TWISTED FATES BOOK 2: EVEN MORE TWISTED
Chapter 22

Aiden

I’ve noticed that Sam is going down to the gym at the ass crack of dawn every day. It’s weird because I don’t think that anyone else realizes what she’s doing. The only reason I know is because a certain douche put me on late-night border patrols this month.

*cough*_ Dev _ *cough*

Sad to say, I haven’t been able to return to my little babycakes till almost three in the morning because of my crappy shift. I don’t even think Sam knows that I’ve seen her. She just goes down to the gym like she’s in ninja mode or something, which is totally weird because it’s her house.

Why would she have to be all sneaky about getting a workout anyway?

Who knows, maybe that’s just a vamp thing.

Hah, I answered my own question.

At first, I was curious about her behavior, not gonna lie; my mate lives with her. So yeah. I’m going to be cautious about Sam after seeing her go all Freddy Kreuger on some asshole and his junk. But she seems to be acting normal, well, at least normal for her, I guess, so it’s all good in the wolf hood. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ (ꜰind)ɴʘvel.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

The funny thing is I kind of feel bad about what we did. I mean, I get it; everyone said they took away Sam’s bad memories because she was like all dark Willow and shit. But still. I don’t know how I’d feel if I knew that happened to me. But then how would I even know if that did happen to me? I mean, I wouldn’t, right? Because my memories would be gone … so I wouldn’t technically know, would I?

I mean, like that one time, I could have sworn I decided to take my babycakes and the girls to Benihana. I told Mikey. But then it turned out that he “supposedly” came up with the idea first and even had reservations. What if I actually did come up with that idea first, and they erased my memory?

Oh, my Goddess! Would my babycakes really do that?

No…but Shay and Mikey would, I bet.

Mental note; confront Mikey about my suspicions later. Maybe Benihana was my idea first, after all.

Oh, the deception Mikey. Someone thinks he’s a Lannister, I see.

Mental note: Set up a Game of Thrones marathon night. Also, write this down just in case “someone” tries to make me forget this was my idea first.

Damn, now Benihana sounds good.

But … I digress.

Maybe, if someone, *cough*_Mikey-*cough* doesn’t erase my memory, I’ll see if we can have that for dinner.

I was about to head into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water when I caught Sam’s scent as she quickly passed through the house’s main level.

What can I say? Vamps have a pretty distinct smell.

I looked up at the clock. It was 3:15 am.

Hmm… she was later than usual today. Maybe she and Dev had a little workout session of their own before she came down.

Heh heh. I kill me.

Not gonna lie. I actually hope everything’s ok with Sam. I really do like her a lot. She’s such a cool person despite being a bloodsucker. But I don’t hold it against her.

To be honest, when I first met her, I was absolutely gobsmacked by how hot she was. Maybe it’s like a prerequisite when you’re a vampire or something; you only get the sexy genes. I don’t know, but yeah, I admit, I kind of had a little crush on my best friend’s mate at first. Whether he admits it or not, Mikey did too. Hell, I’m pretty sure Mikey spanked it a time or two after he first met her. That’s how much of a draw to her she caused. Dev always seems to land that hottest chicks. Don’t get me wrong, Mikey and I also tapped quite a lot of ass in our heyday, but Dev he was the hot chick magnet. Sam just happened to be the best out of the bunch. Most definitely, after the last two fiasco’s of his, that Dasha skank and the blond bimbo, he told Mikey and me to check out. I think her name was Farrah, Fiona … Felicia?

Eh … whatever. Either way, they were all psychos and sucked ass.

But Sam, she was entirely different. She was super cool and not all stuck on herself, even though she’s pretty, and she and Dev absolutely belonged together. Thank Goddess Dev never knew about my past little crush on her; he’d seriously kick my ass. I also think he’d kick Mikey’s ass too, but he’d probably erase Dev’s memories before he would be able to catch onto the big revealio of his former crush. So no point in bringing that up. Besides, I’m super happy I have my precious little babycakes who turned out to be sheer perfection. I couldn’t have asked for a better, more perfect mate.

Now all I see Sam as, is a very good friend. Well, more like a sister if I were to be completely honest. For some odd reason, lately, my wolf has been very protective of her, not in a mate kind of way, but in a weird sibling kind of way. These feelings are really throwing me off because I’ve never had any siblings of my own before, well, except for that one, but since I never met that person, they don’t actually count in my book. Dev and Mikey are as close as I ever got to a family after both of my parents died.

So yeah. I guess I’m worried about Sam. I was tempted to check on her. I was very curious about why she was spending so much time in the gym while everyone was sleeping, so I decided to peek in on her quietly. When I got to the lower level landing, I heard a loud, angry scream and caught the faint scent of blood. Sam’s blood, to be more precise.

Shit!

Without thinking, I quickly ran into the gym, smashing the doors open in my wake. I scanned the room and didn’t see anything at first, but the smell of Sam’s blood was undeniably more pungent in here. That’s when I saw her. She was at the furthest end of the room, near where all the boxing gear was. She was sitting on the ground, huddled in the corner. She had her head down on her bent knees, and her light purple hair was draped over her face.

I wasn’t sure if I should approach her. I mean, technically, Sam and I weren’t very close, but Jericho, my wolf, was growling at me to go over to her. He was insisting that she was hurting, which kind of made me feel bad. I carefully walked over to where Sam was sitting, and what I saw broke my heart.

She had blood all over her small hands and knuckles, and they were currently just bloodied bone protruding through raw meaty flesh. Her wounds were blackened from busted blood vessels in the surrounding areas of both her hands. The heavy punching bag, now split half, was splattered with a lot of blood, and I could hear the faintest whimpering coming from Sam’s direction.

OK. Well, at least I know Sam’s not all dark Willow because pretty sure she would have killed me the moment I came near her.

I don’t even think she realized I was here.

I ran my hand through my hair, not exactly sure of what to do. I mean, this is more of the girl’s expertise, not mine. But I was here, so it’d be kind of a douche move of me just to stand there and not say anything.

I stood there for a bit, shifting from one foot to the other uncomfortably.

Think Aid …. Think …. What would Astrid say ..?

I cleared my throat and licked my parched lips.

“Sam?” I whispered.

“Go away, Aid.” She replied softly without even looking at me.

“Hey…Hey Sam … um, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Aid…just please leave.” She didn’t even lift her head to look at me.

I was about to say ok, but again Jericho made me stand firm where I was.

Clearly, someone was acting like a massive turd burglar.

I sighed and sat down next to Sam with my back against the cold concrete wall.

She just kept softly crying, and I didn’t know what to say, so I just sat there in silence.

Way to make this situation super uncomfortable, Aid. Jericho piped in.

See what I mean about him being a turd burglar … case, and point.

I scratched my head, trying to come up with something, anything to say, and yet nothing…nada.

“Hey, Sam … you know you can talk to me about whatever’s bugging you, right?”

“Nothing’s wrong, Aid. Just leave me alone. Please.”

“Well, um, from the looks of this whole scene here, I’m going to have to disagree with you. Something’s definitely wrong, Sam. Please talk to me. I mean, I know I’m not Dev or Shay or Astrid, but I’m your friend too. Maybe I can help, huh?”

Silence.

“Please, Sam, say something. I can tell you’re hurting. Please tell me what’s wrong.”

Slowly she lifted her tear-stained face and looked at me hesitantly.

“Do you honestly want to know Aid?”

Hmm … Did I? Well, she didn’t appear to want to be angry at me for my intrusion, so I suppose I should say yes since I did ask after all.

I glanced over at Sam briefly and nodded my head.

“I-I-I’ve been … lying to all of you.”

What What??!

I discretely shifted myself a few more inches away from her just in case I needed to get out quickly.

OK, settle down, Aid. She could be talking about anything; hear her out. Breath and listen, Jericho tried to reassure me.

I nodded my head slowly as a gesture for her to continue.

“I remember everything, Aid. My memories were never really erased.”

Well, Damn … I did NOT see this coming.

I sat there with my jaw open like a fish out of water.

Crap … she remembers.

But why has she been acting like she doesn’t? Oh, Goddess, why have you placed me in such a drama Induced nightmare? I have no idea what to say in response to what she just told me. I mean pretty sure “Good for you” is far off the mark.

I blinked,

and blinked,

and blinked.

A small laugh came out of Sam’s mouth. Not like that psycho, I’m going to slice you up into little pieces because you know my secret laughter, but a real genuine laugh.

Way to go me.

Don’t start mentally giving yourself a high five yet, moron. She still needs you to help her, Jericho chided

He could be such a dick. I mentally rolled my eyes as I returned my attention to Sam.

“So, um, Sam... if you still have your memories … um, if you don’t mind my asking, why are you acting like you don’t? “

She shrugged her shoulders and sighed. “I didn’t want anyone to know. I didn’t want any pity, nor did I want you all to be afraid of me because of … you know. I just … I just wanted to handle everything myself. “

“Is this,” I pointed to her hands and the blood-splattered heavy boxing bag splayed on the ground, “how you’ve been handing it by yourself, Sam? By beating yourself up and crying all alone?”

“It’s fine, Aid. Everything heals up eventually anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”

“But it does matter. It does, Sam. You’re hurting yourself. WHY?”

Silence.

“Why, Sam? Why are you suffering here all alone every fucking day and hurting yourself? I know that’s what you’ve been doing too, Sam, so don’t even try and lie about it.”

For some reason, I could feel my anger building, and I didn’t know why. I was just so damn pissed off at myself because I wasn’t there to help her. Like I failed my baby sister, and I couldn’t understand where any of this crazy emotion was coming from.

“Sam. Tell me. Why are you hurting yourself? I know you’re hurting, and I get you’re in a terrible place right now. But Sam, no matter how lost you get, if you look carefully, you will see that the hearts of the ones that love you will always sparkle like fairy dust through the darkness and guide you back home.”

Silence.

“OK, I know it sounds hokey, but my dad used to tell it to me whenever I got upset. At least he did before he died. I thought it seemed appropriate.”

And more silence.

“Dammit, Sam!” I ran my hands through my hair. I was furious, and so was Jericho.

What the hell was wrong with me?

I glanced over at Sam, who was staring at me with a confused look on her face. Clearly, she couldn’t understand where all this pent-up anger from me was coming from. Warily, she placed her tiny hand on my forearm and gave it a gentle squeeze that surprisingly calmed both Jericho and me down.

What the hell is going on with me?

She shouldn’t have been able to calm Jericho or me because she isn’t our mate, but she did. It made absolutely no sense. I know she was just as shocked as me, but neither of us knew what to say. She went to calm me by instinct from her being Dev’s mate, but she also knew that technically it shouldn’t have worked on me.

And yet it did.

We sat in silence as we tried to process this odd turn of events.

To be honest, this was the first time that Sam and I actually spent any time alone with each other. Typically any interaction between us had involved our group, so we were on entirely unchartered territory. Her confiding in me made things even more awkward.

I leaned with my back against the cool concrete wall and closed my eyes, trying to process everything. I heard a small giggle come out of Sam, which completely caught me off guard. I tilted my head slightly as I peered over at her, making sure she wasn’t taking a trip to loony town. She seemed to be completely normal.

Sam sighed and did the one thing I would never have expected, she leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder, then shut her eyes. The odd thing was it didn’t bother me. Somehow I knew that her actions weren’t in any way meant as some kind of flirtatious action but rather a seeking of comfort and security. Weirdly, I knew it was something I could provide for her too.

Yeah, things are definitely getting bizarre.

“You know,” Sam broke the silence and began speaking with her eyes closed as if in a trance, “I don’t have a lot of memories of him when I was a little girl. My mother and I adored him. Despite the inadequate visits we received from him, somehow, I knew he adored us too. Even at my young age, I could see it in the way he and my mother would hold each other and gaze into each other’s eyes with such love and sadness whenever it was time for him to leave us. She was never bitter nor angry and always remained loyal even until his death. Honestly, before we found out that he had died, he was rarely ever around, aside from mine and my mother’s birthdays as well as a few sporadic occasions here and there. But there was this one time when he came to visit that I could remember perfectly. It was my seventh birthday, and I recall that my mother had wanted to throw me a huge birthday party. I refused it because I knew my dad was going to visit me, and I didn’t want to lose any of my rare precious moments with him. I could care less about any of the gifts he would bring me; it was always about spending time with him. That day, I waited all day for him, and he didn’t show up. Thinking he had forgotten, I cried myself to sleep on the couch and was awoken at five minutes to midnight by the sound of him barreling through our living room and sweeping me up in his big strong arms. He was thanking the Goddess that he had made it before my birthday had passed. I could see the guilt in his eyes as he held me tightly, apologizing for being so late. It was that night that he told me something I would never forget. He told me that I had an older brother. He explained that my older brother had been playing in his treehouse with some friends and fell out of the tree, breaking his leg from a nasty fall. My dad told me that he had to make sure that his son was going to be ok and was settled into bed before his mate would allow him to come and visit us. I didn’t understand what my father was telling me. I had no idea what a mate was, and the fact that I had an older brother shocked me. I asked him where my brother was, and he explained to me that he had another family. I cried so much. I didn’t understand how my dad could do this to my mother and me. I felt like my entire short life was a lie. With those few words, I felt angry and cheated by some family that I had never known. In my mind, they had taken precedence over my own. I was so angry at my dad that I screamed at him and punched his chest with my small, clenched fists, telling him that I hated him and to leave. He obliged my request. But before he left, he looked at me with the saddest look in his eyes and told me …I know you’re upset little Sammie, but please remember I will always love you. No matter how lost you get, if you look carefully, you will see that the hearts of the ones that love you will always sparkle like fairy dust through the darkness and guide you back home. That was the last time I ever saw my father.”

My jaw dropped open as I stared at Sam in disbelief. At that moment, I just knew; Sam was my father’s daughter.

Sam is my half-sister.

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