Tragedy

It was about two years ago when I lost everything.

I was at home, waiting for my brother to come home from school while I was watching TV. It was his first day in 6th grade, so I was excited to hear how his day was. I waited at least 20 minutes after his normal time to come home.

"I wonder where he is..."

My phone lit up and started ringing phone call from an unknown number, but something about the number looked familiar. I picked up the phone.

"Congratulations! You are eligible to get brand new car—" I hung up.

"Again?! This is like the 5th time this week. I'm sick of them they need to put me on the do not call list." About three minutes later, I got a call from another unknown number, but it was different. Me, being the impatient person I was, picked up the phone and started yelling.

"Look, I don't want your stupid car, okay?! Just stop calling my number, I don't have time for—"

"I'm sorry, this is Lia, correct?" I could hear loud chatter in the background of the phone "Well, I called to tell you that..."

There was a pause and I could hear shuffling as they moved, then they carried on. "I'm sorry but car hit your brother by the intersection on Main Street. He said you were the only person he could contact. I was—"

I quickly hung up and dashed out the door, I ran down the sidewalk, wondering how he got hit. I always told him to look both ways twice before he crossed, especially when he was coming back from school since it was rush hour.

I ran faster while tears collected in my eyelashes, and it gets more difficult to see. A sharp pain on the bottom of my foot shot through me. "OUCH!" I trip and the palms of my hand scrape the concreate.

*get up. get up. get up!*

I check my foot to see I stepped in a piece of glass. Its not too small so I pull it out. "UGH" I let out a screech tossing the glass aside and getting on my feet again.

I could imagine people staring at me because I was a 13-year-old girl dashing without shoes, probably with a bloody footprint every time I took a step, but that was not my concern right now. I was just hoping my brother wasn't hurt too badly, but judging by the tone of the person's voice, it sounded like he wasn't doing so well.

By then, I could see a crowd. There's no mistake, that was the place. I pushed through all the people, so I could get closer. When I finally got through, I was in front and could see my brother's back surrounded by people supporting him.

"Brother!"

He was injured badly. I could see his leg bent out of place, swollen and purple with severe bleeding on his abdomen.

"Leo, are you okay? Leo!"

A person holding down the wounds to stop the bleeding glanced at me. "You're his sister, right? We called an ambulance as soon as possible and asked him if there was anyone to contact like his mom or dad, but he said to just call you."

Tears started rushing down my face. "Thank you for helping him." They smiled and nodded.

"L-Lia..." It was my brother.

"Leo! Are you okay? I thought I told you to always look twice before crossing! You're hurt now and I don't want to lose you! You're the only one I have left!"

"It's okay, I'm just not meant to live that long. That's all. I might not make it. It's time for me to say goodbye to this life and move on to the next. Haha…" He glanced down at my feet. "I see you're hurt too."

I looked down on my feet. Turns out, I did step on a piece of glass. "I'm only hurt because I was running to make sure you were okay." I smiled as clusters of tears started to hit the ground.

"Don't cry, Lia, I'll always be with you and I'll make sure you're safe. When you need help, just like you did for me, I'll always be there for you, watching over you."

I started to cry harder. "Please no… don't say that! You're going to make it!"

I stared at him and gazed at his beautiful brown eyes for the last time. He smiled as a tear coursed down his face.

"Thank you, Lia."

That was the last time I saw Leo.

Sometimes, I do feel like he's with me. Ever since he died, I started to struggle more with income, so I moved out of the house. About a week later, I found out he was run over trying to escape from somebody. During the autopsy, they found deep cuts in his skin marked from what seemed like a knife.

A police case opened up, and they briefly went over the case but dropped it because we lived in the lower part of society. These matters were often glimpsed over with little to no investigation. They had examined camera footage from a place nearby and before he got hit, he was running away from something. He raced into the street without looking, and then it was all over. I asked around to see if anyone knew more information, but they either didn't know anything or stayed away, considering my family's history.

After weeks and weeks of searching, it hit me one day. My father was badly addicted to gambling and probably owed someone big time, but what did he do which was worth a life if he lost? I was only 13 at the time, but I had to do something. I was going to get back at whoever murdered my brother no matter what.

In case you haven't noticed, I didn't have parents. Well, it's because…

I killed them.