The Sinners - Ruby Vincent Page 0,2

a sister... or I did. She was— She was—”

You have to get this out. It’s time.

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “She was my twin sister,” I rasped. “Her name was Aurora B-Bancroft.”

Silence gripped the small space.

“Rory loved her name,” I said. “Dad told her it meant goddess of the dawn and that pleased her to no end—being a goddess. When we played pretend, she was always the goddess and I was her devoted servant because every deity had to have one.

“I didn’t like playing along but Dad did.” A tear dangled off my nose. I sucked it in as I took a sharp breath. “He’d come in our room with our snack and bow before her saying ‘please, goddess, accept my offering.’ It would make her giggle like nothing else.

“After she died, we’d visit her grave bringing flowers and Dad would say the same thing as we placed them under her name. An offering to the goddess.”

I glowered at Rio. “There. That’s it. In my parents’ final note to me, they told me to tell my brother they loved him and put flowers on my sister’s grave. Are you fucking happy now?! Leave Hiro alone!”

Rio’s eyes narrowed. “No.”

“What?”

“No,” he repeated. “If the message was that innocent, you wouldn’t have hidden its meaning all this time. You clearly do not take this seriously.”

A bang ripped through the quiet. Hiro toppled over clutching his arm. His groans could hardly be heard over my screams.

Clay, Cassius, and Royal tried to run to him. Cassius and Clay were roughly thrown back. Royal knelt beside his friend. The feeling in his eyes as he looked up at his father told me everything I needed to know about their relationship: hatred.

“The next one goes between his eyes,” Rio promised. “Tell me the real message.”

“That is the real message, you fucking insane thug! What else would it be! If it was a message telling me where they were, why would I have stuck around here? Huh? How’s that for proof I’m telling the truth!”

“If that is true, why did you hide it?” he demanded.

“Because—”

“Because what!”

“Because I killed her!”

Rio dropped the gun. A lesser man would have let the shock show on his face. His gave nothing away, although I sensed his surprise all the same. “Excuse me?”

“I killed my sister,” I sobbed. “I didn’t mean to but... I did.”

Clay, Cassius, and Royal watched me in disbelief. I dropped my head. I couldn’t bear to see their faces.

“My sister and I were playing on the front lawn a little after our fifth birthday. Grandpa gave us the best gifts. A music box for me and a porcelain doll for Rory. She was jealous,” I whispered. “She had a bunch of dolls but she didn’t have a music box. I took my box outside to play with the treasures I put inside.

“Rory came out of nowhere and snatched it from me. She said she wanted the music box and I could have one of her other toys. I said no and tried to get it back from her. Rory got angry and th-threw it.”

My voice—my heart—cracked on a sob.

“I heard the splinter as it broke apart, and I was so mad, I took her doll and flung it as hard as I could. Rory ran after it, racing into the street... just as the car came.”

“Holy shit,” Damien breathed.

I paused a minute, getting myself under control. “After the funeral,” I continued dully. “My grandfather returned the music box—fixed good as new. The only thing fixed. The way my parents felt about me after that day. The look I’d see in their eye every now and then. That wasn’t fixed. I haven’t spoken her name since Mom drove me to Grandpa’s house saying she couldn’t stand to look at me. I wasn’t allowed back home until I was six.

“And you all ask me why I don’t want to talk about it? Why I won’t tell the FBI, the town, and the entire world the worst thing I’ve ever done. The reason why my parents left me and didn’t look back. I won’t let Rory be another thing you bastards throw in my face.”

Raising my head, I held Rio’s gaze. “I’m here where I am because of me. But I kept the music box and our matching baby shoes as a reminder of your lesson. There are no second chances.”

He nodded. “I understand. What’s more, I believe you. Which is rather unfortunate.”

“What? Why?” I asked.

“Because if you can’t