[ON GOING] All Of Me 18+ Only (Book 3 of Lastor series) #Wattys2020

Prologue

August 2005
Manchester, Vermont

I sat out on the patio, watching my sister as she laid on the boat in the middle of the lake, a book in one hand and a cigarette on the other while one of her bodyguards stood by the dock. Ever since I arrived at the manor today just in time for lunch and she found me in the dining hall with Gramps, she made it clear she wanted nothing more than to will me into nonexistence. There was nothing new to that but still, I hated it. What I hated more was whenever she looked at me. I could see it in her eyes, how much she hated me. Hated me for leaving. Hated me for my cowardice. Hated me for saving her life after she had butchered herself with a broken mirror.

It had been nearly two months since and it was only today that our grandfather allowed me to come and see her. After she had woken up from the medically induced coma, he only waited till she was strong enough to travel and brought her here. Away from the press that relentlessly followed us around after the ordeal.

Officially, my sister had been in a car accident. But in reality, she had attempted suicide and I had been the one who rushed her to the hospital. There was so much blood then and I immediately casted away the memory, refusing to remember it. I made myself remember memories of us when we were younger instead. The days when my sister and I were thick as thieves. Spiting our tutors whenever we got bored with our private daily lessons. Getting on a train and riding it till the last stop. Sneaking away from our security detail and spending the day loitering around, pretending we were normal kids without the burden of obligation as heirs to our family's godforsaken empire. I longed for those days to come back but I guess I had no one else but myself to blame. I'd been the one who left after all.

"You can't leave me," she'd begged me then. "Please. You promised."

Those were her last words to me. It has been four years since and she still refused to speak to me. It was agony that those desperate words were the only thing that I can hold onto and now, I had the memory of her lifeless body lying in a tub filled with her blood haunting my sleep too.

"How long do you two plan on hurting each other?"

I turned to see my grandfather standing by the door, his eyes focused on her while he held a glass of scotch in his hand and his cane on the other.

"She kills herself with all the things she does. You torture yourself with all the things you didn't do. For what? Because of the past that can no longer be changed? How pointless." He scoffed, taking a sip of his drink. "You two have the potential to become great things, probably greater than me, but here you are, being a slave to the past. I've half the mind to lock you two in the same room and never let you out until you settle your grudges but knowing that girl, she'll find a way to escape. She always does. Damned girl, too clever for my own good."

"You taught her all that she knows."

He laughed, in spite of himself. "For that, I am guilty but proud. She's the best protégée I've ever had and I've had many. Some went on to become renowned scholars and professionals, and she could be like them too if she wanted. She's brilliant and hard working but your sister... ah, our darling little Angel." He sighed, shaking his head. "Too proud to ask for help. Too kind to share her burdens. Too angry to listen. She thinks faking a smile is enough but how long till she tires of pretending? What will she do then?"

For a fleeting moment, his own pretenses slipped away, revealing an old man worried and pained as he watched helplessly as the most precious thing in his life edged towards self-destruction. Gramps can laugh and joke all day but I knew that at night, as he laid on his bed waiting restlessly for the sleep that rarely came, he wept for the little girl he loved so dearly and nurtured so intensely. And lost far too early.