Chapter 2

Alexis's POV

"What do you mean?" I stare at Chloe.

She shakes her head. "I don't know how to explain it. Their whole attitude just... changed overnight."

"Before that, they basically ignored me. They'd ask if I ate or slept okay, that kind of thing. But after... the hostility kept getting worse. Sometimes I'd hear them outside my door in the middle of the night, whispering."

My heart skips. "Did you hear what they said?"

"I thought I was imagining it." Chloe bites her lip. "I didn't pay attention at the time... until one night, I felt a needle pierce my skin."

"When I woke up, I was in a room I'd never seen before. And then I saw them... they were dismembering me."

"Dismembering?"

I freeze. My mind races through possibilities, images flash through my mind, each one making my stomach turn.

Chloe looks at me. "What about you? How'd you die?"

I let out a breath. "They called the cops on me. Said I broke into the house and killed you out of jealousy. Then I got thrown in prison and tortured to death."

"What about the first time? You died so soon after they took you in. How'd that happen?" she presses.

I glance at her. "They drowned me in the bathtub. Three months after taking me in, they said you jumped off a building because they chose me instead of you. So they drowned me."

Chloe shoots to her feet. "Jumped? But I never jumped!"

"Wait, then what happened to you?"

"The first time, they came back for me." Her voice shakes. "Said you accidentally drowned in the pool out back. They said taking me in would help with their grief. A few days later, they strangled me to death, saying they found out I killed you."

The room goes silent.

I stare at the crack in the dorm wall, my mind racing. Two lifetimes, four deaths. Every single time, both of us end up dead.

"So no matter who they pick, we both die anyway." I say it out loud. "But why? Why do they need us dead? Maybe neither of us is actually their daughter?"

Chloe collapses back onto the bed, fear flooding her eyes. "I don't know! All I know is I'm not going back to that house. That place... it's hell."

I ignore her complaints.

"Do you remember where that room was when you died the second time? They wouldn't have had time to move you somewhere else. It has to be somewhere in the house."

She blinks, then shakes her head. "But I went through every part of that house. No room looked like that."

I frown. A room she never saw in five years? Or am I just overthinking this?

A knock at the door cuts through my thoughts.

Chloe and I both freeze.

"Girls, what are you doing in there?" Catherine's gentle voice comes from outside. "Aren't you ready yet? Come have something to eat. After the party, we're all going home together."

William's voice follows. "Everyone's waiting for you."

I take a deep breath and turn to look at Chloe, who's gone pale.

I grip her shoulder and lower my voice. "Either way, we can't run now. So we have to help each other. Find evidence, get out of there. It's the only way."

Chloe stares at me for a few seconds, then finally nods.

At the party, kids laugh and the director gives a speech from the stage.

I stand in the corner, watching Catherine and William smile warmly as they play with the children.

No one knows their hands are covered in blood.

The party ends quickly. The director walks us to the door with a beaming smile. A black sedan waits at the curb.

"Make the most of this." She pats my shoulder. "Not everyone gets to have a family."

I force a stiff smile and drag my feet toward the car with Chloe. I slide into the back seat. Chloe presses close beside me.

Catherine turns around from the passenger seat and hands us two bottles of water, her smile soft. "Tired?"

"Get some rest. We'll be home soon."

Chloe and I take the bottles. William starts the engine.

I look out the window. The orphanage fades into the distance. Streetlights blur past one by one. This is my last night in this city.

Where will I be when I wake up?

Will it be that strange room Chloe described?

I bring the bottle to my lips and take a sip. Chloe hesitates, then drinks too.

Seconds later, my eyelids grow heavy. My vision blurs. The streetlights outside stretch into streaks of light.

I know there's something in the water, but it's too late.

Consciousness slips away. The last thing I see is Catherine's gentle but knowing gaze in the rearview mirror.

Then everything goes black.