Maya (Book #3)

Chapter 65

"Maya," Charlotte said apologetically, walking toward me. My uncle held his gun up between us and she froze in place, standing just a few feet away. "I'd like you to meet my ex-boyfriend."

I looked from my uncle to her and then back again in complete stupefaction.

"He's...what?" I gasped, stunned.

"You didn't tell her?" Charlotte asked, raising her eyebrows at my uncle. He had a stiff smile on his face, but I could see the terror in his eyes that was only amplified by her certainty.

"Tell me what?" I asked her, shooting glances at Dominic to make sure he was still breathing. I saw his arm shift slightly and his phone slide out of his pocket onto the carpet beside him. I brought my eyes up and trained them on Charlotte so my uncle wouldn't notice.

"I'm so sorry to tell you this, Maya. This man isn't your uncle. He's your father." She said lightly.

"It's not... possible!" I said, hoping against hope that it wasn't. I didn't want any part of this man to be mine, least of all his DNA. A sick part of me wanted to run to my uncle and hug him, to get some protection from this mayhem. The child in me needed comfort and she didn't know who to turn to; the woman who was giving her terrible news or the man who occasionally hurt her.

"It is," Charlotte said compassionately, leaning an inch closer until the cocking of a gun stopped her.

"It is possible," my uncle acknowledged, spinning the narrative like a web to trap me in. "You're mine, just like I always said you were."

I bit my lip and shook my head, unable to accept this version of reality.

"No- I can't be!" I shouted, wanting to run or escape or die. Let him shoot me now so I didn't have to consider the ramifications of her words.

"You said he's your ex-boyfriend!" I said, wanting her to take possession of this monster so he didn't have to be mine.

"That's right, sweetheart," Charlotte said softly. "He's your biological father, and I'm your biological mother. We were dating, got a house together, and accidentally got pregnant sixteen years ago. We had two beautiful girls named Bella and Maddie. Bella is your twin sister, and you're my Maddie."

My mind reeled at this inpouring of information I couldn't comprehend. It seemed to align so perfectly with what she had told me about her life, like that last piece of an enormous puzzle. But how could Charlotte be my mom? How could Bella be my twin sister?

"You said my parents were dead!" I yelled angrily at my uncle... or father. I still wasn't sure what to believe. I tried to think back and get some sort of image of them in my mind, but all that existed was the feeling of being held and loved. Beyond that, my uncle's face was all I could see.

"Well, one of them was dead, according to the police," he said with a shrug as if the lies he had told me for years were inconsequential. "Your mother kept trying to track us down, so I handled the disguises; new names, new look." He motioned to his newly dark hair and dark eyes that so closely resembled mine. "And Officer Walker handled the conversation. You remember him?" he said, trying to get a reaction out of me. My blood boiled but I didn't move. He continued, taking a step closer to Dominic that made Charlotte and I hiss.

"She stopped trying to find you so quickly, I was surprised." He admitted, making my heart shatter as I wondered if that was true. The loneliness I felt in my childhood, hiding in my room from my abuser, surfaced and I tried not to cry. All those days I wished for a mom and dad to come and rescue me like a princess in a tower. All those nights I waited in my bedroom for my uncle to come in and tear apart my fantasy.

A lazy smirk rested on his face as Charlotte shook her head in my peripheral vision. My body wanted to collapse under the weight of the betrayal. The woman who created me gave up on me to enjoy life with her other daughter. I turned to Charlotte, knowing she would tell me the truth.

"Did you give up on me?" I asked, my voice faint like a child. Knowing my parents were dead was somehow an easier pill to swallow. I couldn't imagine a mother abandoning her child, especially if that child was trapped with a monster.

"I never would've stopped looking for you, Maya. You were my little girl and I loved you so much," she said, eyes welling up with tears before dripping down her face. One slid from the corner of her eye to her lips and dissipated on her tongue as she explained. "The officer told me that you died. He showed me images of a car crash and gave me the shirt you were wearing when your father took you, covered with blood."

I was hyperventilating trying to understand what had happened and how much of the life I knew was the truth.

"You said I was your favorite niece," I said to my uncle, still resisting the urge to fall into his arms. Maybe it was the natural path I was supposed to take. Submitting would be less complicated. Taking the abuse was always so much easier than fighting it. He could sense the resignation in my eyes and his smile grew.

"I said you were my favorite, Maya. My favorite twin, my favorite daughter, my favorite little girl," he said ingenuously.

"But that means- that means we killed Bella. We killed my twin sister!" I said, petrified.

"Not we," Charlotte said, glaring at my father. "Him. Why'd you do it? You took Maya and lied to me, but it still wasn't enough. You couldn't stand not having control over me anymore, could you?" she asked. I saw her glance over at Dominic, and his arm shifted just a little towards his phone.

My uncle's eyes were shadowy, and his jaw clenched at her words.

"I didn't do anything," he said. "Maya, over there, is the one who-"

She cut him off, not wanting to hear a single otherword of his lies.

"She told us everything. We know she didn't do it; you did." Charlotte said, crossing her arms over my chest. She shot daggers with her eyes, and it was clear he didn't expect that answer. His cheeks flushed red with anger and his breathing grew louder until he finally burst.

"I told you I was going to get Bella one day, Char. You got lucky that night when you were so ready to leave. I would've gotten Bella too if it wasn't for that nosy neighbor. So, I handled it when I could. It would've happened sooner if not for all the witnesses standing by her side 24/7," he said with a nod to Dominic, referencing the Anders boys. I felt pride swell inside of me. They did everything they could to protect that little girl, my twin sister.

"And when I went to find her, I found something even worse. You replaced me," he said, with artificial hurt in his eyes. "I couldn't believe it. You said that I was everything to you. You said that I would always have your heart, and there you were with another man. A man playing father to MY child." He shouted, letting his anger get the best of him.

"Killing him was almost too easy," he said slowly, delicately, letting us take in the full impact of his declaration. We hung on to his every word trying to understand the facts through his fabrication of lies. "Walker pretended to pull him over and when he slowed, I sent his car into the tree trunk, finishing the job. Walker didn't even want money at that point, all he wanted was her." He chuckled and nodded his head at me, making me want to shrink down to nothing. I remembered the pain so well and all the terrible experiences my brain had hidden to protect me were pushing feelings towards the surface now. I felt nauseous like I was going to vomit right there on the floor.

Charlotte's eyes grew wide, and she leaped towards him, hands outstretched like she planned to throttle him. I ran across the room and jumped in front of her just as he lifted his gun to her throat. When I managed to force her behind me, the gun was inches from my forehead. His finger wrapped around the trigger, and I closed my eyes as I prepared for the cracking sound of the gun.