My mom clipped my chin with the tip of her finger, edging my attention back to her. “Yes. King and Kohen will both be there.”
“Yay!” Dove said, running down the staircase. “I didn’t see Kohen last night.” I rolled my eyes, not because I didn’t understand her and Kohen’s bond, because, of course, I did. If anything, King’s and mine was stronger. We shared a crib together as babies, shared everything together. But the older King got, the more I witnessed him shift. As time passed, he was turning more into his father. I figured, as long as he had me, he would always keep the part of himself that I loved open.
Something was off with Mom today, though. She never wanted us to see Kohen and King. In fact, she despised the entire family of Kiznitch, even the branched-off families. I’d hear whispers and people called Mom a witch. An evil witch. I could see where they were coming from, but in all of my nine years, she was still my mom. She would say that it was because she was an outsider, and they didn’t allow outsiders into the cult. She called it a cult too, but Daddy said it was more like a family.
I was on the fence. I knew King, Kohen, Kyrin, Keaton, Killian, and Cartier were my family, but that’s about as far as I got.
We made our way out to the car. When Mom pulled out of our driveway, I turned back in my seat to watch as my father grew smaller and smaller the more we pulled away.
I couldn’t help the ball that sat in my throat.
Something was wrong. Off. Mom never drove us to the beach house, and Father never let us out of his sight with her for too long. I turned to face Dove, who was watching the trees pass, but I could see it on her too—the uncertainty. She faced me just as I thought it and her eyes glassed over.
“Dove,” I whispered, my hand coming to hers. Dove was troubled. Papa had said that she sometimes wouldn’t be “all there” in the head. That she had a different personality sometimes, and that, at times, she could even be dangerous. I had seen those sides to my sister many times, but not once had I ever been afraid. I thought she was more misunderstood than she was insane.
She squeezed my hand as my eyes went to the rearview mirror. Mother was already watching me, her dark eyes turned to slits. My heart thundered in my chest as she continued to drive us. She took a turn that wasn’t in the direction of the beach house and continued to drive just as she reached into her brown handbag that was in the passenger seat of the car.
“Mom?” I asked, because I was always the inquisitive one and Dove the demure. “Where are we going?”
She didn’t answer. Her fingers flexed around the steering wheel of our Aston Martin as she drove.
“No, no, no!” I scream, tossing and turning. “I don’t want to! I don’t want to remember!” My voice is hoarse, ripping out from my dry throat and shredding my voice box.
“I have to keep going, King. She’s almost there. As soon as she remembers that day, everything else should be unlocked. Trust me, son.”
Mom pulled onto a long gravel road, and I swiped my tears away to finally see where we were. It was the beach house, only from a different access. Maybe she was bringing us here and I was wrong. Maybe she had a surprise for us since we were only a couple days away from Halloween.
She didn’t speak when she climbed out.
Not when she opened Dove’s door and pulled her out. Everything slowed as she raised her left arm and pointed a gun at Dove, who was scrambling across the dirt ground.
“Mom?” Dove whimpered.
She flicked off the safety and cocked the gun. My mouth couldn’t move. I couldn’t scream or yell. Everything went into slow motion. Bang! Bang! Bang-Bang! I screamed so loud my chest squeezed as blood splattered all over my mother’s white dress. Tears poured out of me as my heart broke, but I was already reaching for the door handle to run. The door swung open as I sprinted forward toward the house that I once called home. Past the swing that King and I played on. King. I burst into tears as my battered soul craved his presence. I needed him to latch onto for safety. Bang! Bang! Shots fired from behind me as bullets flew past me into the fence in front. I decided to run for the driveway at the front of the house, as it’s not that far until you hit the main road or a neighbor’s house. The fires stopped and my ears started ringing as pain ripped through me. I didn’t know if I had been shot or if the fact I just lost my twin sister had affected me so severely, but I kept running. My mouth wouldn’t move, the words lodged in my throat at what I just saw. My father’s Range Rover skidded to a stop in front of me. He ripped open the passenger door and came to me, his face falling as he dropped to his knees in front of me. “Perse, what happened?”
The passenger door opened and Ashley, Keaton’s mom, came sprinting out. When she saw me, her lips trembled. “What’s happened?” Her eyes flew over my shoulder. She squared her stance and her hand came to mine, pulling me behind her body to shield me.
“What have you done, you crazy fucking bitch!” Ashley screamed. “I’m going to fucking ruin you!”
My father pointed to the SUV. “Ash, put her in the car, please. I need to handle this.”
“No, Klaus. I will not leave you here with this creature! Where is Dove?” Ashley directed down the driveway again. She always could tell my sister and me apart.
I couldn’t turn around to see who she’s talking to.
I couldn’t speak.
My body was convulsing. My lips were trembling.
I wanted King.
I needed King.
“De—” I managed to say, a notch above a whisper, but when I tried to force the rest of the words out, my mouth snapped closed. I never wanted to speak again. It would have only reminded me of my sister. We had the same voice, the same cry, and the same scream—“Mom?” The memory gnawed at my brain, stabbing it with a sharp knife and twisting it until everything turned numb.
Everything silenced, and I broke out into sobs, making my way into the car. I slammed the door closed and locked the doors, curling into a ball.
My sister was dead.
My twin sister was dead.
My mother murdered her and then tried to kill me.
A door opened and closed, just as I heard Ashley’s voice whisper, “It’s going to be okay, Perse. We will fix this and make it better.”
I fly off the sofa, my skin drenched in sweat. “She—she—” My legs tremble as I fall to the ground. My hands cover my face as I feel thick arms wrap around my body.
“I’m so fucking sorry.” I hear King’s voice behind me, his lips on the back of my head. I jump out of his grasp as quickly as he put me there, spinning around and pinning him with a filthy stare.
“Where were you?” I scream so loud everyone silences.
King runs his hand over his mouth, his eyes on me. “We didn’t know, P. Mom and Dad didn’t know you were going there. Jessika, she set it all up.”
I run my hands over my arms. “I’ve been living a lie. I stole her life.”
“Truth,” Kohen says, walking into the sitting room with a bottle of whiskey dangling between his fingers.
“I’m sorry, Kohen,” I whisper, but he ignores me.
“You’re sorry?” Kohen chuckles, shaking his head while he drops down onto the Lazy Boy.
“Kohen,” King warns.