My phone rang, and I immediately snatched it up.
"Hey, bro. You called?"
My knuckles must have turned white with how tightly I gripped my phone. "Hans. Where is she?"
"Aww. Is that how you greet the twin you haven't met in weeks?"
"Hans."
He sighed, the sound weary, like someone trying to tolerate a naughty child. "She's fine, Cole. She's getting ready as we speak."
The blood in my veins chilled. "Getting ready for what?"
He laughed, a low, cruel sound that reminded me of the time he had taken my pet fish away from me, and never gave it back. I never knew what he had done to it, or where he put it. I didn't want to know.
"Don't spoil my fun, Cole."
I needed a different tactic. "You gonna have fun without me?" I injected a bit of the playfulness I didn't feel into my voice.
He laughed. "Nice try. Call me when you really mean it." And the line went dead.
I cursed again, slamming my hand against the steering wheel. Where'd you go where'd you go
Images of Ella being tortured flashed through my head, Ella bound and crying, her face wet with tears - but I willed them away. No. I was going to get there before anything happened to her, before Hans laid his hands on her.
The cabin. Memories conjured: of summers spent there, of a time when we were carefree and didn't fully understand the impact of Nathan's demise on our lives, on our futures. On the people we were to become, souls that were one and yet were separate, growing and fracturing in ways we hadn't comprehended, could not have comprehended. The pain we went through and never spoke of. The emptiness and gaping silence filled in our own ways, and here, now, was the end result. Ella, with Hans, who had escaped his treatment center hours away. I wondered how long he had thought his plan through, and wasn't sure which was better - a premeditated attack, or a spur-of-the-moment one. I decided it didn't matter.
I drove towards the lake at full speed, ignoring the honking of cars, some of which swerved to avoid me. I slowed down when I almost hit the truck in front of me, my thoughts distracting me, and realized I was endangering myself as well as others. I had to get there in one piece to be of any use to Ella.
Please let them be there. My twin was full of surprises, even though I thought I knew him well.
The slow descent down the grassy hills into the private property below ramped up my pulse so it was ringing in my ears again. The gates were unlocked, I noted grimly. Meandering down the concrete path, I found the Range Rover parked by the large two-storey log house with floor-to-ceiling windows we lovingly called The Cabin. I quickly switched off the engine and jumped out of the car. The front door was unlocked, and I quietly stepped inside. Silence - no voices, no screaming. I wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not.
A quick glance into the large sitting room told me they hadn't stepped in there - the fireplace remained unlit, the room a little chilly despite the warmer weather outside. The glass walls revealed the gray-blue lake outside - empty as far as I could see - the lake was partly hidden by the small boathouse outside, and the shrubbery that connected to the surrounding forest. My chest constricted at the thought of Hans bringing Ella there. I hadn't stepped foot in that forest in a long time, and I had no desire to do so now.
A sound made my head snap upwards. Water, like someone showering, or like a bath being drawn. I walked up the steel and concrete stairway, my footsteps silent, lest I alert Hans of my presence. Past the bedrooms - some doors open, allowing me to see the untouched beds, some closed but an ear against the doors only yielding silence. No - the sound came from the bathroom down the hallway. As I inched closer, I could hear humming, although I couldn't decide if it were male or female. Closer...closer. The door was ajar, and the humming had stopped. Running water, and splashes, like someone was shifting around in the bathtub. I decided to peek and my mouth dropped open.
***
"Ella?"
She was naked, water and bubbles covering her all the way to her shoulders, her eyes closed as she relaxed against the porcelain. Her eyes quickly snapped open as she caught sight of me, and I could see when the terror entered them.
"Stay...stay away." A hand clenched the side of the tub, and the other went straight to the delicate necklace that hung around her neck.
"Ella, it's me, Cole."
The crack in my voice must have jolted her, because her eyes went to my face as she searched for something. "Cole? Is that you? Are you guys playing a game or something?"
Relief flooded my voice. "Ella. Listen. Hans..."
A hand on my shoulder made me freeze. "Hans is home. Finally, eh? Was wondering when my brother was going to help get me out of that hellhole."
I turned to see the face so like mine, etched with cold fury, before he smiled and schooled his features into a near-neutral expression again.
"Hans, you know I tried," I replied quietly.
"Well, it doesn't matter now, because we're all together now. Shall we get lunch ready?" He winked at Ella, and walked down the hall towards the stairs.
I turned to face Ella, keeping half an eye on Hans.
"Ella. Get dressed. We have to go."
"I wouldn't be whispering if I were you!" Hans called cheerfully from below.
Goosebumps lined my arms. I hated that voice, knew what it meant, knew that his
