Short Stories

A World Beyond Family

Maybe that day when my brother left... Maybe when everything was normal I would've had it all. Maybe I would've been happier. Mom would've had someone to help care for her rather than her 6-year-old daughter. Regardless, I hope that I can be of use when I hold the glass shards of Blue. This object helps me use magic and some time manipulation to ensure I can live to see my brother perish under my foot. I watched her die, I watched as they all fought within my hometown, my village, I watched it all happen. That day, when my father left, was the day everything changed.

Today was the day I had finalized my revenge, the day when I would put to the test whether or not I would understand why he left. Every day was hell with them, with these people. But they became family. They became more than just words that I placed onto the pages of my diary where tears littered every section because the pain the shard gave me was too much to bear. But it told me that I would exact revenge on my brother for leaving us again. For promised me that he would return and help Mother, just to be like Father and leave me alone. 

I stand here at the altar of a church that I hated, that worshiped a God I hated. That we hated. It remained empty with bodies that I had slain, the dagger and the shard were all my weapons had to offer, but I know he would come here. He would come to save the day like he usually would, but on that day when they invaded our home, he wasn't there to come save us. Save mother.

"Lora? What are you doing-"

"Doing what I was made to do, brother."

He took a step forward, where I channeled the energy within the shard as it glows and blasted a cone of acid in his direction. Purposely missing of course. "Take another step and I'll show you the wrath of the Kerp. They saved me when you left us... When you left me."

I stabbed the shard into my chest, feeling the vibrant colors that littered each angel of the glass. Becoming a reflection of my life, the cracks in my skin, and before I know I charged my my brother. Throwing shards of glass at him, creating large pillars of glass. Fighting, taking arrows and his blades, he was no match for me. His screams of pain with each cut, each drop of blood that blended into my new skin of glass. That reflected my broken inside, everything was going to normal, everything was alright. So said that voice in my head. I was unsure if something had died inside of me, but nothing mattered than to fight my own brother and ensure that I was able to defeat him.

His eyes grew of terror throughout the fight, as if the creature he fought wasn't his sister, but a monster. And that is how I wanted him to see me as, a monster he created. That was what he made when he walked out that door and promised me that he would come back. When he lied. My screams were of demonic origin, the reflections I saw of myself were of some fiend, not the person who I once was.

So then the battle ended. Everything became quiet again. But I was alone. My father is still missing, my brother is now dead. And I'm still stuck in this loop that is never ending. Maybe this wasn't for me, maybe I was unsure of how to end things. Some people from Kerp told me about a placed called the Mountain of Hope. I wanted to figure out what that place was so when I had the free time, I walked to the Mountain of Hope, wishing to find a new light in all of this.

"You've done well, Lora. Feed me more souls." His voice echoed with every step, as if he would never want me to let go of the fact that he was hungry. 

But the voice was different, it sounded different than normal, as if something about killing my brother, finally feeding it what it wanted for so long changed it. It's no longer about revenge, it's about something more that I must stop. Before it becomes too strong and I am unable to be stopped. I became the host for this creature that hides in my body now. I was unable to finish my journey to the top of the Mountain of Hope

Leaving the Kerp was a difficult thing to do, but I needed to resume my journey to the Mountain of Hope. It is said that those who climb to the peak of it would find resolution and a new outlook on life. Everyone who has ever went up there has found peace and tranquility. But I wasn't sure of it at the time when my brother was still alive.

When I had finally reached the peak, there stood nothing but a platform outlooking the sun which was about to set.

Then she appeared before me. A lady in all red clothing, adorned in jewels and water. "Young girl, what is it that you fear?"

"How do you fix those that come here? I don't know what to do, the skin I have, the thing that haunts me is-"

The lady stood next to me, looking at the sunset "Everyone always has something that they hate, they fear, all we need is someone to look out for us. Because we are our own enemies. The very person who is hurting us. Although many hold different stories, and you hold a new one as well." She placed her hand on my shoulder, feeling the cracks on my skin. "You have a demon inside of you, the glass that reflected your soul for so long as you wished to find a reason for why you were alone, now you seek comfort from a person who cares not of you, but of what you offer."

The tears began to flow through my eyes, although each drop hurt more than it should, as if my body was no longer how it once was. As if I was no longer human anymore, but something else that scared me. That my brother was scared of. "How do I fix it? How do I get it out of me?"

"Take my hand, and I'll remove it out of you."

Is it that simple? I want this so bad, but how can I trust her? Maybe I must do what my brother and father did to me and Mom. Leave. But I should try and...

"Get me more souls, Lora. I need more."

So then that should be the answer, even if the demon is removed from my body, he will only resume praying on those who fall for his tricks. I must trap him in my body forever. I decline the ladies hand and walk toward the edge of the platform.

She grabbed my arm, "do not be so rash and end your life so swiftly without thought."

"If he is removed from me, he'll just come back and haunt another person," I moved her arm away from me, forcing her to let me go. Then I jumped. Feeling the wind on my body, the darkness creeping in, the light fading. The ground coming closer to me... I closed my eyes and simply smiled. There is always a world beyond family, and that family I lost. So I must trap the very demon that had me kill the only one left who I once called Family.

And everything became...