"I warned you, Kristina," he said, leaning closer to me, his hand scorching my wrist, his silver eyes darkening to a stormy grey. "I told you what would happen if you defied me."
Fire was racing up and down my arm. The rose necklace burned at my thr...
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~ Kriss Darcy ~
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Dead. Dead. Dead.
The word echoed through my head so much, I could barely hear what Mother was saying.
Dead. Dead. Dead.
A ringing noise filled my ears. I struggled to make out Mother's words. To make out Jase's words.
"Alie... found in the pond... dead for a day at most... pulled body out... rope burn around the neck..."
As soon as I barely heard those words uttered, Jase's hand lunged for mine, tightening instantly, and my hearing cleared.
"Rope burns?" I blinked. "Rope burns? But you said she was in the pond."
"She was found in the pond," Mother's voice was gentle, but I hardly noticed the tone of her voice. She could be screaming profanities at me, and I couldn't care less. "My guess is her body was dumped."
Dumped.
Like she was nothing more than a piece of trash.
But she's dead.
She has no use for a body anymore. It's a useless, empty shell now. There's no life inside it.
But still... why the pond? Did she drown? But the rope burns...
Just like Father...
Images of him flooded into my mind. Dead. A stretcher. Mother's tears. My cold, numb shock. The sheet falling away from him for just a moment, so I could get one last glimpse of him. Wishing I didn't get that last look - his skin was pale, ashen, his body lacking the spark of life. A thick, angry red rash encircling his neck. I had felt empty, staring at him. As though I had lost a major piece of myself.
And I had. I had lost the thing I loved the most. Not the theater, or singing, or performing. Not Mother's affection - somewhere, deep down, I knew she still had a mother's undying, fierce love for her child. It's just buried inside her, after years of me keeping her at arm's length, of her distancing herself from me. Whether it was for her benefit or my benefit... that answer still remains unclear.
