I counted down and made it to the two minute mark before reaching out the moment the time was up, and felt her flinch. She latched onto her sister, gripping her tightly as I tried to pull her away. Her cries became louder as I pulled. I should’ve expected a fight, but I wasn’t expecting both girls to be as strong as they were.
“Please, just give me one more minute,” she said, holding her sister’s hand as I grabbed her. “Just one more.”
I had to force myself not to look at the tears. I couldn’t let myself be dragged into whatever feelings they were having. “We had an agreement. Two minutes.”
Chiara cried out as I pulled her away from her sister and pushed her towards the door, forcing her through the concrete doorway. She tried her best to slip past me but I stopped her with my arm and forced her down the hallway, pushing her with each stride. She kept looking back until I slammed the metal door shut, causing the doorway to shake.
“We had an agreement. This will be the last time if you pull something like that again.”
She was holding her hands against her face, trying to hide the tears that were streaming from her eyes. I could hear her sister banging against the metal door down the hallway.
I couldn’t help but think that it had been a mistake to let them see each other. Still, it had worked out for the most part, and I knew that there was no way she could overpower me and get away. I was surprised by the fact that she even tried and that her sister had been insistent, too. They were resilient, but they weren’t strong enough to take me on.
Tears were streaming down her face as I opened the door to her room and let her in. She was glaring at me with red eyes as she stepped in, as though I’d done something terrible. I needed to fix whatever it was that she was thinking.
There was no telling how much emotions she’d bottled up since we killed her parents. There was likely to be hatred, frustration, and sadness. I hadn’t planned on any of this, and I hoped that she would understand that. The look in her eyes, however, was telling me that she didn’t.
“I let you see your sister. I said two minutes,” I told her, my voice sharp. “If you do that next time, you won’t see her again. If you do this well, I’ll add minutes onto the time that you get to see her.”
“How can you be like this? That’s my sister! What would you do to see your family?”
I pursed my lips. “I’m not that close with my siblings.”
“So you wouldn’t understand,” she cried, collapsing onto the floor. “Your family already killed my parents. Can I not at least see my sister? Why are you guys keeping us apart?”
I clenched my jaw, feeling the veins protrude from beneath my skin. “My family wouldn’t have had to exact revenge if your parents hadn’t killed my brother.”
“And that’s our fault?”
“Yes, it is.”
She sniffled and looked away, wiping the tears from her face.
“Do that again and you won’t see anyone. Keep that in mind.” I said nothing more as I closed the door, slamming it in place.
She had to know I was serious if we were going to continue our agreement. Not that it had been said in words, exactly, but I was sure that she understood. That was enough for me.
* * *
The visits happenedat the same time each day. I tried to build a schedule around it. Not that she knew—time was limitless to her. It was impossible to tell if it was night or morning while down in the basement. Her cell had been built without a window so that natural light couldn’t get through. It was a tactical means, so that anyone trapped down there became hopeless. It was working, but I think she looked forward to our meetings.
A week had already passed and she’d worked her way up to eight minutes. Not bad, all things considered. She also became smarter at determining how to behave when the time was up. I was holding the plate and descending down the stairs, readying myself to see her again. There was something about the way she held herself that drew me in. She was proud, and unsure most of the time, but she went through it anyway. Her sister, on the other hand, was fearful of everything.
They may have looked the same, but they couldn’t be any more different in their personalities. Seeing that stark contrast over the week was oddly satisfying—my hunch of the better twin had been right.
Alessandra was quiet, even when she cried. She often waited at the door the moment she heard our footsteps approaching from her sister’s cell. I don’t know how she figured out that there was a routine, but she was catching on.
I never let the sisters speak privately—not yet. I didn’t want to help them form a plan of escape or get too much into the conversation of mine and Chiara’s arrangement. It was easier to just observe them. Still, I was thinking that I’d change that if Chiara proved herself to be trustworthy. So far, things had been progressing since the first day. That was enough.
The plate was shaking in my hand as I made my way to the door. I knew she could hear my footsteps from the scuffle I heard from the other side. She always sat in the same spot for each meal, which was fine by me. So long as I was able to see her while she ate, it was fine.
I opened the slide at the bottom of the door and inserted the plate. Then, I rose to my feet and stood halfway up the door and peered in. She was still, sitting on her bed with her head tucked into her knees. The food was wafting into the air, fresh from the oven. I waited silently for her to get up from her bed, but there was nothing. Not even so much as a movement.
“Why aren’t you eating?”
She lifted up her head from her knees, her dark hair cascading down her back as she brought her eyes to mine. “I don’t want to.”
I clenched my hand into a fist. “Youhaveto eat.”
