Scars.

'Michael took his headphones off. He was done sampling the audio for the background.

'Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz...'

Somebody was at the door, pressing the buzzer constantly. He didn't hear it before, so god knows how long they have been doing this.

He hurried towards the door, and pressed the on button on the monitor connected to the camera outside.

The monitor displayed the video feed.

His mind went numb in an instant. He was rooted to the spot, unable to comprehend the reality of the situation.

'She can't be here.'

He wanted to scream that at the top of his lungs. With ever second, he was feeling that the chances of him passing out were increasing. The shadow of his misery was here. The only person that he ever wronged, and the only person that he never wanted to see again.

The buzzing sound continued. 3 minutes passed in fear, and felt like an eternity of suffering.

He didn't want to open the door. All this time, he had been running from this. He couldn't bear to face her now.

2 more minutes passed.

He pressed the button on the monitor.

'Leave.'

"Why are you here?"

A hint of admonishment.

"Brother."

She said.

Her tone was a bit higher than before. He used to find it annoying at times, because she would always complain about his pranks to their father.

Another minute passed in silence.

"Open the door."

Nora asked softly.

"You shouldn't be here."

He wasn't opening the door.

"This is my home too."

She was being as polite and understanding as possible.

Still, those words felt very heavy to him. He chose to remain silent.

"I don't blame you."

I know. But I blame myself.

"Please. Open the door."

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

"You don't have to carry that burden alone."

He dropped on his knees.

"We have to move on from the past."

'Please. Go away.'

He wanted to scream those words.

"Let me inside..."

She was not giving up.

He started to pull his hair out of frustration.

'Stay away from her. You do not deserve her responsibility.'

The face of his parents.

'I know! But what can I do?'

"AHHHHHHH"

He clutched his chest with his right hand. The pain was unbearable.

His head started to spin, his heart rate was through the roof, and his eyes were swollen due to unrelenting tears.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

He banged the back of his head on the door.

The lights went out.

"Leave me alone."

He whispered before losing consciousness.

-------------------------------

Another dream. This was more recent when compared to his last nightmare.

"Why do you want to send me away?"

'I...'

He tried to speak, but his mouth refused to listen to him.

"It is the best I can do for you."

How the scene played out originally.

"Mom and Dad would have never wanted this! I am not leaving!"

She protested.

"I am doing this to protect you, Nora. Please, listen to me. I don'twant to hurt you again."

Grandma was also present at the scene, sipping on a cup of green tea.

"I don't want to understand! If you want to leave, you can leave. But I am not leaving this place!"

At his wits end, he was frustrated beyond his limits.

"Please-"

Nora screamed at the top of her lungs.

"NO MEANS NO!"

He raised his hand.

'Don't hit her!'

He tried his best to regain control, but his body was already in motion.

'Slap!'

Another tight slap on her face. Once again, he had hit her sister. This time, in front of his grandmother.

'YOU MORON!'

He was screaming at his past self, but it was of no avail. That second slap broke something inside him, and he was unable to hold himself back. The dread of committing that action twice was felt instantly. This was the decision he would regret the most, but according to him, he was doing this for her.

A moment of silence. Grandma gave her a look filled with empathy.

"I do not care what you think of me, I do not care what she thinks of me, and I certainly don't care what our parents would want. I asked you nicely. I begged you to understand. If you don't want to understand, then I will force you to leave. But you will leave. That is final. You have to choose between a brother that is on the brink of losing it, or the people that are responsible for almost every problem that we have."

He wasn't crying. His expression was as dead as it could get.

"If you stay here, I will destroy everything."

He was serious. He could no longer trust himself.

She was stunned. She was helpless. And she was in grief. After that moment, she walked away from him, and went straight towards her room. She only wanted to stay back for her brother.

This wasn't her brother talking. This was his arrogance. This was his selfishness. He had the gall to hit her twice in one day, and she knew it was because he wanted her to see what was in her future if she decided to stay.

She took his words to heart.

"A person can never forget his scars, Michael. They can choose to ignore them. But their lingering memory never fades away."

Grandma gave him some sound advice.

"She will have to live with this scar. It is for her own good."

Grandma stood up and said,

"I wasn't talking about her."

He looked back at her.

"What do you mean?"

She narrowed her eyes. The wrinkles on her face contracted, and she said,

"Before this, I was hoping to convince you to stay together with Nora. But now, I am convinced that she needs to be as far away from you as possible for the time being."

She looked at the picture of her daughter kept on the table. Her smile almost brought a tear to her eye.

"You are a broken kid, Michael. If you wish to progress further in your life, don't live to regret the decision that you made today. Otherwise, you will always question the importance of your existence, and keep people away from you simply because you think that you will pollute their lives. If you have to hurt people that care about you to keep them away from yourself, you are fighting a one-sided battle."

Those words sent a chill down his spine.

"Loss is a part of life. But losing yourself is the end of it."