What is lost

Dilshad works full time, does online classes and is a parent to his little sister at the age of 17. despite that, he's happy with his life. when he wakes up this morning though, something seems off...

2013 September 19th

   As I slowly came into consciousness I could feel a weight on my chest. It wasn’t heavy but it was noticeable. I could hear a soft, sad voice; I struggled to understand what he was saying as his voice sounded muffled and distant. I felt scared, angry… strong. I expected to feel the heat of my blood rush threw my veins and my heart beating hard with adrenalin… but I didn’t. Why didn’t I feel it? I knew I should, so why?!

  I go to finally open my eyes after squinting them hard and as I did, I realized I was lying on the floor save for my left calf; it stuck to the edge of my mattress. My lazy Persian cat Fluzil (short for Fluff-zilla) was curled up on my chest sleeping and my baby sister was calling for me at my bedroom door. I groaned and looked up at my alarm clock. 

  Seven thirty, still early

  Pushing the cat off me, I called back “I’m up, I’m up” and came over to the door.

  Before I could open it myself my sister pushed it open hard, smashing it into my nose. I cried out in pain and scolded her.

  “I’m sorry!” she cried “But its eight thirty! You said you had to go to work at eight thirty last night, remember?! You’re late!”

  “What? But its-”

  “Your clock isn’t plugged in; you pulled it out when you fell out of bed!”

  “How...?”

  “Because I can see the socket where you plug your clock into is empty, and your blankets and pillow are on the floor. 

  Making a confused look,  I checked behind me and leaned to the right to see the socket on the opposite side of my bedside table and saw it was in fact empty. After a pause, I looked back to her and said “Well, you seem to be getting something out of watching BBC’s Sherlock… that would be good I suppose…”

  Nadira grind wide for a moment but it soon passed and was replaced with amused concern. “Shouldn’t you be rushing right now? Or are you not worried about work?”

  “Huh…? Ah, hell!” I exclaimed. I quickly started grabbing for my work clothes as I cursed myself.

  My sister giggled as she turned and stepped out.

  I ran out to the kitchen and snatched a granola bar to eat on the way; then opened the fridge, pulled out the milk, and took a few gulps of it before twisting the lid back on and closing the door. Quickly stepping over to the living room, I saw my sister sitting on the couch, ready to go with her backpack and her shoes already on.

  Good thing I take the time to clean the shoes now and then… I thought to myself as I rolled my eyes. “Have you eaten? Got you lunch? Your homework?”

  “Yes, yes, and yes.” She replied.

  “Good, let’s get you to school then.” I said as I hurried to the apartment door and reached for my shoes.

  “Wait, you’re already way late, you need to get to work now or you’ll be in even more trouble!”

  “But I need to get you to school first!”

  “I can go on my own, I’m sure I can make it before the bell; and besides, I am twelve now, you don’t need to escort me everywhere!”

  “I know… but…”

  “Stop worrying so much about me! I’ll be fine for one day so just go!”

  I hesitated a moment, then sighed. “Fine, but you better hurry as well!”

  She gave a gleeful smile, run over to me for a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek before grabbing her bike helmet off the top of the wooden shoe rack and speeding out the door and down the stairs. I let another sigh slip by my lips as I finished tying my shoes. I picked up my own helmet, locked the door, and rushed down the worn stairs after her. I collected my beat up old bike that once belonged to my father, before he died, from the indoor bike lock up and headed out the doors. As I came out I saw my little sister go up the road a ways before turning off to the right. A small smile crept onto my lips as I watched her go. She was such a good girl who worried about me just about as much as I worried about her.

  Once she was out of sight, I jumped on my bike and charged forward, turning left towards the mall. I worked for a local clothing store there; I had started as a part timer when I was sixteen, last year. After my parents were murdered on one of their date nights. 

  The government wanted to take my sister away from me. I convinced the social worker who was in contact with me that I was ready and willing to take care of Nadira, that I didn’t want her to leave me as well. The social workers argument was that I didn’t earn enough to support two people and I was still in school. But I countered with promising to get a full-time job or a second job to support the two of us and I would take online classes to keep up with my schooling. Thankfully my boss was a softy, when I told him the situation he let me start working full-time as long as I promised him as well that I’d continue to work hard in my studies. 

  Needless to say, I have little time to kick back and enjoy myself.  Luckily for me, my sweet little sister truly is as caring and concerned for me as I am for her. She does her best to help me out with anything she can and tries her hardest to be on her best behaviour, she’s very diligent with her school work and chores… honestly I feel like she’s too much of a good girl and that she should be getting in to trouble at least once in a while; strange thing to complain about, no?

  She tried so hard for me one time, she tried to make me lunch to take to work in the morning well I had passed out in the living room with my laptop in the middle of some math work and she accidentally burnt herself on the stove. Her shrieks of pain startled me awake. I quickly did some first aid well my landlord came up to my room due to a neighbor complaining about the noise. He drove my sister and me to the hospital so Nadira could get properly checked out. After my panic and worry subsided, I knew she would be okay. When she calmed down as well, I finally scolded her for trying to use the stove without me to supervise. She argued that she only wanted to be useful so I told her that if she wanted to do something nice for me she shouldn’t do anything that could end up hurting her.

  Some days later she told me she wanted to give me a back massage. I was a little confused on how she got an idea like that so she told me that she had asked someone about what she could do for me. An older student she knew told her that I was probably feeling stressed a lot and a great way to deal with stress was massages. From then on she would get up behind me well I sat in the living room and looked stressed and started massaging my back. By now she’s become really good at them; we both tend to be at our happiest when Nadira rubs my back. If for some reason she could no longer do them... well, let’s not worry, it isn’t as if anything will happen anyway; besides, I’m late for work!

  Moving at my top speed, I carelessly flew into the parking lot of the mall and almost got hit by a large blue Dodge Ram. Although surprised, I caught my senses and carefully swerved to the left and out of the driver’s way. As we passed each other I shouted “Sorry!” over my shoulder. He on the other hand took the effort to twist around and give me the finger. Couldn’t blame him really…

  I made it over to the bike rack, safely, then quickly ducked into the mall and ran over to Agerti’s Clothing Store. As I walked in, my co-worker looked over to me and called out “Hey! What took you so long? You’re normally here before me.”

  “Ah… I was a little out of character this morning… Obviously, I didn’t get up on time. Anyway, I’m sorry I'm so late.”

  “It’s fine. You have a habit of getting here too early so I think you deserve to get off the hook; besides, it hasn’t been busy at all this morning.”

  “No?”

  “No.”

  “Well it’s a good thing we aren’t paid on commission then, eh?”

  Daren gave a pleasant smile and a laugh.

  After putting my things in the back, I started my morning chores around the store. Soon enough I was settled and the two of us chatted at a dull leisure. As the day drew on things picked up Lunch was busiest like normal as most people were on break. By this time the boss came in himself. Half an hour later the phone in the back went off. Daren and I were both dealing with customers at the time -The woman I was helping was looking for a present for her twin sister and was currently trying to get me to help her try on a dress to see if it would fit her. I was beginning to question why she was here when she grabbed me by the wrist and tried pulling me in passed the dressing room door.

  Mr. Agerti went to wave me over to the back with the phone in his hand well I tried to struggle free of the women without being too aggressive. Both Daren and Mr. Agerti noticed the trouble quickly enough and came to help well I began to get louder in my demands for her to let me go.

  The woman wasn’t happy about this and started getting violent. She squeezed down on my wrist so hard I could feel the bones grinding together, her grip got harder, and my hand slowly turned purple; soon, I lost feeling in my fingers. 

  By now Daren is struggling to get her to let go by any means, Mr. Agerti has called security which was on its way into the store now, well I myself was on my knees as I silently cried out in pain. When I managed to open my eyes a little through the pain I noticed the woman had a strange look about her. Her eyes seemed almost as piercing as her sparkling red nails that dug into me until I bled and her strangely pointed, shining white canine teeth.

  At the end of this, the security guards tasered the strange woman; the shock only seemed to surprise her at best, but it was enough that I could finally free myself. I fell back and pushed away with my heels; still facing her well cradling my mangled wrist.

  What a great day this has been I thought to myself. I’m late to work; I almost get run over, now I get attacked by some nut case of a woman? What next? 

  I groaned with exasperation as I tried to blink back my tears now that things had settled down with the woman taken away. I had been given some first aid well I wait for a taxi to come take me to the hospital. I never did get to find out what that phone call was about…

  Mr. Agerti paid for the fair when my ride got there, then sent me off to get checked out. When I got to the hospital, I walked in and went to the counter. A male nurse sat behind it dealing with some paperwork. I didn’t want to disturb him but I made it clear I was there waiting for him by tapping my shoe on the hard floor a few times.

  After another moment, he finished and looked to me “Can I help you?” he asked.

  “Er, yeah, I was attacked at work and my wrist…” I lifted my arm a little to show my injury. “My boss sent me here to get checked out .”

  “I see, can you please take a seat and fill this out for me then?” He asked as he picked out a slip of paper, attached it to a clipboard and handed it to me.

   I nodded and took the clipboard then went over to a chair amongst the other people sitting in the waiting room. Noticing I didn’t get a pen I went back and asked for one. The nurse gave me an annoyed, exasperated look but it quickly changed back to a blank look of stone as he handed me one.

  When I finished awkwardly trying to hold the clipboard well I filled out the form, and tried to ignore the pain, I brought it back. It was about two hours before a doctor would see me after that. Another nurse escorted me down a hall at the back of the waiting room and showed me to the room the doctor would see me in. I waited another few minutes before a tall, slender man stepped in and closed the door behind him.

  “Hello Mr. …” he looked down at the clipboard in his left hand, “Tavana! Nice name. Where are you from?”

  “I was born in Iran, but I got my Canadian citizen ship; But please, call me by my first name.”

  “Of course, sorry..” With that he quickly glanced back down at the clipboard and said “So, it says here you’ve injured your wrist?”

  “Yes.”

  “Mind telling me what happened?”

  “I was trying to help a customer at work. She started trying to pull some inappropriate things with me and when I tried to move away from her, she got violent. She grabbed hold of my wrist and wouldn’t let go… her grip was… was like a vice.”

  “Really?” he questioned in a tone like that of a parent humoring a child.

  “You think I’m exaggerating? Please, have a look for yourself.” I encouraged as I raised my lightly bandaged wrist up and out to him.

  The doctor sighed, but stepped closer. He put down the clipboard then gently removed the gauze. He appeared mildly surprised by the horrendous bruising and five puncture holes around my wrist. Staring with more seriousness, he carefully looked it over before saying “You’re saying this woman did this just by grabbing you with her bare hand?”

  “Yes.”

   After a pause he said “I’m going to put some pressure on your wrist so let me know if it hurts to much.”

  I nodded.

  I could only handle a few seconds before demanding he stop. When he did, he made a puzzled look and said “It definitely feels… Lets get an X-ray done to properly see.”

  “Sure. Will I have to wait long though? My sisters finished school at around three and I’ll need to go get her…”

  “Won’t your parents go and get her?”

  “Not unless they come back from the dead. I’m raising her myself which is why I was at work in the middle of a school day.”

  “Oh” He exclaimed in genuine surprise “I’m sorry… I didn’t realize.”

  “It’s fine. So...?”

  “Right, um,” He glanced at his watch “well I’m sorry to say, but I won’t be able to get you in right away… you’ll have to wait at the very least an hour. Is there anyone you can call to pick her up?”

  With a sigh, I said “I can try my boss”

  “Alright. Well then, you can go back to the waiting room for now. If you’re going to use a cell phone, make sure to go outside first.”

  I did as he asked and went outside. With some difficulty, I managed to get it out and call Mr. Agerti. I explained how things were looking, than asked if he could get Nadira for me. He said he would but he couldn’t babysit her, he would bring her over to the hospital for me; that decided, I called the school next. As the phone rang, an ambulance came rushing up. A hint of exasperation crossed my face so I turned away. The secretary finally answered with a “hello, you’ve reached Doux elementary school, this is Ms. White; may I help you?”

  “Yes. This is Dilshad Tavana. I’m calling for my little sister Nadira to tell her I won’t be coming to pick her up today; instead, Mr. Agerti will come get her.”

  “Alright. You said her name was Nadira Tavana, yes?”

  “Yes”

  “Oka-… oh, one moment please…” A few moments of silence followed, then, “Are you still there?”

  “Yes…” I replied slowly.

  “It slipped my mind… but I actually tried to call you earlier. It only just came to me.”

  “Why were you trying to call me?”

  “It seems Nadira didn’t make it to school. I was calling to see if you knew anything about it.”

  “N… no… I let her go to school by herself today because I was late for work. I can’t imagine she would skip school…”

  “I see. I’m very sorry about this. Please make sure it doesn’t happen again, okay?”

  “Ah… yes ma’am. Thank you for letting me know. Good-bye.”

  “Good-bye.”

  Feeling a mix of anger and anxiousness, I tried Nadira’s cell phone in the hopes that she left it on. It didn’t go straight to the answering machine so I assumed it was on… but she didn’t pick up. When I did get the answering machine, the message I left was: “Nadira?! Why didn’t you go to school?! I trusted you to go by yourself!” I paused to sigh. “I don’t even know what to say… Where ever you are, Call Mr. Agerti to pick you up. I’ll be waiting out front for you when you get here…” I left it there and hung up.

  With another sigh, I started for a bench near the front entrance. It was a long while before my phone went off. I checked the caller ID and saw it was Nadira.

  Hitting the talk button I tried to ask where she was but instead, I was cut off by a woman’s voice.

  “Hello... Is this Dilshad?”

  “Er… Yes...? ” I answered, “Who is this? Why do you have my sister’s cell phone?”

  “I’m very sorry; I’m a nurse at the general hospital. Your sister…can you please contact your parents and have them come here?”

  “O-our parents have passed on… I’m her legal guardian…” It took a minute before I really understood what was being said; when it finally hit me, in a panicked, loud tone, I quickly asked “What’s happened to her?! I-is she alright?! Where is she?!”

  “She’s currently in surgery. It appears… that she was attacked by a large animal. We’re thinking a bear…” she replied weakly. “Can you make it to the hospital?”

  I didn’t respond. My cell slipped from my hand as this grim news sunk in; before I realized it, I was running back into the building yelling at the nurse behind the counter, demanding him to tell me where I could find my sister. I seemed to have panicked the nurse and he froze up. When I got close enough to him, I reached over the counter and grabbed him by his scrubs, pulled him up, and close. In a shrill bark, I continued to demand where my sister was.

  Right away, two people from the fire department that were here waiting for one reason or another, sitting nearby quickly jumped up and struggled to make me let go of the poor man and restrain me. I nearly broke one of their jaws during it all. It wasn’t long before security came. I was taken away and made to sit in a room until I settled. The closest I got to being settled was crying in defeat after a lot of struggling, yelling, and over all being violent. I didn’t notice right away, but I worsened the condition of my wrist in the process of it all.

  It was some hours before the doctor who saw me earlier came and found me.

  “I heard you were causing trouble… you seem like a well-mannered person, so why?”

  “My sister… she…”

  “Your sister? What about her…? Ah, didn’t you say you were going to get someone to pick her up? Where is she?”

  “Surgery…!” I cried with renewed strength. “They wouldn’t tell me where she was! They wouldn’t let me go to her!”

  The doctor seemed a little unsure of what to do or say for a moment. After his awkwardness passed, he did his best to get me to settle down… at least to the point that I could be handled without causing problems or being a bother.

  He first took me to get x-rays done on my wrist; after that I had to wait around some more. He did however promise to let me know when I could go see my sister. It wasn’t long before he came back with the x-ray; he did seem really confused though. 

  Instead of putting the x-ray up so I could see, he put them down and said. “Your wrist… it’s… well it looks like a dump truck ran over it! I’d say you’re lucky to even have your hand still attached.” He paused a moment, then continued “You said a woman at the store did this to you?”

  “Yes.”

  “With her bare hand?”

  “Yes.”

  “Bull. What really happened?” he laughed in disbelieve.

  “I’m telling the truth. Why would I lie?”

  “You tell me, kid. There is no way a normal person did this to you!” He snapped as he finally put up the x-ray.

  I was in awe. The bone looked crushed in; kind of like a beer can some frat boy crushed against his head. Around the edge it looked like oddly shaped toothpicks sticking out at strange angles. I felt the urge to put a hand around my wrist as I looked but held off as I knew it would hurt like hell if I did.

  The doctor snapped me out of shock by barking “Hey!”

  “Huh?! W-what?”

  “Are you going to tell me how this happen or not?!”

  “I’ve… I’ve told you the truth, sir. You can call my boss if you want confirmation.”

  He sighed, “Fine, whatever your reasons, it isn’t my business. I’m going to have to put a cast on you.”

  “Will I be able to keep working?”

  “You could try but I imagine you won’t be much use.”

  Dread slipped into my chest and around my heart and began to squeeze. Worry filled me; I knew what this meant. I knew I could apply for EI… but would that cut it? I didn’t think it would. I felt so scared; I could end up losing my sister if I didn’t earn enough…. What was I supposed to do?

  Well I was stuck in despair, the doctor got to putting a cast on me within the hour; that done, I had to go back to the waiting room before I could go to Nadira. After all the time since I found out she was in surgery to this point, even the last short half-hour felt like years. I was on the edge of crying the whole time well I was hunched over low in my seat, looking at my knees and biting my lips raw. My hands clasped the back of my neck and I subtly rocked back and forth to the beat of my heart ponding in my chest. I was clearly agitated, impatient, and desperate. I felt like many of the other people there were glancing at me with pity… or annoyance. It might have only been my mind playing tricks on me; it could be I was being paranoid but I didn't really care what they thought, I just wanted the pressure of their gaze's off of me.

  When I was finally told where I could find her, I couldn’t help but break into a run; I went as fast as the busy halls would allow well searching out the path up to the room she had been moved too well people shouted at me to slow down. 

  I found it on the top floor half way down the hall from the elevator, which felt painfully slow I might add. I slid on the hall floor as I made a sharp turn before speeding into the large, dull, unfeeling room. My knees gave way as I reached her bedside at the far end of the room and I slide on them for a split second before gently bumping into her bed.

  Nadira was heavily bandaged around her torso with a few more bandages of varying size scattered around on the rest of her body from what I could tell. I began to weep beside her with my right hand on her arm and my face buried into the inside of my left elbow.

  Shortly after, another doctor came by. In a soft voice he said “Excuse me…”

  Glancing back, I groaned “what?” in a shaky voice.

  “You are her brother, right?” My response was a burning glare that made him shift his weight uneasily. “I’m very sorry to bother you…" I was getting annoyed from constantly hearing 'I'm vary sorry' crap over and over, and over. "but please, I have a few things that I need to explain to you…”

  After a second’s hesitation, I gave a begrudging sigh and slowly got back to my feet. Both my legs felt sore from sitting on my knees; because of it, I stepped forward awkwardly.

  The doctor explained she was found on a bike trail through a thick of trees near Doux elementary school. I took her along that trail all the time since it was the fastest way to the school from our apartment. The doctor continued to explain that the person that found her saw something looming over her. He was unsure what the creature was doing at that point but when it noticed him it darted away. I asked him what it was but he didn’t know. Apparently it looked similar to a dog only the size of a bear. What he did know is that my sister had lost a lot of blood and she had deep gashes from large claws across her back starting from the sides of her neck down to her lower back. There was plenty of damage done but the main thing was that the spinal cord was severally damaged. She was going to be paralyzed from the neck down… that is, if she lives that long. In her current condition she was likely to die unless her heart rate started to improve.

  That was that last word I heard before the thoughts swarming my mind of all that he was telling me finally pushed his voice out of my head.

  I swear I felt like someone had taken a sledge hammer to my chest. The air left my lungs, my head started to pound even harder, dizziness struck me, and the world around me seemed to shatter giving way to blinding white light that instantly turned black. finally I stumbled backwards a little before my feet slipped out from under me. My darling little sister… my Nadira… was going to die? 

  My world began to crumble around me and before I knew it, it had become a black nothingness.

  When I opened my eyes again, I found myself on the floor with the doctor and a nurse hunched over me looking at me with pity. The nurse was fanning me with a clipboard well the doctor called out to me. 

  I must have fainted… I think to myself.

  After a bit of time and a little reassurance, they left the room. In my anguish, I grabbed the chair hidden in a corner of the room and slowly pulled it over to Nadira. To not be able to do anything for her like this killed me; it was driving me mad. Crazy! insane!

  Well I sat there is my despair, without my noticing, two people crept into the room. Before I realized it, a pair of arms came over my shoulders and gently wrapped around me; in the same moment, a woman’s voice whispered into my ear “Hey there, lover” I could feel the words roll out slow and low on warm breath an inch away. It was like poison.

  I jumped up out of the chair as if I had suddenly been electrocuted and my face quickly burned up to a beat red. The arms around me slipped off like nothing as I stood and turned to face the un-invited guest.

  “Ho~ did I surprise you?” The woman said sweetly, still leaning over the chair and showing her cleavage; her long dyed blond hair hanging over her right shoulder. I noticed her long fingernails that were painted sparkling red and appeared to be pointed like claws as she brought one hand up to her lips and licked the nail of her middle finger.

  “Wh-who the hell do you think you are!” I snapped at the woman “Get the hell out!”

  “Ho-ho, the boy can bark can’t he?”

  “That’s for sure, still, that’s no excuse for being so ill-mannered toward a woman” said a second voice; a man’s voice, it was deep and rough like sandpaper; it was also arrogant. 

  I started looking around for the owner of it. As I did, a heavy hand dropped down on my shoulder causing me to jump again and spin around on the heel of my foot.

  “How… when…" I stammered before finally saying "get the f**k out!” I commanded.

  “And just why would we do that?” The woman asked.

  “We wouldn’t,” responded the man “especially when it’s just a little pup making the demand.” 

He leaned in toward me and gave a nasty grin showing off his yellowing teeth. I couldn’t help but take a step back but the woman behind me moved the chair out of her way and pressed herself against my back; she wrapped her arms around my middle.

  “Hey now, not feeling nervous are we?”

  I could feel my face heat up a little bit again as I tried to shake her off. Instead of knocking her off though, she locked her arms around me and held me still.

  Without warning, the man leaned in closer and took a long breath in threw the nose, then looked at my sister and knelt down beside her. “You know, you two really do smell almost identical… you must spend most of your time together, eh?”

  “Get away from her!”

  An evil smirk crossed the man’s face “Oh, come now, I’m not doing any harm…” He paused to look at her a little more closely, and then he looked back up to me “You know, I almost wonder, since you two smell so similar…”

  “I was wondering that as well!” the woman chimed in as if she knew what he was going to say.

  He grinned from under his greasy hair before finishing his thought “I bet you sleep with her right?”

  I was shocked by the accusation, that a rage flooded my very being. It never crossed my mind that he was just pushing my buttons, but it didn't matter, it was a horrendous thing to suggest. I struggled against the woman’s grip until I managed to slip down under her arms. Pushing forward I swung at the man with my left, forgetting that that was the injured hand wrapped in a cast.

  The man gave a laugh as his hand shot up and caught me by the wrist and squeezed. The cast was being crushed. I cried out in pain.

  “You know, getting all uppity like that makes you look guilty right?” He laughed again “Can’t blame you though, such a sweet looking little thing. I wish I had more time to play with her back on the bike trail.”

  “Maybe but you would have killed her if you did” the woman said in slight exasperation.

  “Mm, good point, can’t have that now can we?”

  “That’s right, baby; we need her for something.”

  “Well you can’t have her!” I growled through clenched teeth.

  “Ha! And just who is going to stop me, eh? You? You’re nothing but a weak little pup. Besides, from what I can tell, you aren’t doing so well at taking care of the little one anyway. Letting her go all by her lonesome through a dark bike trail in the morning that’s rarely used well you carelessly rush off to the mall and almost get yourself run over.”

  I was stunned; so much so, I almost forgot the pain of the cast being crushed around my wrist. “How…”

  “How did I know? You don’t remember? I’m hurt! I’m the guy who was driving that truck; I’m the one who gave you the finger. You’ve met the lovely miss behind you as well.”

  “Really, you should have just got in with me. It would have been a lot more fun for both of us you know?” The woman said softly into my ear.

  I flinched and tried to jerk away but failed. 

  “Seriously though, it is totally your fault this happened. Whatever reason you let her go by herself, we thank you. You see, you really pissed me off this morning with that little stunt you pulled; as I drove away, I started thinking about getting you well you were alone so that I could bite out your throat, but as I drove, I caught wind of what I thought was your sent going into a bike trail. I decided to go after it so I pulled over and started following and what do I find, but this little cutie! I realized you two must be siblings and really close at that to smell so similar.

  “I thought I’d take my anger out on her but as I closed in I noticed another smell, one like no other. It was very faint but it was clear. The little one knows someone of great importance; greater than an average person could ever know…. 

  “I realized I couldn’t kill her so I only hurt her a little.”

  “You did a bit more than a ‘a little’ dear.” The woman told the man in a flat tone. 

  I felt her chin rest heavy on my shoulder and her arms wrap around me once again.

  “As I was saying… I maimed her. Once I was sure she wouldn’t be able to struggle or try to run, I was going to turn her. Unfortunately, someone came along and I had to leave before I could. Rather disappointing that was…

  “I sent Sharon after you after that to see if you had been in contact with the same person. If you had been, she would have turned you and we wouldn’t be standing here with me explaining all this... Oh well.”

  I had a hard time figuring out all that I was being told. It didn’t really make sense; I even almost forgot what the end result was, whatever he was telling me. He wanted my baby sister and if I allowed that to happen… I didn’t want to think about what this disgusting b*****d would do; I got a good idea though and it boiled my blood.

  “Jerry, the little pup is confused, can’t you tell? I don’t think he knows about our kind… or any other kind besides normal humans for that matter, not that that's surprising.” The woman, Sharon, pointed out.

  “Oh?” Jerry replied in honest surprise. “ I forget most people don’t know about… well about how much the human race actually varies.” A sickening grin passed along his face before continuing “You like horror movies? Or… oh, oh! Yes, or that cute little show on MTV… what was it called? Mm…. ah, right! Teen Wolf! Have you ever watched that?”

  I couldn’t find my words; I was feeling a bit too panicked and confused so I didn’t speak.

  Jerry got impatient; his humored expression blazed up into a rage. He reached over with his free hand and grabbed me around the throat. “I asked you a question!” he bellowed.

  I jumped a little and spat out “N-no… I haven’t… bu-but it’s about werewolves I think?”

  “Give the pup a prize!” he laughed and let me go. The pressure in my wrist was finally relived, though that did little for the pain. “Yes werewolves. We are werewolves. Now, I’m going to take this little one and make her my little play toy. You on the other hand; I’m going to kill you.”

  A shiver ran down my spine.

  “However, I am a decent man, before you die you can say your goodbyes, have some fun with Sharon, or… maybe you want to have your fun with the little darling rather.” Another twisted grin crawled across Jerry’s face as he added the last bit.

  I snapped into a fit of rage -I didn't even notice Sharon let me go- and threw all the weight I could into a punch. It didn’t even land; Jerry caught it again. A second before I realized it, I was sailing out of the window.

  I didn’t survive.

 As I slowly came back to consciousness I could feel a weight on my chest. It wasn’t heavy but it was noticeable. I could hear a soft, sad voice; I struggled to understand what he was saying as his voice sounded muffled and distant. I felt scared, angry… strong. I expected to feel the heat of my blood rush threw my veins and my heart beating hard with adrenalin… but I didn’t. Why didn’t I feel it? I knew I should, so why?!

  I go to finally open my eyes after squinting them hard and as I did, I realized I was lying on the pavement below a parking lot light; I could see an odd bend midway up in the metal poll, passed that I could see the cloudy black sky. I couldn’t remember how I got there… why I was there, but I knew that I was angry. My confusion came first though.

  I tried to sit up but I couldn’t move. Frustrated, I looked about me until I realized there was a man kneeling down beside me. I took notice that it was him who was speaking.

  “It’s going to be okay, you just have to let go. Just relax and rest.” he said.

  “Wh-what? But… but something’s wrong… I need to do... something.”

  “It’s alright. There’s nothing you need to do now, only relax, let go, let me help you shake of this weight.”

  “No… I can’t stop… I have to save her.”

  “You can’t do that. It’s out of your hands now. You must accept that.”

  “I won’t!” I exclaimed as I struggled to get up. 

  I could start to feel myself move again. The man seemed to notice it as well and began looking concerned. “Please stop struggling!” he anxiously demanded as he pulled a black glove off his right hand.

  I struggled harder. It felt like I was fighting my way out of shell. The man above me quickly moved to put his hand down on my chest. Panic rushed through me and I forced as much effort as I could into breaking my arm free. I smashed my left arm out of whatever contained me and grabbed the strange man by the wrist, then bashed the rest of my upper body out.

  “I will not rest!” I shouted as loud as I could a second before I punched him square in his utterly terrified face. The strange man fell away as I worked the rest of my way free and got to my feet. I hesitated only a second to take in my opponent. He was tall and a many few years older; he wore black gloves and a black hooded cloak. He didn’t really blend in well… but that wasn’t what was on my mind as that moment.

  He began to stand as I stepped around to the front of him. Before he could straighten out, I laced my fingers together, clamped onto the back of his head, and brought my knee up into his face. The man fell back down and I stomped down on his neck. It crunched under my heel until the man’s body seemed to dissolve away. Small orbs of light slipped out from the fabric of the cloak soon after.

  I scrunched my face in confusion. This wasn’t what happened when someone died…. Was it? I couldn’t remember…. I couldn’t remember why I fought this guy in the first place either. Speaking of not remembering, I couldn’t figure out who I was… or where I was. All I knew was that I couldn’t feel anything other than a deep rage and a deeper sorrow. I clenched my fists and bit the corner of my lip. 

  I looked back to see what had contained me. I discovered a body with a cast on its wrist; blood pooled around the upper part of him. His skin was a little coloured but pale, his hair was brown, and he had a strong jaw. He looked like he was still fairly young. Without much thought I turned back to the cloak and picked it up. The orbs of light were undisturbed as I did this. Feeling curious as I pulled on the black cloak, I crouched down and tried to touch one. A warm feeling passed into my hand for a moment as the orb faded out.

  “My little sister” I mumbled.

  My sister? I wondered. Why did I say that? Do I have a sister…? I can’t remember… Why can’t I remember anything?! 

  I cried out in anger; I couldn’t stand still any longer. I jumped up into the air and glided away into the darkness of the night.

  I was dead -whether I knew it or not- but death wouldn't take me yet.