Skyline

Chapter 9: Colleen's evil twin

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               I’m depressed.

               Depressed and used and tricked.

               Again.

               I’m also very tipsy and lightheaded.

               I stumbled out to the garden of the venue for the party, away from everybody. The party is just a semi-formal gathering. It’s one of those shareholders’ meetings in which my dad brings me because I’m required to attend (since shares are under my name) while I attempt at socializing with the other elites.

               I did my best but I guess my best wasn’t good enough… I thought.

               Oh, God. I’m starting to sound like Alexei when he makes song references. I shook my head.

               I lifted up my dress in order not to trip and made my way to sit on one of the benches beside the creepy angel statue. I feel much better now that I’m outside with the cool wind touching my skin and the smell of wet grass entering my nose rather than inside where the mixture of everyone’s perfume only adds to the sudden headache I’m feeling. Also, it already started to feel claustrophobic inside with all those people who kept on giving me fake smiles and kept on trying to open up a conversation with me.

               Just when I thought I can have a safe night, someone gave me a drink which – to use Arianne’s terms – is ‘spiked’, because I started to feel hot and sweaty after a few minutes. Not to mention dizzy, really dizzy. It’s like I’m running a fever or something.

               As Arianne also warned me about, it must have been one of those guys who’d want to get in my pants – again, from Arianne’s vocabulary – so that they could have a chance at my dad’s fortune. Since I’m supposed to be polite with everybody, it could have been anyone, honestly. It could be anyone of those guys inside who gave me the spiked drink. It could be Jake, the son of the owner of the Harrison Restaurants, or Peter, the jerk who kept on hitting on me since we met, or even Gretel, the daughter of Mrs Holidays’ Bread ‘n’ Jam franchise, who insisted that she swings my way.

               To add more into that, the girls inside also started to (discreetly) give me the evil eye.

               I sighed and rested my head on the bench armrest. I closed my eyes and willed the headache to go away. I listened to the night’s melody… the muffled music coming from the party, the singing of crickets, and the sound of rustling leaves from the bushes…

               My eyes snapped open. I lifted my head slowly to avoid getting dizzy. I looked around and saw to the left that something’s behind the tall bushes. From the dark, a tall figure emerged.

               Do you hallucinate when getting drunk?

               ‘Cause I’m pretty sure I’m imagining Alexei’s presence bathed by the moonlight in front of me right now. He looked irritated and angry about something. The intro to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata began to play in my mind as background music.

Someone giggled. Alexei snapped his head in my direction and his eyes widened slightly in surprise before it turned to confusion. Wait, was I the one who giggled?

I don’t know what’s going on with me. It’s like I don’t have control over my body anymore. My alter ego has awakened! My evil twin is already controlling me! The next thing I knew is that I’ve stood up and approached Alexei and charged at him with a tight hug.