Broken

.day thirteen.

Kenneth

"I know what you did, Kenneth. It's okay."

Those words hung over me like a black cloud. How would she be okay with what I did? I practically eavesdropped on her, and she thought what I did was okay? Unless she saw me deleting Hanna's file, but that was lower than low. He was engrossed in a conversation with her friend, Xavier, so how would she know what I did?

I stayed leaning against the wall, watching the computer screen turning black, my hands trembling. Hanna was almost here. Esther was almost here. I would see them again, after ten years of isolation and doubts and worries. And Tyler... I would see him too. Sure, he wasn't my direct family, but he was my brother-in-law's son, he was my nephew, and he was still my family. He would kill me if I let his son, his oldest son, get caught.

I almost laughed at the thought, but I ended up cringing.

Tires squealed from far outside, and I looked up at the closed door leading to the cameras from before. The cameras that Reyna showed me... after Esther's accident. Without thinking, without even telling myself to head there, my feet were leading me to the room, my hand wrapping around the handle. I blinked, and I was engulfed in darkness, the pale light of the cameras the only thing that was allowing me to see.

Several images flashed on the monitors, and my gaze followed the one that said 10:50 pm. Three people were in front of the building, two of which were talking. One was torn up, bloodied, and the other was shaking, certain. Hanna and Esther.

Hanna wrapped her arms around her sister, and Esther buried her head into her chest. Her body was shaking–she was crying. "Esther, he's fine. I know he is. We're going to see him again, I promise."

I smiled slightly, and Esther pulled away, her pale gaze locking with Hanna's. She looked absolutely torn, destroyed, like a gust of wind would send her crashing to the ground. "Are you sure you're not going to break this one?"

Her words were soft but certain, causing me to wince slightly. I knew that Hanna was never one to keep promises to protect her family, even if... even if they weren't the closest family she had.

A few minutes passed, and I saw Tyler and Hanna share a quick embrace before he crawled through the hole with Esther. Hanna turned away, shaking tremendously before walking toward the guards, all of which had several guns strapped to their backs a and one assault rifle in each of their hands. One of them saw her heading their way, and he raised his gun at her chest, his tense stance never changing. She put her hands up above her head, but I couldn't see her expression, since her hair was blocking her face.

"Don't take another step!" the man warned, his voice low and demanding. The grip on his gun tightened with each passing second of silence. Finally, Hanna sighed softly, letting her gaze drop to the ground. One of the other guards grabbed her arm and hauled her through the gate, which was now opening. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but by the time I blinked, they were gone.

Footsteps sounded from far off into the distance, and I turned from the cameras, my feet guiding me out the door to find two people turning the corner and sprinting toward me.

———

Esther

My legs were burning. Tears were running down my face, blurring my vision, but I didn't care. I was going to see Dad again. I was going to get him back. I am going to spend one more moment with him. Just one moment more is all I need.

Everything was leading up to this... everything I had gone through, everything I did, everything I said, everything was just making way for me. Hanna was just another person to let me go, to let me get to what I wanted, what I needed. Who I needed.

My hand drifted to the star around my neck. It was blackened, the light fading away. But it was still mine, still a reminder of what I was missing. Still a reminder of what I was going to get back.

"Esther!" someone called to me, and Tyler turned around, breathing heavily. His dark hair was messy, unkempt, falling in his face. His dark eyes were broken, yet somehow determined. He took a hold of my arm, gently, and let me run ahead before following me. We turned a corner, and somewhere behind us, we could hear unison stomping.

Gunshots. Screams. I felt an intense pain in my side, and I froze when I heard a grunt behind me, and something–no, someone–crashed down onto the tiles. Slowly, I let myself look over my shoulder. God, no...

Tyler was face down on the ground, the back of his shirt torn down the middle, with the sharp point of something sticking out of the back of his neck, blood pooling around his lifeless body. A knife. It took me every inch of willpower to avoid screaming, and every bit of energy to force my eyes up, away from him. There was nobody in front of me, and my throat closed. More tears cascaded down my face.

I barely knew Tyler. He wasn't really the family I had a close relationship with. I shouldn't have been crying. I wasn't supposed to.

So why was I?

"Esther..." a low voice said, snapping me out of my daze, dragging me out of the hole I was digging myself into. In the back of my mind, I wanted to run away. I wanted to just leave and never come back. Still, I forced myself to turn around, and I saw a man with auburn hair, pale eyes, and a small smile on his face. He knelt down, held his arms wide open. "Come here."

I didn't remember running into his arms, feeling him wrapping me into the tightest hug he could give. I didn't remember laughing and crying, saying how much I missed him. All I remembered, even in a brief flash, was him saying the words, "I love you," before there was a deafening sound in my ears. I jumped back, and I saw his eyes, still on me, empty, blank, before he toppled over, twitching slightly before going still.

I couldn't bring myself to scream. I couldn't bring myself to cry. I couldn't do anything.

There was a silence, and I heard a click. My gaze travelled to the man in front of me. Brown hair, dark eyes, a gun pointed at my chest.

"What did you do?" I exclaimed through the tears already taking over me. He didn't answer. I stepped back, once, twice, three times, four times, and he pulled the trigger. I closed my eyes, waiting for the sweet release of death. Waiting for it to be over.

It didn't come.