Page 56 of The Masks She Wore

?All I could do was wait and catalog all of the questions I had to ask whoever it was Mr. Abernath was sending over. Hopefully not one of the cops I was already having issues with, which was most of them, and I swear to God if he sends the captain my way, I would make a scene.

?I wouldn’t, but I would think about it the entire time he sat on my couch.

~~~

Hours later and I realized in the middle of cleaning that I hadn’t eaten a thing today. I needed to order something, but I had no idea when this person would arrive. My stomach was lecturing me about forgetting and I was inclined to apologize. I was feeling lightheaded and dizzy and not in the best state of mind to be talking to anyone.

?Just as the thought of ordering something drifted across my thoughts, my door opened, causing my heart to skip a beat.

?My head whipped up from where I was sitting in front of the bookcase, my panic growing, half expecting to see the masked man walking in, only to find Max.

?He shut the door behind him, looking around the house for me, I assumed.

?I felt the panic slam into me. “What the fuck, Max?” I breathed, shoving myself to a stand. “You have a key?” My head spun, my stomach twisting. Fuck, I should have eaten. How had he gotten a key? I never gave him a goddamn key!

?His eyes shifted to mine, cold and irritated. “You never answer your phone, what else was I supposed to do?”

?My eyes widened in disbelief. “Take the hint like a normalfucking person!” I hissed. Part of me had hoped the masked man had taken care of this the night of the masquerade, but it was an irrational thought. He wasn’t some white knight here to fix my problems, he showed up when he wanted to fuck me into a short coma and then he left, that was all.

?That was everything.

?But God, I had hoped. I hadprayedthat he had taken care of Max. He seemed like a psychotic person, killing Max felt like the obvious next step. But of course, it was just my active imagination. My high expectations.

?Now what? He had a key. What was I supposed to do now? Move?

?That forest witch idea was looking pretty damn good right now.

?“We’re siblings,” he replied, making his way over to my fridge. “I deserve to get to know my sister and not to be treated like shit when I do.”

?I shuddered at the word, feeling the bile rise in my throat. I was going to throw up. “I don’t want to get to know you,” I said carefully. “I made that clear the other night.” And at this point, I wish I could have gone back in time and slapped the girl at the funeral who hugged him and was grateful that he showed up in her life because this was becoming absolutely terrifying.

?He froze with the fridge door open, his shoulders tightening at my words.

?I watched him carefully, my heart racing. Why was I moreterrified of Max then of the masked man? It wasn’t rational.

?Because it wasn’t ominous with the man, I decided. I mean, it was, but not in an innately evil way. Max was…the air around him was cold. Everything about him caused my stomach to twist and turn, he caused my skin to crawl and the masked man? I felt safe around him. I don’t know what that said about me, probably that I should go see a therapist, but it was true. I felt safer with him than I did on my own.

?Maybe I was just that fucked up, I didn’t know, but something was missing in his eyes that was present in the masked man’s and it scared the shit out of me.

?Max slammed the fridge shut and turned on me, a flash of white on his arm catching my eye. “I’m your brother,” he bit.

?I nodded, taking a step back out of instinct, despite the fact that the room separated us. He had a cast. His arm was broken. “You have a paper stating as such, but I don’t know you. We are strangers, and all you’ve done since coming into my life is try and control everything I do. That is not how siblings act, not good ones, anyway.”

?I remembered him clutching it the night of the party. Had the man done that? Had he broken in his arm in some sort of warning?

?Max started making his way towards me, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. “How would you know that, Rae? You’re alone. You have always beenalone.and you will alwaysbealone. It doesn’t matter how many slut-ish pictures you throw out on the internet forall to see, to jerk off too, it doesn’t matter that you crave the attention of lesser men. No matter how hard you try, and you do try,” he said, looking me over, “you willneverbe anything other than alone.”

?I swallowed, the fear trickling across my skin as my eyes filled and my thighs clenched. I could feel the wetness between them growing. Fuck, sometimes I truly hated my body, I really did. I didn’t want that right now. Not with him. Never with him. “I have friends,” I said, my mouth dry. “You are the one who seems so obsessed with me.”

?“That’s because I’m making an effort to get to know you,” he stated coldly. “I’m the only one making any effort.”

?“So, you think that gives you the right to tell me where I can go?” I asked breathlessly. “You made akeyto my apartment. You’re not trying to get to know your sister, you’re…”

?He slowed to a stop in front of me, my words dying at the look in his eyes. “I’m what, Rae?” he asked, enunciating every word.

?I swallowed, my hands tightening around the rag I had been using. “You’re obsessed with me—”

?His hand whipped out, wrapping tightly around my throat so fast, I was unable to stop the whimper that shuddered out. He jerked me forward, my hands wrapping around his wrist, tears springing to my eyes. “I thought girls liked it when men showed this kind of initiative.”

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