Your Beloved Vidia
By Grace Myers for FW22
she first piqued my interest when i noticed the dim lighting of the cafeteria lights glistened within the optimism in her eyes. there was still hope in her, i could smell it through the overwhelming cavity she called her perfume. the thought of taking that feeling from her filled me with excitement. she was going to fall for me, and i was going to let her.
meeting Vidia was fate. like for the first time in my life i had a purpose, like someone wanted me by their side. we had only known each other for two hours and i already adored her. she was sweet and joyful and observant. reading my face to check if i was upset, analyzing my words for the happiness they carried. and even when she thought i wouldn’t notice, she always smiled at me. Vidia’s smile was perfect. i could look at it for days and not get bored.
she was naive to a fault. and that fault was all she was worth, all she was needed for. to think someone could walk through life that carefree, with nothing but opportunity and future ahead. to think someone could find happiness in the most insignificant things. to think she was about to lose it all. i could already see the flicker of tongues dancing behind her eyes as her hope began to dull. she was slipping and all she needed was a little push to force her down. just one more smile and she would be mine.
i don’t remember when it started but i know once it did i couldn’t stop it. Vidia had gone through so much and yet she still came out of it with a smile. and god, was it the most perfect smile i had ever seen. i couldn’t stand it anymore. she was pretty and kind and valued by everyone we knew, everyone i knew. and she flaunted that knowledge with that goddamn smile. but she was Vidia. she was my best friend, my other-half. and i could never face her, for fear that the resentment in my eyes would transfer to her soul. for fear that the burning city in my head would set her castle-everything that she worked tirelessly to build- ablaze. but the feeling in the back of my mind overwhelmed my heart. for as much as i loved Vidia, i hated her even more.
it only took 3 weeks to break her. on the 21st day, all her hope was lost and she was itching to bring me down with her. she started to mouth the beginning of a surely snide comment when something got caught in her throat. i couldn’t help but smirk. i watched as my snakes slowly climbed her windpipe, leaving no room for the oxygen she so desperately needed. and as she was suffocating, her eyes began to bulge. but not from the lack of air, from the hundreds of vipers pushing out of her sockets and spilling onto the floor. she was getting ripped in half from the inside, writhing in the agony she created. finally, she collapsed to the floor in a pile of mush that still reeked of her perfume. even in death she was insignificant, the middleground to all things that mattered. …3 weeks? gross, that wasn’t my longest game, but it definitely didn’t beat my personal record either. i really need to get my turnaround down. i need a new plaything.