Chapter 16

Isabella rarely woke up in the middle of the night. Before she winked, laying her head on that soft pillow cleared all insecurity that was stored inside her.

«Tomorrow I will reveal the secret to my parents, tomorrow will be different.», she thought.

But what she did not know was that tomorrow would never come.

She snapped her eyes open in the dark. She could not explain the way she was feeling at the time, but she noticed that something in the atmosphere did not look good at all.

For some unknown reason, fear settled in her veins, circling inside her, letting her know that there was danger at home.

Suddenly, goosebumps covered her entire body.

She frowned because that always happened when there was some threat around her, but that would not make any sense. Although Animalus lived in the same forest as her family, they could not attack them. There was no reason for that. She tried to sleep again, but when she looked away from her to her bedroom door, she realized what was dangerous to her since she woke up.

It was very cold, but it would be unusual for that to happen, knowing that the room's windows were closed, as were the cabin doors. Despite this, the cold brushed the hairs of both arms still and it did with more force.

The girl chose to get up from the comfortable mattress as fast as her legs would allow it, and then approach the large window. Her heartbeat quickened as she saw that the door to the back garden was open. Fully open.

She could not waste any more time. She left the room and started running down the hallways, trying not to be too loud. «Who was the intruder ?», she repeated in her mind as she advanced across the wooden floor. Heading to her parent's room, she was about to enter, but she stopped abruptly upon hearing some murmurs.

—Nicolás, that happened a long time ago. —Said the oldest of the women inside the cabin. She sounded scared, but Isabella did not understand who she was talking to. Who was this Nicolas?

—Ha! Are you serious, aunt? —The unknown boy scoffed, however, his voice was known to the young woman. —No. I told you that I would no longer have mercy on you.

—We needed the money, you know that more than anyone. —Her father apologized. —You are not going to take our daughters from us!

—You took my parents away from me, I think that's reason enough to do the same.

The middle daughter decided to move carefully away from the door and let them continue talking. If she could not save her parents, then she would save her sisters, and then they would flee from that hideous secret forest.

—Camila, wake up.—She whispered when she was in her youngest firstborn's room.

—Umm, What's up?

—We have to go, quickly. —Isabella lifted her up and covered her lips. —Be quiet.

Camila just nodded. Like the girl, she did not understand what the hell was happening.

They arrived at Lía's bedroom and the young woman began to narrate what she had witnessed since she stepped outside her room.

—Impossible. —Said the older sister.

—Why is it impossible? —asked Isabella

—Because several years ago, Mom and Dad told me that Nicolás, our cousin, had died in a fire with his parents.

Isabella couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her entire world suddenly seemed to have turned around and turned upside down. Her heartbeat began to increase. She understood, then, that she had been brutally deceived.

—So, we did have uncles.

—Sure we had them, but I don't remember much about them, because I was so little. —Lia explained.

—He is looking for revenge. He wants to kill us, Lía.

—Why?

—Because... because our parents murdered his parents.

The eldest of the daughters did not wait for another second and taking the hand of her sister, Isabella, they went to the front door to leave once and for all. «This couldn't be that easy, Could it?», Thought the young teenager as they went quietly down the stairs.

Just then, as the key was being inserted into the lock, someone appeared behind them.

―Cousins! Long time no see. ―Nicolas greeted.

―Leave us alone. ―Lia spat. ―Don't get us into your dirty games. We have nothing to do with the problems you have with my parents.

―It's true, my dear. ―He replied, as he approached the three sisters. ―But I can't afford to leave any witnesses alive.

―Get out of here! ―Isabella's sister yelled. Her face was reddening more and more, and Isabella could only hide behind her next to Camila.

―Oh, believe me, I would not want to do this to you, but your parents started my suffering. And now they must pay their debt. ―He whispered imperceptibly.

Lía simply was silent. Isabella knew what she was thinking. None of the three daughters wanted to imagine that her parents were actually murderers.

―You do not believe me, right? ―That macabre smile he wore at first was quickly replaced by an angry grin. Very angry. ―I will take you to them then.

In the blink of an eye, Lía was on the ground, unconscious, with a red mark turning purple on her cheek. Isabella began to run, trying not to look back, through the corridors of the cabin with fear to the surface. Nicolás was a few inches away from reaching her with giant steps, while she kept closer and closer to the back door. She just had to run a little more, she just had to go through that door. She was ready to get out, to run away, to be free, if it were not because he yanked her on the back of her pajamas, making her fall flat on her face. Camila let go of her arms during her fall and her small head hit the ground. Even when she was pulled from her, she could see the fine streaks of blood coming out of her younger sister's head.

―Don't you understand, Isabella? ―The boy asked, as he grabbed the strands of her hair and pulled them violently, dragging her across the wooden floor. He stepped away from her a little and held the little girl against his chest.

The girl's head hurt like hell, even worse, so much so that for a moment she thought that Nicolás would manage to pull out all the lock of hair from her that slipped through his fingers and were caught in his fist. She begged, screamed, cried, but all of her attempts to stop the excruciating pain were cruelly ignored.

She headed up the stairs to her parents' room so that, for every step up, her back slammed hard against the wood of the bleachers.

When they reached that dark place, he placed Isabella in one of the chairs and tied her ankles and wrists with a rope. At no point did he stop squeezing her younger sister until he finished pinning her against the wooden chair. He then did the same with Camila. She was still unconscious from the hit downstairs. Her parents were in the same situation as her and, although she knew they deserved it, she could not stop crying knowing that this would be the last time she would see them.

The dry sound caused by the soles of Nicolás's shoes leaving the room flooded her ears. She could not reason or just find a way out of that hell, she was stunned. She did not even have the courage to turn around and see her parents face to face. That is, who in his right mind would end the lives of his family members in exchange for money? Even if it was a lot, that would be ridiculously sick.

―Isabella, you don't believe him, Do you? ―Her father asked as if he were the greatest of innocents.

―I don't know what to believe anymore, Dad.

Imagining them murdering other people and then collecting the money was really terrifying, it even made her blood run cold. Did not they feel guilt?

―We did it for the welfare of your sisters and you. ―His mother excused herself.

Everyone kept crying at that moment: they for losing their daughters and Isabella for losing her life.

―You killed your own family! ―She screamed with all the fury permeating in her voice. ―What kind of good deed does that sound like to you?!

She was sick of her lies, sick of the secrets they kept. Never, in her entire life, she would have believed that her own parents would be such vile beings, but here she was, looking two murderers, two strangers in the eye..., her two only parents.

―We are ready! The family has reunited again. ―Said Nicolás, entering the bedroom with Lía's body.

He was a true psychopath and Isabella did not know who to feel more sorry for, if for him and his sudden orphanhood or for his parents and the murders committed. Either way, both could be classified as mentally sick.

―Well... ―The captor sighed, bringing a knife that was resting on the night table. ―Who will I start with?

―Do not do it, p-please. ―Her mother begged through tears.

―Shut up, damn! ―An angry Nicolás yelled, slapping her in the face. ―I'm focused, don't make me lose what little patience I have left. So, Camila, Isabella, or Lía?

The vast silence was settled between the Turpin family again. The minutes of life remaining for each sister depended on luck. At a time like this, they began to value the oxygen they received and staying alive, because they knew the harsh reality: Nicolás would kill them sooner or later.

―You! ―He pointed in the direction of the older sister. ―Ah, Lía, I still remember how badly you treated me as a child and how much you made me cry. Let's see who's crying now. ―He said while he smiled as only he knows how to do, like a true madman.

He lifted the top of her sister's pajamas and slowly drew the sharp object above her navel. Pain and screams from Lía's throat invaded the room, while tears overflowed from the eyes of her parents and sisters. Their faces were wet and terrified, staring at that hideous image.

Moving the knife from one side to the other, Nicolás gazed in wonder at the blood that was spilling from the freshly made holes in the girl's body. The reddish liquid shot out, so abundant, that Isabella came to think that at some point Lía would die.

Suddenly, her sister's voice ceased, giving way to a devastating silence. What she most feared ended up happening. The eyes of the eldest of the daughters were wide open looking at the ceiling of the room and a lifeless body was in her place. Despite the many cuts, the word vulpis could be read on her belly.

Simply, Isabella could not accept that reality. «She is not dead, she is not dead, she is not dead, she is not dead», she repeated over and over again in despair.

She observed her parents and Camila, the three of them crying without consolation, however, she could not afford that luxury, because, inside her head, she had lost absolutely nothing. She did not, her sister was still there, anywhere in the room, wherever, in body or soul, but she was there. She would not accept that easily.

―It's so easy... ―Said Nicolás ―to see a body vanish. A soul. One person, but that's something you know very well.

Time seemed to run afterward at a blinding speed, perhaps minutes had passed, but Isabella perceived it as hours. The blood on the floor of the chamber increased more and more and tears mingled with the ruby-hued liquid. The pants she was wearing were stained with that plasma and her thoughts were about to kill her, just as Nicolás was going to commit in a few hours. She was alone now and she could not do anything about it.

She looked up, only to observe that two inert bodies — Lia and Camila — lay on the chairs while the ropes were removed from their wrists and ankles.

―Good girls don't sleep late. —Nicholas whispered carrying his sisters —Only this time I am going to forgive them. Time to go to bed. It is time to dream.

He left the room and vanished into the thick darkness. The last thing left for Isabella in that place was to surrender to him and accept her fate, accept death, and leave that world forever. All the dreams that she had, all the aspirations that she possessed, were just shattered. Any trace of hope was gone, she could even feel the stabbing pain of a knife piercing her chest, feel the burning in her neck caused by a rope, feel the absence of oxygen in her lungs, and no heartbeat in her heart.

―We love you, darling. ―Her father whispered, trying to sound coherent in the middle of tears, looking into her eyes ―It was our fault. I'm so sorry.

―I forgive you, Dad. Also you too, mom. ―She sighed. After all, they were the people who gave her life. ―But you can't help this. They will kill me and you know it.

Minutes later, Nicolás was present. His gaze, so deep, the girl felt it pierce the nape of her neck. The young man walked to perch on one of the chairs, previously used by her sister, being in front of the only daughter left alive in that room.

―You are so beautiful, Isabella. ―He said lifting her chin. ―He doesn't deserve you... that boy you saw that day at the circus. And, Do you know the reason for that? ―He asked what the female denied.

―Because now you belong to me and I am going to claim what is mine.