Leah still insists that she’s never even heard the nameIvory, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t involved.I refuse to believe he wasn’t behind this somehow.
Leahdidsay that when she was still new, they had her all over—mostly D.C. But the first time she came to New York, there was some big problem thehigher-upswere stressing about. She didn’t know much about it, but she said that they immediately flew her and a bunch of the kids out of New York, and they didn’t return for years.
When they did finally come back to New York, things had changed. They started giving them some freedoms—she was allowed to play PlayStation with friends online and go on social media, though they monitored everything closely. That was when she met my sister.
According to Leah, the organization is huge, bigger than any regular person could ever comprehend. It’s an entire underground society, controlled by the most powerful people in the world.
All the horror stories and conspiracy theories you read about are true. And my sister lived it.
My sister told Leah that before they met, she’d thought about ending her life.
I amsograteful to Alleah Tilsen for coming into my sister’s life at the right moment. She saved her life.
Last year, just after our seventeenth birthday, Avianna told Leah she was leaving. As they got older, the reins were loosened, and Avia saw this as their only opportunity to escape. She begged Leah to come along, but Leah was too afraid.
“One of my friends I used to play PlayStation with had just disappeared,” Leah sniffled to me last night while we sat on my hotel room bed. Me and the girl I hadn’t even known hours earlier, but who now feels likehometo me. The only remaining connection I have to my sister. “I’d told him about what happened to me, even though I knew I shouldn’t have… And then, like a week later…poof!He was gone. No one’s heard from him since.”
She was crying and crying, practically hysterical. I just held her hand and listened. It was all I could do.
“It’s my fault,” she whimpered. “I’m sick over it… If I’d just kept my mouth shut, he’d still be here. But he… I don’t know, he thought the reason I was being so cagey was because I didn’t like him, and that wasnotthe case. I loved him… I still do.” She sniffled, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. “All I can do is hope that he’s still alive, and… okay. And wait for him to come back. Like your sister.”
I gulped.
“I hate myself for not going with her, but I was terrified and I still am. These people are too powerful.” She shook her head. “They never said anything to me. I never got in trouble for talking, but…Fuck, I justknowLuthor wouldn’t ghost without a word. He’s in trouble, I know it. All because of me.”
I didn’t know what to say. I had no words to speak that would help her or comfort her, other than…
“I’m sorry.”
Leah blinked glassy periwinkle eyes at me, staring at my face for a moment in silence, and I could tell she was seeing my sister in me.
We’re as close to identical as fraternal twins can be. I just hoped my resemblance to Avia was giving her comfort, not more pain.
“If there’s one thing I know, Angel, it’s that your sister is a force,” she finally spoke. “She’s survived things that would ruin most people… You both have. Iknowshe’s okay, I can feel it. I just hope she’s happy, and I hope you two get to see each other again.”
That time, I let the emotion wash over me with her words. Telling my sister with my heart that I loved her, and that I was here.
Come back, Avia. I’m here… please. Come back.
I need you.
“And I hope she can hear me.”
It was an emotional day, but single-handedly the most beneficial one in fifteen years. It was the first time in so long that I’d feltanyrelief.
My sister isn’t dead. She might not even be suffering anymore…
She’salive, and she got out.
I know my sister. She’s not just surviving. She’s thriving.
Not only that, but I made a friend. A real one. And yet, I had to say goodbye for now. Having someone to confide in and talk to feels good, yes, but I can’t let it distract me from my mission.
However, shedidlead me to where I am right now. Standing outside the final door of Club Edge; a secret sex club owned by none other than el diablo himself.
I know, right? A little on the nose.
Leah said she’s never been here herself, neither has my sister, but that she knows it’s owned by someone big. Someone the leaders of her organization are afraid of.
