Tempress, a young girl at the age of fifteen, walked down the street with her baby brother. Technically, his age came nowhere close to the age of a baby, but she still enjoyed calling him her baby brother. She has called him that ever since their mother gave birth to him. If anyone glanced at them walking down the street together, almost everyone would immediately guess that they popped out of the same woman, or that they had some sort of family relation. They both had the same golden hair, but its only difference seemed to be lengthwise. Tempress’s hair reached down a little bit passed her shoulders while her brother’s hair barely went past his ears. Their dark blue eyes seemed to complement their facial expressions. Both of them looked stunning, and in their appearance they had another thing in common. Bruises almost covered up their arms and legs. Because of their clothing, all the bruises remained hidden from people if they surrounded them. It’s the reason why they always wore long sleeved shirts and long pants. The moon lit up the night sky, and thankfully no one seemed to be around them. Her brother glanced around every one in a while with suspicion in his blue eyes. Because Tempress focused on the starry night, she never noticed his suspicious eyes.
“Hey, sis,” her brother spoke up. She glanced down at him, and flinched at the bruise on his cheek. She growled and faced forward. How dare that selfish gambler do that to her little brother? Even though the man committed the exact same crime with her, her forgiveness wouldn’t stretch to him. No matter what, she would always hate that man.
“What is it?” Tempress forced a smile at her brother Nate. He cringed a bit and glanced down at the road. Maybe he should tell her his secret. He loved his sister more than anyone else on the planet. Unlike most siblings, they constantly showed their love and compassion for one another. They never held embarrassment for being so close, and they never gave into the tormenting of their classmates in school. Each student called their relationship incest, but both of them knew their closeness came nowhere near to romance. The thought of them together disgusted the both of them to the point where they wouldn’t even joke about it because they found it so repulsive.
“I… I have something to tell you,” Nate bit his lip. His sister would definitely grow up to be a famous, beautiful woman yet people dared to make fun of her. No matter how strong she claimed to be, he knew for a fact that the tormenting bothered her. Just like how she could never forgive the man who caused all the bruises on their bodies, he could never forgive the people who hurt his older sister. That’s where the difference between the two siblings came in. His sister just thought of her feelings of hate and only kept it between her and Nate. Nate, however, took action when he felt the familiar feeling of hatred, and he never told a soul about those specific actions until today. The time to tell his sister about why he stayed out late at night might be now.
“What is it?” Tempress asked curiously. Before today, she never saw that look on Nate’s face, the look of debating whether or not to tell her something. He always just flat out told her what filled his mind whether good or bad. This secret must have been important.
“W-well…” Nate bit his lip. He couldn’t afford to tell her. For all he knew, he could be placing his older sister in danger. Maybe today wouldn’t be a good time to tell her. He could tell her later when she grew up, and had more protection of herself.
“You can tell me anything, Nate,” she reassured him. She placed a hand on his shoulder. He sighed and prepared himself to say what bothered him so much for the past year. He opened his mouth to speak, but the moment he did, a knife stabbed his chest. He let out a little tiny croak. Pain filled his entire body as Tempress’s mouth dropped open at the sight. The knife stuck out from his chest. A bit of blood trailed down Nate’s lip as he turned to Tempress, shaking with fear in his eyes. Tempress opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, a pale hand reached out and gripped the knife. His fingers curled around the black handle as he pulled out the blade from Nate’s chest. Nate gasped and fell to his knees. With one last pitiful look at the man, he hit the ground face first.
“You have been punished,” a man mumbled. His sister stared down at her brother’s body with wide eyes. Blood poured out of his wound, and created a puddle that surrounded his dead body. Tempress reached down with a trembling hand and poked Nate’s back. No reaction could be seen. Tempress gasped and stood straight up. Her fingers went to her mouth as she began to tremble once again. He couldn’t be dead, right? A nine year old boy never deserved to die. She knew for a fact that he passed on though. His aura and presence completely disappeared along with his soul. All that remained seemed to be his dead body and blood. Nothing she could do would ever help him. He reached a point long past help.
“No,” she whispered as tears made their way to her eyes. She glanced over at the man standing over her brother. His brown hair reached his shoulders, and his chocolate brown eyes contained no emotion, the perfect eyes for a killer. Tempress felt her knees give in. She fell onto the ground and stared at her beautiful brother. Because he lay on the ground with the back of his head facing up, she couldn’t see his face. She grabbed her brother’s lifeless body and flipped him around. She hoisted him up so his head rested on her lap. His eyelids slid down, symbolizing he passed on. His once tan skin seemed pale and blood still dripped down to the rode. His mouth dropped open a bit and Tempress leaned down, praying for a sign he might have still been alive. She knew better than to trick herself though. This boy died and no one could deny that. She looked into the cold eyes of her brother’s killer. Why did this man do this? Nate never committed any crime that she knew of. Even if Nate broke the law, the correct response wouldn’t be to kill him. This man… he is a demon!
“I’m sorry,” he apologized in a hoarse voice. His voice held no resemblance to a meaningful apology. Why bother apologizing if he didn’t mean it? This man’s heart holds no sympathy, Tempress thought sadly as she caressed the cheek of her baby brother. “Your brother is gone.”
“Why?” Tempress whispered with tears streaming down her face. Why did he feel the need to stab her little brother? Nate’s appearance may possess an older look than his actual age of nine, but that gave him no excuse to just dig a knife into her brother’s chest.
“What do you mean why?” the man asked raising an eyebrow. Why did he kill Nate? Why didn’t he just kill Tempress with him? What did Nate do? All of those questions popped into Tempress’s head, but she brushed them off to ask the most important one she wanted to ask.
“Why did you kill him? What has he ever done to you? Why did you stab him?” Tempress screamed as tears streamed down her cheeks. The man flinched and looked down at the dead body. The two children looked similar. They must be siblings, he thought. He never meant to kill the boy in front of his older sister or in front of a family member. He just needed the killing to come to an end, and killing the child may have been the only solution to the problem. He never said he wanted to kill a child, but he had to do his duty and his job. If he refused to, he wouldn’t be able to make a living. Using the words “the bad guy” could never suit him. He is just like any other man trying to make a living.
“Because he is a murderer,” the man answered with an expressionless face. Her brother is a murderer? No, Tempress thought while visibly shaking her head, Nate is no murderer. This man is lying!
“Liar!” Tempress screamed clutching the body of her dear dead brother. She had an innocent little brother who would never harm anyone. Nate never deserved to be killed. Her voice felt trapped in her throat, and she couldn’t release it unless she started screaming.
“I assure you, ma’am, I am telling the truth,” the man said with ease in his voice. It sounded as if nothing bothered him. It seemed like killing people never bothered him at all. What kind of man was he? A murderer, Tempress thought, coming to a conclusion. Her brother couldn’t possibly be a murderer but this man is.
“You are lying,” Tempress slowly stood up with her hands and legs trembling. The only person she loved died at the hands of this stranger. Who did he think he was, killing random people on the street? Nate never deserved this. He never committed any crime or killed anyone. This man must be a cruel person. Tempress’s emotions transformed from sadness to anger in a split second. She craved for vengeance. Her eyes wanted to witness him dying a slow painful death filled with torture and agony. Her ears craved the sound of his screams filling the room as she slowly cut open his flesh. The crimson red liquid would stain her clothes and droplets of blood would remain on her cheek. Her hands would be red with blood as he slowly closed his eyes and passed on to the next life.
“I’ll kill you,” Tempress hissed her voice dripping with venom. “I’LL KILL YOU!”
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