Interitus

Chapter 1

I wake up abruptly from a nightmare screaming and dripping in sweat, which is odd considering it is winter and freezing. I quickly pull off my sheets and go to the bathroom, the wooden floorboards creaking as I made my way down the hallway.

"Are you alright, Ava?" my brother, Timothy ,asked a worried expression on his face.

"I'm fine, Tim." I politely reply, trying to walk past him but he blocked my way.

"Are you sure? I heard screaming."

"You should be resting, Tim. Not worrying about me." I sigh and lead him to his bedroom.

"Just because I'm ill, doesn't mean I cant worry about my sister." He grumbled getting under his bed sheets.

I sigh and inform him I'm going to make breakfast. He worries so much about me its like he's forgotten that he has diphtheria.

 I still remember the day we went to the doctors and they informed us of his illness.  My brother started coughing and vomiting up his food and found it hard to breath and we immediately took him to the doctors. After a quick check on his throat and stomach, he later informed us that my brother had indeed caught a virus from his friend. First I thought we hadn't had enough money to pay for his treatment but I was mistaken. My grandma paid us a visit later that week to tell us of the money our parents left us, and I almost instantly gave nearly all the money into my brothers treatment and medicine.  He hated that I spent all the money on him and not for my causes too, but I insisted.

After having a cold shower, since we can't afford warm water,I start making breakfast for my brother and I. I got eggs from the chickens in our small farm behind our house, after a great fight with the hen. Berries from the bushes and meat from the rabbit I bought from the butcher. I cooked it on the small stove right under the cupboards.

Whilst I was cooking, someone knocked on the door. My brother came down the stairs and into the living room to check who it was. I heard him talking to a male that sounded old and tired. Then suddenly I heard them laughing. After a few minutes, breakfast was ready and my brother was in the kitchen with an envelope in his hand. He set the envelope down and then started helping me lay out the table.

"Thanks." I say as I pour the dirty water into our cups , " So who was at the door?"

"The police." He simply replied, getting his medicine out the drawer.

"What did they say?"

"They didn't say anything, but he did leave this." He said passing me the envelope and taking a seat at the table.

I look at the envelope then look at my brother who is giving me an encouraging look. I sigh. We never get letters. Only from family and friends, and this one is clearly not from any of the above.

Me and my brothers name is written in a beautiful set of letters on the back of the envelope. I rip open the letter to see what's written inside.

My brother gets up from his seat and starts reading off my shoulder.

Dear Ava and Timothy James,

I am sure you are still devastated about your parents passing, we wish to inform you how your parent passed on. I think we owe you that much.

As you know your parents didn't die and ordinary death, they were murdered. And we are deeply  sorry and sad that we have yet to catch the killer but we know who the killer is and will do what we can  in our power to find the beast.

Your parents were unfortunately another victim of  the Whitechapel Murderer

                                                                                                                         Love,

                                                                                                                                  Officer Bayley.

Me and my brother share a glance, tears in our eyes. I get up from my seat and hug my brother who hugs me back. I cry on his shirt, making it damp from the tears. He tries hard to keep his tears from falling, but fails when I hear his silent sobs. I could almost never hear it from how silent it was, I stopped crying for a second just so I could hear it. Its not like I want to hear my brother cry it was just silent and making a funny noise if you didn't pay full attention to it.

"Its ok to cry, Tim." I whisper to him, knowing he is holding back the tears.

After our sobbing and confession that we both love each other (because frankly, we never knew when we were going to lose each other, just like we didn't know we were going to lose our parents) I went out for a walk and left my brother for a while to think. I know he wants me to be free and not watch over him all the time.