Page 79 of Twice as Twisted

Duke Dolce

As I hurry back to the car, I wonder if I just made a huge mistake, if I should have gone back with Baron. But I couldn’t have saved Jane. She doesn’t matter now anyway. She never mattered. We came for Mabel. Jane was just a distraction, a temporary inconvenience. She never factored into the decision to come and get Mabel. I didn’t even know she existed.

Except that’s not exactly true.

Because she is the sister Olive talked about.

Maybe I should have fought harder for her, saved her for the little girl back home.

She’ll never know, my demon whispers.

I wish that thought didn’t comfort me, but it does. He’s right. Olive will never know I met her sister, that I didn’t save her, didn’t send her home. To her, I’ll always be a hero.

Like Batman.

Except I’m not Batman. I’m the Joker, and like Jane said, the Joker and Harley Quinn belong together. What did she say? That they would kill Batman if they had a chance. That if they lived with him, it would be an act, and they’d be tricking him into thinking they were reformed before they betrayed him.

That’s crazy though.

I shake the thought away, but when I get to the cars, I check every seat and the trunk to make sure Mabel isn’t hiding there to ambush me. I can’t shake the feeling that she and Baron are the ones plotting, that they have something goingon that doesn’t include me. What else did they talk about in the basement? Why did they pick me to kill Jane, knowing I wouldn’t be able? Did they just do it to make me look weak, so they’ll have an excuse to cut me out?

I decide to play along for now. Maybe I am Batman, but I won’t let them lure me into a false sense of security. They always had something together that I couldn’t be a part of. She always wanted Baron. I’m only here because he let me tag along, just like when we were kids, and when we were older, as a wingman, a sidekick. Sure, I got to participate, but only because he allowed it. If Baron wanted Mabel for himself, she’d be all too happy to oblige him.

Baron promised he would never leave me again, though, and he never lies to me.

As far as you know, my demon whispers.

I would know. He doesn’t lie to me.

That doesn’t mean he can’t.

My mind is still churning when I pull into the driveway and park in front of our rental. I sit for a minute, my heartbeat erratic. I should be excited to have a few moments alone with Mabel again, but I can’t even get hard thinking about fucking her. Instead, I find myself wishing I hadn’t given that gun to Jane.

What if I have it all wrong? What if Baron’s including me because he’s my twin and he loves me and he wants me with him? What if he was giving me a chance to prove myself because he hoped I’d succeed, and Mabel would be proud of me? What if Jane is more deadly than I gave her credit for, and she was just manipulating me so she’d have a chance for revenge?

I reluctantly drag myself out of the car. It’s too late now. He will have caught up with her, and whatever happened, it’s too late. He said if something happened, I’d have to live with that guilt, but I know better. I won’t live without Baron. I can’t. Noteven if I didn’t cause his death. If he died, I would simply cease to exist. It wouldn’t even be suicide, not really. I’d just die.

But as long as he might be alive, I need to do what he asked. I failed with Jane, but I can still check on Mabel like he asked. I’m not surprised that he left her alone so soon. Baron likes tests, and as much as killing Jane was mine, being alone is Mabel’s. He has to know if he can trust her, if she’ll keep her word.

As I walk up the short steps to the front door, I wish I had the gun for another reason. Jane may or may not be lethal, but if Mabel is really the Black Widow Killer, then she definitely is. What did she go down in the basement to tell Jane, anyway?

“Honey, I’m home,” I call, throwing open the door and stepping inside, letting the screen door bang shut behind me. Seeley Boots leaps off the table and disappears down the hall. The metallic clang of the door echoes through the place, and I’m sure it’s empty besides the cat, that I’m alone here. Still, I don’t want to jump to conclusions and look like an ass after I’ve already fucked up tonight, so I comb through the house, searching and calling for her. At last, I’m satisfied that my first instinct was right. She’s gone.

I take a beer from the fridge and stand at the counter, leaning against it while I tip my head back and let the cold liquid gurgle down my open throat until the bottle is empty. Then I set it in the sink, wipe my mouth on the back of my hand, and let out a belch to release the carbonation. It echoes through the empty house, taunting me with my own aloneness.

Whenever I did that before, my sister would say I was sick, and my brothers would laugh and high-five me. If they weren’t around, like last semester, my friends would do it instead, and girls would squeal it was gross, but they didn’t really think so. Even Olive was always impressed. She said I sounded like a dinosaur, so I’d save them up for her as long asI could, sometimes chugging two or three beers until the bubble of air in my stomach made me feel sick before I’d let it out. She’d literally fall over and roll on the floor with laughter. It’s no fun when no one’s around to hear it.

Where is Mabel?

If I find her, maybe Baron won’t think I’m such a fuck up, and Mabel will know I care as much as he does. Or, I could just chill here, drink a few beers, and wait for Baron to get back and look up Mabel’s location on his tracker.

It’s shit like that, my demon whispers.Why doesn’t he share her location with you?

I try to push the thought away, but it won’t leave me alone. Once my demon is awake, he’s not going away until I do something to appease him, feed him with the chaos that nourishes his soul.

I grab the keys and head back out. I don’t know enough about Mabel. While Baron was busy looking into her coworker and her aunt and probably her boss and the CEO of the ice cream shop, I was having beers on the back deck with Jane. But I know she doesn’t have friends—she always said she didn’t understand other girls. Which means she’s either at work, or at her aunt’s house. On the off chance that she’s learned to understand other humans, I’d place my bet on her coworker being her new friend, and though I don’t remember her coworker’s name, I’m sure her aunt would be happy to share that and her address with me. I’m a very convincing person, after all.

While I drive, I calculate where Baron might be. By the time I walked back to the car and drove home, he’d probably found Jane. By the time I get to her aunt’s, he might be done with her. It depends, though. Maybe he’ll want to chase her through the woods for a while, play with her a little, scare her for his own amusement. That would give me an extra thirty minutes or so to find Mabel.

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