I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, heaving and panting. It couldn't be, it just couldn't be. Maybe It wasn't as bad as she had made it. Tears were beginning to stream freely from my eyes, blurring my vision as I ran through the dry woods and into the fog that decorated the dewy morning.
He had to be here. I had looked everywhere and this was the last place I knew Eryx could be. I held tightly to my jacket, silently praying that I find my twin brother before it's too late.
I slowed down, screaming his name and asking where he was. The trees were almost sparse with leaves as dry leaves fell to the floor in the brewing autumn season and although they were tall, it was still easy to spot someone.
I called out again and my voice cracked this time, following the silent ones of my heart as I hurriedly wiped the tears off my face. Walking in no direction, I heard a whimper that stopped me dead in my tracks. I heard it again and I resumed my search again, careful enough to not miss the voice.
His grunts became loud enough for me to find him. I could always recognize his voice even in a room full of a thousand singers. From the corner of my eyes, I catch a moving branch and I hurry to the tree, the sight that I see making me want to empty my guts.
There was my brother, clutching his abdomen in pain as blood seeped through his torn and battered uniform. The world faded as I see him reach out with his free hand to me, calling out with a weak, inaudible tone. Holes filled his body and clothes, from his chest to his legs and the side of his forehead. It was a gory sight I wouldn't have been able to stand if he was someone else. I drop down to my knees, unable to process the pain I'd gotten from the tree branch scratching my kneecap.
"Eryx, l-look at me. Hey, I'm here" I whisper to him as I caressed his arm.
He was gasping for air, barely able to keep his eyes open but I knew he could hear me.
I could no longer control my tears as I picked up my phone from my pocket and swiped the emergency number in a flash, hardly able to relay the whole situation to them.
"Eryx, help is coming, okay? Please stay with me. Who did this to you? I asked, touching his shoulder.
He grunted and hissed, drawing my attention to the huge gash on the area I had touched. It was bleeding profusely, with a tree branch sticking out from it. He was losing so much blood and I could see the life visibly draining from his eyes. I tied my jacket around his bloodied abdomen in an attempt to reduce the bleeding, averting my gaze from his half-opened eyes that kept staring at me.
"Eirlys, please look at me" he called out to me, his voice, a mere whisper.
I wiped my face and looked up at him. He had been shot multiple times in different places.
"Don't say a thing. I already called the paramedics. They'll be here in no time, okay? Just hold on a little bit longer" I removed the tree branch that was stuck on his shoulder and pressed on his wound as hard as I could, eliciting a loud scream from him. I'd been taught by my father to always press on a bleeding to stop the blood from coming out.
"No. I'm- I'm so sorry. I could no- not s-save myself f-for you" he coughed out.
A lone tear escaped my eye as I watched him struggle to make a sentence.
"No, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry for not protecting you like a sister should. I'm sorry for being naughty and neglecting you. I never should have fought with you" I apologized, regret flooding my mind as I realized how inconsiderate I had been. If I hadn't asked him to chase after a dangerous man, he wouldn't have gone for a run and would not have been in such horrible situation.
He held my hand and pried it opened, dropping a golden locket in it. The heart shaped locket had a picture of both of us smiling at the camera. We had taken the picture on our tenth birthday after smearing the birthday cake on each other's faces.
"Always keep this w-with you, p-please. I love you, Eirlys. I'm sorry." He closed his eyes as his hand dropped on my palm as I stared at him, unmoving.
I blinked, caressed his cheeks and gently called out to him.
"Eryx? Are you asleep?" I could not believe my brother was dead. I didn't welcome such thoughts.
Eryx was a strong guy, he couldn't die. He was my superhero and superheroes don't die.
I laid next to him and closed my eyes, pretending to sleep with him. Less than a minute after closing my eyes, I heard the ambulance siren and immediately shoot up, scrambling to my feet as I screamed and waved for them.
A guy in scrubs found me and called to the others who came running with the stretcher. They laid my brother on it and wheeled it back to the bus. I picked up the necklace on the floor and hurried behind them as the guy followed me, asking if I was hurt.
I dialed my father immediately I got into the backseat where Eryx was lying. I rang for a hundred time but he didn't answer the phone. Typical. I didn't expect him to pick up but I had the tiniest bit of hope that he might.
We arrived at the hospital in no time and Eryx was wheeled into the ER, while I sat at the reception where a nurse attended to the wound on my knee that now had dried blood on it.
After she finished up, I rested my head on the chair, my body and mind numb. I could barely see a thing until I looked out the door and saw my father, helping a strange woman into the car outside.
My instincts kicked in and I ran out to him and tugged the back of his blue button-down shirt.
"Dad? I've been calling you! Eryx is-" I trailed off as I take in the strange woman that was seated on the front seat of my father's rolls Royce.
"Who is this?" I questioned my father, still staring at the woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties.
"Shut up. Now why were you calling?" he gave me a disgusted look and checked his watch.
The lady touched his arm and smiled at him.
My heart raced, anger burning through every vein in my body.
"Dad, I was calling because Eryx was dying and you ignored me because you were with a whore? You neglected your child because of a slut! You're such a-"A resounding slap echoed as my cheeks tinged with pain.
"Don't you ever speak to me like that again or you'll regret it"
I held my cheek, tears brimming in my eyes as my father pushed me aside and walked over to the side of the car, getting in and driving away. At the other side of where I stood, I saw my stepmother, mouth open and eyes widened in shock as she witnessed what had just happened.