Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 85183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Finally, they contact my sister and tell her I'm alive.
I sit in the small family room, staring blankly at the TV on the wall. I used to want nothing more than to go back to my old life, to see my sister, to go back to my job. Now though, I can't think, I can't feel. My sister seems like the distant memory of someone else, someone who hasn't seen and experienced all I have, someone untainted by the darkness that now clings to the edges of my world. I am not the same person I was all those months ago.
A few minutes later and the door clicks open. The shrink from earlier steps into the room, an overbearing smile on her face. "Victoria, your sister is here. Would you like me to bring her in?"
I hate this, the tiptoeing around as if I'm some fragile abuse victim. I nod mutely. I have to get this over with at some point. The woman disappears and then my sister is walking into the room.
"Oh, Ria!" Just the sound of that name on her lips makes me flinch. I've come to associate it with Caleb, because in these past months, he was the only one to call me by that name.
As I watch her approach, I can't help but feel as though Caleb was more of a sibling to me than the woman walking towards me. Maybe my mind is warped. I should be thrilled to see her, happy to be back with the only family I have left. When did the people who ripped me away from her become my family?
Lizzy throws her arms around my neck, sobs wracking her body. I feel... I don't know... the tug of old memories, pulling at the edges of my mind. I wrap my arms around her.
"I can't believe it," she cries. "I thought you were dead." She pulls back, her tear filled eyes meeting mine.
Her eyes are the same steely shade of blue as mine; her pale blonde hair hangs in a neat bob. Lizzy has always been so perfectly put together. She always knew what she wanted, had it all planned out, and so did I, until Jude.
"I'm so happy to have you here, in my arms." She sniffs. I still don't say anything. I'm not sure what there is to say. Her eyes study my face, searching for traces of emotion. "Are you... are you okay?"
I look away from her, focusing on a spot over her shoulder. "Yeah, I'm fine." As fine as I could possibly be right now. I don't know how much they've told her.
"What happened to you?" she whispers. I meet her eyes again and stare at her for a long moment. She won't understand any of this.
"Nothing."
Her eyes flick downward and fix on my throat, on the ugly scar that runs six inches across it. She swallows hard, her eyebrows pinching together. "Ria—"
"Please, call me Victoria." I cut her off. She looks hurt, and for a second I feel bad. She's always called me Ria, but it's just... I can't.
She nods and glances away, the tension thick between us. "Well, I guess I should take you home."
Home. The word makes stomach clench. It's as though the second I step foot back into my old life, my life with Jude will disappear, as if it never really existed. The two cannot exist side by side.
She takes my hand, linking her fingers through mine. I just feel, numb, disconnected, as though I'm watching someone else go through the motions, but it's not really me. What choice do I have but to go with her? Jude is locked up. Lizzy is all I have .
I shove my free hand into the front pocket of the massive hoody one of the officers gave me to wear after they took my clothes. I hate that it smells of another man.
I can feel Lizzy's eyes on me the entire way back to her house. Her husband John drives, quietly humming along to the radio.
My eyelids start to grow heavy. I'm emotionally and physically drained. I'm tired of fighting every step of the way, and just when things look up, I'm knocked flat on my back again. I pull my knees up to my chest and curl up against the door of the car. As soon as I close my eyes, all I can see is blood, and Joe's lifeless body. I fall asleep with a smile on my lips.
The door opens. "Put your wrists together," the guard says. I do as told and the cuffs click over my wrists. He squats and places shackles on my ankles.
"Is that really necessary?"
"Yep."
I sigh and follow him out of the cell. I'm brought to a room and set at the table. Seconds later, the door creaks open, and a woman in a dress suit struts in. She glares at me, not trying the slightest to hide her disgust with me. She looks like a fucking bitch from hell, overly confident with something to fucking prove.