Fractured (7 page)

“Good job, Bash!” a familiar voice behind her called. “You’re doing great!”

Her body jolted reflexively at the sound, the joy of hearing it again bringing her on the verge of tears.

“Daddy!” she cried. She glanced behind her and saw her father a hundred yards back. He paused, as if noting that she was seeing him for the first time since she was small. He gave her a thumb’s up signal.

Her dream went to shit quickly.

A large, prickly-looking pine tree erupted from the snow, directly in her father’s path. She screamed at him, but nothing came out of her voice. He was going to collide into the tree, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

She turned her body perpendicular to her trajectory, meaning to intercept him. “DADDY!” she screamed. She wasn’t going to make it.

In slow motion, his body hit the tree with a sickening wet
thunk
. She screamed again. Blood spilled all over the place, an impossible amount of blood. She watched every millisecond of it in horror.

I’ve let him down,
her mind screamed.
He’s dead because of me!

Too late, she realized that her abrupt turn had thrown her off balance and she was on her own way to tumbling down the mountain. She was crying and screaming, the momentum was too much for her to compensate. Her body flew head over boots and she was falling. She couldn’t manage to right herself and stop her fall. It was just enough for her right arm to take the brunt of her impact with ground, snapping with a loud sound that reverberated on the mountain. She squeezed her eyes shut and screamed again, this time in pain.

She landed in the snow in a heap of agony, clutching her broken arm to her body. She knew even without seeing that it was bad. The bone had snapped in two, and sharp, jagged bone protruded from her jacket, breaking the skin.

This was the same broken arm she had all those years ago. She had tried blocking just how bad the pain was, but now it was coming back to her in spades. It was excruciating. She was bleeding out and there was nothing to do to stop it.

In a haze of pain, she opened her eyes. She was no longer on the ski slopes. Instead she was laying on a cold, flat, frigid wasteland of snow. There were no trees, there was nothing to differentiate ten square feet from another. Huge, heavy red snowflakes lazily fell, covering her in wet dust.

She was alone in this vast, empty wasteland.

“It...hurts,” she said, her voice cracking. “It hurts so much. Daddy...”

Some movement to her right, just out of her line of vision, caused her to turn her head slightly. Was someone there? Even if it was just a dream, she just wanted someone there to help.

“Please,” she whispered to the being to her right. “Please help.”

Three heartbeats passed before she heard movement again. She sobbed in relief, glad to get some kind of help in this dream.

Through her near-delirium, Lily’s face swam into view, looking down at her on the ground. Her face was extremely pale and her dark hair seemed unusually black in contrast to her white skin.

“Lily!” she cried. Her voice sounded really hoarse. She coughed to try and clear her throat. “D-Dad’s over there. He’s hurt. He’s really hurt, Lily.”

Lily just peered down at her.

Then she saw the one thing that really freaked her out. Lily’s eyes were all black. Pupils, irises, whites—everything was pitch black in color. She cocked her head as if listening to Bash’s pleas, then paused, considering it.

“Lily,” Bash whispered. “Please. Help.”

Slowly, as if to make sure that Bash saw the whole thing, Lily brought a finger to her lips. Her hands were excellently manicured with bright red shellac on each fingernail. The fingers and the hand itself were old and gnarly, with papery skin stretched over cerulean blue veins. It was the hand of an old woman.

There was something completely wrong about her. Something completely…
off.

“
Shhhhhhh
,” Lily said, her voice sounding like the crinkle of dried leaves. “
You’re a bit different now, aren’t you, my dear sister?
” Her old woman’s hand, with its blood red nail polish, extended itself down to Bash’s face. “
Aren’t you? It’s going to get very interesting for you...
”

Bash reared her head back and screamed.

*****

Silently, Lily watched her sister struggle in her sleep.

Moans escaped her twin’s throat as she thrashed about, unnoticed at first, but everyone in the SUV started to take note of Bash’s bad dream. Maria reached out and gently shook her. Bash inhaled sharply and smacked her hand aside.

“Bash,” Maria said, then repeated it, more forcefully. “Bash!”

The other girl woke up with a short scream, her entire body going rigid. She was breathing heavily, panting in fear. Her milky white eyes were frantic. For the briefest moment, Lily could have sworn they settled on her face. That was impossible. Her sister was blind. Had been since that time on the playground.

Lily felt a pang in her heart for her twin. She clenched her hands across her stomach, cramps suddenly settling in. She bit her lip to keep from crying out. She sniffled, trying to breathe through her nose. A familiar, thick liquid blocked her nasal passages. Blood. She was having another nose bleed.

What was happening?

“You okay, babe?” Seth asked from the driver’s seat. His eyes kept flashing in the rear view mirror. Concern was etched into his face, and Lily could tell that driving was all that was keeping him from leaping over the seats to help his girlfriend.

I wish someone felt that way about me
, she thought darkly. She frowned. It felt like at that moment, the voice in her head and her own thoughts melded into one. She wiped her nose and grimaced as another bout of cramps wracked her body.

Bash apparently didn’t hear his question. “We’re still on our way to Steamboat Springs?” she asked quietly, crossing her arms and folding her legs into a fetal position. She was acting very strange, like her dream had greatly disturbed her.

“Yeah,
chica
,” Maria soothed.

“Do you want me to stop?” Seth asked, his voice.

“No,” Bash breathlessly told him. “No, I’m okay.”

“We probably should stop anyway,” Darius offered. “It’s my turn to drive.”

They pulled over at a gas station and let everyone out to stretch their legs. Lily noticed that no one was interested in talking to her. Even Bash disappeared as soon as they stopped.

Lily. Liiii-iiilllyy.

Good. The voice was now its own and no longer combining with her own conscience.

She went to the bathroom to do her business and check if there were other reasons behind her cramps. It wasn’t her time of the month, and a check confirmed that. She still ached horribly, but at least it wasn’t
that
.

While she was washing her hands, she took a good, long look at herself in the mirror. She looked like absolute shit. Dark blue circles sagged like heavy weights underneath her eyes. She looked pallid, strung out, and old. Gingerly, she poked at a bag on her lower eyelids. Yep, it wasn’t just her imagination.

She frowned at her reflection.

“Disgusting,” she growled. She cupped her hands under the faucet and splashed some cold water on her face.

I’ve gotta stop drinking
, she thought to herself.
I’ve gotta stop doing drugs. I’ve gotta stop doing this to myself...

She breathed in deeply through her nose, and met her eyes again in the mirror. Only, this time she wasn’t looking at herself. An old woman stared back at her, with a delicate black veil covering her face. She wore a matronly dress buttoned to the very top of her neck, and her gray hair was bound up into a bun.

Her eyes and mouth were the most terrifying part. The eyes of the woman in the mirror were completely black; there was no distinction between pupils, irises, and the white of her eyes, only a depthless, soulless color that seemed to suck in the light around her face.

Her mouth was another story. Her full, square lips were a vivid color of red, almost too bright to be lipstick. She was smiling without showing her teeth. It was the smile of a madwoman.

Although a heartbeat passed, it was long enough for the corner of the reflection’s mouth to drip a few red drops of...

Blood.

The split second it took Lily to examine her reflection was all she needed. She shrieked and gripped her hands on either side of the basin.
What are you?
she mentally screamed into the mirror.

“Lily?” Bash’s voice asked behind her.

Lily whirled around to see her twin and Maria in the doorway of the bathroom. She turned back to the mirror. Thankfully, it was just her reflection now. Her normal reflection. The crazy, scary old woman was gone.

She hung her head and took a deep, shaky breath.

“What?” she croaked. She wasn’t going to tell them what she’d seen. She didn’t want them thinking she was crazy. Instead of breaking down and crying, she did what she always did. She buried her true feelings and covered them with her tough exterior. She crossed her arms and glared at them in the mirror.

“You yelled,” Bash said breathlessly. “You...yelled like...something was wrong.”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Lily told her. She swallowed, trying to act like she hadn’t just seen the face of death. Or a vision of something terrible. Whatever she saw though, it was wrong. “I just saw a mouse.”

“A mouse,” Bash repeated. Based on her tone, she didn’t believe her.

Maria, however, totally bought Lily’s story. “I
hate
mice,” she exclaimed. “These bathrooms are
filthy
.”

“Yeah,” Lily dryly agreed.

Bash lingered for a few moments more, long enough to make it uncomfortable. Lily’s heartbeat was in her ears as she watched her sister.

Go away
, Lily was silently telling her, nearly on the verge of hysteria.
Go away!

Go away
, the voice in her head agreed. Her blood chilled again at that.

“Are you okay?” Bash asked, her voice strained.

“Fine,” Lily replied, her answer bubbling up unbidden. She felt her heart pulsing. She was scared, but she wasn’t crazy. She couldn’t tell Bash that she seen someone else in the mirror.

Her sister turned and left. Lily looked in the mirror again, feeling an ominous shadow pass over her soul. She felt cold, tired, and alone.

No, not quite alone
, the voice in her head assured her.

She shuddered and watched her reflection. It technically
was
her. Then again, it wasn’t. She now looked like the exact same person. Only...

Her reflection winked at her, and the voice in her head spoke again.

You’re giving me life, Lily. Our dreams are about to come true.

Lily wondered which were her dreams and which were the dreams of the voice in her head.

CHAPTER FOUR

Bash felt the motion of the car slow to a stop.

“We’re here,” Seth announced from the driver’s seat. Maria whooped excitedly and everyone in the SUV emptied out.

Bash hit the button on her wristwatch and it announced the time: 10:17pm. Wow, they had arrived much later than expected. That was going to be hard tomorrow when they were hitting the slopes. Still, she couldn’t help be feel the excitement flutter deep inside her.

Strong hands slung her coat around her shoulders. “Hey,” Seth murmured in her ear.

“This is wonderful,” she told him excitedly. She inhaled deeply, feeling the crisp mountain air rejuvenate her soul. There was no other way to put it. She felt absolutely refreshed, reinvigorated, and ready to take on the world. This was exactly what they both needed.

It was going to be good for Lily as well.

*****

Seth was having the time of his life.

The Grand Trails Lodge was nestled high up in the mountains. Ironically, Lily had been the one who had found the enchanting place on a hotel deals site. It was a bit on the expensive side for their vacation, but Bash had relented, trying to get Lily to join their group. Seth had grumbled, however, when they got out of the Suburban and he looked at the picturesque mountains—really looked at them for the first time—he knew that it was a great choice.

It was absolutely breathtaking. The Lodge sat right at the base of the ski slopes, with a quaint little town blossoming out from it. It was so Norman Rockwell-esque perfect, it looked like they could have stepped right back into the 1950s. This was exactly how he wanted to spend his vacation with Bash.

He hugged her to him, breathing in the scent of her and the mountains.

“I love you.”

He wanted to tell her how special this would be for both of them.