After Sidney agreed to stay, Dr. Myers pulled another chair into the room and gestured for my sister to sit opposite me before taking the new chair for herself.
She calmly sits and watches me cautiously, knowing this could all go downhill quickly.
"Katherine, when you're ready, we'll start" I barely made any motions to suggest that I heard her, but she knew what I was like and made small talk with Sidney before I silently moved to take my seat.
Dr. Myers gives me a nod before explaining to Sidney how these sessions usually work and what kinds of things to expect. My sister sat patiently and listened, but I knew the doc was watching for my answers and movements more than hers.
This felt like a test, one that I hadn't been prepared or do the homework for.
After a few questions that went unanswered by me, I noticed Sidney had started to get fidgety. I wondered if that was from the clinical nature of the questions or my deadly gaze that hadn't stopped burning into her.
Listening to my twin list the things we usually disagreed on, and what went on during that night two years ago, I felt like that small girl who was being tattled on to her mother.
"Katherine, is that right?" I blinked at the question having no idea what the two had been discussing. I glanced at the clock as I watched the minute hand tick over. "Sidney mentioned that you have always been an outsider to your family ever since you were young."
Of course, I was an outsider; she and my mother made me one.
I just shrugged as the doc made new notes, and a pit of darkness opened in my stomach. My college life could be over in the next half hour, and I would be dragged back to Westin Hill kicking and screaming.
Tuning back into the conversation, I caught the end of Sidney's exchange "... that's why I didn't come. It was really hard for me to see her like that. After everything that happened that night and then seeing her..."
"Shut up," I hissed through my teeth as my sister stopped short. "It's one thing for you to nose your way in here but another for you to sit there and lie!" Sidney stared at me in shock and opened her mouth to argue.
Standing up quickly, the chair behind me fell to the floor with a loud thud. "It was hard for you?" I questioned in a mocking baby voice. "Aww, poor baby, imagine being there," I seethed as Sidney stood from her seat when I began to get fired up.
"Imagine hearing nothing but screaming and wailing from the other patients. Not being able to leave. To see your family. Knowing that your best friends killed people and having people blame you for it!" I screamed as the doc stepped over to me with her hands out.
"Sidney, I think you should go," Dr. Myers warned, knowing my sister was the one my anger had always been targeted towards, but she'd never seen us in the same room.
"No! You don't get to do that and then leave!" I yelled, wrenching my arm away from the doc when she tried to grab it as I stalked after my now terrified sister out into the courtyard.
"Katherine! Katherine, come back!" Dr. Myers called from behind me as I continued on with a red haze covering my vision.
Grabbing my twin, I spun her around and pushed her against the bricked wall of the building. This is what she got for trying to one-up me to my own fucking doctor.
"You don't get to leave this time," I say quietly, angry tears filling my eyes. My skin felt itchy, and my breathing quickened as I watched my twin squirm and plead.
Trying to blame me for everything that's happened in our lives to the woman who could lock me up. Was that her intention when she realized who I had been meeting with?
"Kat? Woah, Kat, stop!" I heard from behind me and internally recognized the voice belonged to Mickey, but I was too angry to stop. I felt like crying. I felt... defeated.
The younger version of me had been through this many times with both Sidney and our mother. I never came out the good guy; I always ended up coming from this grounded or belittled.
I had nothing to say to my sister, who tried to duck under my arm, but I slammed it against the wall stopping her from moving. "Stop it!" I screamed as she tried apologizing, but her words meant nothing to me anymore.
"Katherine, you need to let Sidney go and come back inside with me" Dr. Myers's calm give-no-fucks voice came out monotonously compared to the worried voices of the others surrounding us.
I didn't move; I just stayed still, glaring into the eyes that were identical to mine. Both were filled with tears, but so different in contrast.
Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I listened as Mickey softly spoke and tried calming me down from the irreversible things I wanted to do to my sister right now.
Maim and murder were my go-to's now that everything was ruined. It was inevitable that as soon as I was in that room, the doc would call to have me taken back in.
Dropping my hands from the wall in defeat, I let Dr. Myers steer me back to the room we had been in. She quietly walked me towards the chair I had been sitting in before pulling her closer to mine.
For a few moments, everything was silent. I could almost feel her thoughts as she did nothing but observe.
"Do you think you need to come back to Westin Hills?" I was confused by her answer but shook my head anyway. There was no way I would have said yes to that question.
"Neither do I" at my shocked wide-eyed expression, she continued, "You've been here for a while and made friends, a boyfriend as it seems" I gave a small smile but didn't confirm it.
Motioning to the door with her head, she nodded. "You neutrally greeted the overly friendly and nosey receptionist but only seemed angered when your sister showed up."
Playing with the necklace around my neck, I still didn't say a word, but having that here made me feel safer. Dr. Myers' eyes flickered to the pendant silently. "Even reaching a level of extreme anger, you were able to bring yourself back when needed."
"Maybe a few more sessions are needed, but I don't think you need to be taken as an in-patient for getting angry at someone you have a negative relationship with-"
I began to explain that Sidney was the one at fault, but she held her hand up, stopping me "-Yes, you did react strongly, but nothing happened as a result. I can only imagine the things that were going through your mind."
A slight smirk slowly grew on my lips as I lifted my head to gaze at the woman who didn't outwardly seem bothered about my attempt at bodily harm. "Oh, doc, you have no idea."