Chapter 46: Deluded love
I fell asleep in the warmth and comfort of Nicholas’ arms, but my sleep was a restless one. Something had begun to worry me. It rang over and over in my head, nudging me with extreme caution. It was the words that Daniel had said earlier on today, “You wouldn’t by any chance need a bandage, would you? I always keep some on me, in case anyone has bruised knuckles…” And along with these words came a memory of the first night a spent here. It was a memory of Dante who had bandaged up my bruised knuckles. And although some part of me wanted to pass it off as some kind of strange coincidence, my instincts were telling me differently. Although they were twins, Daniel was *too* much like Dante. And so, a glaringly obvious deduction began to swirl around in my mind. And as outrageous as it sounded, it was the only one clear thought I’d had these past few weeks.
Suddenly I was awoken by the loud sound of tapping on the windowsill, coming from outside and the harsh whispers of “Ariya! Ariya!”
I gazed out of the window eagerly but saw no one. Nicholas seemed to be completely unaware of the sound and instead snored even louder before turning on his side.
But then I heard my name again, compelling me to get out of bed and investigate where this voice was coming from. I crept down the hallway, but it didn’t take long before I found its source. The voice came from outside of my room window. I neared it carefully before glancing out of it. For a moment I could see nothing but complete and utter darkness. And then, a face popped up, one that suddenly sent shivers up and down my spine.
“Ariya! I need to speak with you!” Daniel said, his face contorted in a soft look of sincerity. But I shook my head and mouthed the words, ‘go home!’.
His brows furrowed and he gazed up at me pleadingly. But I shook my head at him. If Nicholas weren’t so sick I would have woken him up immediately and told him everything that I had learned. But I knew that at the moment, I was the strongest between the both of us.
Daniel was still not deterred by my blatant ‘no’ and so I opened the window, ready to yell and tell him to fuck off and that I knew everything. But then I saw something rather strange in the glare of the full moon. It was a rather large pile of gas canisters, empty I presumed. And then, with all the luminous glow of death, was the glint of a silver lighter in his hand.
That was when I realised that this visit had a much more sinister intention and I feared that if I didn’t go out to meet him, I’d only add fuel to the flames. So, I rushed out of the front door and met him right outside of my window. His wicked smile only grew more prominent when he saw my face, and as I stared at him, I knew that the feeling of familiarity was not misplaced.
“Ariya! So glad you could join me for my greatest work yet! My greatest statement!”
My brows furrowed and I asked, “Greatest statement?”
“Yes!” he nodded excitedly, “can’t you tell? I’m going to burn this place to the ground! And you… you can finally have the life *you* want, not the life *they* are forcing on you to have. You can finally be with me,” he said that last part softer, his brown eyes staring intently into mine. I immediately took a step back, shocked and horrified, and he seemed to misinterpret it.
“Oh no no! You don’t understand. You see I’m not−”
“I know. You’re Dante.” I said curtly.
He raised his brows and an almost grim look appeared on his face as he said, “You knew… oh, of course you knew, it’s you after all. How long have you known?”
“I just figured it out recently,” I said.
His face fell slightly, almost as though he were slightly disappointed by my answer. But I couldn’t care less. Instead, I shook my head at him and almost pleadingly questioned, “b-but why? Why would you pretend? Did you even have a brother? Whose funeral did I go to?”
He sucked his teeth and then scratched the back of his head, “That’s a long story, and I don’t really have time to explain… all you need to know is that whatever I’m doing, I’m doing for *us*. So, will you help me kill him?”
I was taken a back. No… rather I was having a complete and mental meltdown. Hearing him admit that he had been Dante all along, seeing the empty gas canisters, and smelling the gas fumes in the air left a bitter taste in the back of my throat. And then there was the familiar discomfort of nausea rising in the depths of my stomach as I stared at the man I once considered to be my friend, now asking me to join him in attempting to kill my fiancé with a wide grin on his face and an almost crazed look in his eyes. This was the stuff of books. And yet as I stood there, the feeling of nausea and shocked turned into something of disturbance. ‘You can finally be with me,’ and ‘whatever I’m doing, I’m doing for us,’ is what he’d said. As though he was of the impression that, firstly, I wanted to be with him and secondly, that there was an ‘us’ in the first place. And so I forced myself to say these next few words:
“Dante… do you like me?” I asked softly, almost terrified of what his answer would be.
It was now his turn to look taken aback. And then, when he’d recovered he took a step towards me, a soft smile on his face.
“Like you? Oh Ariya, aren’t you sweet and naïve. I don’t like you−”
Perhaps he was right. Perhaps I was a little naïve. Because in that moment, I felt relieved. But everything changed when he dropped the lit lighter on the floor.
“I’m in love with you.”
-----
Apologies for the prolonged absence!