7. Dane
Chapter seven
Dane
“Hey, you.”
I blink out of my thoughts and look up to see my sister has joined me in the living room. She looks exactly like the girl I remember. Older, but still Vera. She even smiles at me like she used to. In the way that says she enjoys spending time with me.
I can’t wrap my head around the different person I see when the others are around. When it’s just me and her, I can almost pretend that things are…normal. That she’s really back and we’re just catching up on all of the lost time together.
And then she’ll have random outbursts that completely throw me for a loop. She’ll pout or say nasty things that aren’t like my sister at all.
All I’m left to wonder is, which one is real? I know which one was real back when we were kids, but now? Is she putting on a show of what she remembers we acted like? Or am I bringing out the actual Vera, and the GE influence slips out when I’m not around or when something triggers her?
“I thought you were picking out a movie for us to watch.” Her more golden brown than green hazel eyes flick to the case of movies I’m standing in front of.
I look back at them. “Oh. Right.” We agreed to watch a movie since she was tired of watching shows on TV or playing video games. I’m surprised we haven’t tried watching movies together earlier, but then I remember that she usually lost interest in them halfway through and we’d never finish them in the past.
That, and it feels more like a me and Raegan thing.
Which is dumb. You can’t hoard something like movies for only one person.
…is what I tell myself, but that doesn’t explain why I’ve been staring at the movies without really looking at them all this time. Something in me doesn’t want to pick. It wants her to grow impatient and decide on something else.
“Oh, what about this one?” Vera tugs on a movie, and my jaw tenses involuntarily when I see which one it is.
“Not that one,” I bite out, grabbing it and shoving it back onto the shelf.
“Wow, not a Jumanji fan? You didn’t need to take my hand off, though, geez. Let’s do a horror movie, then. Saw ?” she asks rather than pulling it out this time.
I remember Raegan curled up against me as she watched through parted fingers.
“No.”
Vera huffs but doesn’t push it. The difference in attitude she gives me compared to the others is glaring, but I let it go. I’m her brother. Of course, she’s going to treat me differently. “Fine. Napoleon Dynamite .”
I can tell she’s jumping genres to try and figure out what mood I’m in, but that movie brings me back to all the inside jokes I’d had with Rae over the movie on the island. I dressed up as Napoleon and she dressed up as Debbie for fun one time, and the look on Aiden’s face had been priceless . A forever memory.
“No.”
“Well, then you pick one. You can’t just say no to all of them.”
Can’t I? Every movie reminds me that Raegan isn’t here. That she sacrificed everything for me and Vera. What are they doing to her right now while I’m chatting over movie choices with my sister?
Why didn’t she fight harder against them? Why give in so easily? Because of us? Because of Vera?
Because of me?
I should have stopped her. Kell and Aiden were stuck in that asshole’s lightning, but he’d left Reid and me alone when we didn’t move. If I was fast enough, could I have grabbed her?
I didn’t try hard enough. This is my fault. She did this because of her promise to me to get me reunited with Vera.
The sad part of all this is that I can’t even focus on Vera since Raegan’s been gone. I can’t stop thinking about what I should have done differently. And stressing out over whatever the fuck that Gordon guy is doing with her.
I’m not saying I’m giving up on my sister or I don’t want to try. I do. I will fix this. But I can’t concentrate on that until Raegan is back. I can’t abandon her like we did the last time.
“Dane!” Vera snaps impatiently, breaking me out of my thoughts again.
Right. Movie. I scan over them. It should be easy to find a movie that came out after we were on the island that I didn’t see with her before, but we were doing a crazy job of playing catch up in the days before everything went to shit.
My eyes catch on a title that we haven’t watched yet and I grab it. No memories come to mind when I look at it, even though it’s an older movie, but maybe I didn’t discover it until after the island. “Got one.”
“Ugh. Finally. Put it on and make some popcorn or something.” She flounces over to the couch and plops onto it without offering to help with any of it. Raegan would at least make the popcorn and drinks or grab some candies to snack on for us while I was getting it set up.
I frown at the direction of my thoughts and stick the movie in. It’s some dumb comedy that I can’t really remember, so maybe it’ll be enough to distract me for a bit. Once the movie is on the home screen, I hit play to get it started and then work to put together the popcorn and soda for each of us.
After that’s done, I sit back on the couch and stick my foot up on the table where it’s most comfortable, then dig in to my bowl of popcorn. I gave Vera her own so we don’t have to share or bicker about who’s eating more than the other.
It’s not even ten minutes into the movie when it clicks.
Fuck.
We did see this before. But it was so fucking terrible that we cringed the entire time. Jokes that fell flat or were just scream-into-your-pillow awkward.
Why the fuck did I buy this movie?
Then a scene happens and I remember Raegan rolling on the floor cry-laughing because of just how dumb it was.
I look over at Vera. She’s facing the screen, but it’s clear that her head is anywhere except the movie. Her half-lidded eyes tell me that she’s either bored or going to fall asleep. Either of which is a high probability for her.
For this movie, I can’t entirely blame her. I just…miss Raegan’s reactions. She was never a quiet watcher. I’d be forced to tell her to shut up half the time so I could hear what was happening while she asked me what was happening. She’d curl up into me for scary movies. Or push at me and laugh out loud when something was funny to make sure I didn’t miss it.
Shit.
Fuck.
I scrub my fingers through my hair, forgetting that I have popcorn butter all over them, and now my hair is likely worse than a bird’s nest. But I can’t do it. Not without thinking about her.
“Hey, Dane?” Vera scoots closer to me and takes the hand in my hair in hers. I look at our hands between us and then at her. “I’m really happy that we’ve been able to spend this time together. Aren’t you?”
“Uh, yeah. I mean. Of course, I am.” I try to smile at her. I am happy that she’s here. Even if I have no fucking clue what to do with fixing whatever GE did to her, at least she’s here, and she’s safe. She’s not with them .
Like Raegan is now.
“Good. I know we still don’t…agree…on everything, but that’s okay, right? Families don’t have to agree on everything all the time.”
I blink at her in confusion. I hope she’s not actually implying what I think she is. Because I will never be okay with her working for GE. She can’t expect that I’d let her go back to that and we would just…hang out after.
She takes my not answering as agreement or at least as not an argument and continues, “But I do think, if you would give it a chance, you could find a home with GE like I did. You could help a lot of people with your gift.”
I pull my hand from hers as anger boils in my gut. Abso-fucking-lutely not.
I stand and turn to leave. She read my notebook. The whole thing , she said. So how could she think I would ever join them after what happened to us on the island? After what happened to her?
I consider the possibility that she didn’t actually read it, but that makes me pissed off in an entirely different way.
“Dane, wait!” She runs after me just as my phone dings in my pocket.
I lift it enough to catch the preview of the text on my screen and then slide it back.
Aiden: Now.
About time.
I pivot away from the dorm hallway and past the training room to the door that leads to the truck bays. I slam the push door open and keep going. She’s still chasing me.
Good.
I make it into the locker room, and when I hear the door catch before it closes and then opens again, I whirl around to face her.
“If you want to make peace, then help us bring Raegan home.”
Vera stops in her tracks, her eyes wide with surprise before her face falls.
“We’ve been looking for her this entire time. We’re not leaving her behind again, and she will be coming back here. If you would just tell us where—”
“ Why? ” she asks, her voice pained. “What about the deal? Does she mean more to you than me?”
“I never agreed to that deal! That was a bullshit deal, and you know it! If you cared a single fuck about me, you would stay whether Raegan was here or not. She didn’t mean to hurt you, and you’re here now. She was just trying to save me . Why were you letting them experiment on me so much, huh, Vera? Would you kill me for them?”
“Of course not!” she exclaims. “I love you, Dane! I’ve missed you so much, and I just want to have my brother again. Please. Don’t do this!”
I close the distance between us and grab her arms. “You can have me, Ver. Right here. Don’t go just because Raegan is here.”
“It’s not that simple!”
“Then explain it to me. What hold does GE have on you? If your goal is helping others, then you can do that without them.”
Vera pushes at my chest and spins her back to me, breaking my hold. “It’s too late,” she whispers, almost like she’s saying it to herself.
Frowning, I reach for her shoulder. “What’s too late?”
“To get what either of us wants.” Vera gives me an almost pitying look over her shoulder. “All I wanted was my brother back. I wanted to spend time with you. Tease you. Laugh with you. I miss having you in my corner. I could do anything, because I knew that no matter what, you’d have my back. I could count on you.” She draws a long breath. “But you’re not even really here with me. Because you won’t stop thinking about her .”
Guilt sits on my chest, and I know I’m giving it away.
She nods at what she sees there and continues, her voice soft. “Would you let her go if I told you the truth about her and Gordon?”
My breathing slows.
“What are you talking about?” I ask, my voice a breathless whisper.
She rolls and bites her lip, sliding her gaze away from mine like she can’t look me in the eye for what comes next. My heart pounds louder in my chest. “She’s not who you think she is. After she killed me, Gordon took her in as his pet . He trained her to kill for him. To…service him as his personal whore. She did anything he asked of her...until he took her virginity and she destroyed the island. But under the condition of her deal with Gordon this time, I’m sure he’s already remade her into his obedient pet by now. She won’t be the girl you remember.”
I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut as my brain stumbles over everything she’s revealed.
The mansion falling apart. The ground shaking and cracking. We thought it had been an earthquake.
And it was because…and we just left her there...
My stomach clenches as the revelations and signs race through my mind.
Her reaction to Gordon at the Guild.
My unwillingness to see it for what it really was.
And she gave herself back to that. To him .
For me.
Vera tucks her hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry, Dane. I don’t think you’ll get her back even if you do find her. It’s safer for you to keep your distance from her now.”
I swallow the sharp acidity back down, gripping her shoulder harder and forcing her to turn around to face me. “Where is she?! Which island? I know you know where Gordon goes. Where would he take her?”
She shakes her head and presses her lips together.
“Tell me!”
“I won’t! You need to stay away from her!”
“How can you say that? She was like a sister to you on the island. Don’t you care about what she’s been through at all?”
“What she’s been through?!” Vera rips her shoulder from my grip. “What about what I’ve been through, Dane? She ruined my life. I hate her. She’s taking you from me and lied to you about GE being bad! There is no future with us living in this firehouse like our past didn’t happen. Like we aren’t as special as we are. If you want to be together again, come with me to GE and we can use our gifts for good .”
I reel back. Ruined her life? The one with GE she’s trying so hard to get me to join? And does this mean I’ve accomplished nothing in her time here? She’s just as determined to go back to GE as she was the first night here.
Everything Rae is going through…for what?
“I don’t have time for this. Raegan needs me.”
I shove past her to the door. I’m not getting anything more out of her that’ll be useful to us. I have to save Rae and do all I can for her while I still have the chance to.
I try not to think about how it may be too late for my sister.
Aiden’s waiting for me outside the door and grabs the handle before Vera can try to follow. He melds the handle and lock into the wall until there is no door anymore. Then bars come down over the window in the door and the high windows around the rest of the room. She’s in a metal cage now, where she’ll wait for our judgment when we get back.
Vera reaches for the door, and her face snaps up to us when she realizes what we’ve done. “Let me out! You can’t keep me in here!” She bangs on the window, but the bars are still there to keep her from using it to escape. And there’s nothing left of the metal door except more of the same wall.
I spin on my heel and storm back to the main building when Aiden grabs my arm. “Wait, Dane.” I stop to look at him. His face is drawn and tight, but his dark brown eyes look obsidian now. Black with a strange light to them that promises nothing good.
So, he heard then.
“You can’t tell the others. Not yet.”
“Why?” They deserve to know. We all do, now that Aiden and I know. I get why she didn’t want to say anything to us, but I wish…no, I’ve already asked too much of her. I just wish we could go back and fix things. I wish we could have stopped them before they happened.
But wishes for changing the past are a waste of time now. We need to be getting her back. Then I can worry about making it all up to her.
“I want them focused on getting her back. Not on revenge. If we can get Gordon while we’re there, then even better. But our priority is bringing her back and…whatever that involves.”
Right. She could be brainwashed. Broken.
FUCK .
“Fine. After we have her back. Is everyone ready?”
“Jackson just got in before I texted you. I was going to give him an hour to rest, but I’ll get him up.”
I nod, relieved. Because every hour, every minute , counts right now. And we need to get her back from that son of a bitch before it’s too late.
Two months, she’s been with him. Please. Don’t take her from me, too.