The Necklace (#Wattys 2017)

Chapter 23: Two Lies And A Truth

"Lets start simple," I said, sitting up straighter. If we were gonna play this, I might as well be good at it.
"What is your name?"

"Avril Sunne,"

I raised an eyebrow, almost forgetting that I was supposed to get more answers.

"Avril Waters,"

My heart lurched. It's a game, I told myself.

"Jade Waters."

My eyes widened and bore straight into hers. She stared fiercely back. She knew what she was doing, and she knew what it did to me.
She shrugged as if waiting for my answer.

"What?" I snapped, folding my arms. "You didn't say that I had to say what I thought was true."

"Fair enough." She said, coolly. She would love the internal torture anyway.

When I opened my mouth to ask the next question, she stopped me. Then she smiled sideways and placed her hand on her chest.

"My turn, Drew."

"What?! That wasn't-"

"What are you doing here, Drew?" She stretched my name, as if she knew it wasn't real anyway. But damn, that question. She wasn't gonna take it easy. What was I thinking?

"I'm here for a job interview." I began. She almost snorted, I kept a straight face.

"I am searching for someone." I said it just as calmly, and I noticed her straighten her dress. Twitchy, twitchy.

"I wanted to gather information about this place, for a blog." I finished.
So far, it was easy. But we both knew it wouldn't be long before we went tough.

"So Avril," I commenced almost immediately. " How do you know the Waters' family?"

Her face paled. She tried to maintain a composed fixture, but it wasn't exactly working. I could almost see the gears of her mind spinning quickly. What would it come up with?

"They were my clients..they came to this place once." She said, not meeting my eyes.

"We met at a function. We are related it turned out. They gave me gifts and things." Her tone was stiff. A shadow seemed to fall over her face.

"I used to live next to them. But then I moved away." There was a firm stop to that sentence. She didn't look at me.

And for some reason, I seemed to have gotten all the true facts in these statements. None seemed like a lie, just then.
But I knew her, I couldn't let my guard down.

"Tell me Drew," she whispered. "Why are you searching for this person, whomever you are searching for?" She knew she couldn't ask who I was searching for.
Not two questions in one.
Well played.
I'll tell her the truth too.

"Revenge, I have to play my part." My eyes blazed. She sat still.

"I have to end what they began. My search will end firm." My hands curled into fists involuntarily. How weird it was, that she sat right in front of me, and yet she was alive.
Fate had its way.
And then I looked at her, the heat burning away. My hands fell loose. She had closed her eyes, and her firm look vanished. Her hands were pressed on each other tightly. She took a deep breath.

"To get answers, to know why things happened the way they did." I whispered, tilting my head. She shook her head slightly and gave a lopsided, sad smile.
Then she pushed her hair behind her shoulder and faced me.
It was a pretty professional look, with layers.

My turn.

"Where is Jade, Avril?" I spoke each word carefully.

I got no answer for many seconds. Her eyes moved around, but the rest of her was still. She knew she could lie all she wanted, but would she?

"Jade is dead." She started, matter-of-factly. I was kinda taken aback, of course. She declared herself dead, that easy? Hmm.
But if she was someone else, as she claimed..
But it didn't add. Jade "died" after Avril had gone. Avril couldn't know this.
Next lie,please.

"I don't know her. We met once. Never after that." She continued, her tone even.
Of course they met, if they were relatives.
If only I could immediately ask, why these relatives didn't wonder why both the girls looked the exact same.
Was I going to get the truth at all?

"Jade is.." She sighed, and curled her fists. "Hiding."
I could imagine her thinking- he has a right to know too.
Or she was messing with my head.
I couldn't clear my queries just yet.

"What do you plan to do when you find the answers? What will you do to the person?" She asked coldly.
But before I could even start, she spoke the last bit.

"What will you do to Jade Waters, Drew?"

She knew. She knew? Of course she knew. It was just hard to actually see this moment come.
But we were playing a game. I had to continue, no matter what. It was the only way to get her answers.

"I'll ask her, was that the only way? Was it worth it? Could you forgive yourself? Look at what's happened."

"I will...forget and forgive." I gritted my teeth as the lie left my mouth. Avril didn't move.

"I will kill that witch." I growled, finally. I got up, and pushed my hair back. The patience this took was unbearable. Avril slowly got up, stayed away from me, and mumbled,

"What if she's already dead?"

"I. Will. Kill. Her."

Her eyes seemed to hollow. She took a step back. Then her eyes flickered to my bag. My black bag.

The bag with the necklace.

Maybe it was time.

Rage bubbled in me like hot springs. A memory flashed before my eyes, when Jade and I had visited Yellowstone. I had skirted away from the sizzling springs, but she stuck her hand out and laughed.
Maybe I should have just pushed her then and there. The thought was cold, but it seemed fair.
We wouldn't have come to this.
But I would stay true to my word, unlike her.
I won't touch her, till I knew why she did what she did.
I would know her story.

"Tell me." I hissed, my face hot. She visibly gulped, and held her fists by her side. "Tell me your story, Avril Sunne or Waters, or whatever the hell your damn name is."

"Game over." She said, putting her palms up. "Its done."

"Tell. Me."

"Drew, you need to leave. The game is over. Leave."

"Avril, dearest. The game just began. Now be co-operative and tell me."

"Please. Just-"

"TELL ME RIGHT NOW, or I swear you'll be sorry! I have had enough of your freaking games. TELL ME NOW."

"Okay!" She yelled back, her eyes tearing up. She leaned against the wall, away from me. I didn't move. I didn't trust myself just yet. I was dangerous. I needed to be silent and just listen. For a while, then this was gonna end.
It was all going to be over.
The torture would end.
This game would end.
The End.
Just a few more minutes.

"Go." I ordered, folding my arms and leaning against the opposite wall.

She nodded tentatively, and ran her hands along her face. She was tensed now.
It felt good to be on the cool and calm side for once, after so long. But then she spoke. It was carefully pronounced, but I felt like I was listening through a pipe.
I snapped into reality pretty hard.

"Jade Waters is my twin sister. I am Avril Waters."