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She cut me off before I could continue, "There you go, acting high and mighty again. I thought that as we got older, God would repay me for the patience of living in your shadow. But it was always you thriving, finding love." She wiped her tears harshly. "And just like that, throughout our lives, you were the hero who got everything she wanted, and I was the damn villain who got shunned, never good enough for anything you have."
"Why shouldn't I embrace being the real villain then? People always assumed I was, why not validate their thoughts?" she muttered, averting her gaze from me. Summoning my courage, I scooted towards her. Grasping her hands in mine, I felt compelled to offer solace. Goddamn my heart.
"I'm so sorry for not noticing that you felt this way, Elena. I never considered taking care of you a burden. You're the only connection left from our parents, and I found joy in looking after you. You're more than deserving of everything you want. You can find love without overshadowing mine. You can thrive; you have all the capabilities," I assured her.
She rolled her eyes, yanking her hands away, sending a cold chill through me. With a look of disgust, she spat out, "Would you just stop? You might have people convinced you're good, but not me. I see right through you." A creepy smile twisted her lips as she revealed the gun concealed within her coat, raising it to my head. "Any last words, dear sister? I can whisper them into Adrik's ear when he's inside me after you're gone."
"It doesn't have to spiral into this, Elena. You can seek help; you don't have to plummet off the deep end," I uttered. She remained unresponsive, that twisted smile lingering on her lips.
Looking at her felt like staring into the eyes of a demon, her anger at the world showing on her face. It was tough to believe she'd ever been a sane person, looking at her now. But who knew if she ever was?
My gut told me to freeze, so I stood still, watching without moving as she came closer. A creepy smile took over her face, some nasty expression.
Shifting my gaze from her sunken-in face to the small pistol in her hand, my heart felt it was about to come out of my chest. She laughed, a dry cackle, and cold shivers spread through me.
"You just had to forgive him, huh? Threw all my hard work in the trash. I have no choice but to kill you. It's the only way Adrik and I can be together."
I whimpered, a sound I couldn't control. She'd kill me without a second thought. My eyes stayed glued to that gun in her hand. I thought about Adrik; I would miss him so much. My biggest regret is believing her lies over him.
She stuck the gun right in my face, grinning grimly, her bloodshot, crazy eyes fixed on mine, their manic gleam piercing me. I never looked away from her eyes. I couldn't remember hating her before, but hatred coursed through me now. I had no words for her. Nothing would make her understand or care. My words meant nothing to her.
She grabbed my hair, pulling my head back, holding it still. I tried to struggle, but it was useless.
She shoved that gun to the middle of my head. She was pushing it so hard into my head it felt like it would penetrate into mybrain. I tried jerking my head away, but she held the back of my head tight. I was shaking my head frantically when a bang rang in the basement.
Chapter 14
Luna
?The basement door swung open with a thunderous metallic crash, and a pack of burly men spilled into the dimly-lit space. The air grew colder, the shadows darker, and a sense of menace crept over the room. Her grip on the gun tightened, the steel pressing against my skin with a brutality that seemed to defy the laws of physics. The stress in the room thickened as the men leveled their weapons at us, threatening to plunge us into a nightmare. What the hell was happening?
My vision was blurry, and I couldn’t focus on the features of the men. It took my eyes a while to focus in my disoriented state, and when my bleary vision finally sharpened enough for recognition to dawn on me, I saw Adrik’s commanding presence in the center of the chaos. His face, as pale as death, gazed in our direction. The guns weren't aimed at me, but at my sister. A flicker of relief tried to surface, but it drowned in the realization that Elena was a ticking time bomb, her judgment clouded by something sinister.
Elena's finger trembled on the trigger, a reckless hazard to us all. The panic in me surged as I envisioned the catastrophic outcome if she fired at Adrik. My heart plummeted to the pit of my stomach. With hands quivering, I seized her gunned hand, sandwiching it between mine and keeping it pressed against my forehead. I couldn't afford to gamble on my sister's sanity risking the life of the man I loved.
Adrik's scream tore through the air like a primal roar, raw and guttural, reverberating with a darkness that seemed more demonic than human. His entire being vibrated with a visceral anger that sent shivers down my spine.
"Don't you dare," he rasped, his eyes darting between my sister and me. I didn’t know which one of us he was addressing, but it felt like the warning was directed at us both. "Drop the gun, Elena," he growled, and her scowl only deepened.
My mind spiraled, conjuring twisted scenarios of what might unfold when she released the grip on her gun. The unpredictability of her actions scared me. She was unhinged, a live wire ready to snap. Maybe she clung to the twisted belief that if she couldn't possess him, nobody could. The thought of her turning the gun on Adrik clawed at my insides, a corrosive mix of acid and bile rising in my throat.
Against the cold steel pressed against my forehead, I shook my head in defiance. My hands stayed clamped down on hers, keeping the gun anchored in its place. She was my sister, my blood, my responsibility. I couldn't let her harm the one person who meant everything to me.
His eyes bore into me like hot coals, a promise etched in the lines of his narrowed gaze, a silent promise that if I made it out alive, there was a punishment awaiting me. In this twisted ordeal, Elena's eyes clung to Adrik, consuming him with a hunger that fueled a gut-churning jealousy. Even with the threat of death looming, I had an urge to put an end to her sick fixation.
"Your problem's with me, Elena," I snarled, aiming to redirect her attention. She tore her gaze from Adrik, fixing me with a look that could curdle blood. Meanwhile, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of one of the men closing in on her. I turnedmy gaze away, not wanting her to catch wind of him. He was near, just a few steps from ending it all. I needed to stall her.
"We can sort this out. It doesn't have to be like this," I whispered, desperate for a lifeline. But she shut me down cold, "Just shut the hell up already." Adrik, already wound tighter than a spring, exploded, "Watch your damn mouth talking to my wife."
Her eyes welled up at his words, the hurt unmistakable as she looked at him. In a voice devoid of any emotion, she uttered, "What does she have that I don't?" Adrik approached, his gun poised dangerously close to her, but it was his words that cut deeper than any potential bullet.
"Everything, Elena. Luna is the epitome of perfection, a woman unmatched in charm, beauty, and softness," he declared with brutal honesty. Inhaling a shaky breath, he continued, "Even if she never forgave me, I'd rather kneel at her feet than be a god to any other woman. I would've worshipped her every moment, kneeled and prayed to her until she realized that no one on this earth or in the skies could love her more than I do."
With the final, crushing step that brought the gun to press against her chest, he delivered the devastating blow, "There's no universe, no dimension, where I don't belong to her. Not being hers would be like tearing my own soul apart. There is no room for you or anyone else to fill the void she occupies." Her chest heaved as she processed the words. My cheeks burned with his confession, which wasn’t new to me; he tells me such things all the time. I tried to convey how much I loved him with my eyes, not wanting to say the words and trigger Elena into further madness.
His words seemed to cast a spell, plunging her into a trance-like, catatonic state. The gun slipped from her grasp, finding refuge in my hands. Respite flooded over me, prompting a hasty retreatinto Adrik's embrace, seeking solace. Yet, the returned hug carried an unexpected chill. Stepping back, I shifted uneasily, acutely aware of the man positioned behind my sister, fingers digging into her shoulders to ensure compliance.
Adrik's gaze bore into her with a dangerous intensity, an unspoken threat hanging between them. Instinctively, I positioned myself before her, an unstable shield in the face of imminent danger.
