"I guess you're happy to see me," Joseph muttered, "but let me go, because in a moment you'll pull all the guts out of me."
Hannah loosened her arms reluctantly. She stepped back, lifting her face toward him, her sad eyes glistening. His mood could change in a second—she had known it for years, and somehow, she had learned to endure it.
"What did you mean," she asked softly, "when you said you were out of your mind?"
His expression hardened. "I didn't say anything of the sort. You misheard." His tone was flat, dismissive. Hannah's face darkened with disappointment, her lips trembling.
"I only came out of curiosity," he added, voice cool and detached. "Wanted to see what you were doing at the campground, since the weather is miserable this time of year."
Her shoulders sagged.
"You're angry," she whispered.
He ignored the remark, his attention shifting. "Where are the others? I've been waiting here a long time."
"They came up with some stupid game," she said faintly. "Looking for some sign carved into a tree. I went back because I didn't feel like participating."
His eyes narrowed. "You came back alone? Through the forest?"
She only shrugged, unwilling to answer.
Joseph pulled out his phone, trying each of his friends in turn. No one picked up. A frown crept across his face. "What's wrong with them? Have they silenced their phones?"
For a fleeting moment Hannah worried too, a shadow passing over her features. But the thought of Jin returned quickly, his words gnawing at her, and with a bitter spark of defiance she told herself she did not care. Let even the bears eat him.
"Well, nothing," Joseph muttered, snapping the phone shut. "We'll wait until they're done screwing around." He placed a firm hand on her shoulders and guided her into the caravan.
Hannah sat down on the narrow bed, watching him as he closed the door. Once, she had loved moments like this—being alone with him. But ever since the misunderstanding between them, a fine crack had spread through that comfort. She no longer knew what to expect.
"Why are you watching me like that?" Joseph asked, a half-smile twitching at his lips.
"You didn't come here for no reason," she whispered. "You didn't travel all this way in vain."
His smile flickered, brittle. "So what? Do you think I missed you?"
"No. You were just afraid I'd hear something I shouldn't." The tremor in her voice sharpened. "Afraid of your long tongue when drunk. My roommate has quite a memory, Joseph. Since we're alone, maybe you can explain to me what you meant when you said my biological mother adopted you?"
For a heartbeat his eyes froze, then grew cold. Slowly, deliberately, he reached into his pocket, withdrew a folded scrap of paper, and tossed it onto her lap. The sound of it landing felt like a verdict.
"Then why don't you explain to me first," he said icily, "what secret you're hiding?"
Hannah's fingers trembled as she uncurled the note. Her eyes widened, locking on the words she herself had once written. For a long moment she could only stare, her pulse thudding in her ears.
"Where did you get this?" she whispered.
Joseph crossed his arms and leaned back, his gaze unrelenting.
"I found it in your things. Accidentally. If you didn't want anyone to see it, you should have hidden it better."
"You found it some time ago, didn't you?" Her voice cracked. "Is that why you resented me, why you thought I was keeping something from you?"
Her throat burned as she swallowed, crushing the paper in her hand.
"I wonder," he murmured, his voice sharp as glass, "is it better to be an enemy worth trusting—or a lying love?"
The words cut straight through her. Was that what he had held against her all this time? That once, in her darkest hours, she had dared to call him that?
"It was in high school," she stammered. "I don't even remember when I wrote it. It was the worst period of my illness. I don't know what I meant. I don't remember anything."
"And yet," Joseph said coolly, "you have a secret in common with Jin. Charming."
"I'm also connected to you by a secret," she shot back, her eyes narrowing. "So you're no different from him."
His brow arched in surprise, though he didn't look away.
"With someone you love," he said, "the secrets are always darker. And looking at what you wrote on this card… I have no doubt."
"It was only an illusion," she whispered, shaking her head. "I put something idiotic in my head. It was because of the illness. Stop reproaching me for it. Besides…" her voice trembled, "…why am I even explaining myself to you?"
His smile was cold, humorless. "Maybe because in the end we need to tell each other everything. Otherwise, things can never be good between us."
For a fleeting second, Hannah's heart faltered. Could it be that he still cared?
"I don't have much to say," she murmured, her voice hollow. "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."
She twisted the note between her fingers, her eyes fixed on the caravan door.
"I told you my sister died in a car accident. She was hit by a truck. Jin and I… we were there. I don't know what we were doing there, or how much we had to do with it. But I have this terrible feeling that I killed her."
Joseph remained silent. He simply watched her, waiting for more.
"I met Danielle a few months before her death," she whispered, tears brimming in her eyes. "I know she was horrible. A bitch, really."
At that, Joseph's mouth curved faintly.
"She oppressed other girls. Thought she was better than everyone. I thought she only toyed with Jin, never loved him. But he confessed something to me today…" Hannah's voice shook. "He said she trusted only him. That she didn't care about me. That she played a game with me from the very beginning."
"I don't like people who behave like me," Joseph muttered, his eyes narrowing with contempt. "It's a good thing she died."
Hannah's entire body stiffened. Outrage flared in her chest, burning hotter than her grief.
"That's not right," she snapped, her voice breaking.
"What?" He leaned closer, his tone cruelly mocking. "Am I supposed to respect her just because she died? She toyed with you. She humiliated you. So she's lucky she's just lying in her grave, because if she were alive, I'd have punished her accordingly."
"Joseph!" Hannah's voice rose, trembling with disbelief.
He rolled his eyes, as if her protest were nothing more than an inconvenience.
"If you had stayed with your biological mother," he said coldly, "I would have trained you so that you walked like clockwork."
Her lips parted in shock. "What?"
For the first time she felt it—he was on the verge of telling her something, peeling back the wall he had built for years.
"Maybe it's not as shocking as the whole thing with Jin," Joseph continued, his voice quieter now, "but it still matters. I was raised by your mother."
Hannah's brows furrowed, her young face folding in confusion and pain.
"If my father hadn't given you away," Joseph went on, his eyes fixed somewhere past her shoulder, "you could have been my sister. It sounds terrible, I know. And every night I thank God you disappeared from that house the day you did."
She rubbed her forehead, unable to process the words. Her throat closed, and no proper sentence would form. She could only gasp one broken word:
"What…?"
"Don't live like this!" he suddenly roared, his anger exploding when he saw her stricken expression. "We are not siblings!"
"Since when did you know?" she asked, her eyes filling with tears.
"Ever since I saw the scarf in your room back in high school," he said, his voice tightening. "I have an identical one."
"And all this time you hid the truth from me?" she demanded, her voice trembling. "Why? Joseph, do you even realize how important this is to me? This is my family—"
His composure shattered. "And you think it was easy for me?" he shouted, his voice echoing like a whip crack. "To confess that because of you and your stupid sister—she died! My mother betrayed my father, everything fell apart, and when you were sent to the orphanage, she went insane with longing for you. She killed herself!"
The words struck Hannah like blows. She buried her face in her hands, sobbing so violently her whole body shook.
"Why are you so cruel?" she cried through her palms.
"Cruel?" Joseph repeated, his voice trembling with a strange, bitter disbelief. "Am I cruel?"
"Now I understand," she whispered brokenly, "why you hate me so much."
His expression darkened, his chest heaving as though she had stabbed him. His eyes, glassy with unshed tears, locked onto hers.
"Hate you?" His voice cracked. He lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. "Do you really think I hate you?"
His hand pressed against his chest, as if trying to steady the storm raging inside him. His lips trembled, his agitation rising with every breath. "Fine! Think what you want! Keep believing it!"
And before she could answer, he turned sharply, stormed out, and slammed the caravan door so hard the walls rattled.
Hannah clamped her hands over her ears and bowed her head, choking on her sobs.
It would have been better, she thought in despair, if Joseph had never come at all.
*
Joseph strode toward the car, but his path was blocked by a friend. Tom's eyes widened, disbelief etched into his features.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded.
"Pretend you didn't see me at all," Joseph replied coldly. His voice carried the bite of steel, frigid and unyielding. Then his gaze shifted, catching on the figure standing just beside Tom. His eyes darkened. "And you… you're the one whose tongue I'll cut out before long."
His words dripped with venom as he measured the blonde with a hateful glare. Without waiting for a response, he wrenched open the car door, climbed inside, and drove off. Dust billowed behind him, a suffocating cloud that lingered long after his departure.
Bella lifted her trembling hands to her mouth, her face blanching. "Is he really capable of doing that?" she whispered, horror trembling in her voice.
"He has his games," Tom muttered, though his shrug was half-hearted. "Just ignore him. Sometimes it's hard to understand him at all."
They entered the trailer, only to freeze in the doorway. Hannah sat inside, her body slumped, her expression ravaged. She looked utterly destroyed.
"What happened?" Tom rushed to her first, dropping to his knees before her. His hands came to rest gently on her trembling knees, searching her eyes. "Where's Jin?"
"I don't know," she whispered, sniffling as she rubbed her nose. "He stayed in the forest."
Tom turned to Bella, his face paling as dread flickered in his eyes. "Why are you crying?" he asked Hannah again, his voice hushed, almost afraid of the answer.
"I need solitude," she said abruptly, her voice strained but firm. "I'll go outside to calm down. Don't follow me." She wiped her nose, her words meant more for his friends than for him. "I'll be back soon."
As she closed the door behind her, Hannah heard Tom's muffled voice inside, calling Jin's number in an attempt to make sure he was safe.
Leaning her back against the wall, Hannah closed her eyes. A heavy breath escaped her lips, trembling as she tried to calm the storm raging inside her chest.
Her heart was shattered.
She could not understand how Joseph had kept such a lie hidden for so many years. This was her biological mother they were talking about—her mother. Why now? Why only now, when Bella had forced the subject into the open? If Bella hadn't mentioned it, would Joseph still have carried that secret in silence?
The thought struck her like a blunt stone to the skull.
Joseph had been raised by her mother, while she and her sister had been abandoned to the orphanage. They were the children of an affair. And because of them, her mother had taken her own life.
Her mother had been sick. And Hannah—Hannah was sick too.
Both of them had endured too much, until their minds had begun to collapse under the weight of it all.
She lifted her tear-stained face just as Jin passed by, his expression shadowed with worry. He avoided her eyes entirely, his pace quick, his steps almost frantic, as if he were running from something. He disappeared inside the trailer without a word.
"Why do I feel as though you're starting to distance yourself from me?" she whispered to the air, her voice lost in the dark.
She sighed and looked ahead. Her brows furrowed. Despite the murk of the night, she was certain she saw it: a silhouette.
Someone was watching her.
Her breath caught. Slowly, with hesitant steps, she moved toward it. Each pace confirmed her dread—the figure remained. It was no trick of the shadows.
When she came within five meters, her legs stopped. They simply refused to carry her any farther. She squinted through the gloom, her heart pounding as she focused on the face.
"Danielle?"
Her voice cracked as realization sank in. This was no reality—it was an illusion. And that was what terrified her most. If she was seeing her twin, then the relapse had already begun.
The infernal twin smiled faintly, almost mockingly, then turned and vanished into the woods.
Hannah clutched her chest, gasping for air as weakness flooded her body. Her legs gave way, and she collapsed onto the damp grass, her whole frame quivering.
Terror clawed through her.
Had stopping the medication really been the right choice?
*
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Her voice was hoarse as she blinked up with half-conscious eyes at her friends, who bent over her and helped her up from the ground. Among them stood Jin, his expression unreadable.
"I saw something," she murmured, her words dragging as if she were waking from a heavy dream. "It… it surprised me."
"What did you see?" Tom pressed, his curiosity sharpened by concern.
"Playing in the forest was a bad idea," Jin interjected before she could answer. His tone carried a quiet reproach. "We shouldn't have done it. Hannah doesn't look well."
The teenager's gaze drifted to Bella's face. Everything around her seemed distant, unreal, as though she were floating above her own body. She felt strangely intoxicated.
"Jin told us you two argued in the forest," Bella said softly, her eyes searching Hannah's face.
The brunette turned her head toward Jin, astonishment flashing in her wide eyes.
"It was only a small quarrel," she insisted, though her voice trembled. "I just lost the will to… to have fun. I wanted to be alone." Her eyes moved from one friend to another, gauging their reactions.
"Never mind that," Bella said, still holding onto her tightly, as though she feared Hannah might collapse again. "You took it badly. It's best if you go back to the trailer and get some rest."
But Hannah's attention was no longer on Bella. It fixed instead on the man approaching them with slow, deliberate steps.
"What happened to Hannah?" Joseph's voice cut through the tense air.
"You came back?" Tom blurted, his confusion plain. Joseph's behavior made less and less sense to him.
"Yes," Joseph said curtly, his eyes steady on Hannah. "Because I'm not leaving her in this state."
Jin's brow furrowed. "Were you here before?"
Joseph ignored the question. "Can you bring her things?" he asked Bella instead. "I intend to take her home."
Bella startled at his words, then nodded quickly and darted to the trailer, eager to comply. She seemed desperate not to give him a reason to lash out at her.
"It's probably for the best," Tom admitted with a glance at Hannah. "She's clearly not feeling well."
The girl lowered her head, staring at her shoes. Her voice came faint, fragile. "I saw her… so it's better if I go home."
"Who did you see?" Tom asked, bewildered.
Jin's eyes widened, a flicker of dread crossing his features. Joseph, too, tensed.
"I don't know what I really saw," she whispered, shaking her head. "I think I'm just tired."
Joseph stepped forward, grasped her hand, and guided her firmly toward the car. He opened the passenger door and ushered her inside, the others following behind.
Bella rushed back, tossing Hannah's belongings into the back seat in a heap.
"I'll text you when we arrive," Joseph promised the friends. "See you at the dormitory."
Gave a brief nod and slid behind the wheel. He fastened his seat belt and glanced at Hannah. She sat rigidly, staring blankly ahead at nothing.
"Come back to the living," he muttered, his tone edged with irritation. "This is starting to get ridiculous."
"As long as I'm in the same room with you, I'm sure I won't," she snapped, turning her face toward the door. Her voice trembled with exhaustion and anger. "Don't expect it. Just… drive. Before I lose my mind completely."
Joseph said nothing. He shifted the gear, reversed the car, and steered them away from the campsite. Dust rose behind them, swallowing the remnants of the firelight.
Hannah closed her eyes, surrendering to a restless half-sleep, hoping the drive would numb her thoughts. She was furious at Joseph, and for now, she had no intention of speaking another word to him.