Fractured (8 page)

“It’s like a dream come true.” Lily appeared beside them, swaying on her feet. She smirked sarcastically, but she looked like she was straddling the line between carsick and dreaming. Seth shivered just looking at her.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she said too quickly. He didn’t pursue the matter. Lily, he’d found out, was a fiercely private person who never let anyone in on her thoughts.

He tossed the printouts of the check-in information to Darius, who jogged into the Lodge to check them in. He turned and started taking stuff off the roof of the car.

The girls were picking up their respective suitcases and bags. Bash and Maria were both carrying four bags a piece. All Lily had was her lone duffel bag, and she was shivering, clutching her arms to her stomach. She looked absolutely miserable.

“We’re in Rooms 407 and 409,” Darius called from the front entrance of the hotel. “On the fourth floor.” He tossed a card to Maria as he walked down the steps. “We’ll put you guys and Lily in 409.” Maria giggled and shot Rick a sly grin. Seth immediately knew what was going through their minds, and he was glad he didn’t have to put up with their shenanigans.

Lily made no comment.

Getting to their rooms was a hassle. Since everyone was so tired, they didn’t want to go back to the car, and they tried fitting through the doors with anything they could carry. While they had to take three trips up the elevator, at least they didn’t have to go back to the Suburban for more.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Seth was able to flop on the bed. It was a comfortable bed—almost too comfortable for Seth’s liking. After spending two years in Afghanistan and sleeping in various degrees of discomfort, anything plush and soft like this felt excessive to him. But Bash collapsed beside him and took in a deep, contented sigh, and he knew that he’d be able to sleep just fine here.

The room was a nice, lodge style room. Two queen beds sat parallel to each other against one wall. In one corner, there was a sofa facing a TV. A small, round table sat off to one side with a single chair. There was also a bathroom to the right of the door, and a balcony that overlooked the ski slopes.

They hadn’t splurged enough to get the suite, and based on their room, it looked like they didn’t need to. Plus, if all went to plan, they wouldn’t be spending too much time here anyway. Every day they’d go skiing, and at night, they’d be off, hitting the town. These rooms were perfect for sleeping and showering.

Seth and Bash would sleep in one bed with Darius and Scott in the other queen bed. Seth wondered how long until one of them would threaten to sleep on the floor. He suspected not very long.

“Right, well, I’m ordering dinner,” Darius announced.

“Dinner?” Scott asked.

“Yeah,” Darius said. “Pizza. What do you guys want?” He sounded as exhausted as Seth felt. Truth be told, all Seth wanted to do was sleep.

“Pepperoni,” Scott said.

“Meat lovers,” Bash mumbled. She was half asleep.

Darius let out a big whoosh of breath as he stood up. “I’ll ask the others,” he said, grabbing his iPhone. He left through the adjoining door.

“Meat lovers?” Scott asked. He looked a bit surprised by her choice.

“Yup,” Bash answered. “I love meat.” She smiled wickedly. “And I love my man.”

Scott made a gagging noise and switched on the flat screen TV.

*****

Lily felt awful.

While everyone else seemed to be rejuvenated by the mountains and the air, she was fighting to keep down that filet o’ fish sandwich she’d picked up at a McDonald’s on the way. Ever since their pit stop and seeing that old woman in the mirror, she hadn’t been feeling right. She felt like her insides were twisted up, like there was a snake in her gut threatening to explode from her stomach.

She barely managed to keep her composure as she lugged her duffle bag up to their room. Standing in the entrance to room 409 with Rick and Maria, she saw the two queen beds, the window, and the balcony that overlooked the forest. There was something oddly familiar about the place, like she’d been here before, although she knew that she hadn’t.

She had been the one who picked out this hotel.
Why
had she chosen this hotel? Sure, it looked nice online, and everyone else agreed that it was perfect. Now that they were here, she felt an ominous shadow over her. There was no other way to describe it.

Liiii-iiillly
, the voice called out to her, stronger now. There was a yearning in it that hadn’t been there before.

She gagged. She needed to be alone.

She dropped the duffle on the bed closest to the bathroom. “Excuse me,” she muttered, pushing past Maria. Rick called after her, but she ignored him. She flicked on the light in the bathroom and slammed the door. It echoed against the tile floor, filling the space inside her ears. She was already hiccupping vomit when she rushed to the toilet, some of it landing on the floor before she got there. She didn’t care. She fell onto the porcelain bowl, puking up everything that was in her stomach. She hugged the basin and convulsed several times, retching up whatever was left. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

Lily was frightened. She’d had some bad hangovers before, but this felt different. She hadn’t been
that
hung over that morning.

She wiped remnants from the corner of her lip, then covered her mouth, sobbing into her hand, trying to muffle it so that Rick and Maria couldn’t hear her. For some reason, whether it was the voice in her mind or something else, she didn’t want them to see her like this. She shuddered, trying to hold herself together.

What was happening to her?

Liiii-iiillly. We’re here, Lily.

“I’m ignoring you,” she whispered.

Shaking, she crawled in to the shower and turned it on, clothes and all. The cold water hit her like an ice storm pummeling her body. She welcomed it, glad that shivering took over from the writhing in her stomach. She wrapped her arms around her knees and sat in the corner, rocking herself back and forth.

You’re about to meet your destiny, Lily,
the voice told her.
You want Seth, don’t you?

She bit the back of her hand, trying to keep from screaming. She really was going crazy. Maybe she should have seen a psychiatrist long ago. Even now, she was seeing things, like little filaments of light falling around her. The walls of the shower seemed to pulsate around her, like it was a living thing that had its own heartbeat.

Over the rush of the water and the turmoil in her mind, she heard a knock at the door.

“Hey, Lily?” It was Rick. “Darius is ordering pizza. What do you want?”

She chewed the inside of her cheek, willing herself to sound normal when she answered. “Anything!” she yelled back.

Luckily, Rick didn’t press. There weren’t any more knocks, leaving Lily alone. Or as alone she could be with another voice in her head.

Let me take over, Lily. It will all be over soon and you’ll have Seth. You two are
meant
to be together.

She screamed into her hand as the tears fell down her face.

C
HAPTER FIVE

After such a grueling drive yesterday, Bash didn’t think she’d be able to get out of bed. She remembered scarfing down a few slices of her meat lovers pizza before passing out in their bed, but that was it. She wasn’t even sure if she had the opportunity to brush her teeth before she fell asleep. Her mouth felt like she had swallowed a vat of grease and her teeth felt all furry.

The alarm went off and the promise of skiing persuaded her to get out of bed. Seth and Darius, with their military discipline, were already up. Based on how unenthusiastic everyone else sounded, they weren’t too happy to be up so early after such a hectic day before. As predicted, Lily opted out of going skiing. She was just going to hang out at the lodge, she said, although she sounded a bit off. Bash had argued with her for a few minutes, but Lily resolutely said that she wanted to stay behind, and nothing Bash would say could change that.

“Why the hell did you come along anyways?” Bash had angrily asked, hurt by the decision.

“I don’t fucking know!” Lily answered. “Not to be harassed by you, that’s for sure!”

Bash finally conceded defeat, and her twin stayed back at the hotel, refusing to leave.

An hour later, they were waiting out on the slopes, holding their skis and snowboards while they waited for Bash’s guide from the assisted program on the slopes. She and Seth had discussed whether or not to book a guide for her a few weeks earlier. Bash was willing to try skiing without one, but Seth insisted on having one look after her. After all, he reasoned, the last time she hit the slopes, she broke her arm.

“You guys go on ahead,” Bash told everyone. “It’s going to take a while to get acquainted with my guide anyways.”

Maria opened her mouth to protest, but Darius sensed Bash’s embarrassment about the situation. “We’ll see you up there, Bash,” his warm voice said.

“You sure you’re okay with this?” Seth asked after they left, a question he’d asked her many times before.

“I’m good,” she told him. “I just wish Lily would get her panties out of a wad.”

“It’s her problem,” Seth said.

Was it though? Wasn’t Bash supposed to be the older sister, the one who took care of her younger sibling? A part of her wondered if there was a way she could repair whatever was wrong between them. She was sure she could, if only she could figure out what it was.

A few minutes later, her guide arrived, a laidback young man by the name of Rodney. They shook hands and greeted each other. Seth gave him the overprotective warning not to lead his fiancée off a cliff. Rodney had laughed uncomfortably, yet Bash had the feeling that Seth wasn’t joking. He was already tense from having to wait.

Not the best way to start a day skiing.

They grabbed a lift on the gondola up to the top of the mountain, Bash and Seth on one side of the cage, Rodney on the other.

“You’re a pretty advanced skier?” Rodney asked her, his ski bum drawl breaking the silence.

“Yep,” she answered. “Or at least I was,” she amended under her breath.

“Bash broke her arm last time she went skiing,” Seth added.

Bash felt the heat in her cheeks. Seth was treating the accident like it was proof that she was made of glass.

The movement of the gondola slowed as they reached the top of the mountain.

“Whelp, we’re here,” Rodney declared.

Seth grabbed her gloved hand and helped her out of the cab. He handed over her skis. “Promise me you’ll be careful,” he whispered.

“I will be,” she promised. “You should worry about yourself.”

She strapped on her skis, waited for Rodney’s signal, and took off down the slopes after him, hearing his calls for her turns and carving. Her muscle memory took over, and soon, she was shooting past other skiers.

There was something about the wind blowing past her and the smell of the mountains that calmed her. It was soothing, being on top of the world and traveling on the slopes and through the trees at a speed she forgot she could go. She was far better at skiing than she remembered. It came easily to her. She already had to have a bit of faith that she wasn’t going to die, so she was able to take risks with her technique that she knew would be hard for someone new to the mountain. Once she made peace with the terrain, it was easy.

Seth wasn’t having as good a time—he kept falling or veering off course. His colorful language always alerted Bash to where he was, and she caught herself wondering if he was going to get kicked off the mountain for all the expletives issuing from his mouth. That wasn’t the case for her. It felt like she had always been skiing. She nudged her skis and followed where they went. She didn’t want it to end.

Her thoughts drifted off to Lily, who would either be still asleep or just sitting at the Duck Creek Bar back at the lodge throwing back a few. It was going to be interesting to see how drunk she’d be by the time they were done skiing.

Bash...

Something flickered in her eyesight, and her mind reeled, trying to figure out what, or how, she was
seeing
something. She went completely still as she skied down the mountain. Her heartbeat pounded heavily in her chest. She was holding her breath.

Had she actually seen something?

It flickered again. Unfamiliar, brightly colored shapes flashed across her vision, throwing her brain into sensory overload. It took her several moments to place together what she had seen, corresponding those shapes with the three dimensional forms she knew well from her sense of touch.

It was a face.

Whose face it was, she had no idea, it was so quick. She also didn’t have enough time to register what expression the face had, but there was something about it that made her think the expression wasn’t a good one. It looked like an old woman had been glaring at her.

And just like that, the movement in her vision disappeared into black. Bash was thrown into her sightless world once again.