Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 148949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 496(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 496(@300wpm)
Helpless.
Horrified.
Devastated.
The world had transformed into a desolate wasteland, stretching out in all directions. Devoid of life. Empty, yet suffocating in despair.
Could I ever fix this? Or would I keep allowing her—me—to ruin my life, Kaz’s life, Paolo’s and even Emilio’s?
Trembling, I dragged myself closer to the mirror. “Things were fine. Emilio was born, and ended up being perfectly healthy. Kaz and I found a rhythm that held peace.”
My palms grew sweaty. Somehow, my skin felt hot and cold at the same time.
Was that her rising inside of me?
Or was it all my imagination?
“Why fuck it all up for us?” I leaned my head to the side. “Did it make you nervous to be so happy?”
Like a mad woman, I stood in front of the mirror, staring at the reflection gazing back at me. In my head, I felt trapped in a maze with no way out.
“Are you there?” Tears streamed down my face. My chest heaved with the sobs that wracked my body.
The woman in the mirror appeared lost in an abyss of sorrow.
I couldn’t even recognize myself.
Still, I placed my hands on the sink, leaned forward, and got even closer to the mirror.
The details of my reflection became clearer and more defined.
I could see it all—the lines and contours that made up my features, the different flecks of brown in my eyes, the many hairs forming my lashes, the curve of my lips, the shape of my eyebrows.
“Are you fucking there?” I inched closer. My reflection began to loom before me. It became this unknown entity, sliding towards me like a predator stalking its prey.
My nose nearly touched the mirror.
Barely two inches ran between the glass and me.
“Lunita?”
My breath fogged up the mirror’s surface, creating a hazy mist that obscured some of my features.
“Lunita?”
The air thickened around me.
“Just tell me why?” I fisted my hands on the sink. More tears streamed from my eyes. “Haven’t we killed enough?”
Rage filled me.
I closed the few inches and pressed my nose against the cold glass. “Why? Why? Why? Why? Why! Why! Wwwhhyy!”
Someone knocked on the door.
Blue’s voice sounded as the door knob twisted from side to side. “Emily, let me inside.”
I remained pressed against the glass, glaring at my reflection. “You fucking bitch. We had nothing as a kid. Nothing but horror. That’s what you want our adult years to be?”
“Emily!?” Blue knocked on the door. “Emily!?”
I moved a few inches from the glass and looked over my shoulder. “I’m fine, Blue! Give me a fucking minute!”
The knocking ceased.
I turned back to the mirror. “If I could just. . .go inside of my head and fucking kill you I would. Wrap my hands around your throat and fucking push all of the oxygen out of your body.”
Fear shivered through me, and it was not mine. I had no fear in this moment. Just hot, blazing rage, unbridled and threatening to consume me.
The fear is hers.
“There you go.” I pressed my nose against the glass and wildly gazed at the up-close reflection. “There you go. I feel you.”
The fear shifted to terror.
“Oh yeah.” Slowly, I inhaled, taking in the scent of the glass. It was a faint smell of cleaning solution mixed with the metallic tang of the reflective coating.
I exhaled slowly.
Once again, the mirror fogged up around my nose.
I could sense the vibrations of my breathing and the sound of my heart beating in my ears. Meanwhile, the silence of the bathroom was almost deafening, making the sound of my breathing seem louder.
She’s here. She’s watching. I know it.
I lingered there for a moment, lost in the sensation of being so close to my own reflection and feeling Lunita rising inside of me.
I breathed in again.
How I wished I could step right through the glass and into the other side of us.
“Good.” I unfisted my hands and placed them against the mirror. The cold glass smoothed against my palms. “Lunita.”
Her terror twisted around my fury.
I whispered at the mirror. “Just tell me why?”
No answer came.
“Lunita. Lunita. Lunita.”
Only the sound of my own voice echoed back at me.
“You killed Olga.” I spoke through clenched teeth. “You hurt Kaz. Not just doing whatever to his arms. You fucking hurt his heart!”
I fisted my hands. “You fucking bitch!”
And then, my rage consumed me.
“Bitch!” I lashed out at the mirror, striking it with all my strength.
It cracked in the center.
The glass warped and twisted, reflecting back an image of me that was distorted and fragmented.
“Why?!” I slammed both fists into the mirror. The glass shattered into thousands of pieces. And I didn’t care. I kept on beating at my reflection. “Why?! Why?!”
Sharp pain came as a shards cut into my skin.
But I didn’t stop.
I kept hitting the mirror, watching as the fragments broke apart and fell to the ground around me. The pain in my hand was nothing compared to the agony in my heart. I punched and punched. The sound of shattered glass rang in my ears, like the chime of a thousand broken bells.