2.11

— I guess how happy you are to see me, but let me go because in a moment you will pull all the guts out of me.

Hannah moves away from him and lifts her face, looking at his face with sad eyes. This is normal. His mood can change in a second. For so many years, she has managed to get used to it.

— What did you mean when you said you were out of your mind?

— I didn't say anything of the sort. You misheard — he claims coolly, and the teenager's face takes on a sadder expression. — I came here out of curiosity. I wanted to see what you were doing at the campground, since the weather sucks at this time of year.

The nineteen-year-old lowers her head and, clearly disappointed by his answer, looks at the ground.

— You are angry.

He ignores it.

— Where are the others? I have been waiting here for you for a long time.

— They came up with some stupid game and are looking for the sign on the tree. I went back because I didn't feel like participating.

— Did you come back alone? — His eyes seem much bigger. — Through the forest?

The girl shrugs her shoulders.

Joseph takes turns calling his friends, but none of them answer.

— What's wrong with them? Have they silenced their phones?

Hannah seems concerned for a brief moment. She has a bad feeling; however, she quickly chases away thoughts of Jin when she recalls their earlier conversation.

And let even the bears eat him, she thinks.

— Well, nothing. We'll wait until they're done screwing around. — He grabs the girl by the shoulders and leads her inside. Hannah sits down on the bed and looks at him as he closes the door behind him. Previously, she loved spending time alone with him, but since the misunderstanding between them occurred, something has changed. — Why are you watching me like this?

— You didn't come here for no reason. You didn't travel all this way to get here in vain.

He smiles fleetingly.

— So what? Do you think I missed you?

— No. You were just afraid I'd hear about something I shouldn't. — He gets the impression that Joseph is starting to get nervous. — Are you concerned about your long tongue when drunk? Well... you should control it because my roommate has quite a memory. Since we are alone maybe you can explain to me what you meant when you said that my biological mother adopted you?

His gaze changes. His eyes turn cold as he pulls a piece of paper from his pocket and throws it in the girl's lap.

— Then why don't you first explain to me what secret you are hiding?

Hannah unwinds the paper with trembling hands and looks at it with wide-open eyes for a long moment.

— Where did you get this?

Joseph crosses his arms over his chest and squints, although he still does not take his eyes off her.

— I accidentally found it in your things. You should have hidden it better if you didn't want anyone to see it.

— You found it some time ago, didn't you? Is that why you resented me hiding something from you then?

The brunette swallows her saliva harder, mulling the piece of paper in her hand. She is nervous.

— I wonder... is it better to be an enemy worth trusting, or a lying love?

So that's what he means? Does it hurt him that she once thought of him that way?

— It was in high school. I don't remember when exactly I wrote it. It was the worst period of my illness. I don't even know what I meant. I don't remember anything about it.

— And yet, you have a secret in common with Jin. Charming.

— I'm also connected with you by a secret, so you're no different from him.

Joseph raises an eyebrow, surprised by her answer.

— With a beloved one always hides darker secrets. Looking at what you wrote on this card.... I have no doubt.

— It was only an illusion. I put something idiotic in my head. It's because of the illness, so stop reproaching me for it. Besides... why am I explaining myself to you?

He forces a smile.

— Well, I don't know... maybe in the end we need to tell each other everything so that things can be good between us?

Could it be that he cares after all?

— I don't have much to say. You learned everything from that piece of paper. So much time has passed, and I still can't remember what happened that day. I don't know what to do to bring those memories back.... — The teenager plays with the card, looking ahead at a single point on the door. — I told you about the fact that my sister died in a car accident. She was hit by a truck, and Jin and me.... we were there. I don't know what we were doing there and how much we had to do with it, but I have a bad feeling that I killed my sister. — Joseph does not react in any way. He just looks at her and remains silent, as if waiting for her to tell him more. — I met Danielle a few months before her death. I know she was a horrible bitch. — Joseph smiles at these words. — She oppressed other girls, thought she was better. I thought she played a game with Jin and never loved him, but he confessed something to me today.... He said she only trusted him. She didn't really care about me. She played the game with me from the very beginning to the end.

— I don't like people who behave like me. It's a good thing she died.

Hannah is outraged by his words.

— This is not right.

— What? I'm supposed to respect her just because she died? She was messing with you, so she's lucky she's just lying in her grave because I would have punished her accordingly.

— Joseph!

He merely rolls his eyes.

— If you had stayed with your biological mother, I would have trained you so that you would have walked like clockwork.

— What?

Has he started to open up? Hannah realizes that in a moment she will hear the truth from him.

Eventually.

— Maybe it's not as shocking as the whole Jin thing, but still a little, since I was raised by your mother. — He sees that the nineteen-year-old's face is frowning. — If my father hadn't given you away, you could have been my sisters. It sounds terrible, and every night I thank God that you disappeared from the house that day after all.

Hannah rubs her forehead. From all this, she can't open her mouth to say anything. She is so devastated that she is speechless.

— What — she exclaims only.

— Don't live like this! — he yells at her when he sees that the girl is concerned. — We are not siblings.

— Since when did you know that? — She asks him with tears in her eyes.

— Ever since I saw the scarf in your room in high school. I have an identical one.

— And all this time you hid the truth from me? Why? — Joseph notices how sad her eyes are and can't stand it, so he gets more and more nervous. — Do you even realize how important this is to me? Here it's about my family....

— And you think it was easy for me to confess that because of you and your stupid sister, she died!!!? — he shouts, causing tears to run down her cheeks. — My mother betrayed my father. Because of this, everything became complicated. When you were given to the orphanage, she went completely crazy with longing for you and committed suicide!

The teenager covers her face with her hands as she bursts out crying.

— Why are you so cruel?

— Cruel? — he repeats. — Am I cruel?

— Now I understand why you hate me so much.

His facial expression darkens. He looks at her with disbelief in his eyes.

— I hate you? — He lifts her face and looks at her with weeping eyes. — Do you think I hate you? — The boy puts his hand to his chest, not stopping to look at her. He is agitated. — Great! Keep thinking to yourself!

He leaves, slamming the door too hard. The girl covers her ears and lowers her head, choking with tears.

It would have been better if Joseph had not come....

*

Brunet heads for the car, but is stopped by a friend. Tom looks at him with disbelief in his eyes.

— What are you doing here?

— Pretend you didn't see me at all — he says frigidly, and his gaze is caught by the person standing next to him. — And you're the one I'll cut off that tongue in the near future. — He measures the blonde with a hateful glance, then gets into the car and drives away, leaving a ton of dust behind.

Bella puts her hands to her mouth, terrified by his threat.

— Is he really capable of doing this?

— He has his games, so just ignore what he said. Occasionally, it's difficult to understand him. — He shrugs her shoulders.

The two enter the trailer and stop in the entrance when they spot Hannah. The girl is in a deplorable state.

— What has happened? — The boy is the first to reach her and kneels in front of her, putting his hands on her knees. — Where is Jin?

— I don't know — she replies, pulling her nose. — He stayed in the forest.

Tom turns to Bella and looks at her with horror in his eyes.

— Will you tell us why you are crying?

— Currently, I need solitude. I will go outside to calm down, so don't follow me — she turns to his friends, wiping his nose. — I'll get there and come back soon.

As she closes the door behind her, she hears Tom decide to call Jin to see if he's okay.

The teenager leans against the wall and when she closes her eyes, she lets the air out of her mouth, trying to calm down at least a little.

She is heartbroken.

She can't understand how Joseph could lie to her for so long? After all, this is about her biological mother! Why did he only tell her about it now? If Bella hadn't mentioned it to her, would he still be hiding the truth from her?

Hannah feels as if she has been hit in the head with a heavy stone.

Joseph was raised by her biological mother, while she and her sister were given to an orphanage. They were born out of an affair. It was because of them that her mother committed suicide. She was sick. And Hannah is also going through it.

Both of them experienced something in life, and it led to the devastation of their psyche.

She lifts her face as Jin walks past her. She sees that the boy is concerned. He pays no attention to her and hurriedly walks inside, as if he is running away from something.

— Why do I seem to be starting to distance myself from you?

The girl sighs. She looks ahead and crinkles her eyebrows when she notices something despite the darkness. She is sure she sees a silhouette.

Someone is watching her.

Hannah slowly walks in that direction. The closer she gets, the more and more sure she is that this person is actually standing there.

She squints her eyes and watches her face carefully when he is only five meters away from her. The teenager is unable to go further as her legs refuse to obey her.

— Danielle?

She realizes that this is not a real sight and that scares her the most. She fears that this illusion is the beginning of her relapse.

The infernal twin smiles at her, then turns on her heel and walks away into the woods.

The 19-year-old puts her hand to her chest and takes a deep breath as she feels herself getting weak. Eventually, her legs give way under her and she falls to the grass.

She is terrified. Was stopping the pills really a good idea?

*

— What the hell are you doing here?

With semi-conscious eyes, she looks at her friends, who help her up from the ground. Among them is also Jin.

— I saw something. It surprised me.

— What did you see? — Tom is inquisitive.

— Playing in the forest was a bad idea. We could have not done it — Jin speaks up. — Hannah does not look well.

The teenager looks at Bella's face. She feels as if she is high.

— Jin confessed that there was an argument between the two of you in the forest.

The brunette looks at the boy with astonishment in her eyes.

— It was just a small quarrel. I just got discouraged from having fun. I wanted to be alone — she claims, watching each of them.

— Never mind. Nevertheless, you took it badly, and it's best if you go back to the trailer and go to bed. — Bella has been holding her the whole time, as if she is afraid that her roommate will fall over shortly.

Hannah's attention is focused on one person, namely the man who is walking towards them with a slow step.

— What happened to Hannah?

— Did you come back? — Tom no longer understands his friend's behavior at all.

— Yes, because I'm not going to leave her in this state.

Jin crinkles his eyebrows.

— Have you been here before? — Joseph ignores his question.

— Can you bring her things? I intend to take her home — he turns to Bella. The girl hastily nods and runs straight to the trailer, just to make sure Joseph doesn't find a reason to hate her even more.

— It's probably better this way. It is clear that Hannah is not feeling very well. — Tom looks at her with a caring gaze.

The girl lowers her head and looks at her shoes.

— I saw her, so it's better if I actually go home.

— Who did you see?

Jin opens his eyes wide. He has a bad feeling, just like Joseph.

— I don't know what I really saw. I think I'm tired.

The boy grabs her hand and pulls her toward the car. He opens the passenger side door for her, and the others join them.

Bella throws all of Hannah's things into the back seat.

— I will write you a message when we are there. See you at the dormitory. — Joseph nods to the guys and takes a seat behind the wheel. He fastens his seat belt and glances at Hannah. The girl looks at one point in front of her. — Get back to the living because it stops being fun, girl.

— As long as I'm in the same room with you, I'm sure I won't go back to the living. Don't expect that — she replies, turning toward the door. — Let's just get out of here before I go completely crazy.

He doesn't say a word. He reverses the car and drives out of the campsite. She closes her eyes, trying to survive the journey in her sleep.

She is angry with Joseph and for the moment she does not intend to talk to him.