Shadow (TWD Carl)

~Chapter 9~

"🎶You can count on me 'cause I can count on you.🎶"

Kira and I bow as we finish the song. We step down off the stage and receive applause from our friends and family.

"I'm so proud of you Kira, Oh My God!" One of Kira's friends exclaimed. They all hug her and I wait for my applause from my parents. But it never came. My parents looked down at me before switching their gaze to Kira and smiled.

"Well done, Kira! You did excellent for your first performance here. You'll be a huge star when you grow older." My dad praised. I look at him in disbelief.

"Thanks guys, it means a lot." Kira says cheerfully.

We say our goodbyes after we *cough* Kira received her applause. I get into the car with my family and stare out the window.

"I think Kira did really well. Her voice is amazing, you got some catching up to do honey." Mom says.

"Are you seriously putting her on a pedestal?! She's not even your daughter, I am!" I complained.

"What? No! I just think you could have done a little better."

"You say that every year! 'You should have done better,' or 'I'm disappointed, I expected our musical talents to pass from generation to generation.' You never tell me what I'm doing wrong! You just say things and expect me to understand or change it."

"You're 12, we expected you to understand things by now."

"Let's just face it, you'll never be as good as Kira or me. You'll always be living in our shadow." My brother states harshly.

You'll always be living in our shadow...

Our Shadow...

"Tyrian? Tyrian?"

A small shake wakes me up from my sleep but I groan and turn away from the source of the shaking.

"Tyrian...Tyrian...wake up please."

"I don't know who Tyrian is..." I mumble into the blankets. The person keeps shaking me and I slowly sit up, leaning against the wall. I rub my eyes to clear the blurriness and see Kira wrapped up in her bedsheets.

"Tyria-"

"Stop calling me that." I snap. She flinches before continuing with what she was going to say.

"I'm sorry.... I'm cold. Are there any more blankets I can have?" I sigh and soften my look on her a little as she shivers, teeth chattering away. I search the cell for anymore blankets but they were taken by Jack and Ethan unfortunately.

"No, there isn't. You can have mine instead and here," I hand her my blanket and my jacket. She is quite skinny and doesn't have enough muscle to conserve a lot of body heat. "Take my jacket too. You need it more than I do."

She takes the blanket and puts the jacket on. She hops back into bed, wrapping herself up in both blankets. I lie back down on the bare floor and check my watch. 3:57am...
I sigh and curl up into a ball, trying to stay as warm as possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up again and checked my watch. 5:48am. I start to sit up and feel something fall off my shoulders. I half expected it to be my jacket or blanket that I gave Kira last night but it wasn't. I held it in my hands and stared at a jacket that I hadn't seen before. I look around the cell to see my family still asleep.

This jacket isn't theirs or mine. Who's is it?

I stand up from my spot and put the jacket on as I still felt slightly chilled. I was lucky it was a few sizes bigger than my own. I walk towards the cell door and checked to see if anyone was there. I spotted Hershel and attempted to get his attention.