Chapter Two

*TW: r@pe, assault, gore

if this might trigger you, please don't read!

mental health first!

we sat there in silence for ages.

the only noise was the occasional grunt from my sleeping father on the couch and the ticking of our grandfather clock. the tension was thick, uneasy and heavy. the brother i thought i knew was a monster. a murder. i sat with my back against the door, head in my knees. i could feel his presence against the door too, yet this wasn't a remorseful presence. it was one of satisfaction. and the worst part? he was going to get away with it.

to people who were born before The Great Revolt of 2030, this will sound extremely weird. The Great Revolt was led by three groups of citizens. The Reds, The Blues, and the Greens. All of the colors held the corresponding belief that civilization and the government was extremely corrupt and needed to be reformed. Sounds great right? Nope. The colors actually used to be one giant organization called The Cream Crusaders, named after their leader, Violet Cream. Some other Cream Crusader didn't approve of Violet's peaceful mission of overthrowing the government. They sought war and death and saw it as the only way to get peace. Out of those crusaders, Some believed that all of humanity should be erased and restarted, and some believed they should only kill the rich and corrupt. The two violent sections of the Creams rioted against the peaceful Creams and killed Violet Cream in an uproar that lasted around a week. That's when the split happened and all hell broke loose. The Reds were the most violent, wanting to start humanity over, The Blues are the second most violent going off of an old phrase called "eat the rich", and The Greens avoid violence at all costs. The three groups didn't live in harmony for very long, and in 2030, they started fighting each other AND others who stood in the way. If you didn't want to associate with any color? guess what? you would still get killed. it got the point where 98% of america associated with a color, all having individual leaders. The Great Revolution was originally supposed to just be against the government, but due to tension, it became Red vs Blue vs Green. The Colors even made their way across the globe. Reds pretty much got their wish, because by 2038, america, most of europe, and asia has all been destroyed and taken back to square one. The war ended when the last few thousand reds and greens surrendered and the American Society pretty much started over. Looking back at my history book, technology wise, we're pretty much at the year 2020. The Blues, as i said earlier were anti-unnecessary war, but were pro violence. I guess that was the perfect medium, because they won. The Blues and their children aren't even called the Blues anymore as they're just the regular government now, but i like "the Blues" better. anyways, when the Blues implemented their new government in 2039, one of their "happy medium" rules was

Each American Citizen

shall receive the opportunity to take a life

without consequence.

without consequence.

WITHOUT CONSEQUENCE!

i'll admit, i didn't think much of it.

until a few years ago when i was 14.

my sister.

There was man who worked at my dads job who he was good friends with. his name was Josh Gelligar.

Josh Gelligar was the definition of a creep. My Parents never noticed it, but my brother and i did. It was the small stuff, really.

His comments towards me and my little sister.

"that dress is *gorgeous* on you Becca"

"My, look how big and womanly you've gotten, Eva!"

"Very nice shorts, Becca. awfully short though"

"Eva, you might just be the prettiest girl i've ever come across."

The subtle glances at our butts and breasts, the erection he always had around us, his too-tight hugs.

Me and Dylan should've known it would happen.

My sister was around 9 when it did.

There was a game night for our dads work that was hosted at our house. it was a Wednesday evening, and we had school, so we were supposed to be sleep. I was the only one awake at the time. It was my dad, Josh and nine other people. they were playing some charade sort of game i think. all i could hear was hysteric laughter and weird sound effects like mimicking some sort of item.

I heard his footsteps creep up the stairs of the house. the creaking gradually got louder and i heard heavy breathing and stifled grunts. i thought it was my father, so i thought nothing of it. Then i heard her door lock shut.

i thought this was suspicious, because we had a rule in our house that we can't lock our doors. but again, i thought nothing of it.

i heard some shifting around in her room like when a bird ruffles their feathers and some grunting like when someone lifts something heavy. gently, i lifted my head from my pillow and put my phone on the table. i crept off the bed, shuffling my feet across the bleak carpet below me. my shaky arm reached for the door knob. i was going fairly slow, not sure if it was my dad or someone else. Suddenly there was a Thump.

the thump will forever be grained in my head. it was a hard, aggressive thump, the noise that someone makes when they stomp their foot, that shakes the whole room. I swear the whole neighborhood could hear it.

I don't remember much after that. All i saw was my sister's dead, bloody body lying against her wall. her wall was stained red, and her head had a massive dent in the back. her eyes were white, pupils rolled into the back of her head. her small curly pigtails soaked in blood. red fluids dripping down her head like sweat.

i didn't even notice josh standing over her.

His thick, bloody, greasy hands gripped tightly around her neck, continuing to push her dead body into the crimson scene behind her. he turned around and looked towards me, with a deadly stare in his aged brown eyes.

he placed a finger up to his slightly parted lips.

"Don't tell."

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

My sister was dead, and this monster killed her.

And without consequence.

i screamed. a bloodcurdling one, too. it ripped my vocal chords to shreds, but i kept going. i was angry, sad, guilty. I could've stopped this. but i didn't.

I shouted and hollered. My hazel eyes flooded with tears. i could barely see. The group ran upstairs and froze. I saw my mom collapse to the floor and scream. my dad ran towards him with tears. my brother was throwing up and screaming at God. the rest of the guests were in shock, disbelief.

But josh, he got away. he jumped out of the window in our haze of horror.

Josh is still out there, roaming free.

And it's all my fault.