Her long jacket touches the wooden floorboards beneath the chair she sits on. It was always her chair. She refused to let me sit there.

A red grin slithers up her cheek as she looks me up and down humorously. Her boot kicks out the chair opposite her, demanding that I sit.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," she says in her soft, taunting voice. It's changed.

"You're not real," I tell myself as I shake my head, trying to get this image out of my head.

"Wouldn't be able to do this if I wasn't real."

A small berry bounces from my head. I gasp and spin around. Raine smirks even more when she sees my reaction. She throws another berry at me. This time it hits my stomach and plummets to the floor beneath me.

"B-but you died. You're dead," I stammer in disbelief as I take a step back and bump into the staircase in the process.

She remains seated and raises an eyebrow. "Take a seat, Vanessa."

I shake my head and step backwards. "No. I won't. I know what you've done. I know everything, Matilda."

Annoyance washes over her face as she rolls her eyes and places another berry in her mouth to chew on. "Must I really tell you again? Do not call me that."

Again?

My eyebrows fall and I open my mouth to question this, only to remember the night in my flat when I was too drunk to process anything. She warned me not to call her that.

"You were there. You were in my flat."

Raine claps twice and then kicks out the chair further. "Sit."

For some reason, I do just that. My body is stiff and my shocked expression only makes Raine laugh harder.

"Have a berry, Vanessa. They'll make you feel better."

I just manage to shake my head. "How did you get into my flat? The window's too high."

With a smirk still present, she leans back into her chair and rests her fingers on her forehead. "There's something called a door."

"But we looked on the cameras. You were never there."

"Oh, yes, of course. I almost forgot. We copied and pasted old footage over the time I went to visit you. Clever, right?"

My face scrunches up. "Who are you?"

She leans forward and tucks a strand of my hair that's escaped my ponytail behind my ear. "Your sister."

"You're not my sister. You stopped being my sister the day you left."

I thought that statement would do something to her and make her realise how badly she's messed up. But she just sighs and leans back. Her smile never leaves. Her victims were right. Her smile does taunt me. It causes my entire body to shiver.

"I thought you were dead. There was a video-"

"I know," she cuts me off. "I made it."

I feel disgusted at how proud she sounds. There's no regret present in her voice. She doesn't care how much she hurts other people, it's like she finds entertainment out of it. Even when it's her little sister.

"I don't understand," I admit.

"I made the video. It was fake. I'm surprised you even believed it."

In a fit of rage, I stand up and go to grab her, unsure of what I'm planning to do. I want her to understand how much she hurt me. But she grabs my wrists. She doesn't do anything to twist or damage them, she just simply holds them.

"I'll let you go. Then you can do whatever you want to me. I won't stop you." She leans closer to whisper in my ear. "But are you sure you really want to do that? After all, I thought you worked at that stupid company so you would be the opposite to me. Maybe we're more alike than you think."

I rip my wrists away from her hold and walk over to the window so I can breathe heavily without her hearing. I don't need her to know how much she upsets me. The only thing that manages to calm me is the lake outside with so many memories surrounding it; bringing me back to the moments I love the most with the people I adored.

I can see Raine behind me in the reflection of the window, but I don't bother to turn around, and instead ignore her.

"I wanted to see if you still cared about me," she says in a softer, genuine voice. It sounds like how she used to talk. I almost find myself smiling, but I have to remind myself who she really is.

"Now I know that you do," she finishes.

I turn around abruptly and glare a look of hatred in her direction, so mortified by her lack of consideration or empathy. "I cared for Matilda. I mourned her. Not you."

"We both know that's a lie."

"You're delusional," I exclaim. "Mum would be so disappointed."

Something snaps in her and the mask falls. She doesn't bother to lift it back up. Her eyes are wide and erratic, shocked and angry by what I've said. Within a second, she's grabbed me by the throat and pinned me up against the wall, only giving me just enough room to breathe.

"In me? Is that so? Funny that, because I think she would be disappointed in you. After all, you are working for the company who killed her," she hisses in my face before letting me go aggressively.

"That's why your doing this? Revenge?" I scoff and rub my throat. "It's not their fault mum died."

"Yes it is. She died on the job!"

"It was only one person's fault. The person who shot that gun. Her colleagues did everything they could to save her."

"You mean Connor?" she snaps with a disgusted expression. "He's the worst of the lot."

"He's a good guy. He cared for mum."

"Yeah I bet he did."

"You can't blame them for what happened to mum."

Raine turns back to me and smiles sinisterly. "They should have done their research. They should have had better security checks in place. They sent her to her death!"

"Mum knew what the job involved."

"You're blaming her?"

"Of course not. But she knew the risks. She was brave. It's just unfortunate that it ended like that. But destroying the building mum used to work in and forcing them to rebuild was not going to bring her justice! Acting out isn't going to do anything either. You've caused so much hurt."

She leans against the edge of the table and crosses her arms. Her coat opens slightly and reveals her black top and black jeans. "Do you know how much pleasure it brings me to make a fool out of you all?"

The anger bubbles inside me again, but I ignore it and try my best to remain calm. "The only person you're making a fool out of is yourself."

She shakes her head in disagreement. "Your team has been trying to find me for eight years. Eight. It's comical. Everyone is laughing at you."

"Why didn't you just stay dead? No one would know you're alive, you could've got away with so much. You could've been free. Now you're here in front of me, exposing yourself. Why?"

"Like I said, I only did it to see if you still care. And you're right, I could've done that, but it would just be so boring. What's the fun in that?"

"You think terrorising people is fun? People are scared to go to sleep because of you!"

Raine shrugs her shoulders and half smiles before removing her coat and placing it on the back of the chair. She thinks we'll be here for a while. Little does she know, I want to be as far away from her as possible.

I walk towards her, still glaring. "You try to hide from what you've done. But one day it's all going to hit you. Let me tell you, Raine, it'll give you nightmares."

Her smile doesn't falter. She really just does not care.

I take a step back and scoff before finally examining her properly. This is the first time I've seen her in twelve years. So much has changed, not only her personality but her appearance as well. "What's with the makeup and clothes? Who are you trying to impress?"

Her head tilts back as she laughs. "The only person I'm doing this for is myself. Do you know how agitating it was to be forced to wear dad's old dull shirts and baggy trousers from when he was a kid? No makeup, no perfume. He wouldn't even allow me to style my hair when I went to school. You'd know all about that, wouldn't you? You've never ever had a boyfriend because of him."

"I've never had a boyfriend because I've never felt that way for someone."

"Whatever. The point is, I'm doing this because I finally can. I'm wearing what I want and doing what I want because father dearest is no longer here to control me. I want to erase him from me completely; be someone different to the girl he once knew."

I push back in the chair and take one more look around the room, knowing that this reunion is coming to an end and soon I'll be taking Raine to Connor.

"You know, you can't just break into someone's house," I say. "It's not ours anymore. Someone lives here."

"I did no such thing. It's my house."

My body freezes. I remember the swing outside, the porch and bench that hasn't been changed nor touched.

"You live here?" I ask in barely a whisper.

"No. I just don't want anyone else to live here. So I bought it. You're welcome to come back here anytime you like. This is my second time visiting since I bought it. I wanted to see you."

"How did you know I'd come here?"

Raine pouts her lips to the side. "You're very predictable, Vanessa. Don't forget, I know you. In fact, I practically raised you."

"And then you left me, like I was nothing."

Raine traces her nail against the wooden table, leaving a mark in it. "You had to learn to grow up at some point. I couldn't be there forever."

"You left me! And you took mum's necklace, too. She left that for me."

"Calm down. It's upstairs in her jewellery box. I returned it when I bought this place."

I look at the ceiling, knowing my parents' room is just above, but I can't get my feet to move to retrieve it.

"Go look if you don't believe me. I won't stop you."

With my breaths growing heavy, I rush up the stairs and gently touch the silver handle to my parents' room. So many memories. It's almost too much to handle.

I slowly twist it and push the door open, revealing the room that's inhabitable and collecting dust. I move my feet to enter the room and touch the duvet that hasn't been slept in for over a year. It still smells like dad's cigarettes and mum's perfume that he would spray for comfort. I find their desk and hold my mum's glass perfume bottle. With a tear racing down my cheek, I carefully pull it open and spray it once onto my clothes. When I sniff, I'm almost pulled back into that moment of time when she was still alive and everything was perfect. I wipe down the photograph of my mother and father that has grown slightly grey with dust. I kiss it and stroke their faces.

Her pink jewellery box is in the left corner of the table, waiting for me. I drag it over and flick the metal seal before opening it. A tune begins to play and a small ballerina begins to twirl. Me and my sister would always search her jewellery box and be fixated on its beauty.

Right there, in the middle compartment, is her necklace with the small square green emerald, held by a tiny silver chain. I'm so gentle with it as I place it in the palm of my hand and refuse to ever let it go again.

"I miss you," I whisper. I move to the mirror and clip the necklace around my neck. It rests on my chest, reflecting it's beauty to the world. Another reminder of my beautiful mother. I always loved her necklaces. That's why she left it for me. She left her engagement ring to my sister out of hope that one day she would use it when she got engaged herself. My sister grew to resent that ring because it was a token of my dad's love that seemed impossible to have.

I return to the desk to close the jewellery box, but something catches my attention from the window behind the table. A woman with long black hair walking away from the house.

"No," I whisper harshly before sprinting down the stairs and revealing myself to the outside world. "Raine!"

She doesn't stop. She continues walking.

"Raine!" I scream while running like my life depends on it. "Get back here! Don't do this to me again!"

She still doesn't turn back. Instead she slashes my car tire and walks a little further to a motorbike that was hid behind a bush.

"Raine!" I scream, still running, refusing to give up. "I will never forgive you if you do this! Never!"

Raine turns her head and smiles before saying, "Yes you will," in the calmest voice possible. I watch helplessly with so much adrenaline pumping through my body as she shoves on her helmet and drives away.

I'm in shock and disbelief; frozen until she turns the corner and I know I've lost her all over again. I failed.

I hold the top of my head and look around, trying to figure out what to do. "Fuck." I pull out my phone and dial Connor's number. "Fuck!"

How could I let her get away?