All The Lies: A Dark New Adult - Rina Kent Page 0,1
together like we promised.”
She holds out her pinkie, eyes shining with unshed tears. “Pinkie swear.”
I laugh at the childish gesture and grab her pinkie with mine. “You’re supposed to be twenty-one, but whatever. Pinkie swear, you little girl.”
“Hey! I’m five minutes older than you.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
A bang sounds on the door. Both of us flinch.
My heart pounds against my ribcage so hard, it’s the only sound I’m able to hear.
Thump, thump, thump.
Reina pulls me by the sleeve of my jacket, a slight tremor in her hand. “You need to run.”
“No. I’m not going without you. Not again.”
She shakes her head. “Now that Grandpa is gone, if they find out about you, it’s game over. You have to go, Rai.”
I shake my head frantically, holding on to her with all my might. “I won’t lose you after finally finding you.”
“You won’t. We’ll always find our way back to each other. After all, we’re…”
“One.”
We say the last word together.
She nods, eyes hardening again. “Remember when we used to play hide and seek with Mom?”
“I do. We’d go in different directions to distract them.”
She grins. “Diversion.”
“Okay, okay,” I mutter with resignation I don’t feel.
The last thing I want to do after reuniting with Reina is to part from her again, but I have to believe we’ll find each other like we always do.
“I’ll take the window, you take the door.”
I pull her in for a quick hug, my chest constricting and full of all types of chaotic paranoias. “I’ll meet you outside.”
“I love you, Rai.” She ruffles my hair.
“I love you, too, Reina.”
The moment I let her go, my heart squeezes so tight it nearly bursts.
I watch my sister hop up and climb out the window. She’s so agile, which is no surprise considering where she lived all this time.
We’ll change that. She’ll get her fresh start.
With one last look, I sprint out the back door.
When we were with Mom, Reina and I learned something important.
Never look back.
If you don’t look back, you run faster.
If you don’t look back, no one will catch you.
I sprint through the woods, the smell of earth and the forest filling my nostrils.
Dirt smudges my white shoes and my breathing deepens as I cut across the distance. I search sideways for a place to hide then notice my bracelet is gone.
No.
I come to a halt and break my own rule.
I look back.
Flames devour the old wood of the cottage we escaped minutes ago. Smoke and fire erupt in the middle of the forest.
Someone dressed in black trousers and a hoodie drags Reina back into the cottage as she fights and claws at his hand. Masculine hand. Tattooed hand.
My heart stammers and my legs weaken. I take a step forward then stop when she meets my gaze and shakes her head.
She’s pleading with me to remember our vow from all those years ago.
If one is caught, the other needs to run.
I made that mistake before. I ran away without looking back.
That day, I lost my only sister.
But I’m not a kid anymore. We’re not running away with Mom.
This time, I’ll save her like she once saved me.
Energy buzzes into my veins as I charge forward. My fists are balled by my sides. My hair is in disarray around my face, the blonde strands sticking to my temples with sweat.
I’m only a short distance away when Reina shrieks, “Noooo!”
Something hard and heavy hits the back of my head. I fall to my knees with a thud.
Black stars form behind my lids as they flutter closed, filling with tears.
Through the small slit, I stare at the burning cottage. Her loud, pained screams filter from the inside. The sound is raw and…lethal.
“R-Reina…” I croak, reaching out a weak hand before it falls limp in front of me.
All sounds disappear.
Reina is no longer screaming.
No longer shrieking.
No longer…fighting.
A sob lodges at the back of my throat as darkness swallows me whole.
Decimation is an interesting process.
It starts with one crack. Then two. Then everything crumbles and falls apart.
The art lies in starting that first crack. It has to be precise and to the point.
It has to be unmistakable and with the purpose to hurt.
Better yet, it has to come out of nowhere. Victims are easier to handle when they’re ambushed, when their world is flipped upside down in a fraction of a second.
Today, a process of decimation has started.
Reina’s life is now mine to own.
Mine to torture.
And mine to finish.
One week later
Help!
Someone help!
Please help me!
“No one will help you, monster.”
I crack my eyes open and wince.