Sweet Temptation: A Trick-Or-Treat Collaboration

I run fast, skidding to the door, deciding not to knock. My hand clasps onto the door handle, pushing the door wide until I’m inside the room.

Mama is on her knees, rosary in hand, as she prays to the large statue of Mary on her mantel. Lifting her eyes to meet mine, I run to her, falling beside her.

“Please break this spell. I know it was you. I can’t… I don’t… just, please… I don’t want to feel this anymore.” I sob loudly.

The room is dead silent, only the sounds of Valentino’s voice carrying down the hall as he calls my name. Candles burn around the mantel, lighting the dimly lit room.

“Trust the path that God has you put you on. Your life begins once you trust the journey,” she repeats, placing her hand on top of my head while chanting something in Spanish.

“But… but…”

She lifts my chin with her fingers. My vision is clouded with tears as the pain of tonight ripples through me so effortlessly. I watch her, silently, allowing her steady gaze fixated on mine to wash over me. She is without expression or words, and the moment my heart begins to slow enough to breathe, she whispers, “Go home, mi ángel. Sleep and trust the journey.”

Valentino barrels through the doorway, out of breath, clutching his chest and barely able to speak. “Morgan, have you lost your mind?” A wild stare accompanying his inability to breath. “Mujer loca.”

I pull myself off the floor, my feet firmly placed on the ground now. I might have been crazy, according to Valentino, but Mama’s right—I need to go home.

My home—not Morgan and Noah’s.

Desperately, I punch in the code, and with all the lights off, I race upstairs to my room and search high and low for the dress.

On the drive back here, I confirmed that Morgan was out at some dinner function, meaning the house would be empty aside from security. Given that I’m her sister, they don’t question me entering the property at this hour.

In the corner of the wardrobe, it’s there—the dress.

I strip off my clothes, throwing it on and zipping it up. Closing my eyes, I say a silent prayer while waiting eagerly for that zap to happen, but it doesn’t come.

Shutting my eyes, I pray out loud, “Take me back. Please, take me back.”

Opening my eyes wide so they scan the room around me—it’s dark and still exactly the same. I have no clue what I need to do, and sleep seems impossible right now.

Rummaging through my drawers, I locate the Valium container and pop a pill begging my body to pass out. It feels like forever as I lay in the dark, curled up into a ball in the corner of the room.

This heartbreak feels ice cold. It’s leaving me powerless with no sense of hope. It’s a hurricane destroying everything we built, tearing apart the foundations of love and trust.

There’s no going back to a happier time. No way to erase the mistake which will follow us for a lifetime.

I didn’t know if I could heal from such a break. But I did know this much—this was Morgan’s life, not mine. She built the foundation with Noah, and they had created a family.

I was stupid in thinking that everything she had should have been mine. This was always meant to be her journey, and I should have played my part. Been the sister and family she so desperately needed in her world of pain.

Morgan promised my mother she would take care of me.

And now—it’s my turn to return the favor.

The piercing rays of the morning sun obstruct my glare as my eyes begin to open slowly. My throat is raspy, barely a sound able to escape. I try again, making an odd sound until I’ve cleared it enough. It’s dry, aches when I swallow, and extremely parched. The sunlight shines across my bedroom lighting up everything with an orange hue.

I pull myself up, head-spinning while I watch the room turn. Lowering my head, I feel the dress on me.

The dress.

My shoes are flung on the floor. Standing, I try to regain some balance, but the room spins again, causing me to fall to the floor. I hold onto my head, barely able to compose myself as the stabbing pain threatens my vision.

I breathe in and out, attempting to gain some control over my body.

Bursting through my mind, a flash of memories invades my thoughts.

Noah.