Andreas’s head jerks up unbidden. I stare at the guardian through his eyes, the others doing the same.
There are no thoughts or emotions in the memory, only what I can interpret from the sensory details, but I think they all must have noticed that neither I—as Riva—nor Griffin were in the room. They must have been wondering what happened to us.
The guardian swipes a tablet off a desk at the side of the room and stalks back toward us. “We’re all built to look out for ourselves. You’re lucky we take as good care of you here as we do. Remember this the next time you have the urge to start scheming.”
He spins the tablet toward us with a video playing on the screen. Surveillance footage, dark and a little grainy because of that darkness.
It’s a view of the empty front yard outside the facility, lit only by the hazy glow of a few security lamps. A moment later, two figures dash into view.
Me—the actual me—and Griffin. I’m distantly aware of my real heart thumping faster in horrified anticipation of what I know is going to come.
I didn’t realize—I don’t really want to watch him die all over again.
But I can’t close my eyes, because they’re Andreas’s eyes, and he took in every second of this.
The figures on the screen scan the area. The one that’s a younger me pauses and then steps toward Griffin, pulling him into a kiss.
Andreas flinches.
Just as the real me lets Griffin go, the shot comes, blasting into his body. His frame jerks, his legs crumpling.
But that’s not even the most horrifying thing.
The me on the screen doesn’t scream out and struggle against an onslaught of attackers the way I know I did. She looks calmly down at Griffin’s body and then raises her head to nod to someone outside the footage.
A small squad of guardians appears. One of them pats my shoulder in a way that looks almost friendly.
They march me over to a truck and let me hop inside. I smile at them from the window before the truck drives away.
I fuckingsmile.
Back where Andreas is, Jacob thrashes against his handcuffs, pushing himself toward the guardian. “Where is he? Where’s my brother? What did you do to him?”
The guardian flicks off the tablet and gives Jacob a nonchalant look. “I’m afraid your brother didn’t survive. An important reminder of the potential consequences when you step out of line.”
“You fucking bastard!” Jacob snarls—and the memory falls away.
I’m sitting in my own body again, surrounded by cool fresh air and rustling grass. I gulp in a breath, my eyes burning all over again.
“It wasn’t true,” I burst out. “That isn’t how it happened. I never—they attacked me too. I tried to fight them—I tried to get to Griffin—”
“I know,” Andreas says softly. “I believe you. They must have doctored the video to splice in footage they faked.”
I stare at him. “But you did believe it. You believed it this whole time.”
Dominic speaks up, quiet and a little ragged. “When they showed us the footage, we were already in shock. And then seeing that Griffin had died… It messed with our heads, made it hard to know what to believe. And you never did come back.”
I thump my hand against the ground. “I did. I did as soon as I fucking could.”
“You did,” Jacob agrees. “And we made a total mess of that too. Me more than anyone.” His jaw works as he lowers his gaze.
And maybe that does make sense, considering he was the one the most messed up. It was his brother who died—his twin.
But just looking at him makes something in me cringe away with the memory of all the harsh words and vicious commands he’s hurled at me since I broke them out.
I don’t know what to do with any of this. I don’t know where to go. Here I am in nothing but a ragged, bloody dress that doesn’t even fit right, not even sure what state I’m in, no money, no food…
With a monster lurking inside me, just waiting until someone makes me angry enough.