Adalia POV
We continue walking until we're standing directly in front of it. He walks toward a metal sliding door. He slides it open and ushers me to follow him.
When we get inside, we stay towards the wall. We finally reach a dark hallway, after many gentle, quiet steps. He guides my hand to keep it on the gun.
"More guards, be prepared to shoot," Asher murmurs lowly watching our surroundings closely.
I hum in response just as I see a figure moving faintly. I go to click the safety off just as Jake, Elton, Jai, and Blake appear in front of us. The splatter of blood hit me before the gunshot registered in my mind. Asher has his gun pointed in the direction of the body. "Pay fucking attention." He mutters and walks in front of everyone.
We continue down the hall in suspenseful silence, until we meet a path of two ways. "I'll go this way with Blake and Jake, the rest go left." He sterns walking toward the right.
We walk down the dimly lit hall with many doors. I don't even know what we're looking for. As the suspense grows so do the nerves. I pull out the gun, keeping it by my side.
A door opens and a tall figure with dark curly hair walks out. He has a bloody knife in his hands and rubs it with the fabric of his black shirt.
All three of us aim the gun at him, I click off the safety first. When he hears the click, he looks up, immediately aiming his knife at me. It wasn't until now that I looked at his face.
His mouth falls agape and I can't look away from his eyes. My eyes. Those were my eyes.
He drops the knife but I haven't lowered my gun. I can't move. I couldn't feel anything. I was frozen. I could only feel the tears streaming down my face but it was like my brain was protecting me from feeling any pain or hurt.
Shock.
But it all crashes down on me at once. A sob slipped from my mouth as he takes a couple of steps closer and I take more back. He starts walking toward and I scream. He stops in his tracks and he can't look away either.
I faintly hear pounding footsteps just as my legs lose any strength they had. Arms wrap around my body before it can hit the ground, slowly lowering me.
They secure my arms behind me as I thrash to get loose from these bulk men.
I thrash to get loose from the person behind me who just won't let go."Shh, Lia it's me." His hand is running through my hair, pushing my head toward his chest.
"Run A, just run. I'm behind you." He spoke frantically, cutting the rope, and sets free my arms. I push off the ground and do exactly what he says.
I can't look away from his face and I hear my heart pumping in my ears. Oxygen. I can't breathe. The air won't go in. I can't breathe. I can not breathe.
A gunshot rings out in the distance and I hear a body hit the ground. I pause and before I know it I'm running back to the dreaded place quicker than I ever have. As soon as I see a body, tears blur my vision but I don't stop until I reach him.
"A," His voice is way deeper now. A tear slips from his sapphire eyes which seem darker in this lighting.
He tries to take a step closer."No!" I panic and try to back up until my back hits the wall. But that doesn't stop me from trying to get away. Being within 5 feet of him would make this way too real.
"Eden" Asher warns next to me and another sob slips from my lips. Asher tries to hug me but I push away from him.
"Get away from me." I don't recognize my voice as I hear the venom and loathe in it. He looks hurt and I barely feel bad before I remember that he knew.
"You knew." I spoke lowly and he shook his head vigorously, trying to move closer."You're a fucking liar."
"Please." Asher pleads and I finally look back at Eden. And as much as I wished he was here, I don't.
"You're not here." I stare him in the eye as the words fall from my lips along with the tears. I try to ignore how he looks more like me now than as kids.
"Yes, I am." His voice breaks and he spoke as if he was trying to get the whole world to believe. I squeeze my eyes shut and shake my head. Every muscle in my body tenses as Eden takes a seat in front of me. The wall stops me from moving back.
"You're dead, Eden. You're not here." Tears slide down both of our faces.
You're dead because I killed you.
"I'm alive, Adalia. Please." He begs and my heart is practically in ashes when my name is said. He's not here. He can't be here. I can't relive that.
He moves forward to grab my hand, I inhale sharply as I use the little piece of strength I have left and push off the floor. I get from in between them just as Asher reaches toward me.
Jai starts walking down the way we came in and I follow him. The farther we get from them, the more air seems to find me. He turns down the same hall he came through and pushes open the doors.
We sit in the hospital waiting for news about Eden as the Newscast catches my attention. I hear his room door open and a doctor steps out but I'm too focused on the television. A lady appears in front of the screen in the lobby of the hospital we were currently in."We are sorry to announce, that the son of New York's multimillionaire family, Eden Harper has officially been pronounced dead."
I must have zoned out because I didn't feel Jai wrap his arms around me. I cry in his arms but it doesn't feel nearly as comforting as Asher's would have been. But even his hugs couldn't fix everything.
I pull back rubbing my face and we walk to the car hidden in plain sight. I get in and I'm too consumed with my own life to contribute to the conversation. I lean back and keep my eyes trained on the road ahead. We don't say anything. We can't say anything.
After the long ride, we finally reach my house. I sigh once before taking off my seatbelt.
They probably lied to me too.
I hope they didn't know.
"It's going to get better." There is no trace of a smile anywhere on his face. It's so unlike him.
"Are you leaving?" I mumble and sit up in the seat.
"Yea," Jai repositions his hands on the steering wheel and turns to look at me. "I'm going to pick up Braelyn from my sister's place."
I nod and get out of the car. He waits until I get inside to pull off. I take my time walking to the elevator.
Little did I know my night isn't over yet.
_________________________________________
Eden's POV
I watch as my sister walks away never looking back at me.
I exist. I'm a person. I'm alive. And for once in my fucking life I wish I could be treated like I am. "According to the world, you're dead." I'm sick and tired of hearing it but it hurt more coming from my own twin.
I imagined the day I would see her again. But it went happier and hugging after years. Instead, it went with all the negatives of her realizing everyone lied to her and being too stubborn to accept the fact that I'm not dead.
"Why would you bring her here?" I turn to Asher who has this doomed look on his face. He stares at his hands that are wrapped around his knees. He shrugs and continues to look down. I run my hands through my hair and exhale.
Asher gets off the floor and looks off. He looks down the hall before speaking."Lead us to the files."
I quickly pace down the hall and stop at the 14th door on the right. I put in all five pin locks and open the door, letting them in. I look down both halls before shutting the door. "Please get me out of here." I plead. I can't take being in here any longer.
Asher pauses on his file searching. He pulls out a single sheet of paper and holds it in his hand. I realize it's my death certificate. He looks up at me and sympathy coves his face. "You're going home today, Eden."
Relief passes through me. I'm going home. Home.
Elton touches his ear."We have to go now."
"Good because I have it." Blake pulls out a folder. I look down the hall and I hear pounding footsteps but I don't see anyone.
"Come on." I run down the hall opposite the footsteps to the quickest exit. I hold the door open and just as Elton makes it out the door, gunshots ring out.
"Shit."I wince and close the door. I look down at where the bullet hit the edge of my shoulder. I put my hand over it and run after the rest of the group. Asher turns on the car just as I get in the backseat.
I pull my shirt off and Blake takes it out of my hand. He ties it around my arm and tightens it so there's pressure on the wound. "What did they do to you?"
His voice was barely above a whisper. I look down at my arm covered in bruises like a biker with tattoos.
"Please don't let me go back there," I beg and lean my head back. I see Asher nod in the mirror. I relax only slightly. The drive is quiet. Everyone is too consumed in their own lives.
So far all I know of what I missed, Adalia has PTSD from anything involving me, and Asher has a thing for my sister. Jai got better than when I last saw him. Jake seems happier. Blake doesn't seem all that different.
He pulls up to my house which I haven't seen in a couple of years. The lights are off but it looks the same from outside. Asher gets out first and we follow suit.
I walk through the front door expecting everyone to look the same. Asher is immediately running up the stairs.
My pictures are gone. Any trace of me is completely erased from this living room. My eyes burn at my parents' attempt at removing me from this house. I look up to stop them but a tear falls anyway when I see what is written on the ceiling.
'We know you're not gone, I'm sorry.' is written in small lettering that wouldn't be seen unless you were looking for it.
Asher comes back down the stairs frustrated and desperate."She's not here."
"I'll call Ariel." Jake says at the same time Blake says, "I'll call Alex."
I freeze at the mention of them both. Ariel might hug me and then kill me and I'm more or so anxious to see Alex.
Jake puts Ariel on speaker. She answers after the third ring."Hey baby."
"Do you know where Adalia is?" He cuts her off unintentionally. I wince knowing he just set off her nerves.
"What happened?" She asks and I hear clatters in the background.
"I think you should come see for yourself." He makes me sound like a crime scene. It's not that bad, is it? Also new life update: Jake is with Ariel.
Blake is already off the phone with Alex and leaves the room. He comes back a few minutes later with a first aid kit.
He takes the shirt off my arms and sterilizes the wound. He bandages it carefully but will look anywhere but my face.
"You alright," I ask rolling my shoulders. One rolling more than the other. He nods just as Ariel bursts through the door.
"What happened?" Her eyes skim the room and she does a double-take before her eyes land on me.
"No." She shakes her head and takes a step back.
"Please don't say that," I say just as a tear falls down her face. More fall as she runs toward me, wrapping her arms around my neck. Her tears soil my shirt and my arms slowly wrap around her torso, shocked by her reaction.
Jake's soft gaze slowly turns into a hard glare after a while before he takes a deep breath.
She slowly unwraps her arms and I can feel the realization hit her. "What. Did. You. Do."
"I promise I didn't do anything," I say looking at her but she looks away. We all look older but not completely different. It's so weird. I don't know why I expected everyone to be the same age as when I last saw them.
"You set her off, didn't you?" she accuses. I can already see she knows where she went. I try to say something but nothing comes out.
"I didn't mean to. I-I just wanted to hug my sister. Please." I plead. She shakes her head and I know something happened when she calls her and it goes straight to voicemail mail."I tried that." Asher said.
"Do you know what you did!" She screams at me and I flinch. Jake comes to calm her down but she pushes him away."Do you know how much shit you put her through for these past couple of years!"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do anything." I try but there is so much hatred in her eyes.
"You better fucking hope it's not as bad as it was, Eden." She exclaims before walking out the door, Asher following behind.
The rest just stare at me sympathetically. I turn and walk up the stairs. I head down the hall to where my room was and hope it's all the same. It is. There's a theme of different blues around the room. While Adalia had her red faze, I had my blue.
I lay down and stare up at the ceiling. 'Mi manchi, Eden' is written directly above my pillow in my mother's handwriting. When I was a kid, she would leave me little notes to find while she was at work. Once when I was laying down talking to her I told her hard it would be to find it if it was on the ceiling. And that's what she did.
Why is everything my fault? I was a kid forced away from my sister, my parents, and my friends, into a world of guns, death, and war. I was forced into enemy territory and abused both mentally and physically yet everything is my fault. I didn't want this, I didn't ask for this. Yet I'm to blame for her trauma. What about my trauma? I'm not trying to compare but I want to be acknowledged too.
A knock on the door breaks me from my thoughts. I hum in response refusing to turn on my side, too drained. I hear footsteps storming toward me and I'm shoved down to lay on the bed. On instinct, I go to cover my head so they won't hit me there. I wait for the pain to come but it never does.
Instead, my arms are slowly taken away from my face and I almost didn't recognize him. He pulls me up by my forearms and hugs me, tightly grasping the back of my shirt. "You're here, you're really here."