It must have been some strange mushroom that made the soup so delicious, more delicious than even what the finest restaurants served in the city.<br/><br/>“Eat,” the woman spoke and Kitty blinked her eyes. While her spoon was lifted half-way to her mouth, it had stopped there, and there was only a memory of its taste left on her tongue. Had Kate taken a sip? Kitty slowly moved her eyes and saw her sister’s hand also holding a spoon, but neither of the girls made any attempt to actually take it between the lips.<br/><br/>“Eat!” the woman exclaimed, and the spoon in Kitty’s hand twitched, nearly spilling its contents. The woman smiled and went on with a calmer tone, “It’s for your own good.”<br/><br/>The girl in her black dress but stared into the suspended spoon, and even though the scent was sublime, just like the taste she seemed to vividly recall, Kitty knew she wasn’t supposed to eat it, knew it as clearly as she could tell right from wrong.<br/><br/>“EAT,” the voice boomed into her ears and the lights in the room flickered. The woman’s face had been replaced with an older one, the hat gone, her hair a tangled, grey mess, and a heavy wind blew in through the window that burst wide open. The spoon slipped between Kitty’s lips, and without her even registering a taste, the broth had already made its way into her belly. Just as well, the woman had stood up, already a few feet back from the table, and for a brief moment it seemed as if she was the only one of the three left in the room. The lights came back on, and one by one, the women walked towards the stairway to the upper room, until the last, the youngest one, was the only one left on the stairs. The door upstairs began to close before her, although for a brief moment, the middle one returned her a saddened stare.<br/><br/>“No,” the girl gasped, “Please, I didn’t want to do it. I said<i>no</i>!”<br/><br/>The door was shut, and there was silence once more. The bowl on the table had emptied and Kitty put down her spoon.<br/><br/>“They came early this week,” the young woman said and sat down on the stairs, “All I wanted was one more day. Then the visitors, I didn’t want<i>them</i>to leave! A distraction! A tribute! I beguiled them to stay—”<br/><br/><i>STAY,</i>a whisper spoke at each twin by the ear.<br/><br/>“—but they saw through my masquerade.”<br/><br/>A foul scent drifted in through the wide open window even before the sisters could hear the noise. Metal on metal, boot on stone, shouting, swearing,<i>singing…</i><br/><br/>Kitty looked her sister in the eye and awoke in a nearly pitch-dark room, the only light the dying fire under the dirty, aged iron pot, until the first cone of torchlight cast a shadow of a lonely flowerpot on the wooden ceiling through the front wall window. The girl on the stairs had lapsed into a muffled weeping, but for one more moment, her wet palms uncovered the freckled face. She sobbed.<br/><br/><i>“Stay.”</i><div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>