Chapter One
EVIE
“Bodies” by Drowning Pool
Aloud ‘thud’echoes through the open room. I step out of the shadows that have been my home, shielding me from the living. Upon hearing the noise, Emma opens her eyes to see Julian on the floor beside her. Her eyes widen in shock as Eduardo runs over to her, and Jameson, their friend, looks over at me with his mouth hanging open as if he is seeing a ghost. I stare back at him, gauging his intentions before shifting my vision to my sister.
“Oh, my Emma.” Eduardo kisses her over and over. With a firm hold, he lifts her out of the chair and into his arms. Eduardo pushes her away from him to assess her for injuries as he rubs Emma’s arms up and down, then he pulls her close against his body just as quickly, holding her tight as if she’ll be abducted again.
I see her follow Jameson’s line of sight, and if Eduardo wasn’t holding on to her, she’d probably pass out. Jameson hasn’t stopped staring at me, and I can feel him willing me to return his stare. Instead, I need to focus on what’s important right now—my sister.
I walk over to her with a smile that matches hers. I can see her take in the physical changes to my appearance: my hair is cut short and slicked back, but it’s still me—Evie, her twin sister.
“She’s alive,” Emma sobs, and Eduardo holds her up, equally as shocked.
“You’re alive?” he asks somewhat rhetorically. He looks over and shakes his head. “You were always one for dramatics, Evie.”
“Good to see you too, future brother-in-law.” I chuckle and hug Eduardo, and then Emma grabs on to me, almost pulling me down with the unexpected sheer weight of her body as she clings to me as if I will suddenly disappear into thin air, like a ghost. She wouldn’t be wrong. That’s what I have been all this time.
“Sis, I’ve missed you so much.” I hold on to her. She hugs me, and we begin to cry. I can’t help the emotion that comes over me. I’ve held it in for so long that it now pours out against my will.
Her body shakes, wracked in sobs, but it sounds odd because we are also laughing.
“I suppose these are what you call tears of happiness.” I laugh as we rock back and forth in a tight embrace.
“Yes,” she laughs. “I swear, sometimes I don’t understand us, Eves.”
Eduardo shakes his head, leaving us to chat. He walks over to Jameson, who is staring at me. “Close your mouth, James. You’re drooling on the floor. It’s not a good look.”
From what I can tell, Jameson doesn’t respond.
I wonder if he recognizes me. He must. I turn my head back to watch the exchange. Continuing to stare, Jameson goes to say something but stops.
“That's Emma’s twin sister, huh?” he asks.
I curl my lip up in a half-smirk.
“Boy, you’re a fast learner, aren’t you?” Eduardo mocks. He slaps Jameson on the shoulder.
“Fuck off. She’s hot. I think I’m in love.”
I smile full-on now, conveying with my eyes what’s to come.
Jameson scrubs his hands repeatedly over his face as if trying to wake himself from a dream.
Still holding on to my sister, I bring her around to give my full attention to Jameson. I give him my signature pouty, red-lipped smile. “Sorry, I missed our date by the way.”
Jameson’s mouth opens then closes. I smile wickedly, and then I see the moment it clicks. His sight is firmly set on my lips. “That was you. It’s always been you.”
I nod once. Our stare-off is interrupted when Philip walks in.
Eli groans.
“What the fuck? Is everybody coming back from the dead?” Eduardo shakes his head in disbelief, dropping it in defeat.
“Too soon?” Eli says, and Eduardo snorts.
“Yeah, a bit, but I get it. It’s ironic as fuck.” Eduardo walks over to Emma and me, hooking his arm around my sister and bringing her in for a side hug.
