“Sister?” she whispers.
“Yep, forever and ever, Bethy. I love you.” I hug her back. “I’m sorry about your daddy. My daddy forgets sometimes, too. I’ll never forget you, though.”
“I’ll never forget you either, Lili. Merry Christmas.”’
“And that one?” Jonah breaks through my fog.
“Yeah, that’s not long after Costin was shot.”
“He was shot?!”
“Yeah, on my birthday, no less. Our house was targeted and - wait.” Something itches at the back of my mind…
“Wait what, beautiful? What’s going on?” Jonah asks.
“The truth lies within the false king’s reign. Love bug promises, princess wishes, and young love’s tortured pain. How did I frikin’ miss that?” I jump up, running from the room and down the hall to the library at full speed. Pulling back the carpet in the corner, I feel my stomach turn when I see the old blood stain from that night. I carefully remove the loose board beneath and then pick up the small box hiding below.
“What is it, Eliana? Talk to me,” Jonah begs from the discarded phone at my side.
“Lili, what the hell are you doing? What is that?” Nat walks in after me.
“I don’t know, Nat.” I look down at the treasure chest Bethany and I decorated in love bugs and tiaras in my hands, its contents dating from a time when we were still sisters. A time long forgotten. “Jonah, I am going to need to call you back. I’m okay, Natalie is here.”
“Let me talk to Nat, okay, beautiful?” I hand the phone to her and lift the lid carefully, squeezing my eyes closed, afraid of what I will find inside.
“Okay, I won’t leave her. Promise, Jonah. Yeah. Okay. ’Bye.” Nat hangs up and hands me my phone. “What is it, Lili? Oh, my God!”
“What?!” My eyes snap open.
“I totally forgot you all were like besties.” Nat laughs. “Look how weird looking she was! OMG, you have always been adorable, though.” She lifts a photo from the box, revealing a purple zip drive and a small bracelet that clatters to the ground. I quickly snatch up the drive and slide it into my pocket when she leans over to pick up the small bracelet.
“’Love remembers. Your sister, E.’ Wow, Lili, not gonna lie. Feeling a bit salty right now.” She laughs, obviously trying to lighten the mood. “We are going back to your room and totally ordering custom bestie bling that will put these to shame! Is that it?”
“Yep,” I turn over the box, shrugging, and laugh. “Guess I got excited over nothing. Let’s go back to my room. Did Isa crash?”
“You know it. Girl can’t handle her booze.” Nat pulls my bedroom door shut behind us. Our eyes go wide when we hear laughter coming from the phone sitting on Isa’s chest. She is passed out cold and draped over my lounge, snoring. Loudly.
“Hey, guys.” I laugh picking up her phone. “Shameful, truly, you should treat my girl better!”
“Doing okay there, beautiful?” Jonah asks quickly, walking up behind Jared and Jeremy when he hears my voice.
“Yep, got excited over nothing.” I smile, shrugging.
“Just an old bracelet and pic.” Nat holds them up.
“Aww!” Jared and Jeremy sing.
“Asses.” I chuckle. “Anyways, false alarm.”
“Uh-huh…” Jonah seems unconvinced.
“Goodnight, guys.” Nat and I blow kisses and wave, hanging up.
When Nat finally crashes while texting Jared, my phone chimes with a message.
Jonah: I know there is something else going on.
Guilt.
Jonah: Call me if you need me. Call me if you don’t need me. Call me if you are lonely, scared, tired, confused… just call me. I need to know you are okay. You can trust me. Please.
I reply quickly.
Me: I’m fine, rock star. Probably nothing.
I walk to my closet with my phone, laptop, and the zip drive, and then pull the door closed behind me. Sitting in the floor, I lay my phone down and plug the drive into the USB. I am shaking when the digital folder finally pops up on my screen.
A video titled ‘watch first’ sits at the top of a list of hundreds of image files. Clicking the video, I gasp when I see Bethany’s face pop up on the screen.
‘Okay, so I don’t even know why I am doing this. It’s my just in case, I guess.’ She shrugs, looking behind her and listening to someone yelling outside of her closed bedroom door. ‘Hi, Eliana. If you’re watching this, then that means I was wrong. Which probably means you will never watch this.’ She snorts. ‘I’m hoping that by hiding the zip with the photo and bracelet, you will know that these images are genuine. Only the two of us know about this spot… well, three now, I guess, since I told Puckett as a backup, so they should be safe. He’s not that bad. Dumb as a box of rocks and tangled up in some shit, but aren’t we all. Anyways, these images… they are fucked. I’m sorry. I am. Even with everything your presence has put me through and the spoiled bitch you turned into, you don’t deserve this. You shouldn’t look, but you need to. I hope you aren’t alone right now. I hope you have someone you can trust to help you through this because like I said… if you are watching this, I was wrong, and I am so sorry. I love you. I hate you. I wish things had been different. Be careful who you trust, sister. Things aren’t always as they seem.’
The video disappears, and the images begin to flash across my laptop. Picture after picture of me… before Daddy… before Costin… before Jaxx and Abel and Joshua. I cover my mouth, trying not to vomit at the visual proof of the things my mother tried to set in motion with these photos. Slamming the laptop shut, I yank the drive from the USB port and throw it to the back of the closet and hug the photo and bracelet to my chest. I wasn’t alone… I forgot… there were others. How could I just forget? What have I done?
Looking down at the blinking light on my phone, I pick it up and read.
Jonah: I know you are, but I’m still here if you need a friend, beautiful. You aren’t alone. The shadows can’t touch you.
Jonah: Are you there?
Missed call.
Jonah: Pick up, beautiful.
Missed call.
Jonah: Please. Don’t make me call Abel. I’m worried.
My phone rings with another video call request.
“Jonah?” I sob out.
“Eliana, where are you? Are you okay? What’s going on? I’m arranging a direct flight to you right now.” I can see him rushing through his hotel room in a panic.
“No, no, I’m okay. Stay.” I shake my head vehemently.
“You’re not okay, Eliana.” He stops, and it feels like he can see directly into me, even from this distance. “You can’t hide your shadows from someone who has seen them as closely as I have, beautiful. I can’t help you from here, and it’s killing me.”
“Just a bad dream, rock star. Stay there. You have concerts all week, and I have my girls. I’m not alone. I just shut the door so I could talk to you privately without waking them. Not to mention, you will be here in a couple weeks, anyways. Thanks for the tickets by the way.” I force a grin.
“Are you sure?” Jonah rubs his forehead worriedly.