“I’m so sorry, Bethie.” I should’ve played with her.
Austin said something and tried to pull me away. I ignored him and stepped closer to the mirror. I couldn’t leave Bethie. Not again.
“I couldn’t breathe, Mazie. I was so scared.”
My mind told me that there was something wrong with her voice. The normally sweet tone sounded almost hollow, but I didn’t care.
“Don’t be scared, Bethie.” Desperate to touch her one last time, I reached out and flattened my palm on the glass. “I’m right here.”
“No, you’re not.” Bethie’s lips curled into a frown that broke my heart. “Why did you leave me alone, Mazie?”
“I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did.” Bethie’s eyes flickered down and then floated back up to me. All the innocence on her face vanished, replaced with anger and hurt. “You left me forhim.”
Guilt welled up in my throat.
“No,” I shook my head. “It wasn’t like that.”
But it was just like that. While Bethie was fighting for her life, I was drinking and messing around with my boyfriend, because sex was fun and my baby sister wasn’t. My selfishness cost her everything.
“Did he make you feel good,Mazie?” Her head tilted exactly the way it used to. “Was he worth it?”
Her words stabbed deep in my heart. Tears slid down my cheeks while shame rolled through me, drowning out Austin’s voice shouting from somewhere in the background.
I pressed my palm harder against the mirror and pleaded, “Bethie, please?—”
“I drowned while you were fucking him.”
“No. I can go back…. I can change it all.” I’d die instead of her. I’d make different choices. I’d even push my boyfriend in the pool if that’s what it took. Just please, let me take it back.
“You can’t take it back.” When Bethie stepped forward,her yellow shorts rippled as if there was something underneath her skin. “I’m gone, and it’s your fault.”
No, she wasn’t gone. She was right there. “We can change it, Bethie. I can make everything better.”
“You’re not my sister.” She hissed so loud that I swore I could smell the candy on her breath. “You’re a liar.”
“No.” The glass under my hand throbbed, and for a second, I thought if I pushed a little harder, I’d be able to tumble through and grab her. Tumble through to the pool, and to the night that I could never undo.
“You never cared about me. You’re a slut.”
“No.” My body leaned forward, desperate to sink into the reflection.
“You’re a killer, Mazie.”
No. I wasn’t. I couldn’t be. “Bethie?—”
A hand seized my arm.
“Mazie!”
It wasn’t Bethie’s hand. It was Austin’s.
“She’s not real. Do you hear me?” His commanding voice pulled me back to reality. “There’s no one there.”
I fought him for half a heartbeat and reached out for the girl in the yellow shorts. Then the reflection shimmered, turning Bethie’s eyes black. I stared in horror as her mouth stretched open wider and wider, elongating her once sweet expression.
My shoulder screamed as Austin yanked me back hard and dragged me further into the maze, away from the horrific reflection of my sister. I didn’t mind being pulled away. Austin’s grip on my hand felt like the only solid thing.
