ReAwakened

  “Can I see her?” Ethan asked.

  “Once she has calmed down a bit you can go up to her room, but I’m going to have to ask your friend to leave.” He glanced over at me, though he was still speaking to Ethan. “We don’t want to burden your mom with too much excitement, especially not after what happened last week.”

  Last week?

  He walked us to the sign-in area, watching to make sure that Ethan escorted me off the premises. Under the doctor’s scrutinizing gaze, I couldn’t even give Ethan a proper farewell. I gave him a tight, excruciatingly painful hug as I handed him the envelopes filled with goodbye messages for the entire team.

  Ethan, Brooke, Sophie, Hunter, Seth, Sebastian—even Razor.

  I sat in my car, head against the wheel, reflecting on Amelia’s outburst. None of it made any sense. She was so afraid of someone coming after her—someone she thought I’d brought on. Not to mention, the chanting about babies and mistakes. I shuddered, remembering her eerie song.

  Two babies born as one…

  Two babies—

  Two babies.

  Two.

  Mistakes. Surrogates. Lab accidents.

  Before my mind could even comprehend what my body was doing, I found myself scaling the walls of Shady Pines, climbing up to the third floor inpatient ward, heading straight for Amelia’s room.

  I gripped at vines, grasped at broken brick, balanced on thin window ledges—whatever I could find to propel myself upward. I had to get to Amelia. I had to find out the whole story.

  One of the bars on her window had recently been loosened, allowing an easy way in. Amelia’s eyes widened as she watched me crawl through, but when I stepped into the light, her expression softened.

  “Dawn,” she exhaled, relaxing her head into the pillow of her hospital bed. “Oh, thank goodness, it’s you.”

  Who were you expecting, Amelia? Who has you so afraid?

  “I need to know everything,” I told her. “Please.”

  Amelia’s eyes widened as if she knew exactly what I was asking.

  “Tell me everything about the day I was born,” I pleaded.

  She closed her eyes, sighing deeply. Sedative pumped through her veins, leaving her docile and compliant. “As you already know, your father entrusted me with the task of cloning his daughter Aurora.” Her pale face faded into the stark-white pillow cover, but her voice remained steady. “I don’t know how much you know about the process, but it’s practically impossible to draw viable DNA from an old sample of blood. There were many issues with extracting Aurora’s DNA from her blood cells; issues that caused a lot of mistakes on our part. Regardless, after many unconventional trials and numerous failed attempts, we finally managed to create some viable embryos.”

  My head tingled as she spoke; every single hair on my body stood on end.

  “The second issue we encountered had to do with finding a surrogate to carry the child—a Born vampire, willing to partake in such a dangerous task. We searched high and low for the best candidates, tested many, and found a few possibilities. We implanted embryos in five surrogates, but only one young woman became pregnant from the procedure.

  “The experiment we were trying to carry out was breaking all kinds of ethical codes. Not only was it taboo, but the process also involved vampires at a time when vampires were still unbeknownst to society. Therefore the surrogate had to be confined to our secret facility for the duration of the pregnancy and delivery.” Amelia recited the story with ease as if the memories belonged to her old stronger self. “Within a few weeks, we realized that, while most of the embryos did not make it through the implementation process, two did survive.”

  “Two?” I asked slowly as if trying out a foreign word for the first time.

  Amelia nodded. “Twins.”

  I tried to focus on the floor below my feet, but it was no longer there. All of the tiles had been pulled out from beneath me, and I was suddenly plunging three stories below, deeper and deeper into the unknown. I pressed my hand against the wall, trying to focus on Amelia’s voice.

  “I feared telling Alastair about the possibility of having created two Auroras, so I decided to keep the second baby a secret until after the delivery.” Her words bounced from one wall to another, coming at me from every direction. “The surrogate went into labor earlier than we had expected, so there were many complications. The babies were healthy upon delivery, but we could tell right away that the surrogate wasn't going to make it.”

  I tried to remind myself that I was supposed to be focusing on her voice, but the word babies echoed in my brain, taking over every inch of space, shoving out all other thoughts.

  Babies.

  As in, more than one.

  The room grew hot.

  Where had all the air gone?

  “I had a twin sister.”

  Why was there no air inside this godforsaken hospital?!

  “More like, Aurora had a twin sister,” Amelia corrected. “We’d successfully cloned her. We were certain of that the moment the green-eyed child opened her eyes. You, on the other hand…”

  “I was the mistake, wasn’t I?” I thought back to Amelia’s chant.

  One mistake and you’re done…

  “I wouldn’t call you a mistake, Dawn,” Amelia said, “But you weren’t exactly the clone we had intended to create. You were special, nonetheless.” I struggled to breathe as she continued to speak. “We were sure that we would lose your surrogate right after you were delivered, but all of a sudden, right in front of our eyes she came back to life. Through your umbilical cord, you managed to heal her. Your gift was unlike anything I'd ever seen before—unlike anything any of us had ever seen.

  “Elated by the astonishing news, we immediately delivered you to your father. He didn’t take the news of your healing powers with great excitement. In fact, he amended our contract such that we could never speak of it again. The other baby, Aurora, was weaker upon birth. We kept her at the facility, monitoring her progress. When I was certain that she was out of the woods, I dashed off to the Scarlet House to tell your father about the real Aurora. But on my way there, I received news that there had been a horrible accident at the facility. We lost many good doctors that day, and the surrogate, along with Aurora had disappeared. We told your father that she had died in the accident, but that wasn’t the case.”

  “She took my twin,” I said.

  Amelia nodded.

  What happened next could only be likened to a giant sack of rice being torn open. Memories of the events that had occurred over the past three months poured out into my mind at an unstoppable rate. I tried to grasp each tiny grain, piecing together the most important puzzle of my life. I looked like Aurora, but aside from our shared DNA, I wasn’t her.

  There was already someone out there who, in every way imaginable, was the real Aurora. Aurora’s voice in my head wasn’t an echo of the long-deceased girl trying to take over my body through my mind. It was Aurora, reincarnated. Aurora, my very live twin sister. The whole time I’d been battling not a figment of my imagination but a real-life parasite. The realization brought forth both relief and a different type of fear.

  One dizzying revelation slammed into me after another, all insightful and terrifying at the same time. Aurora had managed to invade my mind using the same power Lena used with her twin, but she’d gone a step further, manipulating my visions by glamouring me. I hadn’t hurt Lena—it was Aurora’s hands that had plunged the dagger into her chest. I’d seen it all play out in my dreams because she wanted me to believe that I was capable of hurting my friends. All along she had known exactly what I was doing and where I was going to be because she’d been inside my mind every step of the way.

  If the girl I had been dealing with was Aurora’s true clone, then she possessed the right to despise me. In her eyes, I was the real evil. I’d taken her father, her rightful position at the Scarlet House, even Sebastian. I had usurped the life that was meant to be hers, so she had set out to make me
pay for it. And what better way to achieve that than to take away everything I cared about? My friends. Sebastian. Elisa. I had it all wrong. So wrong. I thought that by running away, I was taking Aurora with me, preventing her from harming those I loved. Instead, I’d only made them more vulnerable to her attack.

  I glanced at my watch. The entire afternoon had flown by; I was due to meet Sebastian in front of the fountain in less than an hour.

  “I have to get to the ball!” I said to Amelia. “I have to stop Aurora!”

  In a few short leaps, I was out of the hospital, trying to decide on the best way to conquer a half-day car trip in one hour. Without the help of a plane, the task was seemingly impossible. I could cut the time in half if I set off on foot, but would arrive at the Scarlet House completely depleted. Lacking a better option, I decided to take my chances with the sprint.

  Along the way, I dialed countless phone numbers, pleading with the ominous ringing that greeted me.

  Pick up, pick up, pick up!

  Sophie, Brooke, and Seth’s phones rang for a while, then went to voicemail; Hunter’s phone was switched off; and as far as I knew, Sebastian didn’t even own a cell phone. I cursed the stupid old-fashioned notion. Twitbrook also wasn’t picking up—the world had tuned out for the evening, it seemed. Finally, I got someone to answer my frantic call: Razor.

  “I know what you’re doing and I’m coming to get you!” he growled before I even had a chance to say anything.

  “What?” I gasped.

  “I’m on my way to Shady Pines—don’t you dare move!”

  No. No. No! He was going the wrong way!

  “You have to get to the Scarlet House!”

  “No, D. I’m coming to get you. I went by your place this morning, I saw the dress you left behind, your pleas to protect Sebastian…it all makes sense now. Don’t you dare run away! I’m warning you!”

  “I’m not running away,” I told him.

  “You’re not checking yourself into Shady Pines?”

  “No!” I answered. Breathlessly, I tried to explain what was happening in the most concise manner I could manage while running as fast as vampiricly possible.

  “Okay, but I’m not going anywhere until I’m sure that you’re coming too,” Razor said simply. “I’m thirty minutes away, so if you really need my help, then you’ll have to accept that we’re doing this together.”

  “Fine!” I snapped. “I’ll meet you on the way.”

  He exhaled in relief.

  “But you better bring along some kind of a teleportation device,” I advised before hanging up.

  A little over thirty minutes later, I met Razor in an abandoned airfield, and got into a small two-seater plane he’d somehow managed to “borrow.” I was too preoccupied with worries about the team’s safety to even think about criticizing his actions. Even when he said, “Hang tight! I’ve only driven this baby a couple of times.”

  I survived the bumpy takeoff, and as the plane soared into the sky, my thoughts returned to Aurora. My primary order of business was to shut her out of my mind, depriving her of all points of entry as I prepared my attack.

  For the first time in months, I was no longer afraid.

  I could fight real.

  And this Aurora—this girl who had hurt the people I cared about—was definitely real.

  Our tiny aircraft crash-landed on a grassy meadow by my father’s pond. Stumbling out of the cockpit, I ensured that we were both in one piece, then sprang into action.

  “We have to get everyone out safely before Aurora finds them,” I instructed.

  “How do we recognize them?” Razor asked, raising his eyebrows. “This is a masquerade ball, isn’t it? The sole purpose of the event is to look so inconspicuous that you have an excuse to make out with a bunch of people you’re not supposed to be kissing.”

  I rolled my eyes impatiently. “I’m pretty sure that only applies on TV and in the movies,” I snapped. “We’re just trying to save our friends, not go around kissing anyone. You’ll recognize them.”

  Just in case, I ordered Razor to head to the fountain in search of Sebastian, hoping that he would at least be able to identify his own flesh and blood. I took on the task of finding the rest of the team.

  I weaved through groups of costumed strangers, dodging feathers and dazzling jeweled masks. Satin and lace swished around me as I made my way into the ballroom; long colorful skirts twirled about like open umbrellas spinning in the wind. I rushed through the room, surveying the crowd. Whatever Twitbrook’s bartenders were serving must have been very strong, I realized. Almost all of the guests were moving in slow motion, as if trapped in an inebriated daze.

  My eyes immediately landed on Brooke. She was a sunny vision in a pastel yellow princess gown. Her golden-jeweled mask enhanced her deep blue eyes and soft pink lips, highlighting her features, instead of disguising them. I made my way over to her, almost expecting her to comment on my messy hair or inappropriate wardrobe choice. Instead, her eyes rounded as she took in my expression.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked earnestly, swaying to the slow beat of the music.

  “Long story. I’ll explain later,” I promised. “Where is everyone?”

  “Uhh…” Her eyes clouded as she lost her train of thought.

  “Brooke, have you been drinking?”

  “Just the punch,” she said. “Honest. But it’s making me feel really woozy. Maybe it’s spiked.”

  “Okay, I need you to focus,” I instructed. “It’s really important. Where is the rest of the team?”

  “Seth went to get me some food.” She pointed to the table on the far corner of the room. Seth was bending over a tray of garlic cupcakes, picking at the frosting with his finger.

  “And I just saw Hunter,” Brooke continued, turning around to face a makeshift stage. “Umm...I think he went back there to talk to one of the band members. Charlotte took Sophie to check out the library, and I’m not sure about Sebastian because he hasn’t come in yet. But, yeah, that’s everyone. See, I’m perfectly sober.” She stumbled forward. “Just a bit dizzy.”

  “Listen carefully,” I told her, grabbing her shoulders. “Get Seth and Hunter and take them outside. I’ll look for Sophie and Charlotte. It’s imperative that we get out of here. Can you do that?” I peered into her eyes.

  She nodded.

  “Good. And if you see someone that…uhh, looks like me, whatever happens don’t talk to them,” I warned, and she nodded again. “I’ll meet you out in the courtyard in five minutes.”

  I made my way out of the ballroom, drifting away from the flashing lights and pulsating music, moving past sparkling jewels and swaying bodies. I was alone in the corridors leading to the library, save for a young couple or two lurking around shadowy corners in search of some privacy. Just like Brooke, they all stumbled about in slow motion. I made a mental note to check on the punch. But first, I had much bigger problems to tackle.

  Taking a deep breath, I pushed open the library door, quietly assessing the inside from behind a curtain of books. Peering through to the far wall, I had a clear view of Sophie. She wore a simple white gown, its sleeves long and lacy, the neckline high and regal. The contrast of the bright fabric against her dark skin was striking. Her back was pressed tightly against one of the bookshelves, her chest rising up and down in rapid succession.

  I could only get a partial visual of Aurora’s blue-dress clad back and hands. One of her hands was against the side of Sophie’s face, the other tucked away behind her back. Clutched tightly in it, was a blood bullet gun—one of the many weapons I’d left behind at the cottage. Sophie didn’t realize it yet, but at any moment, Aurora was going to strike.

  I had to act fast. I zigzagged through the maze of bookshelves, moving as close to the two girls as I could without detection. When Aurora’s grip on the gun tightened, I jumped out from my hiding place.

  “Get away from her!” I shouted, preparing to strike.

  The moment she turned to look at m
e, it instantly became apparent that I had been wrong about the identity of Sophie’s attacker.

  Very wrong.

  “Charlotte?!” I gasped, reeling back from the unexpected surprise.

  Charlotte spun around to face me, her tight blonde ringlets bouncing off her shoulders. “Finally!” she huffed. “I thought you were never gonna get here. Now we can start the party!”

  My mind tried to catch up, but my thoughts were a confused, tangled jumble. I rushed here to save Sophie and Charlotte from Aurora, but my real-life twin sister was nowhere in sight. Instead I was face-to-face with Charlotte, and the girl was harboring a weapon with intent to use it.

  “Get away from her!” I yelled to Sophie. “She’s got a gun!”

  Sophie’s eyes snapped to attention as Charlotte’s lips curved upward into a smile so sharp and villainous, her face lost all trace of the doe-eyed innocence and frailty she’d been showering us with over the past few weeks. “Soph’s fine right here with me,” she said. “She’s not going anywhere.”

  “Sophie…” I began calmly. “Come here, please.”

  Charlotte furrowed her brow as if calculating her next step. Whatever her plan with Sophie had been, I’d clearly interrupted it.

  “I said, Sophie isn’t going anywhere!” she snapped, eyes blazing. “Especially not after she finds out that you’re the one who hurt Lena.”

  Sophie gasped. “Dawn didn’t do anything to Lena,” she told Charlotte, then jerked her head in my direction. “Right, Dawn?”

  “Tell her what you did, Dawn,” Charlotte sneered. “Tell her how you stabbed your friend right through the heart and watched her bleed to death.”

  “I didn’t hurt Lena,” I said, looking directly at Sophie. “I wasn’t the one who injured her.”