Pinky Promise [ 𝕸𝖎𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖊𝖑 𝕷𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖉𝖔𝖓 ]

6. 𝔐𝔦𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔢𝔩

I know my sister is my grandmother's favourite. Everyone could see that from afar. Even after what happened to Katherine and myself, she is still not afraid of her. Maybe it is because Katherine is not quite busy with reaching our father as much as I am. Too bad, then I will have to do it myself. Not that I blame Katherine. She wants to have a childhood. But still, does she not know what we could be if she just went along with it?

   The blood oozes out of the little rat's neck as I sit in the backyard. I can still recall Katherine showing me something quite unusual but promising. It made me feel like she was like me. That she was of my blood. My sister.

   The rat goes limp and I for once crawl on my hands and knees to bury it in the grass. The dirt and blood both dirty my hands and I know that if grandma sees me again she is going to be furious. It did not matter. Now that I was big I could do whatever I wanted.

   I still felt eyes peering at me from one of the windows. Without a single thought I turned my head and looked in the eyes of my twin sister; watching in horror as I covered up the dead rat with reeking soil. It took me a moment to realise that she was actually afraid. I wanted to look her straight into her eyes and tell her that this was natural, but before I could make my next move she had already disappeared behind the curtains. Such a shame. If grandma did not influence her that much we would make the perfect duo.

As I made my way up the stairs, I could overhear grandma being on the phone somewhere. She must be busy trying to figure out what just has happened to us. From over here, I could make out how she called the person Father, and how she was begging them to come over as soon as possible. I could already imagine what kind of ways this was going to. But instead of trying to figure out what grandma's plan was, I took a turn and wandered towards the room I always knew to be my sister's. Carefully, I knocked on the old wood. I could only hear gasping coming from inside.

   ''Katherine?''

   ''Please,'' I heard a small, trembling voice speak from inside. ''Don't hurt me.''

   ''Why would I hurt you?'' I asked, confused. ''You're my sister, Kat.''

   After a few seconds, I heard some footsteps coming towards the door. Katherine became visible in the crack of the door, her eyes puffed and wide of fear. I almost felt bad that she was this traumatised by what she saw. Like I should feel guilty or something. But I just frowned, tilting my head.

   ''What do you want?'' Katherine wiped her eyes, as if she had just not been crying from fear. She might be grown, but there is still some sort of scared little girl in there.

   ''Grandma is calling the church,'' I told her. ''She is going to punish us.''

   ''You mean punish you,'' Katherine stepped backwards and turned back to her room, not daring to look me in the eyes. ''I never wanted this. But you seem to be having no problem at all.''

   ''I know whatever powers we have means something more, Kat,'' I claimed as I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. ''I know our father has something more destined for us.''

   ''We have no father, Michael,'' Katherine insisted. ''Our parents are dead, and because of you, they won't even talk to us.''

   ''Talk to us?'' I frowned. ''What do you mean?''

   ''Have you not noticed the spirits in this house?'' Katherine's voice became hushed. ''They're everywhere. I hear them whisper at night.''

   ''I thought they were just in my head.''

   ''Surprise,'' Katherine looked back up at me. ''They're real. Grandma told me this. She told me our mom died giving birth to us in this house. Grandma says it was you who killed her. You who killed our brother.''

   ''I never knew about this,'' I shook my head. ''Why are you blaming me?''

   ''Because it's true,'' Katherine's voice became a little louder again. ''I thought we were alike. I thought you were my brother; a normal sibling. But here we are, and I am getting punished for what you are.''

   The tears pricking me behind my eyes were painful. How could she say this to me? She could not mean this, right? She is my sister. A sister is supposed to support you at any time. So, why was she doing this?

   ''Katherine,'' I muttered. ''You don't understand. We could both be powerful.''

   ''I don't want that,'' Katherine turned away again. ''I want a normal childhood. I want a normal family. I don't want to be what you are.''

   I stood there for quite a bit in silence, thinking about what she was saying. Maybe Katherine is not as worthy as I thought she was. Maybe she is just like the rest of them; weak. It was hard to think of her in such light. She has been with me by my side for a while.

   ''Go away, please, Michael,'' she told me after a while. ''I am afraid of you being in my room.''

   I did not go away. I was nailed to the floor. Why was she hurting me so much? What did I do to deserve this? Yes, our father may favour me. But that does not mean she has to take it so personally.

   She did. She was pushing me for no reason. And I did not know why I let myself be pushed. She was kind of strong as well. This felt like I just lost the only person that I could relate to. Once I was out of my sister's room, that is the exact moment I let it all out. Right there.