His Willow

Chapter 40

Trigger warning. 

Alaric's POV

"ANNABELLE NO!"

I screamed and yelled at the top of my lungs capacity, pulling my body violently against the tightly wound ropes, causing a burn to form upon my fragile young skin, scarring my arms with marks that will remain there for life.

I witness the scene before me unfold, watching my father handle my sister as if she was a dirty diaper, lifting her up into the air by her left ankle while she wails and cries for our dead mother and me.

Her baby tears streaming down her chubby red cheeks whilst our father looks down upon her in disgust, eyes crossing and his lip in a snarl, causing me to tug harder at the ropes, determined to break myself free and dive for my sister moments away from her death.

"Say goodbye to your sister Alaric before she leaves, one last goodbye." My father spits in my direction, a sadistic smile adorning his evil complexion and making a shiver run up and down my back, terrified for the fate of my baby sister, the angel I had sworn to protect from the one person who holds her captive.

"No, father! please don't do this PLEASE!" I scream and wail, but it's to no avail, my words only fell on deaf ears.

My yelling only made my sister cry harder in distress, her small dangling arms making grabby motions in my direction, wanting a cuddle from her big brother to make it all okay again, but it wasn't, these would be our last moments alive together.

"FATHER STOP! PLEASE, I BEG YOU!"

"SHUT UP SON, MEN DONT CRY OR WAIL LIKE LITTLE GIRLS, WE ARE STRONG AND DO WHAT'S RIGHT." My father roared in frustration, jolting my sister in his fist in the process.

My eyes were blurry with tears, streaming down my face like waterfalls and wetting the rope around my waist, dulling the rope burn.

The next few moments my brain couldn't fathom, couldn't process the following events and shut down my mind completely, only letting me watch on with hollow eyes and a broken heart.

I stilled against the tree, stopped struggling for just a second as I watched my father's next steps, walking in slow motion in the direction of the crystal clear lake, the surface still and freezing to the touch.

"You are the worst thing that has ever happened to my wife and me, you ruined us, killed her. You are worse than the devil himself, and I must rid you before you grow up to hurt more people around you, you horrible little girl," My father spat each word down at my little sister, peering up at her father with huge bloodshot eyes and sniffling in pain.

"I'm doing this for her, now we will be at peace."

And with those final words, my father dropped Annabelle headfirst into the ice-cold lake, her screams echoing around the trees and almost drowned out by my own, feeling my heart shatter into a million pieces.

With one final push, I snapped the ropes in two, pushing myself away from the tree and sprinting as hard as I physically could towards the lake, getting closer and closer to saving her.

But I was too late, always too late.

I skidded to a halt at the side of the deep lake, watching the bubbles float to the surface fewer and fewer at a time. Her body had submerged under the icy arms of the water and hidden from my view.

I dug my arms deep into the bottomless lake, splashing the water frantically in search of the adorable little angel. Still, I never saw the sight of her, the last piece of my sister laid floating on the surface, a small pink ribbon that was tied around her wrist in a bracelet I made her, she loved the colour and squealed whenever I pointed it out, it made us both so happy.