Page 144 of Retribution

Nothing is working, I’m still on my knees, my hands haven’t moved and I’m not even sure if I’m still breathing.

“Miss me?” she snarls, and I literally feel like I’m about to vomit everywhere.

Oh fuck, yup.

It’s happening.

I keel over and empty the contents of my stomach onto the floor in front of me as she cackles in delight. My throat and eyes burn as I flick through everything in the past two months, trying to find something I missed, but I draw a blank.

“Cat got your tongue, Reed?” I heave every time she speaks, especially when it’s my name. This can’t be real, I don’t want this to be real.

I shakily bring my eyes back up to meet hers.

Allie’s.

I start to shake my head again as she smirks at me.

“Get up, you look pathetic.” She moves the gun, signaling for me to stand up.

I reach to my side for the gun.

“Don’t even think about it, I’ll have your brain matter sprayed across the wall behind you before I could even say BOO!” She bursts out laughing and I hear another high-pitched laugh and that’s when my eyes fixate on my sister.

I scowl as she stares back at me with a blank look. I can’t even tie anything together, I feel like my brain has been thrown into a washer and it’s been turned on for the last ten minutes.

“I’m very glad you came to visit, but I must admit, it will be short-lived.” I glance towards Indie and see that they’ve bound her to a chair by her hands and legs, a pair of handcuffs across her wrists and then it’s tied to the chair with a rope.

She has a gash on the side of her head that’s dripped blood down to her neck and it drips onto her thin t-shirt. Her eyes meet mine and the terror that emits from them turns my stomach, the desperate plea to be saved when I’m utterly fucking helpless.

“Are you not going to ask how I did it?” She licks her lips, her finger still hovered over the trigger.

I’m still completely frozen, cemented to the floor and my mouth unable to move.

“Fine, fine, I’ll tell you.” She waves the gun and grabs a chair, sitting on it the opposite way around.

“Once upon a time, a girl met a boy and they fell in love. She loved him so deeply, she gave up her life for him and she signed her life away to become a mother, to become a loyal wife, to give him the perfect life.”

“Oh no, sorry. That was Indie’s story.” She laughs at herself and Indie lets out a sob.

“Shut up you whiny bitch!” Allie points the gun at Indie and her body tenses up, her mouth sealing shut.

“Let’s begin again. We met in college, hooked up and I became pregnant with darling Willow. We got married and gave it a shot at being together, but it was never enough. You didn’t want me. You didn’t love me. But in reality, I didn’t love you either. My heart belonged to someone else.” She looks up and stares fondly at the other person in the room.

“Lottie?” I shout, the outburst proving that my brain is slowly playing catch-up.

I’m shaking my head in disbelief; I’m so beyond lost here.

“Anyway, I found your little file on your computer of Indie. The pictures, the P.I you hired, your infatuation with her.”

Indies head whips around to me, her eyes wide as her lip trembles.

I remain silent.

“So, I got in touch with your P.I, he revealed a hell of a lot of information to me, Reed. For the right price of course.”

I attempt to swallow the lump in my throat.

“Turns out, you were getting suspicious. You were getting too close, and I had to protect us, bide my time. I hired your own P.I to keep me updated on what you were up to and boy oh boy was it exciting!” She falls into laughter again and Indie looks at me tearfully, begging me to spare her.

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