The Girl They Never Noticed

Chapter 55

"Kill me? CJ what have I done?" I start, suddenly losing all the courage I had.

"It's not about you Alexis. At this point they already have me under their thumb because I'm in too deep." He says with so much effort. "They know that I won't be going to the cops. They'll always find a way to hurt mom and dad, but their biggest competition- believe it or not - is you. They've tried making your death look like an accident for so long that they just gave up. The only way to actually get rid of you is to kill you themselves."

"What do they have to gain from killing me? Do they want our money? For the love of life take it! I don't care." I said, terrified for our lives.

"It's not even about the money Lexi. In his mind, our parents did him wrong. He was framed for something he never did and was forced to disappear because of it. He claims that our parents ruined his life and he'll stop at nothing until he takes everything from them. He's taking their money and their most prized possession; you." He stopped suddenly, clutching his chest in agony.

"CJ what's wrong? Are you ok?" I started panicking and for the first time I didn't know what to do. I couldn't do anything but watch.

His reply came in the form of a spew of coughs. His whole body shook like he was seizing. He coughed and coughed until his face turned blue, and then he collapsed.

He lay there still, almost not breathing. And I was there frozen, heart almost stopped beating.

"What - what did they do to you?" I managed to say, tears streaming down cheeks.

"Don't worry about me." He said as he turned to face me.

I wish he hadn't turned. If he stayed like that, I would've just assumed that it was a normal flu or .... something, anything, other than this. He wasn't just coughing normally. He was coughing blood.

"CJ tell me what the hell is going on right now!" I'm not having any of this. If he's in some type of danger, I need to know right now!

"Why are you coughing blood! Tell me what they did to you! Are you sick?" I blurted out all at once, barely keeping my composure.

He took out a bottle of water and drank, using the last bit of it to clean his face.

"I'm sorry Lexi. I didn't want you to see this. To see me like this." He started, before closing his eyes; I'm assuming out of exhaustion.

A few moments filled with the sound of his shallow breathing passed and he finally looked at me with a shy, tired smile.

"I want you to know that I've known you were my sister way before you did, so of course the older brother instincts are stronger than yours. I also want you to know that there isn't anything in this world I wouldn't do to protect you." He started, interrupted by a fit of coughing up blood.

I didn't know what to do so I hugged him. I held him so tight and cried because I have a bad feeling that whatever he's going to say next will be tragic. I had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to take it well.

"It's ok Alexis." He said hugging me back. "But I need you to look at me when I say this." He breathed out.

My heart almost stopped. Dread took over my body and I couldn't utter a single word. All I could do was look at my twin and pray to the high heavens that he doesn't say anything about death.

I shouldn't have mentioned that word.

"This disease that I have; it's terminal. I don't even know what it is but it's terminal...." he trailed off, searching for a reaction in my eyes.

When he saw that I was too paralyzed and dumbstruck to say anything, he continued.

"Blake and Lucas became completely different people than they were when this all started. At first it was supposed to be a simple kidnapping, but it soon turned into something more than that. This time, they will stop at nothing  to get what they want. They want us all dead so they can be the sole benefactors."