Helanie:
Sothing about this guy claiming to be my stepbrother just didn’t sit right with . I kept glancing over at my mother and then at my father while I sat in the passenger seat. My new, mysterious stepbrother sat in the backseat.
We were driving back ho in our own car, and my mother had insisted that I sit up front with my father.
"Why did you call yourself her stepbrother?" I heard my mother ask the guy nad Kaye, which is how he had introduced himself to us.
"I don’t know. Did I?" he responded.
"Kaye! You must have forgotten. You’re her real brother. Your father and I gave you away because we didn’t have the ans to take care of a child when you were born. You’ve been living with my sister, but you always visit us," my mother explained. The mont she said that, a mory of him visiting us resurfaced.
However, I still felt a strange, heavy unease with him being in the car. I steadily turned my neck to pass a quick glance and instead stared at my mother as she quickly moved in front of him. Her hair got in the way.
Two beautiful purple roses rocking her hairstyle.
Wait! She had one rose earlier, where did the second one co from? Did she pick it up from the venue? My mom was very particular about the rose in her hair. But now she has two.
"Oh right. I rember now. Wait! How did I forget?" Kaye suddenly straightened up, startling with how tall he was.
"Or were you just playing a prank on us?" my father asked, and that’s when the three of them started laughing. I thought maybe I should laugh too.
So, I did.
But I had missed the funny part. I was trying hard to recall more mories of him, but nothing concrete ca to mind—nothing that I could picture clearly when I closed my eyes.
When we arrived ho, my mother made sure to walk to my bedroom. "Listen, don’t leave your room until morning. It’s bad luck for a bride to talk to anyone before the wedding. Now, go to bed so we can wake up early in the morning," she said, stroking my hair lovingly before closing my bedroom door.
I heard a click from outside and realized she was serious about these customs. I didn’t mind; I felt so happy being cared for like this.
After taking off my dress and slipping into a white nightgown, I stood in front of the mirror, staring at my reflection.
And just like before, I felt strangely unfamiliar to myself.
Was I just nervous because of the wedding? My dad had ntioned that my mom felt the sa way when she was getting married to him.
Shaking off the thoughts, I turned to leave my bedroom but froze when I saw soone sitting on my bed, the window to my room wide open.
I swear, if I hadn’t felt so secure and content in my life, I would’ve scread at the top of my lungs. But I didn’t.
However, I stord over to the bed to make sure I wasn’t seeing things incorrectly. My brother Kaye was sitting there, head tilted, holding a book I had been reading.
"The Perfect Life of Helanie? Seriously, who wrote a book about you?" His voice dripped with jealousy.
Yes, that’s exactly what it was—he was envious of my perfect life and how everyone adored .
"Why are you even here? And don’t touch my stuff with your hands!" I snapped, snatching the book out of his grip and placing it back on the nightstand, glaring at him.
"That’s it?" he asked, and I frowned at him.
"That’s your dream? People aim for greatness, and all you want is to be loved? So the others were right about you. You want to be treated like a princess, to have everything revolve around you." I had no idea what he was talking about. What others? Was he referring to my brother Sullivan?
"You and Sullivan are jealous of because everyone cares about —" As I started to rant, he suddenly stood up and grabbed my wrist, twisting my arms behind my back and shoving against the wall.
He did it so effortlessly and shalessly that I forgot to scream. But as the shock settled, I realized how close his face was to mine.
"What the hell are you doing? I’m going to scream," I hissed, warning him.
"Do it, and I’ll silence you," he hissed back, his face inching even closer.
"You’ll need to let go of my hands to do that," I muttered, trying to lean away from him, attempting to avoid the awkward proximity.
"There are other ways I can silence you," his eyes darted to my lips before he quickly looked up. For a mont, I swear he even surprised himself because he gulped and hurriedly added, "I’m not here to argue with you."
I was still shocked by his comnt.
"You’re here to make your sister uncomfortable? How could you even joke about sothing so disgusting?" I snapped, justifiably furious.
How dare he touch like that? It was completely inappropriate.
"We’re not siblings," he muttered under his breath.
"What the hell are you talking about? Why are you trying to convince that we’re not related?" A shiver ran up my spine as he narrowed his eyes at and groaned.
"It’s not like that. I’m here to bring you back to the real world. You’re trapped in so ridiculous fantasy that’s going to consu you," he said, his tone growing more intense.
I couldn’t let him keep ranting.
"Fantasy? This is my world! What are you even talking about? Did you co here to ruin my wedding or sothing?" I grimaced as he rolled his eyes, leaning so close that we were practically breathing the sa air.
"Helanie! You sniffed that stupid purple rose and ended up here. Did you forget? You’ve been working for my brother Maximus, and I caught you." The mont he said that na, a shudder went through my body.
It was a new na, but sothing about it deeply unsettled . Kaye noticed my reaction and nodded aggressively.
"That’s it. I have to say things from the real world to break you free from this dream," he said, a wide grin spreading across his face as he started spouting the most outrageous things.
"Rember? You went to live with your mother, and she kicked you out. You had nowhere to go. You said you left your father too. You wanted to join the academy, but you didn’t have any money—" He made close my eyes, and what I felt on my cheek next stunned .
Tears.
I hadn’t cried out of sadness in years.
"Helanie! Wake up before that man consus you like he has consud all his other victims," Kaye shook , forcing to open my eyes.
And that’s when I gave him a small nod.
"Good. Now, tell , what do you rember?" He finally let go of my hands and stepped back, waiting for to agree with him.
But instead, I calmly and steadily said, "That I need to call for help."
Before he could understand what I ant, I started screaming at the top of my lungs, "HELP! HE’S HURTING !"
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