The roar of the fire floated around my ears as I watched the flames dance in the fireplace. My mind was all sorts of troubled, as was my heart. I still hadn't gotten past the fact that I could smell those lilacs, as faint as they were. Unfortunately, I was so preoccupied with trying to keep Sylvie at least some semblance of sane that I didn't even think to speak to my dear little sister about her escapades. Now that my darling seemed to be on the mend, I felt it was a good time to do so.
As I stood to my feet, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I knew full well that it was Mikhail, but he would just have to wait for now. This was more important. I bounded up the steps and to my sister's room, about to knock on the door. Suddenly, I realized I didn't hear anything. No breathing, no music from her headphones, just complete silence. I pushed open the door and confirmed that she was indeed gone.
But I didn't notice her leave. I frowned.
Her open window told me all I needed to know as I swiftly walked out of the room and down the hall to my own. I caught a glimpse of Sylvie on the balcony, leaning against the railing with a glass of blood held leisurely in her hand. A tiny sense of sadness hit me as I watched her for a moment. She was coming around, but it was a slow process. I found myself not wanting to leave, but I couldn't ignore the feeling in the pit of my stomach that was telling me I needed to find my sister.
"Darling." I called softly to her. I tried to make my smile as jovial as I could when she turned to me. "I'm going out for a few."
"Let me know if she's alright." Sylvie gave me an understanding nod.
My smile faltered for a split second as I realized that I was still connected with her. I chuckled and gave her a nod before exiting.
I decided to head toward Hamilton, but something told me to take a detour. I strolled quickly down a side street until I came to the intersection where the small grocery store sat. I stood near the crosswalk and surveyed my surroundings, but there was no sign of my little sister anywhere. I lifted my nose to the sky slightly as a breeze graced me. Nothing of note, except the smell of rain that was nearing my location. I let out a heavy sigh, mentally thanking myself for remembering to wear a jacket with a hood. I swear Mother Nature had it out for me.
As I crossed the street, I could hear the sound of the raindrops hitting the pavement not too far from me. As another breeze traveled to me, I was hit with the unmistakable scent of lilacs off to my right. I swiftly ran, past the bars and businesses to the secluded park near the river. The closer I got, the stronger the scent of rain became, which made the scent of lilacs weaker. I had to act fast if I wanted to find her. I bounded past the swings, under the large slide and to the shaded area by the bushes. As the rhythm of the rain began to beat down on my head, another beat made its way to my ears. I could hear a heartbeat quickly becoming slower and quieter by the second. I found Edie, her body hunched over her latest victim.
"Edie!" I roared, watching her jerk away from the now dead woman.
"Hello, Danny." She greeted me with deathly calm as she stood to her feet. She wiped blood from her mouth with the back of her hand and stood with her shoulders square, ready for a battle.
"Edie, what have you done?" I stared at my little sister in horror.
"It's Edith, if you don't mind, Danny boy."
I did nothing to hide the shock and horror on my face. Danny boy? Since when did she call me that? The only person who ever called me that was...
"Still listening to him, I see." I growled as I shook my head. "This was his doing, wasn't it?"
"It makes sense, Daniel." She gave me a fake pout. "We're predators, we're supposed to kill. It's in our nature. Same with Ana."
My blood boiled at the mention of that name. "Things didn't end too well for her either, Edith."
Edith pursed her lips, unamused at my response. "Nature is still nature, Danny."
"It's only in our nature if we let it be, Edith!" I countered. "I thought I taught you better than that. I thought I could trust you to turn away from all this!"
"I guess that is just another weakness of yours, brother dear." Edith sighed, as if she were bored with the conversation. "You're entirely too trusting of me."
"Edith, you have no idea what you've done. I probably don't even need to ask if you're behind what happened to poor Tammy." I frowned at this woman who was now foreign to me.
Edith simply shrugged. "She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her fault."
"She was Sylvie's friend and you know it!" I felt a wave of nausea hit me at her response. "You can't stay here anymore."
"But that's against the law, brother dear." Edith sneered at me. "By rights, I'm supposed to be dead, aren't I?"
"Edith, stop!" I warned.
"What's the matter, Danny?" Edith chuckled wickedly. "You don't have it in you to do it, do you? You can't hurt me."
"I'm trying to give you a chance, Edith." I tried to keep my feelings leashed, but it was proving to be increasingly impossible.
"Fine, fine, Danny." Edith rolled her eyes, backing into the shadows. "I guess this is goodbye, then."
With that, I could no longer feel my sister's presence. I felt my coils quickly become unwound as I dropped to my knees. They had won. They had taken my little sister from me. Damien and Nadine had gotten the monstrous killer they had always wanted.
I didn't even bother to put my hood up as I gathered myself up from the ground and trudged home, barely paying attention to the rain. I didn't care, I was on complete autopilot as I made my way.
As I walked up the stairs to our home, a tsunami wave of mourning crashed into me. This was our new normal, though. We had to get used to this pain and learn to move on from it. I stepped inside our home, my eyes on the floor as I watched the rain drip from my hair. I felt frozen to that spot on the floor, my mind racing much faster than I even care to keep up with. My most prominent thought was how I was going to explain this all to Sylvie.
That's when a sharp intake of breath grabbed my attention. I looked up toward the kitchen and there was Sylvie. Her eyes were puffy, and tears stained her face and clothes. Our eyes met, and I knew I didn't need to explain a thing. Slowly, she walked toward me and embraced me. I held her tightly and buried my face into her hair, finally allowing the tears to flow freely.