Page 9 of Formaldehyde

“You.. you, my fucking.. wrist!” His words come out all sloshy and garbled.

“Yeah. I’d say that’s pretty fucking broke if you ask me, but, what do I know?” I snigger, then before he has the chance to talk more shit to me, I swing the bat again and it connects with the side of his jaw. A deafening crack splits through the carnage behind me and immediately his jaw swings to the opposite side, causing teeth to rattle onto the floor like stray lego pieces and he stumbles backwards. The prick hits the floor with a heavy thud and a swinging jaw.

I step over him but not before raising my foot and smashing it into his face, crushing it like a watermelon. Brain matter and blood squelches underneath my boot and when I lift it away, stringy bits of flesh stick to the rubber sole.

Screams from around the house come rushing back tenfold and my gaze snaps back to my sister who's trying to keep her balance.

How much has she had to drink?

I step through the back door and into the cold night air. Blood stains the concrete as people crawl away on broken bones and my little sister stands in the midst of it all. A vision of beauty in the middle of chaos. Tears well in her glazed eyes and fear keeps her planted in place. No one else exists around us. It’s just her and me now, how it’s always supposed to be.

“My dear, little Alina. You didn’t think you could run away from me that easily did you? That I’d just let you go? I told you I’d kill everyone who looked at you in this outfit and I meant it. Now I’m gonna claim what’s rightfully mine.” I say with clear intent, not giving a single fuck who hears me.

I own her. I always have and now I’m more than ready to prove my words.

Alina breaks out of her trance and sprints towards me, her wild hair spins around her as the little bitch dodges out of my grip and runs straight into the house, getting lost in the sea of bodies. Immediately I spin on my heels and stride into the house, feeling the exhilaration of the chase, within seconds I catch a glimpse of her plump ass going up the stairs.

“I’m coming for you, little sister. Ready or not.” I sing-song and stride up the stairs with confidence. The bat hits each step as I make my way up, people cower in fear the moment they see me coming but my main focus is finding my sister and teaching her a lesson. One of the many bedroom doors slams hard and my gaze snaps towards the noise.

What a silly little girl. Thinking she can hide from me. Alina will never be free of me, whether it be in this life or the next. She’s clawed her way under my skin and made a home inside of me.

Plush cream carpet silences my steps as I walk towards the room I know my sister is hiding in, I can practically hear her panicked heartbeat thrumming through the walls, her fear so fucking intoxicating that I’m desperate to feed on it.

Once I reach the door, I grip the handle tightly and turn it to allow myself inside. Silence hits me instantly and I scour the room in the minimal light. A bed sits in the middle of the room, with a set of drawers and a wardrobe lining the opposite wall.

Keeping my steps quiet I walk further into the room. “I know you’re in here, little sister. You can’t hide from me forever." My tone is teasing and I pause in place, waiting for any sign of movement.

There’s a shuffling sound on the opposite side of the bed and I start to round it when Alina pops up from out of her hiding space and launches a glass vase towards me, on instinct I swing the bat and it shatters into a million pieces all over the floor and that’s when she attempts her escape but she’s too slow. Her foot catches on the corner of the bed and I drop the bat to grab her around her waist to stop her falling face first into the shards of glass that cover the carpet.

“Didn’t our parents ever teach you not to throw things, little sister?” I murmur into her ear and she struggles in my hold.

“Let me go!” She screams in my face. So as brother and sister do. I scream back.

“You’re not leaving me, Alina! Why can’t you get that into your fucking skull? Or do I have to fuck it into you?”

Her stormy eyes widen in shock at my words but it’s nothing that she hasn’t heard before. I’ve been very fucking clear about how I feel yet she continues to fucking test me.

She plants her hands on my forearms and heat radiates through my jacket at the contact. “We can’t be doing this, Ethan! It’s wrong, it’s so fucking wrong!”

“You’re lying.” I state. “You’re lying to yourself, and to me. I can see it all over your face. Society is what’s wrong, not us.”

Tears spring to her eyes and leaves streaks in her makeup as they fall down her cheeks. I can see the war that’s raging inside of her. It’s loud and deafening and she doesn’t know how to handle it.

Lifting one hand from her waist, I glide it up over her ribs and towards her neck before stopping at her jaw to bring her face closer to mine. A sweet scent of apple leaves her mouth and mixes with my breath. “Please, Alina.” I beg in a hushed tone against her skin and she shudders against me. “You know we make sense, so why are you fighting it? I could take us away from this place. We could go where no one knows we exist, just you and me.”

Anguish covers her face and she dips her head down in shame. “Ethan, please. You know we can’t do this. It’d be the end of us and I love you, I do.. but I can’t.” She whispers against my chest and my jaw begins to ache with how hard I’m grinding my back teeth.

What do I have to do to prove this to her?

“Just once..” I murmur, dipping my head to meet hers. “Just this once, let us have this and no one has to know. You can keep me a secret. Just don’t lie to me, please. I want your truths.”

My words must hit somewhere deep inside of her as she lifts her head to meet my gaze. I’m an open book right now, ready for her to read all the truths inside of me.

“I’m scared,” she admits in a hushed tone and I use my thumb to wipe her tears away. “I’m scared of what I feel for you and I know it’s wrong, and.. I’m sick for wanting this, for wanting you. We can never be together.” Alina’s words twist the knife that’s already lodged in my chest and I’m struggling to hold back the anger that’s bubbling under the surface.

I take her face in my hands and roll my forehead against hers, desperate for her to want me back.

“Why don’t you love me?” I beg. Why doesn’t anyone love me? What did I do wrong?