“Yes,” she admits. “That’s what makes the lie work.”
Footsteps sound behind her.
Two guards, who I assume are hers, appear at the edge of the room.
“You’ll forget pieces of this conversation,” she adds in. “You always do every time I visit.” Her lips curve faintly. “Eventually, you’ll probably think all of this is a hallucination. You’ll start questioning if anything in your life up to this point ever happened. But I hope you always remember my face. Keep it as a reminder not to fuck with the wrong people.”
She turns to walk toward the guards, heading toward the doorway on her side. But she stops for a moment, not glancing back and says, “For what it’s worth, Finnic,” she exhales softly, “you did save me, in more ways than you know.”
I’m left staring at my own reflection in the glass.
And for the first time since I woke up in Beacon, I’m not sure of what I feel anymore. I’m not sure of who I am.
I don’t know if I see her as a villain or if she was just like me.
She sought out revenge against the person who hurt someone she loved.
We were familiars in that way.
Maybe that’s why it is easy to contain my resentment.
I did the same after all.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Everleigh
“Mom! What are you doing?”
Her head turned swiftly toward her bedroom door where I stood. She quickly stepped down from the chair that sat just below her bedroom ceiling fan.
“Evie, I didn’t know you were back from school. I thought you had soccer practice today?”
My eyes drifted up toward the ceiling fan that had a long piece of material hanging from it before she stepped in front of my line of sight.
I narrowed my eyes, “It was canceled due to the rainstorm coming in. I tried to call but you didn’t answer.”
She laughed but it sounded oddas it came out. “Oh, I’m sorry. I must’ve gotten carried away cleaning the fan. You know your father, everything has to be perfect. Not a speck of dust in sight.”
She continued to smile, which felt even more off than before. It didn’t put me at ease, but I knew better than to question her or my father.
I took a step back out of the doorway, “Do you want me to start on dinner?”
She exhaled what seemed to be a breath of relief. “Yes, that would be wonderful. If you’ll go ahead and get the water boiling and toss the pasta in, I’ll come and help you in a few minutes.”
I nodded, before turning away from the door. As I walked toward the kitchen, Mom called out from behind me.
“Evie.”
I stopped, only turning my head to glance back at her. “Yes?”
She bit her lip, hesitating a moment before continuing, “Don’t forget that pinch of salt in the water. You know it makes all the difference in the world.”
I pressed my lips together in a thin line before turning away from her.
I wish I would’ve noticed more. Maybe then she’d have followed me to the kitchen to make my father his favorite meal. Maybe then I wouldn’t have found her pale with no pulse minutes later.
The lightsfrom the busy street side reflect onto the window as we drive toward the complex.
