The Doomed Sister

“Please.”

She stared back with solemn eyes, her hair sweeping over her face. But she didn’t break eye contact with me, and I refused to do the same. Our eyes, locked together and reflecting the same gem-tone blue, were our only common feature. Her reflection shadowed the water she stood above, while mine was blinded from the weak sun that pitifully tried to shine through the clouds. As determined, she was the darkness, and I was light.

She casually stepped down from her perch and approached, her form languidly crossing the distance with ease. Her movements were swift, but at ease, and I stood stock still as the breeze had my hair cross before my face. Still eye contact between us was never broken. She stopped her pace when she was a couple of feet away from me, and that was when her hesitation surfaced. I could see it in her eyes. Carefully, I stretched my hand towards her, afraid she would jump away. But she mirrored me in seconds, and her fingers gingerly brushed with mine. Her olive skin looked darker against the pale surface of mine, and now our eyes glanced down to our interlocked hands. My gaze slowly traveled up her arm, scanning the curve of her straight shoulder, up her longer neck, and finally over her face.

Red lips at rest quivered, and her round chin dimpled with worry. But her skin smoothed over as her emotions were locked away again. Her sleek jaw was accented by high cheekbones, with a sharp small nose to finish her almost elvish looks. Her thin black eyebrows plucked to perfection slanted up, giving her face a hint of attitude, and made her forehead look a bit bigger than it actually was. Her eyes though were oval, and the sapphire blue of them were locked right onto me again. In the blue of her eyes, I saw my own reflection looking back at me.

We had similarly high cheekbones. The same chin, a bit of the same jaw. But my jaw was stronger, while my nose was a bit smaller and rounded at the tip. My fuller lips were softer, pinker, and the skin on my face was paler still. A breeze whisked our hair away from our faces, but the strands seemed to touch, hers thick, and so black it was blue, waving in the air like the tide at midnight. Mine was golden thread, thin and rich with color, the largest contrast between the two of us. But our eyes, our eyes were exactly the same. I may be shorter, thinner, with less shape to my body, and she might have the perfect hourglass curves with a core toned from exercise, but our eyes would always remain the same.

“Sister,” I breathed, my sweeter voice barely heard over the wind of the hills. Her eyes narrowed as if in anger, but I could see in her pupils a deeper pain, one that made her look smaller in her tall frame. She seemed to collapse from the inside, though she still stood tall. The gem color of her eyes clouded, and I knew at once what she thought. But I didn’t not move away from her. She gave a tiny shake of her head, and that was all the confirmation I needed. Despite the simple gesture having unleashed a repertoire of darker emotions, I still accepted my fate. Our fate. This was determined.

Her hand tightened on mine, and I lightly squeezed back, almost unwilling to do what needed to be done. But in the same movement, with the both of us shifting the same muscles, we moved. My right hand struck out, while her left clawed for my face. Our hands made contact, her nails scraping against my knuckles, and we pulled back to strike again. Our other hands stayed intertwined. Her knee lifted to throw me off balance, but I followed her movements in time with her rhythm, with the both of us parrying the motion of the other. She stepped back, and I followed forward. She shoved me away, yet leaned to be closer. Her free hand tried to cause pain, yet I blocked the worst. I tried to draw blood, but she made sure I could not get close enough. We were an even match in strength, and in determination.

I knew this could go like this for hours. I knew that we could keep up with each other. In each movement she made, I saw all I learned too, all I taught, all I struggled with. And I knew she saw the same. We were childhood rivals again, trying to get the better of each other, but the other never succeeding. I knew she saw it too, for her eyes tracked my movement and calculated my next. I watched her eyes, and I saw with each movement, it started to cause her pain. Her full cheeks paled, the muscles in her upper arms tensed, the corners of her eyes tightened, and the corners of her lips began to pull down. I knew the pain she felt, for I felt it too. I didn’t want to do this. Neither of us did. But this was determined to happen long ago. Yet still we held each other’s hand.

In a smooth movement, one of my punches fell short, and her own curled fist traveled past my arm and towards my right cheek. I could have stopped it. I know I could have. But her flesh and bone crashed into mine, and the sick sound of flesh hitting flesh, bone snapping bone filtered into my ears as my head snapped to the side. My vision blurred, and I couldn’t see her anymore. And just as I anticipated, she didn’t stop there. I felt the heel of her foot connect with my bottom ribs, the rubber of the soles adding an unnatural feeling to the kick as more bones broke to give way to her driving force. I was falling onto my side, and I felt my temple connect abruptly with cold stone.

The pain was instant, and now my vision was cleared. A second ago, the stone was cold, but now it felt as warm as my body was. Or perhaps it was the other way around. Both of my hands fell limp before me, one palm up to the sky, the other palm down beside it. My legs were a tangled mess, and my spine felt a bit twisted. But I was in no way uncomfortable. In fact I felt at ease. Everything seemed like it was going to be alright.

She gave a muffled scream, and I saw her collapse on all fours, her face obscured by her long locks of midnight hair. I saw her shudder, then reach forward and grasp my open hand. I barely twitched, but it bothered me that I couldn’t feel the warmth of her skin. She laid down beside me, and clear tears marked her cheeks, creating little rivulets in the scars of her skin. Her sapphire eyes met mine, and I wanted to smile. I wanted to tell her that everything was alright. I was the older one here after all. I should comfort her. But my plan worked too well, and my own body would not respond to my wishes. Her other hand traveled to my cheek, and I wanted to press against her touch, a touch I couldn’t feel.

“Rest, Sister, and forgive me what had to be done,” She wept, her voice cracking in her grief. Why did this have to be done again? I knew there was a reason, but I couldn’t remember. I did remember that one of us had to die, and everyone we knew expected her to go, as the daughter of darkness. But I took the fall instead, and it was the one act I would never regret, not with our hands entwined like this.