Forbidden Knots (Shadow Duet #1)

2. TWO

TWO

Shadow

W e all hold dark pasts; some of us can say we survived to see the light, while others still live in darkness.

I know I do.

With all my sins and demons, I've made peace and accepted that my place is in the shadows .

After our parents died, I had to take care of my sister, Sophie. Despite her innocent appearance, she carries demons of her own. The spark that once lit her eyes as a child has long since dimmed, and I blame myself for it.

I was always the troubled one, the one who needed all the attention, who demanded so much from Mom and Dad. In the end, it took them from us, and it breaks my heart that I didn't see it then. I see it now—Sophie needed them more than I ever did.

She still does.

After they died, she wanted to join them. She tried to drown herself, to cut herself, and each time I saved her, she hated me a little more. I had to take her away from everything, from the memories that haunted us. With the little money our parents left, I got us a house in La Maddalena , hoping for a fresh start, hoping we could finally be a normal family.

But nothing is normal with us.

"How many times have I told you not to lock this fucking door, Sophie?" I screamed, banging on the bathroom door, knowing it wouldn't help.

"And why the fuck do you care, Tristan?" She flung the door open, shouting, "You never cared."

"That's not true," I said, stepping inside and closing the door behind me.

She looked at me with her big brown eyes, tears already drowning her, making her choke as she spoke. "I miss Mom," she cried, "and Dad's clumsiness."

She sat down, her hand falling limp, the razor clattering to the floor from her grip.

"Again? Fuck, Sophie! When are you going to learn this isn't what they would want? They wanted us to be happy." I grabbed the razor and smashed it against the shower tiles, the plastic shattering under the force.

I knelt in front of her, wiping her tears away. "Can't you go out, meet a friend?"

"What friends?" she chuckled bitterly. "Can't you just let me be, and we'll both be at peace? You can go back to your life and forget all about me."

"You're the only thing worth fighting for in this family, Sophie, and I won't let you go," I said, brushing a few curls out from under her pink bucket hat.

"And if you have no friends, go out and make some," I said, pulling her up by her hand and dragging her out of the bathroom.

"I hate you, Tristan," she shouted, stomping to her room. "You always know how to ruin my day."

I rolled my eyes so deeply I could see the back of my skull. I followed her, making sure no other stupid ideas crept into her teenage head.

"Sophie," I leaned against the door frame, trying to hold the door before she could slam it in my face. "I'm trying my best."

"That's the problem," she said, hitting me with a pillow. "I lost my father, and instead of acting like one, you should be a big brother for once." She shoved me and closed the door.

I leaned my forehead against the door, my hand softly slamming the frame—a quiet, but painful, hit. Everything I did was wrong, and everything I said was never enough. So, all I could manage to say was silent, "I lost them too."

I turned around and walked to my bedroom. The sun today was especially hot, burning my skin as its rays fell upon me. Ever since we moved here, my skin had darkened to a typical Italian tan, and my dark hair helped me blend into this small town. But what frustrated me most was that in this house, there was no breeze of fresh air on a hot day nor the air conditioning we had back in Chicago.

I walked inside my bedroom. The paint was peeling off the walls, and the house was old, needing so much work. But taking care of Sophie never gave me a chance to fix anything.

I pulled off my shirt, and as it slid down my body, I noticed a reflection in my window. Our new neighbor across the street, a girl Sophie's age, was watching. I couldn't see her clearly, just the soft curls of her blonde hair and her hand at the white lace curtains shielding her from my view.

Something told me to stop, to not make her feel watched, but a soft smile curved my lips. She was hiding, probably thinking I saw her. She awoke something in me— a curiosity .

I wanted to know who she was, and why she was there. Was she escaping something, just like us? Was she afraid? Did my look scare her?

I was one of those men born with different colored eyes—my left eye was deep green, and my right was deep blue. Almost the same, but different enough that every time I saw my reflection, I saw the monster others had created.

Kids can be cruel, the meanest people on Earth. I remember my first day of school; they called me Frankenstein because of my eyes. They mocked me, saying my mom and dad built me in a lab. Those hurtful words drove me into the shadows and taught me to fend for myself when my mom didn't know how to comfort me, and my dad couldn't fight the bullies anymore.

So, I became a bully.

In my fear for myself, I made everyone else fear me. That led me into so much trouble until one day it all disappeared when I had to become the light for Sophie, who was drowning in her own darkness. I always thought my family was cursed and that I was the reason for it.

But I knew darkness and evil existed. Ghosts and curses of our past haunted us only because we allowed them to. In the end, we were just humans. Monsters are just hiding under our beds.

Sophie entered the bedroom, breaking my thoughts. She wrapped her arms around me, catching me by surprise. Just before I could hug her back, she stepped away.

"I'm sorry if I was harsh," she said. "I like you now, and I don't want you to be like you used to be."

I chuckled, "Come here, Sophie Bear ," I said, using the nickname I called her when we were younger. She started crying, remembering the simpler times when I was just a boy who didn’t think much about the world.

Wrapping my arms around her, she leaned against my chest and whispered, "I will try to find a friend."

I smiled. "You do that," I chuckled, then took her hand and added, "And if you can't find one, you know I’ll always be here."

"Aww," she said, then grabbed a pillow from the bed and playfully hit me across the face, making my eyes twitch from the impact.

She smiled, walking towards the door. "You are already my best friend."

For the first time, I felt like we were moving toward normalcy, something better for both of us. As she slammed the door behind her, shouting, "Going to the beach," I lay down on the bed, looking through the window, trying to see if the girl across the street was still there. But she was gone.

They warned me this place was haunted, but I didn’t know that someone I’d seen for only a few seconds would haunt me instead.

I closed my eyes, trying to imagine how she smelled, how she looked, but all I could see was a shadow, the sun blocking my view. I wanted to touch her and feel how soft her skin was. I knew I shouldn’t become obsessed with this ghost from across the street. But I had to distract myself with something, otherwise my own darkness would consume me .

Then my phone started to buzz, and when I opened my eyes, I saw my ex’s name flash on the screen. I answered only because there had been ten missed calls before this one, and I wanted to end it for good.

"Amber, stop calling me," I shouted. "I’ve told you millions of times, it’s over."

"I miss you," she sobbed. "Please come back."

"We. Are. Over." I said, gritting my teeth and pushing my hair from my face. "Stop calling."

"Please," she whispered, her voice breaking. "Please, Tristan. I miss you." She begged.

"Amber, it's over," I shouted, and just before I was about to hang up, her voice changed to the one I used to know, the one that always sent chills down my spine. "You will fucking pay."

She hung up, and in my frustration, I slammed my phone against the bed frame, cracking the screen.

"Fuck."

I took a deep breath, trying to calm the storm brewing inside me. My gaze drifted back to the window, where the girl had been. My thoughts returned to her, the mystery of her presence lingering like a haunting melody. I needed to know more about her, needed a distraction from the chaos Amber always brought.