PUPPET MASTER, eddie munson

iv. sisters

VALENTINA HERNANDEZ HATED HER NAME- it just ... didn't fit her. At least, that's what she had been telling herself for as long as she could remember. To her friends, she was Val. To her parents, she was Val. To pretty much the entire world, she was Val.

But to her older sister, Dolly? She was Valentina.

You see, Dolly was an absolute romantic at heart. She drew hearts all over her notebooks, screamed the lyrics to both Spanish and English love songs, and bought heart-shaped cookies for her friends every Valentine's day. Still, Val never did figure out how her sister could be so obsessed with romance movies and books and still scoff and roll her eyes if any boy attempted to ask her out.

There were a lot of things Val couldn't figure out about Dolly, but her older sister's interest in her name was always a little funny to the younger girl.

From what Dolly had told her, 'Valentina' was the most beautiful name in existence. To the older girl, it reminded her of Valentine's Day-- of love and romance. The name 'Valentina' reminded Dolly of passion.

Then again, Dolly was drunk when all of these things were said. It's not like it completely invalidated how Dolly felt about her younger sister's name, but Val couldn't help but feel like her older sister had simply glamorized a totally ordinary name while intoxicated.

So when Val looked up her name and realized that it just meant healthy and strong, she was a tad disappointed. Not that Val was complaining, of course, she liked to think of herself as tough. Considering all the shit she had gone through in the past two years, Val liked telling herself she wasn't as soft as she thought her older sister was.

Dolly panicked over what hairstyle to pair with her outfit while Val had almost lost a leg fighting literal demon monsters. Twice.

The younger girl was hardly afraid of her sister after last summer's events. She had gone against hell's worst and won. What could her Dolly do that was worse?

"Where the fuck have you been, Valentina?" Dolly snarled as Val attempted to sneak into her room. There, sitting atop Val's extraordinarily messy bed, was a scowling Dolly. Now, Val was used to the mess in her room. It's not like the girl was home a lot to clean up and prioritize having a clean space. Still, she knew her mess well enough to know that the five empty beer cans at the foot of her bed frame were definitely not hers. Judging from her older sister's face, Val could tell that her sister hadn't been drinking out of celebration. Val sighed as she walked towards her dresser, grabbing a quick change of clothes as she ignored her sister staring daggers at her. "It's literally one in the afternoon, who were you with and why did you get home so late?"

Now, Dolly never did like being ignored-- and staring at her sister's back after she had asked her a question was really starting to piss her off. It certainly didn't help that the drinks she had taken before her sister's arrival were hardly fogging up her memories of the previous day. Dolly had been used to drinking to make her problems go away, so when the beers only made Chrissy's face show up more, Dolly thought the world was certainly trying to punish her. She needed answers, and she needed them now.

The older girl charged over to her sister, grabbing her shoulder and whirling her around until the two stared straight into each other's eyes. Dolly arched an eyebrow, still awaiting an answer. Val frowned, attempting to ignore the child within her that was ready to crumble at the sight of her older sister's blood-curling glare.

"Out. I was with my friends."

"Oh really? And you didn't think to maybe give me a call, especially after you decided you were grown enough to just not come home?" Dolly retaliated. "I covered for you and you didn't come home. You know the agreement, be here before the sun comes up no matter what."