Julie, and I’ll be your host for today. Now let’s get started!”
She paused for a short moment, satisfied with the sound of silence reaching her ears before adding, “The round theme is: Formal!”
*****
“How did I do?” Julie asked Serena eagerly when she returned backstage on her way to the dressing area.
“Definitely… more direct than usual,” Serena said with a shrug, “But good on you for putting those models in their place.”
Julie smiled. “Thank you.”
As difficult as today was going to be, she was confident in her ability to get through it.
*****
Julie found herself staring out at the models frantically putting their outfits together outside the salon area. It wasn’t much longer until the timer went off, and still none of them had bothered to stop by yet. Whether it be because they simply didn’t have time, or if it was for other reasons she’d rather not think about, she didn’t know.
It was admittedly odd, seated in Lana’s spot. She was used to sitting beside Lana, watching her do her work, but sitting here by herself felt a little awkward in a way. After all, she wasn’t a nail tech; the only reason she was here was because she wanted to help Lana out.
She hoped Lana was doing okay right now. After all, Lana had seemed pretty worried regarding the call she’d received the previous night. As much as Julie wished she knew more about the situation so she could help, she had to respect Lana’s wishes to keep it to herself. Lana didn’t have to talk about anything she was uncomfortable with. If Lana wanted to handle this situation on her own, then that was her choice.
Julie found herself absentmindedly fiddling with some stuff on the desk, deep in thought. She picked up random nail polish bottles, tapping her fingers on the sides and screwing the lids on and off repeatedly out of boredom
That was when someone apporached the table. Excitedly, Julie looked up, meeting the model’s forest green eyes.
“Hey, would you mind doing my nails real quick?” The girl asked, her voice warbling with anxiety as she ran a finger through her grayish-brown hair.
“Oh, of course!” Julie eagerly chirped, snapping out of her thoughts, “Sit right down!”
The woman took a seat and splayed her hands out on the table.
“What color would you like?” Julie asked, sifting through a nearby rack of nail pooish bottles.
“Oh, um, could you do red?” She asked.
“Of course! Any shape you want?
“I’m good, just keep them like normal,” the girl said, “I don’t need anything crazy.”
“Does this shade work?” Julie asked, pulling a bottle of polish in a shade of deep, rich red.
The model nodded. “Yeah, that’s good.”
As Julie began to work, she couldn’t help but try to stir up conversation. Usually, Lana kept quiet, hardly saying a word unless the client asked her something. But Julie honestly found it awkward to just be sitting here doing this girl’s nails in complete silence.
“So, how’s this round been going for you so far?” Julie asked curiously.
“Not terrible,” the model admitted, “Not my best look ever, but not the worst either.” As she spoke, she tried to show off her outfit to the best of her ability without moving her hands, “How do you think it looks?”
While this model’s outfit did appear to be a little rushed, it was far from bad. The sparkling red dress the model wore complimented her olive skin perfectly, and the fishnets she added were a nice touch.
“I think it looks nice,” Julie said, smiling, “Of course, I’m probably not the best judge. I’m not really the most into fashion.”
“Really?” The model asked curiously.
“Yeah,” Julie admitted, “The main reason I’m here is because my girlfriend works here, and I sometimes tag along to help her out. And me being me, when she had personal stuff come up today, I just had to help her out by filling in for her.”
“Honestly, I don’t see why everyone’s so upset about you filling in for her,” the model said, “You’re perfectly fine at this.”
“Do I even wanna know what they say about me?” Julie asked, shuddering at the thought of what those models thought of her.
“Probably not,” the model in front of her said, “Honestly, they need to learn some basic empathy.”
“For sure! Like, is it really that hard to be nice?”
“Apparently not,” the model said with a shrug, “To be honest, I kinda prefer you over Lana anyways.”
“Really?” Julie asked curiously, “How come?”
“Eh, it’s a long story,” the model admitted, “We knew other awhile back, and she and I… well, let’s just say, we had our… differences. I’m surprised she never mentioned any of it to you.”
“I don’t think she did,” Julie murmured. Lana had mentioned being involved in some sort of cult, but had never elaborated much on the subject. Julie had always been understanding of Lana’s choice not to talk about that part of her life, as it was probably a difficult topic for her. But Julie couldn’t help but wonder: did this model have a connection with that supposed cult?
“What exactly happened between the two of you anyways?” Julie then questioned after a long pause. While she didn’t want to intrude too much, she was honestly curious. Lana was about the sweetest person she knew, so to hear that someone else had issues with her, she needed answers.
“I’d rather not go into it right now,” the model said with a sigh, “Besides, she’s probably moved on from it anyways.”
As much as Julie wanted to press further for answers, she knew it was best not to; she needed to respect this girl’s boundaries. Besides, who knew just how truthful this model was really being? She had to take everything this girl said with a grain of salt.
Yet curiosity ebbed in her heart regardless, and the question floated in the back of her brain:
Was Lana hiding something from her…?
“Alright,” said Julie, finishing up, “I’m done! How do they look?”
The model took a moment to admire her nails. “Woah, these look amazing!”
“Thanks,” said Julie sheepishly, “I only know how to do this because Lana taught me.”
“Well, she sure as hell taught you well,” the model said. Getting up she said, “Thank you!”
“Oh, you’re welcome!” Julie said, smiling, “See you, uh—“ she paused, realizing this girl never gave her a name.
“Nelly,” the girl said, “That’s my name, Nelly.”
“See you, Nelly,” Julie said, smiling.
*****
“Ugh, that outfit is wretched,” Serena muttered, watching yet another model posing on the runway.
“It’s not THAT bad,” Julie said, “It had some… good aspects about it.”
“You don’t have to be nice to every outfit, you know,” Serena said, “You can say it looks hideous if you truly think it looks hideous.”
“Okay, fine, it does look kinda bad,” Julie admitted, “But who am I to judge? I probably couldn’t do much better.”
“You’d at least do better than that abomination,” Serena retorted as the model exited the runway.
“Maybe,” Julie said before falling back into silence. When the next model went down the catwalk, Julie perked up. “Ooh, now this one’s good. Don’t you think so?”
Serena just shrugged. “Looks alright; there are some aspects I would personally change, but overall, not bad.”
“And what about this one?” Julie asked when that Nelly girl from earlier was on.
“Also not bad,” Serena said, “Would’ve been good, even, if she’d used her time more wisely.”
“Damn, you’re so critical,” Julie whispered.
Serena just shrugged. “I mean, I’m a clothing designer; of course I’m gonna be overly critical of people’s outfits.”
“Fair enough.”
*****
After all the models were finished going down the catwalk, Julie emerged onto stage once more, much to the chagrin of the contestants, who were clearly still not fond of her. She could just feel their judgmental glares clawing into her skin.
“Now that all contestants have strutted down the catwalk, it's time to vote for your three favorite outfits!” She announced proudly.
Each of the models were handed a slip of paper, on which they could vote for their favorite outfits. Julie paced the stage, listening to the scribbles of pens against paper. She was admittedly curious to see who each person would vote for, as a lot of the outfits were pretty decent. Julie honestly wished the model’s personalities were even half as good as their outfits were.
As voting commenced, Julie passed by that Nelly girl from earlier. The girl flashed her a quick, awkward smile, and Julie smiled back. At least Nelly was nice; she couldn’t understand why Nelly and Lana had such complications with each other in the past.
Once everyone finished and Julie collected the votes, she took to the center of the stage and quickly tallied up the votes. She was honestly quite disapointed by the results; the votes were far from what she had expected. Some of the best outfits she’d seen had hardly received votes while the objectively worst fits got loads.
“God, these votes are rigged as hell,” she murmured under her breath. But that wasn’t her problem; her job was to be the host, not the judge.
“The votes are in,” Julie went on, setting aside just how unfair the votes were. She honestly didn’t have the energy to get mad at the contestants over their biases right now; her only focus was getting through without losing her mind.
She then began reading off the list of names that were safe.
“Congratulations! Sasha, Mei, Lilly, Kayden, Irene, and Moxi, your outfits dared to impress.” Then, adding her own flair, she added, “However, some of you didn’t do quite so well.”
Then she read off the list of those who got the least votes.
“Wendy, Yvette, Nelly, and Reagan, your outfits didn’t wow us. You’re on the chopping block.”
She could hear the protests of some of the models, but she honestly couldn’t care less about their complaints; most of these people were rude as hell anyways, so she didn’t care about them whatsoever.
“Since everyone’s already voted,” she went on, tapping more into her own flourishes rather than sticking strictly to Lana’s script, “Whoever’s being eliminated this round will be at my discretion.”
She couldn’t help but feel a smirk burn at her cheeks as the models continued to frantically protest.
While Julie typically wouldn’t have cared about which model got eliminated, there was one in particular she wanted to get a bit of revenge on, as she noted that one of the models that had said blatantly homophobic remarks was on the chopping block.
“Reagan, pack your bags and say your goodbyes, you’re done,” she said, with a small wave.
“What?!” The model demanded, face red with anger, “How dare you! This game is rigged, I tell you! You’re clearly targeting me! You—“
Before the angered girl could say anything else, the floor opened up beneath her, dropping her down. Immediately, her words were cut off by her scream echoing out.
God, it felt kinda good getting some sweet revenge, Julie couldn’t lie.
*****
“Damn, you’re really having fun with this,” Serena muttered as Julie returned backstage.
“Yeah,” Julie said, smiling a little, “I’m starting to see why Lana likes running this show so much.”
“You know, that girl you eliminated is pissed,” Serena went on, “I went down to check on her, and she seemed about ready to murder me just for looking at her.”
“This place really attracts some crazy people,” Julie muttered.
“Yeah,” Serena agreed, “Unfortunately, that’s just the way the models here are. And you’re sure you’re fine with running the whole show by yourself?”
“Serena, how many times do I have to tell you? I’ll be fine,” Julie sighed, “You don’t need to keep fussing over me.”
“Alright, alright, I get it,” said Serena, “I just don’t want you to burn yourself out, that’s all. It’s not easy for even Lana to run Style Showdown. I just want to make sure you don’t have any trouble with it.”
“Just trust me,” Julie said firmly, “I can handle it all on my own.”
*****
As the models dressed up for the next round, Julie couldn’t help but eavesdrop on their conversations with one another. And she heard her name pop up one too many times for comfort.
“Julie’s really pissing me off,” one murmured.
“I’m starting to regret ever complaining about Lana,” another added.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Julie was targeting that girl,” another chimed in.
It stung, hearing such horrible things being said about her. Lana wasn’t kidding when she’d said the models wouldn’t be happy with her. Julie had truly underestimated just how vile some of these people could be.
Julie just had to keep reminding herself that she’d only be filling in this job for a day. After that, she never had to step foot on that runway again.
God, how was Lana so okay with all this? Julie would never understand.
“Hey,” came a familiar girl stopping by.
“Welcome back, Nelly,” Julie said, snapping out of her thoughts again, “What would you like this time?”
“Turquoise would be nice,” Nelly said, taking a seat, “Do you have that?”
“Let me check,” Julie said, spinning around in the chair to check the shelf behind her. She ran her fingers across the various shades, but she couldn’t find any turquoise.
“Hmmm, let me check the drawers,” Julie whispered to herself, turning back around and opening the drawers.
Julie honestly wished she’d thought before opening the drawer, as the moment she pulled it open, she laid eyes on a page of Lana’s journal sitting inside. She had just barely processed the words “I regret what I’ve done to them” before slamming the drawer shut.
“Uh, is everything okay over there?” Nelly asked worriedly.
“Yep, everything’s alright,” Julie said frantically, her mind in a frenzy. Oh god, she’d just accidentally read part of Lana’s journal. She’s just read Lana’s private thoughts. She’d just stuck her nose into bussiness that wasn’t hers.
Julie tried to calm down; it was an accident. Nothing more. She hadn’t been intentionally snooping.
Carefully, she closed her eyes, opened the drawer again, and slammed the journal shut. Now that Lana’s words were hidden behind the cover, Julie finally opened her eyes and began sifting through he drawer, searching for turquoise polish.
Thankfully, Julie was in luck, as there was a bottle of turquoise polish buried in the corner of the drawer. Taking it out, she began her work.
“You know, the others fucking hate you right now,” Nelly said.
“I’m not surprised,” Julie said with a sigh.
“They’re idiots,” Nelly said, rolling her eyes, “I hate the fact that I’m associated with them.”
“Why did you decide to go into modeling anyways?” Julie then questioned, “You don’t exactly seem fond of the other people in this industry.”
Nelly was silent for a short moment before answering, “Well, I dunno. As rough as this industry is, the creative outlet it gives me is pretty nice.”
“I think that’s good for you,” Julie agreed, smiling, “Lana has a lot of creative outlets to help her deal with things. Outside of doing nails, mostly journaling and drawing.” While most of the time, Lana used writing as her main way of getting her feelings out, occasionally Julie spotted her making little doodles on the pages of her journal. Though she never said a word about the drawings Lana made, Julie would watch each stroke on the paper in awe. God, Lana was a good artist. Julie wished she had a similar creative outlet herself. While she’d been experimenting with photography as of late, she was far from good at it.
“And what about you?” Nelly questioned.
“Not much,” Julie admitted, “I’m not the best at stuff like art and writing. I mean, there’s a reason I wanted to go into nursing before that fell apart.” While Nelly seemed curious for more, Julie didn’t elaborate, knowing that her story would make her seem insane.
“It’s never too late to learn,” Nelly said encouragingly.
It is for me, Julie thought solemnly, but she kept this thought to herself.
“Maybe not,” Julie said quietly, “Maybe sometime, I’ll try my hand at something creative.”
She put her final touches on Nelly’s nails before she backed away.
“Finished!” She said cheerfully, “Good luck with the rest of the competition.”
“Thanks! You too,” Nelly said, getting up and sprinting out of the salon.
*****
As the various rounds progressed, Julie grew increasingly exhausted from the contestants. While it had been fun messing with them at first, their constant complaints about her were starting to drive her mad. Julie wouldn’t be surprised if their comments drove her so insane, she turned back into a monster and murdered them all in cold blood. Honestly, they would’ve deserved that.
The whole time, Serena kept nagging her, asking if she was still alright with running Style Showdown on her own. While Julie could understand Serena’s concern, she couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed at her; after all, Julie had told Serena she was fine countless times already. Of course, Julie never let her anger show; she just left it swimming about in her head.
After far too many tedious rounds full of nothing but arguing and drama, it was finally the finale. Among the top three were Mei, Sasha, and Nelly.
“Welcome to the Finale of Style Showdown!” Julie announced unenthusiastically; she couldn’t wait for this to be done. She was never agreeing to this shit again. She went on with the whole speech about how contestants had been earning style stars throughout the rounds, which she honestly couldn’t give a single shit about.
“The contestant with the most Style Stars is Mei,” she said, “Mei, since you have the most, you can plead your case to the jury first.”
“What can I say?” Mei asked with a shrug, “I’m just cool like that.”
“The second most is Sasha,” Julie droned on.
“Can we just wrap this up already?” Asked Sasha in annoyance, crossing her arms, “I just wanna win already.”
“And finally, with the third most is Nelly.”
Nelly seemed a little caught off guard, but quickly muttered, “Oh, thank you everyone! I’ve never been in the top three before. I don’t know how I managed this.”
After taking a short pause to take in a breath, Julie continued with the show, following along the script.
“And the winner… of Style Showdown is…”
She closed her eyes. If the models were mad at her before, she was honestly dreading what would go down when she let out the next few words.
“Wait, you didn’t think it was that easy?” She asked, her voice growing quiet as she added, “Did you?”
She quickly turned back to see the finalist’s baffled expressions before adding, “Finalists, your fates are now up to the jury. Yes, the players YOU eliminated.”
Imemdiately, the finalists behind her echoed out in a chorus of “What the fuck do you mean?!”. Their words were so sharp, Julie could feel them piercing straight through her soul. But she powered through, determined to keep going until the end. She’d promised Lana she could handle this; she had to make it through.
She walked to the front of the stage and collected the votes from the jury in the audience area. Flipping through the votes, she tallied them up before preparing for the finale.
The lights dramatically shut off, and the audience hushed to an eager silence.
In that short moment, surrounded by pure darkness, Julie almost felt at peace. The chaotic world around her stopped for just a moment, giving her space to breathe.
She remembered the worried look on Lana’s face the night before. Lana had seemed so doubtful, so unsure.
Julie couldn’t let Lana down. She was going to make it through this, just as she promised she would.
“Anyways,” she said, more confidently now, “The winner of Style Showdown is…”
She gave a dramatic pause. This was it; this was the end of this nightmare of a day.
“Sasha!” She proudly announce as the ligjts blinded the whole auditorium, revealing the lone contestant standing on the stage, who triumphantly waved to the crowd as sparkling confetti rained down from the cieling.
At long last, this stupid show was over.
*****
Julie collapsed into Lana’s chair, rubbing her eyes.
“That… was a lot,” Julie groaned.
“You didn’t have to do it alone,” Serena said, approaching her, “I could’ve helped.”
“I know,” Julie murmured, “But I promised Lana I could handle this on my own, and who would I be if I didn’t keep my promise?”
Serena rolled her eyes. “I can see your stubbornness hasn’t changed at all since we were all in the hospital.”
“At least it’s over now,” Julie said, wiping the sweat off her face, “All we gotta do now is clean up and close up for the night.”
By now, pretty much all the models had left the premises, leaving Julie and Serena alone in the building.
“I don’t understand how Lana can handle doing this shit every single day,” Julie prattled on, tapping her fingers against the surface of the desk, “How does she stay sane?”
Serena just shrugged. “Honestly, no clue.”
Julie sighed. “Honestly, if Lana wasn’t working here, I would’ve never began helping out around here.”
“You don’t have to help out here, you know,” Serena said, “It’s your life; you can do whatever you want.”
“I know,” Julie muttered, “But I’m 28, and I still don’t have an exact direction to go in.”
“You have all the time in the world to figure it out though,” Serena said encouragingly.
“No, I don’t,” Julie said coldly, “I lost my youth, and now it feels like I’m running out of time. Everyone else is settled into their lives, and I’m just not.”
“You shouldn’t compare yourself to others,” Serena said, “You were possessed for a decade of your life. The fact that you’ve gotten things together as much as you have is honestly impressive as is.”
“But I’ve always been ahead of everyone else my age,” Julie went on, tears beginning to slide down her cheeks, “And now, well, I’m just not. I’m a failure.” She frantically tried to wipe away her tears, but they wouldn’t cease.
“You’re not a failure just because you’re struggling right now,” Serena told her, “It just takes time to figure things out, that’s all. I’m sure you’ll be able to find your way eventually, but it doesn’t happen overnight.”
Julie honestly wished it could happen overnight; maybe then she wouldn’t feel so hopeless.
“You know, it took Lana awhile to settle into things around here,” Serena said, “At first, she fucking hated this job.”
“Really?” Asked Julie. While she couldn’t say she was surprised, it was still strange. While this job was clearly tough, whenever Julie accompanied Lana, it was clear that Lana was readily able to handle it.
“Yeah,” said Serena, “When she first started five years ago, she fucking hated it here. From what she told me, clients were rude to her and she got got basically no breaks. Over time, she grew frustrated with everything. She hated the way the models didn’t even know her name, simply calling her the “nail lady”, and how they treated her as less than human. She wanted nothing more than to get revenge on the people who’d done nothing but belittle her.”
“Damn,” was all Julie could muster. She couldn’t blame Lana for being frustrated; she herself was frustrated by just a single day.
“Nowadays, things do seem better for her,” Serena admitted, “While many models around here are still… well, not great… others are genuinely kind to her and want the best for her. She gets more breaks now, and she’s better with handling the stress this job entails. While things are far from perfect, she does seem to be doing better now. I mean, she’s running a whole fashion survival game now! Sure, it took time for things to improve. But that’s okay; everyone needs to take their time finding their way through life.”
Julie sighed. “But can the same happen for me, this late in life…?”
“I believe so,” Serena told her firmly, “Just don’t be afraid to explore what you want to do. If you want to try something new, then do it; there’s nothing to lose.”
Julie sniffed, wiping away her tears with her sleeve. As troubled as she still felt, Serena’s talk did at least help a little bit. “I hope you’re right… thanks for the talk.”
“Hey, no problem,” said Serena, “Anytime. Now, I’ve gotta clean up the main area. It’s a mess over there.”
“Alright,” Julie said, waving goodbye, “See you.”
As Serena left, Julie leaned back and closed her eyes for a moment. She needed some rest before she began cleaning up the salon.
While it had been quite a day for her, in the very least, she managed her way through it. Even if the contestants probably wanted her dead by now, that didn’t matter; all that mattered was that she’d survived.
Then she heard the door swing open, letting the sound of rainfall through.
“Looks like we’ve got Sleeping Beauty over here,” came a familiar melodic voice, echoing out in a playful tone.
Immediately, Julie’s eyes shot open, and she came to face Lana, who stood by the desk, smiling.
“Oh, hey, you’re back!” Julie said cheerfully.
“Yeah,” Lana said, shaking some rainwater off her umbrella, “It was a long day.”
“Tell me about it,” Julie said, rolling her eyes, “What happened with you? I know you weren’t comfortable with sharing before, but… are you okay with talking about it now?”
Lana took a small breath. “I suppose so, now that things are a bit better now. See, my dad, he got into an accident last night and had to go to the hospital.”
“Shit,” Julie murmured.
Lana quickly nodded. “I know it’s stupid of me, but I was paranoid for no reason. I didn’t technically have to call out, but I was so scared, and there was no other way to calm my worries other than check up on him.”
“I’m sorry,” Julie murmured, embracing Lana in her arms, “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
“It’s okay,” Lana assured her, “Honestly, I should be the one apologizing to you for having to take my place for the whole day.”
“Awww, don’t worry about it,” Julie reassured Lana, “You were stressed and needed a break; you have nothing to apologize for.”
“Say, how’d it go, running Style Showdown?” Lana asked curiously.
“Fine enough,” Julie admitted, “But you were right; the models were pissed that you weren’t there.”
“Figured they would be,” Lana said, “But did everything at least go smoothly?”
“About as smoothly as they could,” Julie replied.
“That’s good,” Lana said, smiling, “Again, sorry for pushing this onto you. I know you’re not exactly used to working around here.”
“Hey, like I said, there’s nothing to apologize for,” Julie assured Lana, “I chose to fill in for you on my own accord.”
“You know, you don’t have to do everything for me,” Lana teased.
“I know, I know,” Julie said, “But how can I not? I want to help you in whatever way I can.”
“Babe, you literally became a monster for me; that’s more than enough.”
“And I’d gladly do it again if it means keeping you safe.”
“Well, hopefully you’ll never have to,” Lana said, “Because I’d be pretty damn sad if I lost you a second time.”
Just then, the two were interrupted.
“Uh, hey guys, sorry to break your little heart-to-heart moment,” came Serena’s voice from behind them, “But I found something.”
“What is it?” Asked Julie, springing to her feet.
“It’s a necklace,” said Serena, holding up a small silver necklace with the name Nelly on it for Julie and Lana to see, “It’s not part of our inventory of items, so I think one of the models might’ve left it behind.”
“Oh shit, I think you’re right,” Julie murmured, “There was a contestant today named Nelly. She left not long ago; maybe I can still track her down.”
She was about to take the necklace when Lana rushed over, snatching the necklace out of Serena’s hands.
“Uh, Lana, would you mind giving that back?” Julie asked, confused. This wasn’t like Lana at all.
“Just a minute,” Lana said quickly, frantically inspecting the necklace. She carefully traced her fingers along each silver letter, a look of worry filling her eyes as she stood there in silence.
“Lana, is everything okay?” Serena questioned, sharing Julie’s confusion.
“Uh, do you remember what this particular contestant looked like, by chance?” Lana questioned in a trembling voice.
“Uh, she had green eyes, olive skin, and short brown hair,” Julie anxiously answered, “Why were you wondering?” While Nelly had stated that she and Lana had issues in the past, Julie was honestly starting to grow concerned. Clearly, those issues were a bigger deal than what she had thought.
“Shit,” Lana muttered to herself. She began spiraling, repeating the word over and over to herself. “Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.”
“Lana?” Julie asked worriedly. She’d never seen Lana like this before; what was going on?
“I need to find her,” Lana quickly muttered, “She couldn’t have gone far. I have to find her. I need to talk to her.”
Before either Julie or Serena could move, Lana shoved the necklace into her pocket and sprinted out the door.
“Wait!” Julie called out, but Serena caught her arm.
“I think we should let her figure this out on her own,” said Serena firmly, “I don’t think going after her is the best idea.”
“But I have to help her,” Julie said, breaking her arm free from Serena’s grip. And before Serena could say another word, Julie followed Lana out the door.
*****
Lana burst outside, rain pouring down upon her, but she paid it no mind; she couldn’t risk losing any time.
She ran along the sidewalk, as fast as she physically could in heels. As sore as her feet grew from running, she couldn’t slow down for even a second; she had to find Nelly, as there were a million things she needed to say.
Surely Nelly couldn’t have gone far; surely she could catch up. She kept pushing forwards, splashing through puddles of rainwater pooling on the walkway.
It took forever, but finally, just barely visable amidst the fog in the nearby distance, she spotted a green top paired with cargo pants, worn by a figure with olive skin and grayish-brown hair.
“Hey!” Lana called out, frantically waving her arms around in a wild attempt to catch the girl’s attention, “Hey, Nelly, wait! I need to talk to you, wait!”
While the girl before her glanced back to see the source of the commotion, she didn’t stop; in fact, her pace almost seemed to quicken, so Lana quickened her pace too.
It took awhile, but finally, when Nelly was within reach, Lana desperately grabbed onto her arm to get her attention.
“Nelly, I-“ she began, only to be cut off by Nelly’s razor-sharp words.
“What do you want?” Nelly demanded bitterly, “Do you want to further destroy my life or something?!”
“What?” Lana asked, bewildered. She’d had the feeling that Nelly may not be too receptive to seeing her again, but such a sharp response caught her off guard. “No, I just wanted to speak with you, I-“
“You can cut the act,” Nelly said coldly, “I know what you’re really like.”
“What do you mean?” Lana questioned, which was honestly a foolish response of hers, as she knew EXACTLY what Nelly meant.
“Oh, don’t you dare try and play dumb,” Nelly went on, “You know exactly what you did. Just because you’ve ‘forgiven yourself’ doesn’t erase all the harm you’ve caused.”
Lana honestly couldn’t blame Nelly for being mad at her. She’d sacrificed many innocent souls, she’d hurt those closest to her, and Nelly had every right to hate her for it.
But Lana at least wanted a chance to explain herself. She needed Nelly to know the truth behind it all.
“Please, just let me explain,” Lana pleaded with her. Sure, nothing could change the past, but she at least wanted to do what was in her power to make amends.
“What’s there to explain?” Nelly asked bitterly, “You and I both know, bright and clear.”
“Nelly—“
“Don’t even try to reason with me!” Nelly shouted angrily, her words full of vitriol and rage, “I watched the people I cared most about die, and it’s all because of YOU. I had to suffer, locked away for months, all because I dared go against your little game. And yet you pretend you’re perfectly innocent despite all the blood on your hands.”
Lana wished she could argue, but she couldn’t find the words; she knew that everything Nelly said was true. She knew there was nothing she could do to make things right again.
“And now you have everything you’ve ever wanted,” Nelly continued, her words shooting out like venom, “You have a nice little job, you have friends who care about you, hell you even have a girlfriend… and I have nothing. You’ve done nothing but hurt me, yet you have everything, and I have NOTHING!”
Tears bubbled in Lana’s eyes, but she fought them back; she couldn’t cry. Not here. Not now. She didn’t deserve to cry; not when this was all her fault. She had to hold herself back.
“You may believe you can just wash away your sins and pretend they didn’t even happen,” Nelly droned on, “But I’ll never forget what you’ve done.”
Lana fell to her knees. Fuck, Nelly had a point. Lana was nothing but a goddamn monster. A monster which caused nothing but destruction in its path.
Maybe she did deserve to suffer; maybe she did deserve to be alone.
“I sure wonder what that girlfriend of yours would think if she heard all of this,” Nelly scoffed before turning away, leaving Lana alone on the sidewalk.
Lana sat there on her knees, keeled over, feeling the cold rain pound against her back. Why was she so stupid to think she could reason with Nelly? Nelly was right: she didn’t deserve anything. Nothing could wash away the black stain in her life.
She honestly wished the apple she’d eaten had killed her. At least then, she wouldn’t have grown into the horrible person she was now.
Just then, the feeling of rain pattering against her back ceased, and confused, she looked up to find Julie holding an umbrella for her.
Shit, Julie had gone after her. How much had Julie overheard? What would she think, knowing what Lana had done?
Lana opened her mouth, trying to speak, but Julie spoke before her.
“What do you mean people died because of you…?” Julie asked in a trembling voice.
Lana’s heart began racing. No no no no no, Julie had heard it all.
While Lana often found solace in speaking with Julie, there were some things she was afraid to share. Part of her was afraid Julie would hate her if she knew certain aspects of Lana’s past.
She’d wanted to tell Julie for months now about what had happened between her stay at the hospital and now. But she never had the courage to. God, if there was one thing she was, that was a coward.
But there was no holding it in anymore; she had to come clean. She had to spill the truth out.
“I promise,” Julie assured her, kneeling down to meet Lana’s level, “I won’t be mad, no matter what you say.”
While Lana didn’t fully believe those words, they brought enough comfort for her to finally speak up.
Lana sighed. “You know how I told you how I was a part of a cult, right?”
Julie nodded. “And you killed people in it?”
Lana paused for a short moment, trying to find the exact words to explain. “Yes and no?”
“Explain.”
Lana took a breath, trying to remain composed as she dove into the most painful part of her life, the part she always kept repressed. “See, Agamemnon, he made these doppelgängers of me. Clones, basically.“
“And these clones killed people?” Julie questioned, “That honestly doesn’t seem like you did anything wrong.”
“Well, no, they weren’t really me, but at the same time, they kinda were me?”
Lana shook her head. “God, I’m explaining this poorly, I’m sorry.” Her heart thrummed in her chest; she wished she could run away and ignore all her problems, but she had to face them head-on. “See, when Agamemnon ripped my soul apart, he used pieces of my soul to create the doppelgängers. Basically, pieces of me were inside of them.”
Lana shivered at the memory of those creatures that shared her face. Even now, she was still haunted by nightmares of those things.
“One in particular was extremely close with Agamemnon,” she went on, “She was in charge of a whole cult to do Agamemnon’s bidding. She… she lied to those around her. She even sacrificed her own allies. Sure, she wasn’t exactly me, per-say. But she was fueled my emotions, my memories, my soul. I knew exactly what she was doing, just like every other doppelgänger; I could see and feel it all.”
As Lana spoke, her mind flashed back to that time. It was strange, feeling her entire being split up in several places all at once. Part of her locked up in a cage, part of her running that cult, part of her writhing with pain as she could do nothing but scream… she was no longer a single entity; she was several beings, everywhere all at once.
“Pieces of me were behind all the sins they committed,” Lana went on, quickly spiraling, “Pieces of me were behind all the lives they took. And Nelly, she’s a victim of what I’ve done. I’ve hurt her in so many ways, and…” she choked back a sob; she had to hold back her tears. “And there’s no taking it back.”
As her voice faded off into silence, she trembled with fear. As the sound of rainfall echoed out all around, her mind ran wild with anxiety. God, what did Julie think? Surely she hated her, now that she knew everything…
Finally, after a long period of silence, Julie piped up again.
“Hey, welcome to the murderer gang,” Julie teased, much to Lana’s shock.
“Um, you’re not… mad at me?” Lana questioned, confused. She was certain that Julie would fucking hate her once she knew the full story.
“Uh, why would I be?” Asked Julie, “I’ve killed people too; I’d be a hypocrite if I was mad at you for doing the same.”
“It’s not the same,” Lana murmured, “The only reason you killed was to protect me. And it’s not like you had control over it.”
“Sure, it wasn’t exactly my fault,” Julie admitted, “But… all those deaths are still on my hands regardless, whether I was in control and not.”
“So, you’re not mad at me?” Lana asked again, just for confirmation.
“No, of course not,” Julie reassured her, “I just wish you told me sooner, that’s all.“ then she added with a wink, “We could’ve totally trauma bonded over it, you know.”
“Okay, maybe I should’ve told you sooner,” Lana admitted, “Sorry I kept it a secret so long. It’s just… difficult to talk about that part of my life. I did many things I’m not exactly proud of, and well… I was afraid you’d hate me for it.”
“Lana, I could never hate you,” Julie said, gently squeezing her hands, “How could I hate you? I love you, Lana, and nothing can change that.”
“I love you too, Julie,” Lana said, a small smile making its way across her cheeks. As Julie helped her up, she added “And I promise, I won’t hide anymore secrets like this again.”
As she found herself back up on her feet, she pulled the necklace out of her pocket again.
Tracing along Nelly’s name with her fingers, she took a breath. “Soooo, what exactly should we do about Nelly?”
“Well, there’s not much we really can do as of now,” Julie said, “Even though this situation wasn’t entirely your fault, she’s still entitled to her feelings. I’d say it’s probably best to give her some space for now. Let her calm down on her own terms.”
Lana nodded. “Yeah, it’s probably best I give her space. I don’t think seeing me was exactly the best for her today.”
As the two began making their way back to the building, umbrella shared between their hands, Julie added, “You know, if I’m mad at anyone right now, it’s Agamemnon.”
“What isn’t there to be mad at him for?” Lana asked with a small laugh.
“Well, I already hated him before,” Julie said, then in a more dramatic voice, “But on top of possessing me, he ALSO lied straight to my face! He told me he’d leave you alone so long as I was a monster, yet he tore your fucking soul apart.”
Lana shrugged. “Yeah, he’s not exactly one to keep to his word.”
“If I ever lay eyes upon him again,” Julie said coldly, “I’m murdering him on sight.”
“And I’ll be right there beside you doing so,” Lana added, smiling deviously.
As many challenges stood against them, nothing could tear them apart; their love was stronger than any evil the world could throw their way.
*****
Lina was busy making some dinner. It was starting to get late, and Nelly still wasn’t back yet. Lina had forgotten just how long that fashion survival game Lana ran took.
After vacating the hospital fallowing their unsuccessful attempt to get through to Lana, they’d found a small apartment not far from the Dress To Impress building. While the place wasn’t extravagant by any means, it would work for the time being.
Lina listened to the sound of rain prattling against the windows coupled with the fire of the stove. She hoped that Nelly could finally set their plan into motion. For months now, Lina had tried to get through to Lana, but it was clear that Lana didn’t want anything to do with her.
Lina was setting a plate of food out to eat when the door creaked open, and Nelly stepped inside. She looked like she’d been swimming in the ocean, she was covered in so much rainwater.
“Welcome back, Nelly,” Lina said, looking up to meet Nelly’s eyes, “How’d it go?”
“Surprisingly well,” Nelly answered, “Julie was actually pretty easy to deal with. She’s actually kinda chill to talk to if I’m being honest. I can’t understand why she’s dating someone as unbearable as Lana. I was able to tell her some things which should hopefully cause some mistrust between her and Lana.”
“Maybe we’ll start making progress at last,” Lina said, a devilish smile on her face, “Maybe we stand a chance of ripping those two apart.”
“Fucking finally,” said Nelly, “Only took me competing in a fashion show. Also, not like it matters or anything, but surprisingly, I got third.”
“Not bad,” said Lina, nodding her head in approval, “Say, do you want any food? I made some chicken and vegetables if you want any.”
“I think I might just head to sleep for the night,” said Nelly, “It was a long day. Just save me some leftovers, okay?”
Lina just shrugged. “Go ahead. I can tell it was a long day.” It wasn’t she cared at all what Nelly wanted; all that mattered was that Nelly had done as she was told.
Honestly, as hesitant she’d been to bring Nelly in on her plans at first, Lina found that Nelly wasn’t terrible to work with. In a strange way, she sort of enjoyed having Nelly around.
“Goodnight, Lina,” said Nelly, entering the bedroom.
“Goodnight,” replied Lina.
As soon as Nelly slammed the door shut and was out of Lina’s sight, Lina sat down and began to eat.
As nice as it was having someone by her side, she knew it was only temporary. After all, Nelly was nothing more than a pawn in bringing Lana back to Agamemnon’s side. The day that Nelly learned the truth about Lina’s plans would be the day their little friendship would come to an end.