Rory steps forward. “We would love to. But why don’t you ladies join us first?” she says, navigating us down the elongated hall to our left that leads to mysterious rooms and gyms and shopping complexes for all I know.
Nat skips alongside me in an effort to keep up. “Where are we going?” Her fingers move spastically over her phone.
“I don’t know. Who are you texting?”
“Bree. She’ll slice my balls off if I let her miss this.”
“Tell her to bring Laken,” I whisper.
And in less than ten seconds, the two of them are running down the hall just as Rory leads us down the stairs and into a darkened room to our left, to the theater the Harrisons had installed not too long ago. The only light illuminating the room is the enormous screen up ahead, glowing a soft shade of lavender like a paper lantern.
“Ooh!” Michelle wiggles her fingers as she and Lex take a seat in the middle. The chairs are all comfort chaise lounges, and the carpet is lush and crimson. It’s chilly in here, and the faint scent of popcorn permeates the air.
Rory steps to the front of the theater as I take a seat with Laken to my right and Bree to my left. Chloe is seated on the other side of her looking smug as usual.
“Ladies, welcome to the show.” Rory lifts her hands, and her hair illuminates soft as the flicker of a candle. “Tenebrous Productions presents a featured delight that’s been a year in the making. And once you partake in this cinematic wonder, you will know how far a girl is willing to go for her sister. Never has there been a deeper bond. Remember this, Skyla. I did it for you. I did it for our people.” She looks to Chloe as the light from the screen begins to dim. “The girl you’ll see isn’t my sister. It’s me. These are the sacrifices I have made for my people.”
Laken leans in. “Should we be afraid?”
“Yes,” I say without hesitation. I’m downright terrified, down to my bones.
The sound of light instrumental music begins to play, something heavenly, easy for the senses before the music dims and we’re treated to a vaguely familiar scene, and as soon as it becomes clear what it is, my stomach drops.
It’s the master bedroom at the house Gage and I bought. Our first house, our last. The very last place I made love to my husband before he lost his head quite literally.
Chloe saunters out of the bedroom in a silky black negligée and slips it off her shoulders, exposing us to her naked form. Gage flashes before the screen, looking angry, sick. He rolls over and the scene cuts to Chloe rocking herself on the corner of the mattress, tears streaming down her cheeks.
The next scene is in the butterfly room. There I am—wait, no, not me. It’s Rory looking hauntingly like yours truly and Gage pressing his lips to hers. He’s on her, taking her from behind, hard and heated.
“Oh my God,” I whisper.
The same scenes repeat on a loop. Chloe begging for attention, Gage shutting her down. Gage going down on my sister. Gage taking Rory over every inch of that butterfly room, and tears streak down my face as I watch it. I can’t look away. I can’t believe what it’s telling me.
Gage pulls Rory’s head back, rough by the hair. “Say my name. Tell me you love me.”
Rory looks right at him, and if I didn’t know better, she was doing her best impression of me while she’s at it.
“I love you, Gage Oliver. It’s only ever been you for me.”
My heart sinks as she says those words. His eyes soften just enough to let me know he wants to believe them.
An entire montage plays out of Rory and Gage going at it. Seasons change, and Chloe tries again and again to seduce her husband, but he’s not having it. Gage is satiated over and over by my likeness.
In the next scene, Chloe and Gage are raging at one another all through the house. Chloe is chasing him in the nude. Emma is there in the background. But Chloe is unceasing as she shouts over at Gage, demanding him to have her. She chases him into the street, naked, shouting her anger into the dove gray Paragon sky.
The music shifts to something heart-stoppingly loud, an incredible drumming that you can feel in your chest, pulsating through every bone in your body.
The throne room appears. There I am on what should have been our wedding day. Gage and Chloe enter the unholy room with a bed laden with roses. He takes her and they lie down on the mattress. The room, the walls catch fire as a blaze rolls to life all around me. And I scream—at the top of my lungs I cry out in anguish. But the focus shifts to the figure of a man standing behind me, far past me in the distance. We zoom in on his face. It’s Wes, his best man that day, with tears rolling down his face.
Implying, implying…
Oh my God. Why is Wes crying? WhywouldWes cry?
My heart stops cold as I see the color of his cobalt blue eyes.
“What is this?” Laken pulses to life.
“Rory?” I call out as the screen goes white once again, the music cuts out, and we’re met with the stale sound of our breathing.
