I walk up to the house, thoughts dancing around in my head. I know this is a stupid thing to do, but I can't hide out in a car when it's freezing out. Mr. Venne is waiting for me when I walk in, holding a knife while Avalon is nowhere in sight. I swallow nervously, knowing this won't end well.
"Luna . . I'm glad you came to your senses," Mr. Venne maliciously tells me.
"Yeah, me too," I lie.
"I met a girl just like you a couple years back. She had your long black hair, but her eyes were grayer. Her eyes were also more protruding than yours, your eyes are more deep-set. Her teeth were perfectly straight while yours have a slight gap. It's not like any of those things matter because everything else is similar . . the pale skin, the smile, the curvy body, and most important . . how terrified you are." He smirks, standing up.
"She could of been my sister." I state, glancing over at the clock on the wall, nine minutes.
"I know . . you both look very similar when naked. The breast size is different, but everything else is perfect." He took the picture that Reagan had and he just confirmed it.
"She was fifteen!"
"Fifteen, eighteen . . what's the difference?" He shrugs and my stomach turns.
"How could you do that . . she . . she was too young!" I yell.
"It wasn't that hard. Her mom was abusive and all she wanted was someone to care." He pauses, thinking about her. "She was so naive, ya know? I could make her do anything, anything at all as long as I was kind to her." Before he can even finish, I'm throwing up.
"You're sick, just like every other older man that I've been alone with!" I shake my head, trying to get the thought of him doing horrible things to a young girl.
"But the difference is, between them and me . . is that I could easily win you over. My charm, my looks . . c'mon tell me I'm not attractive." He motions to himself.
"No! Helio is the one I love, he has been since the day I met him. You won't convince . . you can't convince me otherwise." I admit to Mr. Venne and his eyes darken.
"Astrid, don't say that. You love me, mommy doesn't love you. You know this." I see his face crumble and he starts mumbling nonsense.
"Mr. Venne?" Fear runs through me when he starts waving the knife around.
"Astrid, my little girl . . don't be scared. You can be with me now, mommy's gone." He coaxes to an imaginary girl as my jaw drops.
"Luna, c'mon." Helio appears behind me, grabbing my hand.
"He knew my sister. That girl was my sister." Tears well up in my eyes. "Avalon!" I run down the hallway, looking for the girl from before.
"Luna, what's wrong?" She appears in the last bedroom, worried.
"Astrid?" I ask cautiously and her eyes widen.
"How . . how . . do you know . ." She trails off, her eyes tearing up.
"Holy shit, this chick could be your sister," Helio states.
"Wait, is your name Luna?" The young woman asks.
"Yes."
"Oh my, my mommy talked about you all the time. You were her first daughter, but got taken away cause of her drug addiction." She tells me and tears start running down my cheeks.
"Astrid, shut the fuck up." Mr. Venne appears behind us.
"I'm sorry, daddy." The girl cowers in fear, already having learned his habits and what angers him.
"I can't believe you told them." He pushes past us and before we can even do anything, he stabs her in the throat.
I scream, almost collapsing to the floor. Astrid could of been my sister, the only family I have left and Mr. Venne just killed her. Helio grabs onto me and drags me out of the house while I continue yelling and sobbing. I'm put in his car, a blanket is wrapped around me a minute later. Sirens fill the air and I see two cop cars and an ambulance.
"Luna, darling . . it'll be okay. Just try and sleep. You're in shock." Helio soothingly tells me.
"My sister is dead."
"You don't — "
"I do know . . don't you fucking dare say that I don't. We looked similar . . and . . and Mr. Venne practically confirmed it." I start sniveling at the thought.
"Baby doll, I'm sorry. I just want you to be okay . . and . . and I guess I wasn't thinking."
"I know, I'm just pissed and upset. I'm not making any sense."
"Sleep. It's been a long, exhausting two days."
☼☾☼
"Wait, no. He's so stupid!" I hear Tess exclaim as a chainsaw starts.
"Run, ya damn idiot!" Helio states and I smile.
"You know they can't hear you right?" I jokingly ask, seeing that I'm in my room at the group home.
"Yes, they can . . they're just . uhm ignoring us." Helio replies with a goofy grin as Tess pauses the movie.
"Right, of course. Why didn't I think of that?"
"I dunno, but I'm going to get popcorn and some drinks." Tess leaves and Helio come to sit with me.
Helio just grins at me for a couple seconds, finally proud that I've admitted my feelings. I'm proud of myself, too. I never thought I could do that.
"You've been asleep for about fourteen hours. I thought I was gonna have to kiss you to wake you up." He grins again.
"Actually that's not as romantic as you think. Prince Phillip wasn't as sweet as Disney made him out to be." I respond and he groans.
"I was trying to be cute . . I really was." He lays back and pulls me down with him.
"I can't let that happen." I turn to face him.
"Really? I would have never guessed." He chuckles.
"What happened after I fell asleep?" I quietly ask after a moment of silence.
"Well . . Avalon, wait Astrid . . Astrid was barely alive, she was fighting really hard." He looks at me. "They couldn't save her, I'm sorry. The good news is that Mr. Venne was arrested."
"Was she my sister?"
"Yes, there was a birth certificate and a picture of you when you were a baby. Ava . . Astrid brought it with her after Mr. Venne killed her . . your guys' mother."
"Wow, this really fucking sucks."
"But it's all over, Luna. Nobody is after you now."
"Does this mean we can start our future together?"
"I think so."
