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Pocus frowns. “What’s that?”
I shrug hesitantly, unsure about how to expand on something that even I don’t understand. “For a second, I felt Victoria.”
Pocus blinks at me in confusion. “What do you mean you felt her.”
“I don’t know… I….,” another frustrated sigh escapes my mouth. “It was like she was in my head. It was very brief, but she was definitely there, man. It’s like she was calling for help or something.”
Pocus looks at me undecidedly for a second before continuing to turn his attention to a huge nature painting on the wall above the fireplace. I watch him quietly, wondering why he’s suddenly interested in an ugly painting instead of responding to what I said. Does he think I’m being delusional? And when I was about to say something to that effect, Pocus looks away from the painting and then at me. “There’s a door here.”
“What?”
I join Pocus at the painting. He places his ear on the wall and knocks around. I push against the wall, and it gives, moving inward.
Soon, we walk in and down a flight of stairs leading to a tiny underground room with stark white walls, a tiny iron bed,
“Someone was in it,” Pocus says, gesturing at the slightly rumpled bed. “And it wasn’t all that long ago. The covering is still warm to the touch.”
“Motherfucker!” I murmur, ramming my fist into the wall. I can barely feel any pain from the contact because I am filled with so much anger and fear that it’s almost impossible to feel anything else. I seem to have arrived at the point where caution and hope are useless. Nothing is stopping me from giving in to this murderous rage that’s fighting for dominance of my soul.
My phone rings, and I snatch it out of my cut’s pocket. I stare at the unknown caller ID on the screen, and my anger intensifies to an impossible degree. I look up at Pocus, who’s regarding me with a curious expression.
“Edward,” I mutter in response to his unasked question.
* * *
My heart raced as I climbed up the long flight of stairs, taking the steps two at a time, sometimes three. Edward had been clear with his instructions.
“Come to the rooftop. Take the stairs.”
It wasn’t easy convincing Pocus to let me go alone. But knowing how mentally unstable Edward is, I couldn’t let Pocus come. Provoking him more wasn’t an option. Pocus promised to stay close, though. And even now, I feel his presence behind me, out of sight.
There’s a little door at the end of the stairs. I push it open and am hit by a cold breeze. I close the door gently behind me. I look around the huge rooftop for any sign of life, but there’s only suspicious silence and the echoes of the wind.
Suddenly there’s a movement to my right. I turn to see Edward wheeling Victoria out from behind a huge pile of condemned furniture. My heart stops at the sight of Victoria. I can’t believe it’s only been a few days since I last saw her… it feels like an eternity. She’s staring right back at me, but there’s an emptiness in her deep brown eyes that scares the shit out of me. I look back up at Edward, who’s grinning widely at me like he’s truly pleased to see me.
“Hello, brother,” Edward greets. “You look well, even after all that time without your family.”
“Why is she…?” I clear my throat nervously, waiting for the tightness in my chest to ease a little. “Why is she in a wheelchair?”
Edward shrugs casually. “I’m afraid she’s a little bit…damaged.”
“Damaged? What the fuck does that mean?”
He shrugs. “She’s just as weak as her mother was. She’ll probably die just as miserably.”
“You bastard!” I start to lunge at him, but he whips out a gun and pushes it against Victoria’s head. I stop in my tracks, hands up in the air to indicate my surrender.
“Get back,” Edward snarls.
I take two steps backward, and my eyes fixated on Victoria, who’s sitting so still she might as well be a stone statue. I run a hand down my face, letting out a shaky breath.
“What the fuck do you want from me, Ed?”
“My birthright.”
“What the fuck does that even mean?” I ask with a frustrated sigh. “The sight? You’ve taken that, haven’t you? You have everything, Edward.”
His brows shot up inquisitively. “Do I?”
