Possessed Soul

Epilogue

Epilogue

It had been hours since Alicia had left Sage and Kaden, but thoughts of the pair only crossed her mind for a fraction of a second before thoughts of her brother consumed her. All she could think about was what she would find on the other side of this door. The door was painted a dove grey and set against a white wall, demonstrating the usual dullness of a hospital.

Part of her hoped that her brother was still asleep, so that she wouldn't have to see the way he looked at her; she didn't want to have to answer any of his questions. But she still yearned to see his eyes. Hers was the same colour as his, but his held a certain warmth which was missing from hers. He had always been the caring sibling, the one more sensitive to his surroundings and to others. He was the one who was more affected by their parents' death. He hadn't cried, but anyone who knew him would know that he was utterly broken, closing himself off to the rest of the world. The only person who was able to comfort him was Sabrina, but she had passed soon after their parents.

Alicia shook her head vigorously to get rid of that memory, but she knew that her efforts were all in vain. Memories from that night never left her; they continued to haunt her three years later. She couldn't forget drugging Sabrina and blowing up the car, nor could she forget the efforts she had gone through to fake her own death; and all because Sabrina had seen more than she should have. Alicia knew that she had only killed one person that night, but for Holden two had died..., the only two people he cared about.

Alicia gingerly opened the door to Holden's hospital room and was met by the sight of a girl asleep, with only her head on the bed and her body kneeling down in the ground. Her dark hair shadowed her face from view.

"Sabrina," Alicia said with a start. Her first thought was that she had just been thinking of Sabrina, and that was why she was seeing her figure. Alicia stepped closer to the girl, but at the same time the girl stirred and reached out to grasp the hand of the motionless form on the bed.

The girl's eyes popped open and Alicia scrambled backwards, trying to make herself as insignificant as a shadow. She stood against the window and soundlessly pulled the curtain in front of her, well aware that the wispy fabric wasn't enough to fully hide her body; but it didn't matter, the brunette didn't notice her. She only had eyes for the boy in the bed.

"Holden." She gently touched his wrist as if she was feeling for his pulse, not that she needed to since he was connected to a heart monitor. Alicia guessed that the action was more to calm herself, assure herself that blood was still pumping through his veins. "Please wake up. I miss you," she continued speaking to him in a voice that was an octave above a whisper.

"Sabrina," Holden muttered in his sleep, his lips puckering to be able to say her name perfectly.

The girl bolted upright and quickly dropped his hand, before dashing away a tear that had started making its way down her porcelain cheek.

"Do you only like me because I remind you of her?" Her voice was sad and monotonous, but there was no surprise in it, almost as if she had known this fact for a while, but it still hurt to have it confirmed.

Guilt stabbed at Alicia's throat, and she felt it choking her. She was unable to stop a raspy wheeze from escaping. The brunette's head snapped towards her. Her eyes met Alicia's for a split second before her pupils rolled back in her head and the whites of her eyes glared at Alicia in a ghostly way.

The girl's head was the first thing to fall, and her body followed, making an echoing thump as it hit the floor.

Alicia clutched at her gut as blood dribbled out of the girl's nose, staining the matted floor.

She has the disease as well, Alicia realised, before bending down to feel her heartbeat. There was one solid heartbeat before her heart stilled in her chest.

"It's unpredictable," Alicia spoke to herself. "More so than I thought."

End of Book 1.