64 Hours

36 h0urs

~the thirty-sixth hour~

If there were perfect words to describe the way I felt, it would be betrayed. 

Confused. 

Destroyed. 

Fragile. 

Marked. 

I went over every text message on Aria's black Iphone, and the conversation that 'Unknown' had been texting me was identical to the one on her phone. 

I don't understand. Logically, Aria can't be Unknown. I still remember the first day I got the texts. We were all together in one room,  and I saw my sister sleeping on my ragged couch with my own eyes. I knew my sister. She would never threaten her own daughter's life. 

But then there was the tattoo machine. As much as I didn't like to jump to conclusions, if there was a slight chance that Aria was Unknown, the machine would be evidence that she forgot to pack it away after 'marking' my back, which was still throbbing with pain. 

Yet I don't believe that my sister would do such thing. 

There was this strange grimness in my thoughts telling me elsewise. Telling me that yes, there was a chance. Maybe I didn't know her as much as I thought I did. 

Without realizing it, I was holding my gun. It felt like a bomb in between my two palms. I held it so the barrel was facing the space in between my feet while I sat down, my fingers twitching with the safety. It wasn't coldness that had driven me to take out the Beretta M9, it was the trepidation that Unknown cast onto me two days ago. 

My brain keeps on refusing the facts but I knew deep down there were possibilities that I didn't quite like. There were a few physical things my sister didn't qualify to be Unknown. For starters, she was a fully grown woman with a child. She had a job all day till sunset and didn't rest until she returned at 7. Aria was usually clogged up with a book when she got home and not on her phone. She loved spending time with her daughter and protected her against the harsh environments of the world. Aria was innocent. But she was human. 

And there are human acts that you can't unsee. 

I heard the sound of high heels beating against the floor from the outside of my door. I wasn't certain it was Aria until I heard Bella's voice echo against the hallway walls. They were coming. 

I wasn't ready, and I didn't come to a resolution.

"Adam!" It was Bella who knocked. More knocking, and I just sat there, aghast. "Open up!" It was Aria this time, sounding puffed. 

I was too frozen to open the door. 

"Oh for crissakes Adam." I heard Aria's bag drop to the floor as she probably fumbled for her keys. "He's probably sleeping." 

I slowly got up with the gun in my hands. My hands shook. Aria could be psychotic. The vibe of the messages on her phone and the machine in my room was getting to me. I never thought it would, but it was. 

Unknown terrified the hell out of me. And if there was a one percent chance that Aria was Unknown, I wouldn't risk it. 

I heard the key twist into place from the other side of the door, and I stood adjacent to it, trembling slightly. 

As soon as the door opened I stepped in front of it. 

"There you are, why didn't you-" 

Aria stopped talking and halted abruptly as soon as she saw me and the gun. Her eyes widened, and Bella knocked into her. She stood beside her mother to get a better view of the blockage, then gripped Aria's arm when she saw me. 

"Get back Aria," I warned, slowly holding up the gun to her chest. 

"Adam?" Bella sobbed, her face placid. She looked up at Aria, who's mouth was reaching her knees. 

"What the hell, Adam?" Aria whispered, blinking. But this whole phone part was territory I was not familiar with. 

"I said step back!" I nearly screamed, jabbing her with the gun. "Get behind me, Bella." 

"Adam, stop!" My niece shrieked, trying to push the gun away from my hands, "why do you have a gun?" 

"Be quiet, Bella. I don't think you know your mother as much as you think you do." I hissed coldly, my eyes not leaving my sister.

Aria stared at me for a couple more seconds, then took a tentative step backwards, knees wobbling. 

It was silent, but the sound of Bella's crying, which came out in gulps. I was filled with dark-lust that I didn't have an ounce of sympathy towards her. It's like this new knowledge clouded over the vision of old Adam and had took the essence of this new hatred. 

"Why is there a tattoo machine in my living room?" I asked quietly, trying to remain calm. Otherwise my finger would fly on the trigger and I wouldn't have been the one controlling the gun. 

Aria narrowed her eyebrows nonchalantly. "What tattoo machine?" 

"Don't lie to me!" I said more loudly, pointing the gun a little higher.

"I swear to God that I have no idea what you're talking about. Put the gun down right now or I'll call the police." Aria threatened, voice stronger than I expected, which only added to my suspiciousness. 

"Explain this!" I backed away slowly, bumping into my couch, where I had dropped her phone. Then I grabbed it with one hand, the other still with the gun pointed at Aria, then unlocked it to be sent to the messaging app. I tapped on the 'Browning' conversation and handed her the phone. 

Aria's eyes flickered to the screen, and I could see her reading each message, scrolling with her fingers. Bella was glancing at us with worried pupils, the tears dry on her cheeks. 

After what seemed like forever Aria shook her head. "I didn't send those." 

"It's on your phone." I shot back automatically, but my voice was getting weaker. My sister was always a convincing character, even when she was young. I remember when I was ten and she was thirteen, we were fighting over a broken vase which Aria broke by accident. As soon as my mother got home Aria had used her solemn eyes and big convincing mouth to blame it all on me successfully. And in the end, I got the punishment. 

She gave me a look, snapping me back to the present. "You never told me you were going through this!"

"You sent those messages!"

"Adam, I would never threaten my own daughter's life." Her voice cracked in the middle, leaving me in a moments hesitation.

That was the part I didn't understand.

"Please put the gun down," she was now begging. "Don't you see? This person is framing me." 

"Or you're trying to save your skin." I said sharply, and my sister flinched, like I hit her. 

 "You know me. I would never do this." 

I didn't know what to believe anymore and I felt like I was being torn in two. There was no reasonable explanation for my sister to do this. I gave her a roof over head, cared for Bella and comforted her when she got divorced. 

"Put the gun down. We'll talk about this." Aria pleaded, taking hold of Bella's hand. "What will people think if you actually...shot me?" 

"I don't know what to believe." I muttered, ignoring her last statement. "What if I don't know you? What if I lost track of who you are?" I said, my shoulders sagging. 

"Adam," My sister took a daring step closer, and even put her hand on my wounded shoulder. "It looks like you lost track of yourself." 

~Hopefully that doesn't sound too cliché. What do you guys think? Do you trust Aria or not :P? ~