Page 2 of Deviant Illusions

The girl, Delilah, smiles bigger and doesn’t say my name is wrong, so I walk into the trees with her. Asher won’t be able to hurt her now. She’s going to be the first person on my list, and I don’t have to think about her being his friend.

That means I’m allowed to talk to her, so I copy her joke.

“Knock. Knock.”

“Who’s there?” she asks, and turns with a big smile on her face.

“Delilah.”

“Delilah who?” she says, giggling again.

“Delilah who’s pretty,” I whisper.

She doesn’t go red like Mommy does when Daddy calls her pretty or beautiful. She tilts her head to the side and little lines go across her nose as she asks, “Are you a prince?”

I shake my head.

“Oh. My daddy said I have to stay clean until I get the prince because I’m a princess. Do you know any games where I can stay clean?”

I nod and drop down to my knees to clean the stump so she doesn’t get her clothes dirty. I don’t know who her prince is, but I don’t want her to have one. If I make sure she’s clean, then I can be it. When there’s no mud on the stump, I hold her hand and pull her down to sit in front of me.

She has pink stuff stuck to her socks and I try to clean it for her, but she stamps her feet. “No, they’re my special frills.”

I nod and quickly tell her about the game I always play to make her happy again.

“You don’t get dirty playing at all because it’s in your head. So, you can play any time and you can be anyone.”

My words come out faster, and she smiles again. I like Delilah’s smiles. She’s pretty and I know why she’s a princess. All princesses are pretty.

She strokes her dress over her knees and the lines come back in her nose as she says, “I don’t like this game. Nothing’s happening.”

“Okay, I’ll go in your head and then we’ll play?”

She nods, and I squeeze my eyes shut as I lean closer to her so she can play too.

1

DELILAH

Pain erupts through my shoulder as that motherfucking cunt takes a sharp bend and I slam into the harsh metal side of the trunk. I don’t have time to be confused after waking up to the emissions wafting through the trim and Asher’s—no, Kane’s—fucking voice full of joy as he talks to someone. I can’t hear anyone responding to him, just the baritone of his voice vibrating through the seating pads.

He made me think he was dead. He pretended to be his brother. The warped little freak became two people, now I’m going to make him wish he did burn to death.

Twisting my arms that are tied behind my back, I try to get them free. Ruby had a weird fascination with preparing us for being kidnapped. She locked me in Dad’s Rolls and timed how long it took me to get out once. I never thought that would ever be useful, but if I see my sister again, I’m going to kiss her for her weird hobby.

The brakes screech, sending me rolling into the back of the seats as we come to an abrupt stop. My ankles are tied together, and the rough carpet scrapes down the length of my body from the harsh movement. Kane’s voice isn’t the gentle one that heused while talking to me for hours as we watched the stars. It’s deeper, and I hate the happiness in it. I fucking detest him. He’s exactly like Asher, who needed to play games with people.

Without the sounds of the road muting him, I can clearly hear him say, “I’m good, man. She’s a lying, cheating bitch, so good riddance to her.”

Who is he talking about?

And more importantly, why does the thought of it being about someone who isn’t me raise my anger?

I don’t give a fuck what he does. Whoever he’s talking to isn’t loud enough for me to hear. The muffled speech stops, and a car door opens. I can’t fight him tied up, so I close my eyes and force my body to go limp. His footsteps move around the car.

Then a click before the trunk opens.

Water drips onto my bare skin.

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