Chapter 64: Chapter 64

She hugged herself against the chill in the air, her body looking frail and pale in the moonlight. She looked so frail and fragile and I almost pitied her but now I know what kind of heart lays beyond the deceptively frail exterior.

The absurdity of her accusation shook me to the bone and I could only stare at her as if she was a stranger. And in truth she was. She wasn’t the little girl I grew up with anymore, and neither was she the young adolescent girl with whom I played in her parent's mansion. It felt like the years fell away and a stranger emerged out of the past I once knew.

“You didn’t want me to date Andre, you tried to convince me to let him go, you told me he was a player, a bad boy…”

“And if I recall those were the reasons you wanted to date him. Especially because you were excited to have a new dick in your life. I am not like you Siobhan. I wasn’t trying to deceive you into leaving Andre so I could date him. I was looking out for you because you are my best friend and that’s what best friends do.”

“But you were in love with him. I saw it in your eyes when you looked at him. Every time you spoke about him I hear words you weren’t saying.” She looked away and when she looked back at me she smiled sadly. “The good part…or the worst part is, he was in love with you too. I don’t think he even loved me all this time when he could only talk about you.”

I wanted to protest the absurdity of her comparisons. I wanted to call her a liar because she threw my faults in my face to make me look like the bad guy but I could only watch as she spoke.

“I tried to pretend it wasn’t true but it became clearer every day.”

I snorted. “At what point did you pretend, Siobhan? When you pretended to be my friend? When you pretended there was nothing but stale friendship between you and Aaron? Or the part where you stared into my eyes and lied to me over and over, trying to make me doubt my better judgment? When, Siobhan? When?”

She sniffed and began to cry. “I am sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you!” she wept. “I didn’t mean for things to get this far. My guilt was killing me but I tried to convince myself that I was doing the right thing. I convinced myself that if I couldn’t get Andre to love me then you couldn’t have Aaron too. I don’t know what came over me. I was trying to be you, Bianca,” she wept bitterly.

My throat was tight. “Don’t give me that bullshit, Siobhan!” I cried. I couldn’t keep my tears suppressed for too long so before I knew it I was hiccupping, struggling to get my words out but I braved through my tears and let her know how much she hurt me.

“You tried to be like me? You can never be like me, Siobhan. Do you know the difference between us? Before tonight I would have felt guilty about what I did, but I feel no guilt. Yes, I was in love with Andre, I liked him, and for once in my life I wanted to be desired but he went for you instead, he convinced me to let you both be together and I made that choice because you wanted it too…”

“And did you ask why?”

I paused. “What do you mean?”

“He loved you but he went for me. Why?”

“B-b-because…” I tried to speak but couldn’t find the words.

Just then there was a commotion in the hall that caught both of our attention. Even above the loud music, I could hear Andre’s voice but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. Then there was Aaron's voice. They were yelling. Suddenly Andre ran out with Aaron and some other boys hot on his heels.

“Run!” Andre yelled. “Run toward me please,” he cried as soon as he saw Siobhan and me. He was coming toward us.

I didn’t know what was happening and why he was yelling and sounding so panicked. Even Siobhan looked confused but she was inching away from where we stood and was taking a step toward him.

I took a step at the same time intending to run into his arms and know why he was sounding so panicked.

“Don’t think, baby,” he cried. “Run."

At the same time, I heard shuffling behind me. Thinking it was one of our classmates who probably were making out in private coming out to know what the commotion was about, I turned back to look when suddenly I felt a sharp pain behind my head.

“Bianca!” I heard Andre’s voice as I tried desperately to rise above the darkness dimming my vision.

I heard Siobhan scream and her voice continued to recede. There were other screams as more people ran out of the hall to know what was happening.

Suddenly strong arms were holding me tight, so tight that my breath was cut off for a second. But when my sight cleared I almost fainted again. There was a group of armed men all dressed in black running toward the students who were now scrambling for safety. Seniors forgot about the safety of juniors as they ran to hide and protect themselves.

There was a sudden blast and behind me came a deep rumble. “Don’t shoot! Damn it, you fucking idiot!”

My heart clenched as I realized what was happening.

Another invasion.

“Is this the girl?” the rumble came from behind me again.

I shook uncontrollably as more footsteps came from behind me. Before I could fight for safety a thick cloth came over my face and I made the mistake of inhaling. All I remembered as I succumbed to the darkness blurring my vision were the broad shoulders of a man and the silhouette of a woman with long flowing hair.

I was dragged away while the other students ran for their lives. I was left alone, out cold, and at the mercy of my abductors.

Someone went to ring the emergency alarm but by the time Jonathan arrived with his security team the men were long gone through the gap they had made in the fence and they took me with them.

Hours later when I woke up, I found myself in a car speeding down an unknown road. My head ached and there was a bad taste in my mouth. I noticed I wasn’t tied but I was tightly strapped to the passenger seat of the car. It was so tight that even my dress was scrunched up.

What is this?

Releasing a gasp of fear I whipped my head to the driver’s side ready to fight for my life when I stopped, my eyes widening as I beheld the person driving the car.

She smiled at me. Once again I couldn’t get past the fact that her smile was anything but friendly. Even though she didn’t look like the shy, awkward Carla I know there was no mistaking the edge in that smile.

“Carla?”

She was dressed in a red top, leather jacket and blue jeans and black boots. Gone was the full hair and even the gray eyes in their place were coffee-brown eyes and short black hair. It looked like she had wiped her face free of makeup…but there was no mistaking that this was…

“Carla?” I asked again. “Carla Rios?”

“You are awake. Welcome to the world. Andre will be joining us soon.”