Pandemonium

Chapter 16

As our doom approached, the sound of heels clicking grew louder. Amidst our ragged breaths, the she-devil stood in the unlit doorway. I could see parts of her clothing as she stalked forward in slow deliberate steps. Knee-high boots, black skinny jeans and a white top with a jacket, when did Susan change her uniform?

As she walked further into the room, I could finally see her face. The first thing I noticed was the dark skin along with the mismatched eyes-one green and the other brown. She walked to the center of the room and twirled, "What do you think of my outfit, hm? It certainly adds to my appeal, doesn't it?" She glanced at me, with a smirk on her face she strode towards me. Hooking a finger under my chin, she said, "Hello sister, glad to see me alive?" I looked at her with, eyes wide. How was it possible that she was alive? I had seen her grave. Did she fake her death? Why?

"You wonder why?"

"Yes" I whispered.

"Because the cops don't go looking for the dead." She was about to continue when we heard screams, "Let me go!" Susan was dragged in kicking and screaming as she thrashed around in the guards' grip. I smiled, my sister was here to rescue me, "Sierra, the only person you should be hurting in here is Susan. The rest of them are my friends, they can help us escape."

"Escape?" she scowled, "Why would I want to escape?"

"You are here to help me, aren't you?"

She threw her head back and laughed. "My, oh, my, Arden! That's hilarious!" she wiped a tear under her eye, "The nurse, the doctor, and my sister stay here. Take the rest of them to the cells."

The guards hauled up Josh, Kathy, and Mike. All of them struggling to break free, "Don't resist, otherwise I'd order my guards to shoot your brains out!" Her words drained all the fight in them and they walked meekly as the guards led them out of the room.

"You are sick," the words tumbled out before I could stop them. Sierra stalked towards me as a predator does to its prey, "So are you, just like me."

"I am nothing like you!" I sneered at her.

"Aren't you?" she circled me, "You defied authority by trying to plan an escape, you encouraged your friend when he lit the fire, you praised him for stealing, you used Mike for your advantage." She stopped in front of me and whispered in my ear, "You promised to kill Susan," she leaned back, "So that's arson, robbery, manipulation, and a murder threat."

Before I could deny all her accusations, she drew in a sharp breath, "Oops! I forgot about Emily, I was impressed!" she said with a grin, "The damage you did to her eyes and head... damn, you could've killed her."

"It was either her or me!" I tried defending myself.

"And you chose yourself. Selfish," she held my jaw to make me look up at her, "Just. Like. Me."

"No," I mumbled with tears in my eyes. I wasn't like her, I couldn't be. She scoffed, "Okay, answer this," she tilted her head, "What was your plan after this? Convincing the patients to go against the guards, causing an uproar, chaos, and panic; wasn't that your plan? It would've been a bloodbath, only half of the patients would've survived. Nurses, doctors, and guards? All of them would be dead."

"But you didn't care, did you?" she continued, "You wanted to make Susan pay, no matter what it took, right?"

I averted my gaze because a part of what she said was true. I did want revenge and it blinded me so much that I couldn't see the consequences of my actions.

"Wasn't that your plan, sister?"

I didn't answer. I couldn't answer.

"Wasn't it?" she questioned, her voice rising.

"WASN'T IT?"

"Yes!" I cried out, "Yes, that was my plan." She smiled, satisfied with my answer. "You are exactly like me." I was, wasn't I? I dragged my friends into this mess. Everyone here was suffering because of me. If only I had been more patient, if only I would've listened to Josh when he said not to trust Raina...things would've been different.

"The note... I did it because you wrote that note, I wanted to avenge you."

"What note?" Her eyebrows were drawn together. When I didn't answer her question, she glanced at Raina, "What note? Answer me!"

"It's in her back pocket," Raina replied. Dammit, I should've never trusted her! Sierra reached into my pocket and opened the note. As she skimmed through the note, I could see her jaw clenching. "It says 'S', but I didn't write this." She sauntered towards Susan and shoved the note in her face, "You wrote it, right Susie?"

Susan was silent beside me. The woman who once intimidated me now sat defeated with no hope in her eyes. The guard holding her twisted her arm behind her back, making her scream, "Yes! I did."

So Susan was the one who wrote the note. All the doctors, nurses, and guards were controlled by someone, which meant Susan was also controlled by Sierra. All the things that Susan did to me were ordered by my own sister. Sierra did that to me, she took away my memories. She admitted me in this hell hole. Why? Why would she do that to me?

"W-why?" Susan's voice shook as she spoke, "I did all your bidding, I did everything you said without protesting. Why are you doing this to my patients?"

"Oh Susie, it's not your fault. To be completely honest, I was bored. Since my business here is failing anyway, I thought why not play some games with you."

Games? This was all a stupid game for her! She didn't care about me, she only cared about herself. From this moment onwards, she was no sister of mine. But what hurt me the most was Raina. I glanced at her, why did she betray me like that? Why did she become my friend if she wanted to choose Sierra in the end?

Sierra followed my stare, "Ah! Raina, sweet little Raina. Betrayed you, didn't she?" Raina squirmed under her gaze. "You said if I helped you, you would free him," she said, looking at the ground with her hands twiddling in front of her.

"Yes, I did say that. Your boyfriend, yes, I will free him."

"Guards!" Sierra yelled, "Bring him to me."