Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
EMERY
No. That wasn’t possible.
She was talking again. I could see the terror and devastation on her face. She was trying to explain it to me, but all I heard was white noise. All I heard was my sister crying.
I closed my eyes. No. No, I had to keep it together.
She let me get caught, Emery. This bitch is the reason I’m dead. She kept this from you all along. You fucking fell for it. You fucking let her in when I told you she would ruin you. And look at you. A whipped puppy for the girl who let me get hurt. They won. Her and her shit family won because you couldn’t kill her. You couldn’t make her pay.
Nina’s voice was a monster in my head. And I couldn’t stop it.
Eve’s voice was fading out, the world blurring around me.
Fuck. Fuck.
I moved. But not toward Eve. I forced myself to fall on my knees and sink forward with my head almost on the ground.
An episode…it’s just an episode.
You can end this now, Emery. You can kill her right now and end it all. My sister cried. Slit her throat and avenge me once and for all. Then you can burn it all down.
I didn’t move. I heard Eve trying to call to me, but it was nothing more than an echo.
Eve on the beach, Eve in my arms, Eve smiling at me.
Eve screaming.
I went for my knife on my belt and unsheathed it.
That’s it, Emery. Make her pay.
Gripping the knife tight, I brought the point up to the side of my head, aiming the blade at my ear.
I heard Nina laugh. Oh, sweetie, that won’t stop you from hearing me.
Eve came into my vision, crouching before me. She grabbed my wrist, all the while crying.
I hated to make her cry.
You really are pathetic. Kill yourself then if you can’t kill her.
She tried to pull my arm away, but it didn’t budge.
I stared at her, remembering everything I promised.
That we’d get this shit out of our heads together.
No, I snapped, sharp and clear in my mind. No, you’re pathetic. You’re not even real. You’re not my sister. You're just a crazy bitch in my head. And you don’t control me anymore.
“You don’t control me, anymore,” I said out loud.
Eve’s eyes widened. She let go of my hand and sat back. I stared at the fear on her face.
That’s the last fucking time I make her that afraid.
I got to my feet and turned on the demon who looked like my sister. I moved on her with all the stealth and grace given to me. I knew I was stabbing at nothing but air, but in my head, the blade hit true, right into her black fucking heart.
My sister stood there and growled at me. She screamed. She cursed at me. But I only looked at her, with the knife in her heart and I saw the black blood dripping down, staining her gown.
I watched her bleeding out as I called to Eve. “Tell me again.”
Eve stood behind me, taking a moment before speaking. When she finally did, her voice wavered as she repeated her words. “I was just a girl,” she stammered. “My father took me to the warehouse. He told me to be wary of squatters. I caught someone in the bathroom. I got scared and thought it was one of them. I screamed. My dad came running and told me to leave. I didn’t know it was her. I swear, Emery, I didn’t know.”
Her words broke into soft, trembling cries, repeating over and over. “I didn’t know. I didn’t know.”
The knife dropped. My sister screamed and cried, but I turned from her. Somehow, I managed to tune her out as I turned back to Eve. Eve, who had tears streaming down her face.
I went to her and wiped those tears away. “It was an accident.”
She stared at me like she didn’t recognize me. “Wh-what?”
“It was an accident, Evee.”
Her face twisted as more tears came. My sister's voice faded in the background.
Something cold hit my ear. Then another on my neck. We looked up and saw snowflakes the size of quarters spilling down. One of them landed on Eve’s nose.
She rubbed it away. Even with her red eyes and nose, she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
“I’m sorry, Emery, I’m so sorry,” she said.
“I know.”
I pulled her into my arms and let her sob in my chest, burying my face in her hair.
“I hope that’s the last secret you have to tell me, baby,” I said against her.
Her little burst of laughter mingled with her sob. “I promise, Emery. I promise.”