The Beginning Of The End

Chapter 39

I wasn't in my cell when I woke up. I was in a bed, and for a moment I thought I was back at Jaylon's, waking up among the soft sheets with him just on my other side. It even crossed my mind that I might be back at Adam's.

But that moment didn't last long.

"Hey, sis."

I bolted upright and immediately regretted it. My head spun and my eyes blurred. Grabbing onto the sheet, I grabbed tightly, needing something to ground myself. When my head cleared I was left with a familiar dull ache, and then the events from earlier came rushing back to me.

"Rowyn," I said, looking straight at her. She was standing not far from the bed, her head tilted to one side, a thoughtful expression on her face. "What did you do?"

"Just slipped you a little something," she said with a shrug, and I noticed the manic grin she usually wore was absent. "It'll keep your head more or less clear, for a little while. I just need to talk to you."

"Talk to me, or cut me with a knife? I muttered, my hand going to my throat. I could feel the thin line of dried blood, though the cut had closed over.

"You didn't mention it before," Rowyn said in a soft voice. I frowned, unsure what she was talking about and she rolled her eyes. "You never mentioned that we were sisters."

"You didn't know?" My eyes widened and I stared at her in disbelief. How had she not known?

"No, it would appear that she negated to mention that little detail," Rowyn snapped. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Between throwing my friend against a wall, suffocating me, holding a knife to my throat and dragging me down to a prison cell, you didn't really give me much chance to."

"True enough." She nodded and turned away. "So," she murmured after a minute. "You've found dear old dad, huh?"

"I guess so," I replied. "Pity you've never gotten to meet mum."

Rowyn whirled around so fast I barely saw it, suddenly right in front of me, nose to nose.

"My mother," she said in a low voice, speaking through gritted teeth. "Is the woman who raised me. Not some whore that you think is the most important person in the world."

"Oh, trust me, I don't," I said, trying to ignore the insults towards my mother. "I haven't even seen her in three years. But she is your mother, Rowyn, and Charlie and me are your big brother and sister. We should have been a family."

"Felicia is my family."

"Felicia?" I repeated. "Felicia is just using you, Rowyn, the same way she's been using everyone else!"

"That's not true," my sister whispered, shaking her head. I was shocked to see tears in her eyes. I was just opening my mouth to respond when another voice, this one somehow dark and melodic, spoke up.

A tall, lean figure stepped into view and my mouth dropped open. This woman didn't look a day over twenty-five and had black hair to her waist that seemed to shimmer and flow, catching the light and changing in colour as it fell in waves down her back like a waterfall. I shifted my gaze to her face and saw ruby red lips, eyes that were almost black but which, when you looked closely, you could see that they were really just a dark, dark red. Her skin was pale, almost translucent and, even as I blinked and told myself it was crazy, I seemed to be able to see people, people trapped under her skin.

"Hello my dear," she said, her voice deeper than I would have expected but melodic, entrancing. I found myself standing up and moving slowly towards her; my eyes were drawn to her hair, her eyes, her skin.

No, I told myself desperately, but another part in me was telling me yes.

I was right in front of her now and she seemed to tower over me. I stared up at her, not even flinching when I felt something cool touch my cheek. She traced one of her long, brilliantly red nails down the side of my face, smiling at me all the while.

"Stop!"

I didn't know where the voice had come from but I was grateful for it a moment later. As soon as Felicia's head turned away from me, it was like I was released from a trance. I stumbled backwards, making it to the bed before my legs gave out.

"Iris," Felicia snapped, "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see what you guys were up to, mother," The feminine voice said, speaking the word mother like it was some sort of bad word.

"Go away," Felicia snapped. Instead, the girl stepped into view. She looked taller than me, though she'd probably only be up to Felicia's shoulders. She had shimmering black hair, though it was somehow a shade lighter than Felicia's, and dark brown doe eyes the complete opposite of Felicia's. Her skin, contrasting with her dark hair, was like ivory, though still a few shades darker than Felicia's.

And when the girl smiled at me, I knew I could trust her.

"Iris!" Rowyn groaned. "Just leave us alone. You were the one who said you wouldn't help with anything, so piss off!"

"Rowe, I said I wouldn't help her with any of her cruelty," Iris said softly. "Helping this innocent girl is a different story."

"She doesn't need help!" Rowyn's voice was raised almost to a shout, but she stopped and bowed her head a little when Felicia raised her hand, her ruby lips forming a frown.

"Rowyn, we'll let you deal with this on your own," Felicia said in a low, dangerous voice. "No more taking away the pain, she is of no use to us. Let her die."

"What?" Iris burst out at the same time as Rowyn whined, "Mum!"

"You will do as I say," Felicia snapped, glaring at the two of them. "Put her in a cell and leave her."

With a swirl of dark hair and a flash of red eyes, Felicia turned on her heel and walked out, raising a hand to pull Iris with her.

"Rowyn, please!" I whispered. "You don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do," she snapped, turning away. "Guess I'll just have to find another plaything. Maybe another sibling..."

"No!" I gasped, immediately thinking of Charlie. She flashed me a wicked grin as she left the room, beckoning for me to follow.

It turned out we were on the second floor of a large house, though it was practically a dolls house in comparison to the one I had been living in for the past couple of months. I looked around as I followed Rowyn back down to the underground level where they had the prison. There were pictures on the wall, photos of people. Photos of Rowyn growing up, of Rowyn doing different things, of Rowyn all around the world with Felicia. There were a couple of this Iris girl too, but they were outnumbered ten to one by the amount there were for Rowyn. Where I had expected Felicia's place to be some sort of evil lair, this was not. It was a home, and my sister was a part of this family of evil.