Note: This chapter might be a little sensitive, and was definitely hard to write at times. Please proceed with caution, and be sure to check out the note at the end. Thanks.

——————————

Emberlynn felt her palms growing sweaty and her heart rate beginning to climb with each second that passed by as she stood in the empty grass behind the school, waiting.

During lunch earlier that afternoon, she’d told Trent and Serenity to meet her in the same spot where they’d already met a couple of weeks before, when they had begun their terrible torment. Serenity seemed almost amused at the request, but agreed. And her brother, of course, followed suit.

Emberlynn pulled out her phone to check the time. They were already three minutes late, and dismissal had been over five minutes ago. Where could they be? Were they standing her up? Would this all be for nothing?

Her nerves only began to rise as she realized what she was about to do. It was almost laughable to think that she’d once almost admired Serenity, wanted to be like her… But if being like her meant being heartless and cruel, Emberlynn knew there was no way she could ever do it. This was already torture enough, and she hadn’t even done anything yet.

Ugh. Where are they?! I just wanna get this over with… She thought miserably.

As though on cue, the Ziegler twins finally emerged from around the edge of the building, smiling as they approached. Emberlynn had never been so relieved to see Serenity’s smug face in her entire life.

“So what’s this little ‘meeting’ all about?” Serenity wanted to get right to the point, it seemed. “Trying to negotiate? Or beg?” She let out a shrill little laugh that made Emberlynn want to punch her in the face.

Emberlynn took a deep breath. Alright, she told herself. Time to find your inner bitch. “Nah, just wanted to share an interesting bit of information I found out.” She explained with what she hoped was a cruel smirk.

Clearly neither Serenity nor Trent was impressed. “Uh-huh… do tell, then.” Serenity smirked back at her with much more genuine cruelty than Emberlynn.

Beside her, Trent merely looked on with mild interest.

“I’ve always thought it was kind of weird…” Emberlynn continued. “All these mysterious ‘appointments’ and ‘plans’ you guys have like, every single Thursday. Every week, it’s the same bullshit excuses. Lots of ‘nail appointments’, huh, Serenity? Except… Your nails never look any different the next day. Pretty weird, don’t you think?”

The smile slowly fell from Serenity’s face. “What are you getting at?” She asked with narrowed eyes.

Emberlynn carried on as though Serenity had not spoken. “You really thought no one would ever start to wonder why? Well, I did. I wondered…” She hoped that the twins would buy her story that she’d noticed this herself, rather than learned this information from Jace. “So I did a little detective work… And now, I know your little secret.”

Trent’s smile finally died away as well, while a flash of what could only be described as panic flashed across Serenity’s eyes.

You’ve got ‘em. Emberlynn told herself. Don’t let yourself feel guilty. Don’t back down now.

“It was only a matter of time before I figured it out… You guys DO know who my Papa is, don’t you? And where he works? I doubt you’d be stupid enough to come after me if you guys were HIS clients… But I’m sure you’ve seen his name on the door tons of times on your way to all those appointments…”

All the color seemed to have drained from the twins’ faces. They said nothing.

“In fact, I just so happened to be dropping by his office last week when I saw the STRANGEST thing…” Emberlynn was shocked by how easily the lie came, but there was no way she could tell them the truth — That Tristan had essentially stalked the two of them after school last Thursday. “Who would have ever thought I’d see the Ziegler twins walking out of a therapist’s office? And did I see that right? Were you crying, Serenity?” She asked coldly.

“You lying bitch!” Serenity finally spoke, taking a step forward as she did so. “You weren’t there. You didn’t see shit! We would’ve seen you!”

“Really? I wasn’t there?” Emberlynn raised an eyebrow at her, reaching into the pocket that held her phone. “Because these pictures on my phone say otherwise…”

Trent glanced down at the phone screen in Emberlynn’s outstretched hand. “What the hell?!” He cried as she returned her phone to her pocket. “Were you stalking us or something? That’s fucked up!”

Emberlynn couldn’t believe what he was saying. “Oh yeah? Like what the two of YOU are doing to me isn’t?! And… And who are you to talk about being fucked up?” For a moment, she almost stumbled over her words. “When apparently the two of you are fucked up enough that you need therapy!” She spat at them.

“Shut up!” Serenity cried out suddenly. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Y-you… You…”

For one fleeting moment, Emberlynn felt an almost sick feeling of satisfaction at seeing just how deeply she’d gotten under Serenity’s skin. She knew that Serenity and Trent had kept their need for therapy a secret from their peers, but she’d been worried that it wasn’t going to be enough. That it wasn’t something she could hold over their heads, something they were truly ashamed of. But it was now clear that they were.

This was exactly the revenge she’d been waiting for.

“You do know what they always say, right? ‘Don’t stick your dick in crazy’?” Emberlynn continued, feeling nothing but glee as the words passed her lips. “Well, you might think I’m a ‘slut’, Serenity, but at least guys will still want me. And that goes for you too, Trent. You really think I would’ve let you fuck me if I knew?” She lied as her cold gaze flashed back toward him for a moment. “Yeah, well the whole school’s gonna know as soon as I send them these pictures. Good luck finding anyone who’ll want either of you once they know you’re a couple of fucking nutcases.”

To her absolute horror, Serenity suddenly burst into tears before her eyes. The spell was broken in an instant, and Emberlynn felt nothing but guilt and extreme disgust at herself. Oh my God… what the hell am I doing?! She hadn’t really meant a word of what she’d said, of course, but what else was she supposed to do?! Her heart sank as she imagined what her father would think if he could hear the terrible things she was saying.

No, Emberlynn told herself firmly. This is all one of Serenity’s stupid tricks, isn’t it? Don’t fall for the waterworks. Stay strong.

“Hey… it’s okay, Ren.” Trent immediately placed his hands on his sister’s shoulders, rubbing them reassuringly.“Don’t listen to her. She’s the crazy one, okay?”

Serenity gave her brother a quick nod of gratitude before turning to face Emberlynn once more. Though tears continued streaming down her cheeks, the look she gave her was not one of sorrow, but pure loathing.

“How DARE you.” Serenity snarled dangerously. “Do you have ANY idea what we’ve been through?! WHY we need to talk to somebody? You don’t have a clue what it was like! You don’t understand…”

“You’re right.” Emberlynn replied softly, already having difficulty staying true to her promise to stay strong. “I don’t.” And honestly, she really didn’t want to. Surely knowing the specifics would only make her feel worse.

“And now you’re treating our fucking trauma like it’s some kind of game? Or a joke?!”

“I don’t think it’s a joke.” She insisted seriously, her face falling even more.

Trent appeared angrier than Emberlynn had ever seen him. “Then how the hell can you call us crazy? Or threaten us like that?!”

Emberlynn felt her own anger flaring up once more at his reply. “I don’t know, how the hell can the two of you call me a slut and then blackmail me?” She shot back at him.

“That’s not the same!” Serenity insisted.

“Isn’t it though?”

None of them spoke for several moments.

It was Emberlynn who finally decided to break the silence. She couldn’t take it anymore. She just wanted it to be over.

“Look, I’m sorry the two of you have been through some rough shit, okay? I really am.” And Emberlynn meant it too. “But I’m not gonna let you keep walking all over me and blackmailing me. That’s criminal, okay? Like… literally illegal.”

“Yeah, well… That means this is too, isn’t it?” Trent replied almost nervously.

“Probably.” Emberlynn admitted with a small shrug. “But at least I don’t have potential child pornography charges stacked against me too…”

Serenity let out a sound between a hiss and a growl at these words. “You wouldn’t dare tell your parents about that picture. I know you wouldn’t.”

“Honestly at this point, I just might.” Emberlynn replied seriously. “Because I am so fucking sick of this shit. And of you.” Her eyes flicked between both of them as she spoke. “But I’m hoping I won’t have to. I’m hoping those pictures I took at my Papa’s office last week will be enough of an incentive…”

Serenity shook her head slowly, as though in disgust. “This is what you wanted all along, isn’t it? First you fuck Jace behind my back. Then you fuck my brother. And now…” She paused as though at a loss for words. “I never should have trusted you. You’ve been jealous of me this whole time! You’re trying to… To…” Serenity was practically raving at this point, once again struggling to find the right words.

“Dethrone you? Or take your place or something?” Emberlynn finished for her, shaking her head. “Sure, maybe part of me used to want that. You might be right. Maybe I was jealous, at first. And maybe I did wanna be like you…” It felt so strange to finally say it aloud. She wasn’t even sure it was something she’d fully admitted to herself before, let alone anyone else. “But now that I’ve gotten a taste of what it’s like, I don’t think I have the stomach for it.” She finished coldly.

There was a moment or two of silence before Trent finally replied on his sister’s behalf. “Look, just leave us alone, okay? Delete those stupid pictures and we’ll delete ours.”

Oh God… Did it actually work? For a moment, she allowed her cold, cruel mask to slip. “So… if I don’t tell anybody what I know, you’ll get rid of that picture?”

Trent nodded. “And we can just like, pretend none of this ever happened… right?” He glanced over at his sister uncertainly as he spoke.

Serenity nodded slowly at the ground.

“Fine.” Emberlynn tried to hide the relief that washed over her. “But show me. I wanna see you do it.”

She made them each pull out their phones and watched as they deleted both the original and edited versions of the picture. She even made them go into their ‘recently deleted’ folders and delete them there too, so they were really gone for good. Emberlynn desperately hoped that neither of them had a copy of the original picture on their computers at home, but there was no way to be sure.

“There, happy?” Serenity practically spat at her. “Now it’s your turn.”

Emberlynn hesitated. As terrible and sick as going through with this blackmail had made her feel, there was no way she could trust the two of them yet. “No, I don’t think so.”

“What?! B-but you promised!” Trent spluttered.

“I didn’t promise anything.” Emberlynn corrected him. “I think I’m gonna hang onto these as… What did you call it? Insurance.” She hoped she looked menacing as she spat Serenity’s previous words right back at her.

There were a few more moments of stunned silence from the twins after that. But it was clear the battle had finally been won. After a few more hastily muttered insults, Trent and Serenity both stalked away, leaving Emberlynn alone at last.

The moment they were gone, it was like a switch had been flipped. All the anger and hatred she’d felt toward the twins melted away as the floodgates finally opened.

Emberlynn felt so sick and disgusted with herself as she thought back on all the awful things she’d said. Huge sobs shook her entire body, and try as she might, Emberlynn could not get them to subside.

The idea of getting revenge had felt so much easier when she saw Trent and Serenity as nothing but a pair of mustache-twirling, evil villains. But now… Well, now Emberlynn wasn’t so sure.

Whatever struggles the twins had experienced would never excuse their actions, of course. But still… It was jarring to see them so vulnerable, and knowing that they’d been through something terrible — something bad enough that they needed therapy — made her see them in a whole new light.

How could she use something so deeply personal against them? And, worse, even for a fleeting moment, actually find enjoyment in doing it?

I’m just as bad as they are, aren’t I?

Emberlynn wept the entire way home, marveling at the fact that in the end, revenge was not nearly as sweet as everyone always made it out to be.

—————————————

Note: I understand that this was a really rough one, and also a sensitive subject for many people.

I just wanted to clarify that I do not agree with any of the statements Emberlynn made in this chapter and honestly, neither does Emberlynn herself. The next chapter will touch heavily upon this, including the very harsh wake-up call this has been for her and how truly terrible this whole thing was for her to do.