I STAND in the middle of the burned cottage in the forest.
The walls are black from the remains of the fire. The sun slips in through the cracks between the stones and the ceiling that’s half gone.
Despite the rays of sunshine, a cold gust of wind whirls around me as if trying to kick me out. It still smells of smoke and a bit of pine, like the trees standing tall around here. Some yellow police tape surrounds the area, but no one guards it.
If they suspect there’s been a murder, how could they deem it good to go? After all, Detective Daniels seems hell-bent on catching the perpetrator.
In the small space, I stand with my back to the half-burned door. My chest has been clenching since the moment I paid the cabbie and told him he was good to go.
This is where the police found human remains and my bracelet. It’s close to where I was found afterward, so I must’ve been here.
I must’ve been at the crime scene.
Human remains.
A shudder races down my spine at the thought. What could I have been doing with the person whose remains they found?
Since Lucy’s father is the police deputy commissioner, I’ve been asking her if she’s heard anything.
Apparently, they’re all keeping quiet about it, but from what she learned by eavesdropping, the police still don’t have a body or enough remains to create a profile.
I’ve been praying the person is only badly injured and not dead.
Despite my tough talk, I can’t live with the fact that I witnessed someone’s murder and did nothing about it—or worse, participated in it.
With heavy feet, I walk to a stone bench in the corner. For some reason, it seems familiar.
Way too familiar.
I retrieve a napkin and wipe the dust and soot from the surface then sit down. It feels right to sit here.
So, so right.
My fingers trail over the back of the bench, my brows furrowing. It’s right to be here, but there’s something wrong.
Or rather, something missing.
My eyes widen.
It’s not something. It’s someone.
I inhale the pine scent coming from outside as the memory hits me like sparkling fireworks on the Fourth of July.
I SIT ON THE BENCH, my eyes filled with tears. All the way here, I’ve been hardly holding on.
Now that she’s sitting right in front of me, it’s nearly impossible to stop the onslaught of emotions.
Her hair is a bit shorter than mine and she’s got it up in a ponytail. She has the same deep blue eyes, the same full lips with the teardrop at the upper lip, the same tiny nose that fits the shape of her face.
Reina.
She’s finally here. We finally found our way back to each other after nine years.
She stares at the engagement ring on her finger. It glints under the cottage’s soft light as she grins.
I cross my arms over my chest. “Are you here for me or for that engagement ring?”
“The ring. Definitely the ring.”
I huff. “Whatever.”
“You’re just being jealous.” Reina hits my shoulder with hers. “It’s not my fault I got all the looks.”
“Oh, puh-leeze.” I flip my hair. “Are you even looking at me?”
“Yeah.” Her grin is a little sad this time. “I see me.”
“I see me, too. Rei…” I grab her hands in mine. “I’m going to make things right for the both of us. I’m making that promise come true. You saved me. It’s time I save you.”
She shakes her head, expression calm and wise. “I don’t want you involved. Dad was, and we both know where that led him. I won’t lose you, too, Rai.”
I jerk up, running a hand through my hair as I pace the length of the cottage. “You can’t expect me to sit and do nothing. Dad would’ve understood.”
“Rai.” She stands up and slowly approaches me, as if she’s afraid of setting me off. “Listen to me. Dad knew why I had to do this. Why do you think he kept it a secret? Besides, I have someone who’ll help me, but you have nothing, okay? You don’t know these people as much as I do. They’ll murder you and bury your remains at a new construction site. They’re dangerous people.”
“Are you listening to yourself?” Tears well in my eyes. “If they’re dangerous, how do you expect me to leave you in their clutches and carry on as if nothing happened?”
“You forget a little trick, sis.” She grins, rubbing her nose with her index finger like she used to do when we were children. “I’ve been studying them for years. I can handle them.”
“Reina…” My voice breaks. “I just can’t watch you slip through my fingers again. I can’t.”
“I 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.”
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.
“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 longer shrieking or talking. She’s no longer…there.
My widened eyes meet Reina’s. I start to run back, to go see Mom, but my sister shakes her head, tears welling in her eyes. “Mom said to never look back.”
“But—”
Reina stifles my words as footsteps approach us.
“I saw her. She’s here.” The gruff voice makes goosebumps rise on my arms.
“Get her. Boss won’t accept any mistakes.”
Reina’s clutch on my arm turns steel-like. She leans in, her face like Mom’s when she’s about to say something bad.
I shake my head frantically before she even speaks. “No.”
“Shh.” She places a trembling finger on my lips, shushing me and glancing behind her as the thundering footsteps get closer. “You’ll be okay, Rai.”
I continue shaking my head, unable to stop. My fingers strangle the bracelet Mom gave me for my birthday. It’s a bit big and I have to roll it twice, but it’s Mom’s most precious gift. She said she got it from her own mother, and now, she was giving it to me.
“They’re after Mom’s daughter,” Reina says. “I don’t think they know about me. They only know about you.”
“No.”
“I lived well with Daddy, Rai.” Tears glisten down her cheeks. “We didn’t have to run like you and Mom. We didn’t have to eat leftovers or sleep on the streets. I want you to have that. I want you to have my life.”
“Reina…” I choke.
“You’re Reina now. I’ll be Rai.”
“No…no…” I hold on to her hand, shaking and whispering my denials like a prayer.
She caresses my hair. “I love you, little sis. I’ll find you.”
“No, Rei.”
“You’re Rei,” she whispers. “It’s our secret. I’ll live as you and you’ll live as me.” Her bottom lip trembles. “Take care of Daddy. Tell him you love him every day on my behalf.” I open my mouth to say something, but she pushes me. “Now, run. Don’t look back. Never look back.”
Footsteps approach as I hold on to her hand.
“Run!” she hisses.
My feet kick into gear as I stumble in the opposite direction.
“I’m here!” Reina’s voice echoes behind me, but I follow her instructions and don’t look back.
Never look back.
“Boss! The girl is here!” yells a thickly accented voice.
I round the corner and run until my legs nearly give out, until my breathing stutters. Snot and tears cover my face, but I don’t stop running. I run and run until I think I’ll collapse and they’ll catch me.
Don’t look back.
Never look back.
I don’t know how long I run. I don’t know how far my legs carry me. Then, I stumble and fall.
Someone in a uniform approaches me. I shrink into the pole, breathing harshly and hugging my knees to my chest.
The tears won’t stop. Mom and Reina’s voices won’t leave my head.
They just won’t.
Murmurs. Screams. Hisses.
They’re all there, in my head.
“Are you okay, kid?” The uniformed man crouches in front of me. He has a red beard and tattoos down his arms.
He looks like the pigs who’ve chased Mom and me all our lives.
I shrink further into the pole, clutching my bracelet tight.
“Kid? Have you lost your way home?”
He doesn’t have an accent like those guys, but he could be one of them.
Don’t trust anyone. The world is out to get you, Rai, Mom used to tell me.
“Wait.” He reaches into his pocket and retrieves a picture then studies it and me intently. “You’re that mogul’s missing daughter.” He retrieves a device from his pocket and says a number then something about finding the missing child. “What’s your name?” he asks me. “Do you remember your name and where you came from?”
Rai Sokolov. Daughter of Mia Sokolov. I’ve been on the run since the day I was born, homeschooled my entire life, and had no friends until Mom brought my long-lost twin sister to meet me a month ago.
Then, they were both taken away.
My mom and my sister.
The only one I have left is my dad. If I want to be with him, I have to forget my life and embrace another one.
A tear falls down my cheek as I whisper, “Reina. My name is Reina Ellis.”
