Terraformed Skies

by Anna Lewis

  “Never mind,” he said before she could say anything else. “I see that we’re on two different planes when it comes to us. I love you, Lilly Bruce. If you don’t love me, that’s fine. But I hope that, no matter what you think of me, you can find it in you to give me a chance to prove that I’m not the killer.”

  He finished the last bite and stood, taking his dishes to the sink and rinsing them before loading them into the dishwasher.

  “I have to go, Lilly. I’m sorry you can’t follow your heart and believe in me. It breaks my heart but I understand.”

  He walked out of the house, closing the door quietly behind him. He was halfway to the car when the door swung open and Lilly called out.

  “Jason, wait!”

  Jacob smiled.

  That had been much too easy.

  ***

  Jason had no idea how long it had been when he finally came to. It could have been hours, or even minutes. The world around him was a little less abstract, but he was still struggling to push away the fog so he could think. He hoped that the recent jolt of electricity and whatever drugs Jacob had injected him with didn’t fry his brain. He needed to think. There had to be a way out of this mess.

  Jason sat in the chair, trying to keep his wits about him while he figured out what to do. His parents’ house was so far from the nearest neighbor, and even further from the highway. He could yell until he was hoarse and no one would ever hear him.

  He couldn’t use his phone. Jacob had grabbed that and his keys out of his things when he left. He had nothing and he was still tied tightly to the chair.

  On top of that, his head was still throbbing and his vision was blurry from the shock he’d taken earlier. The tips of his fingers were tingling, though he didn’t know if that was from the Taser, or if it was from the tight ropes. Or it could all be from the drugs.

  Jason wiggled around in the chair, trying to find any weakness in his restraints. The chair squeaked and moaned, but the rope didn’t budge.

  What was worse was that he’d been completely unconscious when Jacob had tied him up, so his feet had been bent at the ankles and off to the side. Now that he was awake, it was almost painful, and his legs were tied so tight that he was completely unable to put his feet flat without lifting the front of the chair up and risking a backwards fall.

  “Dammit to hell,” he said, his frustrated voice echoing in the silence of the empty house.

  There wasn’t much left in the house since he left; looters had taken most of the furniture and animals had dispatched the rest. He didn’t know what he’d been expecting after being abandoned for five years, but it sure wasn’t this.

  “I should have stayed here,” he said to himself, not even caring that he was talking aloud to no one in particular. “I should have taken care of our home and kept it up. Mom and Dad would be so sad to see it like this. All their hard work, lost.”

  But it wasn’t that simple, and Jason knew it. Their death had left a hole in his heart, and he hadn’t felt the same since that tragic day. Even riding down the old dirt road in the cab had brought back pictures and memories he didn’t care to relive. His parents had farmed that land for decades, yet one farming accident had taken them away in an instant. He’d spent the last five years wondering how things would have been different if he’d stayed home like they asked. Instead, he’d gone off to chase his dreams, and his selfish needs had cost him the parents that he loved so dearly.

  He knew, rationally, that it wasn’t his fault, but that didn’t stop him from feeling responsible. There’s no telling how things would be different if he had just been here when they needed him most, but he was certain that they’d still be alive.

  Anger welled inside of him. His life had been rough since the moment he was conceived; why did life have to be so hard for some and not for others?

  Bitter laughter rose from him. He hadn’t had it as hard as Jacob had, apparently. His parents had never mentioned a twin, but did they even know that Jacob had lived? He doubted it. Dave and Susan were good people. If they knew that Jason had a twin out there and if they had any inkling of the hell that young Jacob was living in, they would have adopted him in a heartbeat.

  They hadn’t even mentioned to Jason that his mother was an addict, so intent on her next hit that she hadn’t even noticed she was pregnant until she was already in labor. With twins! No, Dave and Susan had gone the kind route, telling Jason that his mother had been incredibly young and scared and nothing more sinister than that. They painted a picture of a young woman who had done what was best for her child, even though it broke her heart. And Jason, believing that his mother had loved him more than herself, had idolized the image that their stories had painted in his mind.

  And why wouldn’t he? His parents above all else had been kind, compassionate people. They would never have left little Jacob behind if they thought that he was going to live, and they had taken the truth about Jason’s mother to their grave.

  Not that Jacob would believe Jason if he told him. But he knew in his heart that his parents were great people and that they would never leave an innocent child to fend for himself the way Jacob had been forced to.

  It was hard not to pity Jacob, but for his own sanity, Jason had to remember that Jacob wasn’t just a victim. He was a murderer and had framed Jason for his latest crimes. Jacob wanted Jason to pay for the life Jacob had been thrust into, and Jason was struggling to see the logic in that.

  He didn’t blame young Jacob for being angry at his foster parents. He didn’t condone violence, but he could understand the fear and the anger that Jacob must have experienced to lead him to that point.

  He also doubted that Jacob was completely forthcoming with all the abuse he’d suffered. Jason was certain that things had been even harder than Jacob would admit. Even to himself.

  Jason actually remembered the news stories from when Jacob had killed his foster parents. The case had remained unsolved, with no clear motive established and no evidence at all. What they hadn’t mentioned was the missing son. Jacob was telling the truth when he’d said that no one outside his household even knew he existed. Jacob’s parents had kept him a secret from the outside world, and he’d gotten away with two murders because of it.

  Jason groaned aloud, gritting his teeth and trying to focus in spite of the drugs in his system. There was a way out of this, he just had to concentrate. He could do this. Lilly was counting on him and he didn’t have it in him to let her down.

  ***

  Lilly’s naked body pressed against Jason, his hands roaming over her body, lips muttering sweet words of praise as he did.

  Lilly melted under his touch, all the guilt she felt about Jason melting away with it. She’d fought herself for too long, and she’d lost control. She didn’t care what it cost, she had to have him.

  “Are you sure?” he asked, hovering over her, his naked chest smooth beneath her fingers.

  “So sure. You’re innocent. That’s all that matters to me.”

  “Do you love me?”

  “I do,” she said, but she stumbled over the declaration.

  Did she? She didn’t know. But she knew that she couldn’t bear to lose him, and that was enough right now.

  She pulled him closer, his rigid shaft brushing her leg and teasing her.

  “I need you inside me,” she said.

  “I need to hear you say the words.”

  “I love you, Jason.”

  He smiled, plunging into her and burying himself to the hilt. Lilly gasped, encircling him with her arms and pulling him so close that the weight of him pushed her into the mattress.

  He thrust against her, rocking in and out with maddening precision, hitting all the right spots as he did. She opened her legs to him, wrapping them around his waist and pulling him even deeper.

  Still, she couldn’t get enough.

  Her full breasts smashed against him, her nipples rigid against him, the sensation deliciously painful.

  “Harder,”
she said.

  He complied, banging her with such force that the air escaped her in ragged gasps.

  “Yes,” she whispered, afraid to break the spell.

  The tension was building within her, the heat overwhelming as it did. Her skin was flushed a deep red, and sweat beaded onto her brow. Jason kissed her roughly as she ran her nails down his back, digging in when her passion grew and orgasm threatened.

  Jason backed off, leaning back to look at her.

  “You would love me even if I did it,” he declared boldly.

  “What?” she asked, her mind muddled with the pleasure he was pouring into her.

  “You know I did it.”

  Lilly stared at him, trying to make sense of the words, but it was too late. Her climax came without warning, ripping through her with such force that she began convulsing immediately.

  She grabbed onto Jason, holding on for dear life as she writhed and bucked in his arms.

  “Do you love me?” he whispered in her ear.

  “Yes. Yes, I do.”

  “Say it.”

  “I love you.”

  “Louder.”

  “I love you,” she yelled.

  He kissed her again, tongue delving deep into her mouth as he did.

  “Good. Because you’re next.”

  His hand went around her throat and he squeezed.

  Lilly sat up in bed, screaming out into the darkness and grabbing at her neck. She turned on the beside lamp, almost knocking it down in the process.

  Dim light filled the room.

  She was alone, wrapped up in her own sheets, dripping with sweat and panting. Heartbeat pounding in her ears, she buried her face in her hands and shrieked in anger.

  “What the hell,” she yelled, grabbing a pillow and throwing it across the room.

  It landed with a lackluster thud on the floor just past her bed. She got out of bed, stripping off the sheets and dragging them down the hall to the laundry room.

  She tossed them in the direction of the dryer and grabbed a new set off the shelf before heading back to the room and making up the bed. She smelled each of the pillows, tossing the ones that still smelled like Jason off onto the floor.

  How could she still smell him? It had been days since they slept together. She didn’t know, but she was sure that that was the source of the strange dream.

  That and her conflicting feelings towards Jason.

  She put the remaining pillows back on the bed and made her way to the shower. Her skin was still damp, but it wasn’t the sweat that was bothering her. It was her traitorous body. Somehow, in the middle of that dream, she’d climaxed. It was something that had never happened to her before, and it made the entire thing somehow worse.

  It was a perfect metaphor for her current situation. The facts said that she was insane, but her body and her heart said that Jason was a good guy.

  She stepped into the shower, cranking the temperature down as low as it would go until icy water stung her skin. Her body felt hot in comparison to the cold water. She scrubbed quickly, washing every inch of her body, trying to rid herself of the pleasure that lingered long after the dream had gone.

  And what had he said to her in the dream?

  She remembered his face, how he’d buried himself inside her, and how she’d begged him to go even deeper. She even remembered his hand going around her throat. But the rest of it was a blur and the more she tried to recall it, the further back it was pushed in her mind.

  “Dammit, Lilly. What are you doing?”

  She scrubbed with renewed fervor, furious at herself and her heart. This wasn’t how her life was supposed to be. She was logical, analytical and frankly, she knew better.

  She stepped out of the shower, scrubbed from head to toe and shivering from the cold.

  A quick glance at the clock told her that it was almost morning. She’d be getting up in an hour anyway, and there was no way that she could get back to sleep and wake up ready to face the day.

  She opened her closet, choosing her work clothes for the day. She picked the least feminine suit in the bunch, wanting nothing more than to just be one of the boys.

  “This shit would never happen to Adam,” she said.

  She was thoroughly disgusted with herself. She knew better than to fall in love with anyone even remotely related to the case. But here she was, falling for their main suspect.

  “You’re a fool, Lilly Bruce.”

  Her reflection stared back at her as she worked her hair into a demure ponytail that hung down her back and swiped a bit of neutral makeup onto her face.

  She grabbed her phone, dialing Adam’s number and letting it ring twice before she realized that he might not be up yet. She was about to hang up when his voice came on the line.

  “Hello?” he said, his voice gravely with sleep.

  “Adam? Are you awake?”

  “What the hell, Lilly. Of course I’m awake. You called me.”

  “Don’t you wake up at five anyway?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, it’s almost five. I need to talk. Can you meet me for breakfast?”

  “What time is it?”

  “A little after three.”

  “Shit, Lilly. That’s not almost five. That’s almost three.”

  “Adam, please.”

  “Fine. I’ll meet you at The Place in thirty minutes.”

  “Thanks, Adam. I’m glad I got you as a partner.”

  “I’m the only one that volunteered.”

  “Really?”

  “No,” he laughed. “I drew the short straw.”

  “Now I know you’re joking,” she laughed.

  “If you say so. See you soon.”

  He hung up before she could ask him if he was really being serious.

  She shrugged, gathering up her things and getting into her car after carefully making sure that her house was locked up tight.

  Turning on the engine, she pulled out onto the street, completely oblivious to the man sitting in the car across the way.

  Jacob waited until her car pulled around the corner before he pulled on his black leather gloves and got out of the car.

  ***

  Jacob went to the bathroom window, careful to stay in the shadows so that anyone who happened to be up at this hour wouldn’t see him. He slid the bathroom window up, pleased that Lilly hadn’t noticed that he’d unlatched it when he’d left to wash his hands before dinner. He’d taken a chance, assuming that anyone with a master bathroom wouldn’t have a need for the guest bathroom.

  A quick look around the small room had convinced him then and there that he was right. Everything looked like it hadn’t been touched in years, decorative towels folded for so long they seemed to have frozen into place.

  Jacob climbed through the small window, glad that Lilly’s bathroom featured a nearly full-sized one when so many had the tiny ones that would barely fit a small child.

  His feet hit the floor and he turned on his tiny penlight.

  He went through the house, looking around slowly, certain that Lilly was gone for the day. He found several places that would work perfectly. He’d hide out until she came home, and he’d surprise her.

  “It didn’t have to come to this, Lilly,” he muttered under his breath.

  But he knew it did. When Lilly had called him back, he’d been sure that she had fallen for his act. She’d even kissed him goodbye. But something about the way she’d looked at him when their lips had parted made him wonder.

  Did she know that he wasn’t Jason? If she didn’t, she likely suspected it. This put a wrench into his original plan. He’d planned on staying around until DNA came back, saying that Jason had an identical twin and that was the person who had committed the crime. In the meantime, he would give Jason the Scopolamine that he’d purchased, completely quashing any free will Jason possessed. Once under the spell of the infamous “Zombie drug” of Columbia, it would be a simple matter of telling Jason to kill himself and it would be done.
r />   No muss, no fuss. If he did it right, he could order the suicide and be halfway down the road before the shot rang out.

  But Lilly had thrown a wrench into things. It was that damn gut of hers. She didn’t realize it yet, but it was obvious that her subconscious had picked up on his identity. It was only a matter of time before she figured it out, and then he’d be screwed.

  He couldn’t rely on his previous plan, and even if he did, there was a chance that Lilly would run Jason’s DNA after he died, just to make sure she didn’t leave any stone unturned.

  His plan of stepping into Jason’s life without anyone being the wiser was in jeopardy because of one pretty little detective.

  Jacob sigh and shrugged. Her loss. He was going to pin her death on “Jacob” and the real Jason was still going to die. But Lilly was a loose end that he couldn’t afford to leave behind.

  He opened her fridge, perusing the contents and grabbing a bottle of beer. He’d drink half of it, and he’d leave it somewhere conspicuous so that the DNA from the bottle could be matched to the DNA from Leroy’s murder scene. Then, when “Jacob” killed himself and left a note, none of the detectives left behind would question that the dead man was their murderer and the man left behind was the innocent twin.

  And Jacob would have his dream life and have everything his brother had taken for granted.

  Jacob smiled to himself, sure that his plan would be a success. As long as he kept on top of everything, and didn’t leave anything to chance, he was as good as gold.

  He settled in to wait for Lilly, grabbing a book and retiring to the guest room to wait for the sound of her key in the door. At dinner last night, she’d mentioned coming home for lunch most days, so he was sure that she would be back sometime between ten and noon. It all depended on her workload. But since she’d left a little bit before four, he guessed that she’d be back closer to ten.

  So he’d wait, biding his time until she returned and he’d take care of her then, putting his plan into motion and making sure that the neighbors saw him running to Jason’s car and heading towards the Hathaway house in South Arlen.