The Skin Walker

06 | Twins

"Doe-eyed as you buried me,"

favourite crime Olivia Rodrigo

R U T H

"Who did this to you?" Rueben spoke blandly as he held my arm in his hands, his eyes glancing at me through his long eyelashes.

My eyes widened at his question, and I felt ashamed with my unspoken answer that I remained quiet. Warmth engulfed my face as he kept his eyes on mine, impatiently waiting.

"I had a fall a couple weeks ago, a big incident, but I'm healing fine. I'm just abnormally clumsy," I lied.

The silence between us was so nauseating that I attempted to pull away from him, but his firm hold kept me in place, not enough to hurt.

"Why are you lying, Ruth?" Not liking the way he said my name, I yanked my arm away from him. The tone he spoke was guilt-tripping me, and I knew that if he continued looking at me the way he did, I'd spill everything to him.

"I'm not," I exclaimed. "Besides, I'm not here for a physical evaluation. The faster I do my job, the faster I get out of here. Isn't that what you want?"

I breathed deeply, refusing to look at him as I took a step away. We stood quietly, before a nervous chuckle escaped my mouth. Shaking my head, I gathered enough courage to glance at him again. His eyebrows scrunched together at my mini meltdown.

"Sorry," I placed a shaky hand on my chest, wanting nothing more than to be away from this unusual man. It would've been a miracle to run away from him without having an anxiety attack. "You're just really confusing. This whole thing is confusing, and strange. Something about this place- I'm sorry. It's probably not even your fault, and you're probably just worried about me because you're a nice man."

Rueben opened his mouth to stop me, but I didn't let him.

"Or not? Either way, I won't stick around long enough to find out. Don't you worry your pretty head about it, okay?" I numbly ranted, not aware of how preposterous I was sounding. "Right, I'm going to leave you now, and soon enough, you'll never see me again. How about that?"

I gulped a breath of air into my lungs before spinning around, desperate to get into Eloise's office, where she said she'd introduce me to her twin daughters. I hoped they were less strange.

When I was out of his way, I couldn't help but sigh with relief. Although Rueben's eyes were supernaturally captivating, it was hard to breathe when he was watching my every movement.

Taking my time going up the stairs, I examined the mansion some more, noticing the star patterns on the railings and the shapes of crystal moon phases dangling from the chandelier. 

The owner must've had a thing for the night.

Then I remembered the owner was Rueben Andino and scoffed. It wasn't long after the sharp gust of air left my lips that a presence made itself known to me.

"Finally," A feminine whisper sounded from behind me, but as I turned around, no one was there.

I paused in my steps, hoping this place wasn't making me delusional.

"Another woman around," A similar voice spoke louder from the other direction, and I was quick enough to face it and spot a woman standing a few steps away from me.

Her bright hazel eyes gazed back at me in awe. As her smile widened, the beautiful stranger's pearly teeth shone brightly in the peering sunlight. My eyes widened when an identical woman stepped beside her.