Goldilocks Forever

Chapter 25

Santa Monica, California

March 2006

"You." Anna descended the stairs without feeling them beneath her feet. She drifted in a haze of shock.

Casey stood in the bright marble foyer, her green eyes wide.

Anna reached the foot of the stairs and froze. This was it. The moment she'd been dreaming of for months and she didn't know what to say or do. All the planned speeches and words of anger she'd been saving up were hidden in the recesses of her brain. She looked at her sister, drinking her in like the sight of her would help her remember why this moment was so important, so necessary that she'd risked her life and left her job and budding friendships. Since then she'd at times felt like she'd walked right into a trap, and this was it. This is where it led.

Casey had changed her hair so it hung like a thick glossy gold ribbon over her shoulders. She wore a red knit dress that hugged her body and over that, a black leather jacket. Black stiletto boots reached her thighs. Her ears glinted with diamond studs.

Sabian stood behind Anna and broke the silence. "You've returned." Casey and Anna ignored him and continued to stare at each other. "You've been gone for several months."

She looked up at him and then back at Anna. "You're...not dead."

Casey's statement hit her like a physical blow that knocked the breath out of her for a moment. "No," she managed to say in a voice that hardly sounded like her own.

Casey's shoulders relaxed a little. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to find you. I've been waiting for you for over a month now."

Casey looked to Sabian. "Is that true? You let her stay here?"

"Yes."

Casey narrowed her eyes and Anna knew what she was thinking before she even spoke. She anticipated the tone of her voice. Knew what every inflection would be before it even rolled off her tongue. "So you found me."

"Where have you been?" Anna's heart began to race, the anger thrumming inside her. She hadn't taken her little white pill yet that morning.

"New York."

"Did you see Dad? Is he okay?"

"He..." Casey paused. "The police told him you're probably dead."

Anna's hands trembled. Heat rose on her face. Softly—Sabian came nearer to her—she said, "How could you?" Casey looked at her like she didn't understand what the question. "How could you hurt everyone?" A tear spilled over Anna's cheek. Her hands clenched into fists. Sabian put his hand on her back.

"You're the one who left."

"I had no choice!" Anna moved toward Casey, who stepped back. "You tried to kill me! I'm not supposed to be here. I'm supposed to be at Julliard." More tears made hot tracks down her face. "I worked my whole life for that and you stole it from me!" Blurry-eyed, she struck Casey across the face.

Casey's head flew back with the impact. Blood trickled from her nose. She dabbed at it with the back of her finger.

Anna's chest rose with furious breath. Her hand stung from where she'd hit Casey's face. Her sister must hurt, too, she knew. That satisfied her a little but also fed a hunger to cause more pain. To see Casey suffer as she suffered. A part of her realized, even as she thought it, that this was wrong, that she and Casey were bound together, and to hurt Casey would be to hurt herself even more.

A devious grin spread on Casey's face. "You've changed," she said. "You're stronger now." She wiped more blood away from her nose with a tissue from the small purse she carried under her arm. "You should thank me."