won’t slip away.” She rubs her hand on my arm in a soothing gesture. “We’re one, after all. You’ll feel me even if we’re apart. Do you remember those days with Mom?”
I snort. How could I not remember? When we were twelve, Reina and I met for the first time. Even though we had people after us and we had to sleep at different hotels and hostels every night, those months were the happiest times of my life.
I had a mother and a sister.
Then they were both taken away from me.
We were separated for nine years. For most of those nine years, I thought Reina was dead. I searched for her all around and even made deals with a lot of ‘criminals’.
Finally, I scored the right people and she came in contact. The day I received an invitation from her to come to this place was probably the happiest day of my life.
Just when I was starting to give up, she showed me a sign.
She came back for me like she’d promised back then.
I’m older, you know, she’d scolded. I’ll be the one who finds you.
She kept her promise.
She’s here.
But not for long.
“Mom was smart,” Reina continues, “but she wasn’t that smart, Rai. It’s useless to run away in a pack. They would’ve always found us. Diversion, remember?”
“What if I don’t want to? What if I want to run away with you?”
Her face falls. “Then it’ll be like Mom all over again.”
“I hate this.”
“I do too.” She ruffles my hair. “But I’m coming back. You won’t get rid of me.”
“Promise?”
“Promise, Rai.”
Present
I’m pushed back to the now with a crippling force.
I gasp for air as if I’ve been drowning underwater.
Rai.
Oh my God. My name is not Reina—it’s Rai.
Reina was the other one, the one who told me she’d come back, the one who stopped me from going with her.
I jump to my wobbly feet and walk to the spot where both of us stood that night. She hugged me, and we made a promise.
We talked and then…what?
I stare at the black walls, at the cracks in them.
We found human remains.
The detective’s words bounce in my head like an atomic bomb.
No, no, no.
Fuck no.
It’s not Reina. They didn’t find Reina’s remains. They couldn’t have.
I pace the length of the cottage, back and forth, back and forth like a trapped animal. They took my sister away from me.
After I finally found her, they fucking took her away.
But who are they?
Reina and I were talking just fine that night. We were planning things and then…what? What the fuck happened after that?
I rack my brain for answers, but nothing comes out.
It’s blank in there. Or maybe it’s too jumbled up for anything to be clear.
Reina.
I had a twin. No, have. I refuse to believe she’s not here anymore. We made a fucking promise.
But if she were alive, wouldn’t she have found me by now? Wouldn’t she have stepped up?
No, no. She can’t be dead. I can’t lose her like I lost Mom.
Like I lost Mom.
Mom.
Mom…?
The jolt hits me like a bolt. I stagger backward and fall on the damp floor. My limbs spasm and my ears ring.
Shouting echoes in my head like a distant memory, damnation—something I don’t want to remember.
I cover my ears with sweaty fingers, unable to take it anymore.
Nine years ago
“Take your sister and run, Rai! Run!!” Mom’s voice echoes in my head like the pounding of a bell.
The shuffling of feet comes close to us. They pound on the door. They’re coming for us.
“Run!” she screams at us. “Don’t look back. Run!”
We do.
My hand clasps Reina’s as we sprint through the back door. The streets are dark and smell of puke, so much puke.
Reina covers her nose with the sleeve of her thin sweater and motions at me to do the same.
It only reduces the smell a little.
It’s atrocious, the scent. I wish I could say I got used to it after sleeping in dirty places, but I didn’t. This pungent sensory assault never gets normal.
“She’s not here!” Mom yells. I want to turn around, but Reina shakes her head.
There’s screaming, shouting, and then something hits the floor behind us, but we don’t turn around.
We run.
We just run.
Mom screams, her voice echoing in the air like a bomb.
“Here, Boss!” someone shouts closer to us.
“Darn it!” Reina pulls me behind a container by the sleeve.
“Don’t touch her!” Mom shrieks, but she’s gurgling on something like her mouth is full of water. “Don’t you dare or Papa will—”
A pop silences Mom. She’s no