{"id":654,"date":"2026-06-19T09:00:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T09:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/?p=654"},"modified":"2026-06-19T09:01:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T09:01:43","slug":"betrayal-part-2-chapter-33-good-girl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/?p=654","title":{"rendered":"Betrayal Part 2 – Chapter 33, Good Girl"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t have to be like your father.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lela\u2019s words slammed into me like a heavy, physical blow to the gut. It knocked the breath from my chest, doubling me over and leaving me gasping for air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The creatures vanished, their red glinting eyes giving one last flicker before winking out of existence forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My fingers, slick with cold sweat, were tight around Lela\u2019s throat. Her frantic pulse thrummed beneath my touch as she desperately fought for air. My other hand was tangled in the hem of her nightdress. The once delicate white lace, crumpled and torn in my rough grip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suddenly, a glint from the mirror hanging above the sofa, a flicker of movement snatched my attention. My eyes snapped up, fixing on the reflection looking back at me. A sharp, icy chill clenched my chest as I met its gaze. It wasn\u2019t the reflection of a young woman. It wasn\u2019t my reflection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A featureless form stared back at me, a dark, swirling void of mist and shadow. From its deep depths, two glowing red eyes, like a pair of hot coals, peered back at me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo!\u201d the shrill scream tore from my breast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lela\u2019s skin suddenly erupted in a searing heat. Yanking my hands back as if they were burning and blistering, I scrambled off the sofa. The coarse fabric of the carpet scraped my bare feet as I pushed myself backwards, my back striking the wall with a thump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her hair was knotted and tangled, and with tears streaming down her cheeks, she pulled herself into a protective ball. In a futile attempt to cover herself, Lela fumbled desperately with the tattered scraps of lace that had once been her nightdress. The brilliant white material was now smeared with the bright red stains of blood. Blood that oozed from the scratches I had scraped across her chest and down her legs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bella gave a low grumble as she slowly rose from the floor. With her head held low and tail tucked between her legs, she gently nuzzled the crook of Lela\u2019s arm with her nose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A purple shadow was already beginning to bloom under Lela\u2019s eye as she stared at me. Her wide eyes glistening in the morning light, while short, ragged breaths hissed in her throat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My beautiful, sweet, gentle Lela. What had I done? What had I become?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was then that I felt the sharp strain in the back of my mind, a heavy pressure that pressed against me. My eyes screwed shut, a low groan escaped my lips as I waited for my skull to implode with the force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suddenly the pressure vanished, but that wasn\u2019t a relief. The vault of my subconscious burst open, spilling forth a cacophony of thoughts and memories in a dizzying myriad of colours and noise. Visions flashed before my eyes, images of things long since buried, things locked away by my own mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around me the room dissolved, swirling and blurring into a jumble of indistinguishable colours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBe a good girl, Heidi,\u201d a voice whispered close to my ear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I knew that voice. I recognised it instantly. Only this time there was something different about it. The words sounded soft, slurred. They were cold and hollow. There was none of the fatherly love and affection that I remembered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The acrid, sickening stench of his breath assaulted my senses while the rough texture of his fingers brushed my neck and closed around the top button of my nightshirt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood girl,\u201d he whispered again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The smell changed. The rancid stink slipped, morphing into the scent of cigarettes and beer. The faces of men flickered before me like slides flashing up on a projector screen. I saw Asmund and Andrew, Johannes and Rune. There were other men too, some of whose names I knew, others I hadn\u2019t even bothered to ask. Some of those men I had met at Lela\u2019s parties, some I had known at college, while others I picked up at a pub or club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The weight of their bodies pressed down on me, their heavy, panting breath was hot on my cheek, their sweat slick against my bare skin. They had used me. Just like him, they had taken what they wanted from me. But they were different. I had chosen them. With them, I had been in control. A night spent in their beds was a night away from that house, a night away from him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cold gust of wind tugged at my skirt, biting through my winter woollen tights. The sounds of children jeering and laughing rose in my ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before me, the cold, snow covered expanse of the school playground glowed in an icy blue light. Alone, a single figure walked slowly away from me. His head was bowed low, his feet dragging a long trail through the freshly fallen powder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, off you go with your tail between your legs, little puppy dog.\u201d I heard my voice calling out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNice one, Heidi,\u201d a dark-haired boy beside me laughed, slapping my shoulder in encouragement. \u201cHow can a total fox like you have such a freak for a twin brother?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lars stopped walking, his head lifted as he turned to face me. But it wasn\u2019t a boy\u2019s face that met mine, but a man\u2019s. His hair was unkempt and dishevelled; days of stubble covered his chin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI needed you,\u201d his voice rattled dryly, \u201cI needed my sister, but you rejected me. You pushed me away, forcing me to face all that pain and suffering alone. You always told me that if we were together, if we protected each other, nothing could hurt us. You didn\u2019t protect me! You did this to me, Heidi!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His words stung my ears, and they haunt me still to this day. They were the last words Lars had ever spoken to me before taking his own life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was right. I had rejected him. The realisation struck me like a cold, sharp shard of ice. It had never been about popularity, I finally understood. I finally saw things with gut-wrenching clarity. I had deliberately pushed my brother away because I no longer had the strength to hold him and comfort him, no longer had the strength to tell him it would be ok. I had sacrificed him, left him to deal with those terrors alone, those things that I couldn\u2019t face any more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It hadn\u2019t been Lars who was weak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My mind had been kind to me. It had hidden those things from me, locked them away in the darkest corner of my subconscious. But Lars, poor Lars, hadn\u2019t been so lucky. He had known. He had remembered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had never managed to escape the shadow beast, and in that heavy moment, the realisation dawned on me that neither had I.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can hide, but you can never escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The light faltered, blue fading into inky darkness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHere\u2019s a cup of tea for Astrid,\u201d the pure, crisp voice of a young girl said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lela\u2019s bright face smiled at me from across the plastic tea set laid out between us. Her dark eyes shone brilliantly. Small dimples played on her cheeks as she placed a red teacup in front of a small, knitted doll. Even at that young age, it was impossible not to see the beauty that she would grow into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd here\u2019s one for Mr Jones,\u201d I said cheerfully, pretending to hand a blue cup to the teddy bear sitting beside my best friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This wasn\u2019t a new memory. This was one I remembered well. It was the first night after we\u2019d moved to the house near Holmenkollen, the first night when we\u2019d no longer be next-door neighbours. The night that Lela had slept over because we couldn\u2019t bear to be parted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But something about that memory was different, something wasn\u2019t quite right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A solid thud suddenly echoed from downstairs, the front door slamming closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My eyes snapped to Lela, my heart lurching, hammering loudly against my ribcage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHide, Le-Le!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d she said with a giggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause the Shadow Beast is coming,\u201d I replied urgently. My eyes darted around the room before snagging on a pile of packing boxes. \u201cThe boxes! Hide in one of those.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lela bubbled with laughter, quickly crawling in the direction of the pile of brown crates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Springing to my feet, I tiptoed to my bedroom door. My bare feet were silent on the thick carpet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slipping onto the landing, I could hear voices drifting up from downstairs. A woman\u2019s voice, my mother pleading and begging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLeave them alone, Jorgen,\u201d I heard her say. \u201cNot tonight, please.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t stop, there wasn\u2019t time. I needed to get to Lars. I needed to make sure he was safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As quietly as I could manage, I crept into his bedroom. Even in the darkness I could see his bed was empty, the covers hastily thrown aside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLars?\u201d I whispered his name as loudly as I dared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn here, Heidi,\u201d came a hushed response from the direction of the wardrobe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Easing open the flimsy door, behind a rail of winter coats and jumpers, I found my brother huddled in the corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Closing the door behind me, the wardrobe plunged into inky darkness. My hand quickly found Lars\u2019 hand, and I pulled him into my arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clinging to each other tightly, our ears strained for that familiar sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then it came, a heavy thud, thud, thud as he climbed the stairs, followed by the shuffling and stumbling of footsteps towards my bedroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We buried our faces in each other\u2019s shuddering shoulders, desperate to muffle our own terrified sobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We knew he\u2019d come looking for us. He always did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that night he didn\u2019t. That night he never found us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

****<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next morning, I dragged my feet as I slowly climbed down the stairs alone. We\u2019d usually run down together, but that morning Lela didn\u2019t want to play. She hadn\u2019t said a word since we woke up. She had sat on the bed in silence, staring at nothing with Mr Jones clutched tightly to her chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stepping into the kitchen, the bright yellow wrapper of a bar of Freia chocolate caught my eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dad always left me a bar of chocolate for being a good girl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that bar hadn\u2019t been left for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You don\u2019t have to be like your father. Lela\u2019s words slammed into me like a heavy, physical blow to the<\/p>\n

Continue readingBetrayal Part 2 – Chapter 33, Good Girl<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-betrayal-part-2"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Cover-Book-2-NEW-JPG.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=654"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":657,"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654\/revisions\/657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}