Darkness

Day Seventeen

         I got out of bed but before i could take any steps towards the door, I fell to my knees. Instantly I was not seeing the room but something else. It was the face of Sukina's stepbrother, our elder brother. There was a man standing in front of him, looking extremely happy. Behind him there was nothing but darkness. Onii-chan's hand was stretched out like how killong of the other's was, but there was one vital difference.
         If Onii-chan killed the man darkness would envelop him.
         I screamed a denial in my throat. He's walked in darkness for so long! Let him come back to the light! I prayed desperately. Yet I knew that he had chosen to walk this road, that he knew the consequences, but the knowledge that hurt most of all was that my sister and I could do nothing about it. The feeling of helplessness was so strong that I wept as I haven't wept for years. Our love for him, the same love that had bonded us as sisters and him as our brother, had no more hold on him.
         I didn't know when I passed out, only that I did. And when I awoke it was to find my sister sleeping next to me. Those who didn't know her would have mistook her face as serene, but it was one of resignation. My sister knew how important this mission was and she would kill herself fulfilling it. Without Onii-chan there was no true reason for her to live, or so she thought.
         I sighed and turned over. It must have been late afternoon. The sun was shining in through the window at an odd angle.
         "I'm surprised you're awake, Naoko-san. Kurama-sensei that you would miss the ceremony," I heard Shuura hurry over to the bedside.
         "No, we cannot miss that," I said grimly, sitting up. "The man who did this to Sukina will pay. I'll give his heart to the dogs while he still lives," I swore.