The Long-Lost Sister

Chapter 02

Candace moves quickly that’s why this stranger had to shoot her over and over again just to slow her movements that made Candace even more enraged. Since the door was barred from inside and out, my dad shot the door using his shotgun. Should have done that before if I knew that a shotgun bullet can break the bars.

For so long, I wanted to experience the feeling of being outside even though it’s only in our garden but I never expected that I am going to feel the outside’s air while being chased by a monstrous cannibal. Good thing that we were able to escape from Candace and found ourselves in our garden. The events were still processing inside my head that I didn’t notice that my father was calling me out.

“Cali, are you okay?” He asked.

“Dad, what is that thing? And what was she talking about being my sister? I thought I was an only child? Did I live a life full of lies?!”

“Yes, she’s your sister”

I felt anger washed over me and at the same time, sadness for not being able to know that I have an elder sister.

“Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“Because she’s no longer the girl who we used to know. She’s infected.” he responded. I could see that my father was feeling sad and was hurting because of what happened to Candace or whatever the hell is that thing.

“Infected? What do you mean, dad?” I asked. I am starting to feel frustrated. “What is really happening outside? What are you hiding?! And why wouldn’t you tell me everything so I could be aware?!”

“I am concerned that you might get infected and turn into a monster too and I don’t want that to happen so I chose to lock you inside the mansion and keep everything a secret to you,” he sighed then finally, he began explaining what’s going on outside. “The apocalypse happened 10 years ago…back then, your sister was still a human.”

I was twelve years old back then and I remembered having a tutor going to our mansion because I was homeschooled. That was the very last time my tutor taught me and my dad never even bothered to tell me the reason. And if Candace was still human 10 years ago, why can’t I remember her? What’s happening? I just waited for my father to continue his explanation.

“Back then, we weren’t aware of the outbreak until we bumped into something on our way home. Candace said that she’d look at what we accidentally hit but as soon as she got out of the car, someone attacked and bit her,” he paused for a while and sighed. “Since I didn’t know that the one who bit her wasn’t normal anymore, I took her home and even tried to heal the wound. When nighttime came, Candace started to become aggressive, so I had to lock her inside the basement. At that time, a newsflash about a virus outbreak was announced on the television. That’s when we realized that she’s already infected.” I couldn’t believe my ears.

“If she’s already infected, then why didn’t you end her before she turned much worse?!” I asked. “You said it yourself. She’s no longer a human and she might infect me too if I was bitten by her.”

“She’s my daughter. I couldn’t,” he said. “And I don’t want the authorities to kill her so I decided to keep her down in the basement, hoping that she could be cured but things got out of hand. She used to be a low-cannibal and I didn’t expect that she’d evolve into a mid-cannibal”

“Because of your decision, I was almost bitten and turned into a monster! You put my life at risk!” I said. “And what are you talking about a low and a mid-cannibal? I don’t understand anything.”

The stranger who saved us piped in. “Low and mid-cannibal were two of the three types of the monstrous cannibals. The low ones couldn’t control themselves. They were being controlled by the plague inside their system. The middle ones were half-aggressive and half-human. They had human intelligence. They can act on their own, but they were triggered pretty easily. Last but not the least, the high cannibals. They were the masters of deceptions, and they were the types who had the highest intelligence. They could transform into something much more dangerous; they could also disguise themselves as a human. The most evil of the three.”

“I could not believe that humanity is facing this situation. Doesn't this only happen in the movies and books?”

“Apparently, not now,” he responded. “Humanity was almost wiped out and the remaining survivors colonized the sea.”

“Are you serious?! Humans colonized the sea?! How was that possible?!”

“Everything’s not impossible when you are desperate to survive and continue living,” he said. “Now, we have to get out of this mansion before she finds and devours us. I don’t have any weapon that could take a mid-cannibal down.”

“You should have escaped earlier,” we heard Candace say from behind us. She looked at us with her red cat eyes and smirked devilishly. “Found ya!”

Her eyes and her vibes screamed danger. Her presence made me freeze because of the fear. My eyes were glued on her glowing red eyes, and I started drowning in it. When I didn’t react, she started walking towards me.

“What’s wrong, my little sister?” she started. “Aren’t you happy to see me?”

She was getting closer and closer and when she finally reached me, she lifted her hand and attempted to tilt my chin. Just then, I heard Jake’s shotgun – he shot Candace on her head but it didn’t seem to have any effect on her.

“Stay away from her, you monster!” Jake yelled at her as he kept on shooting her. His actions made Candace enraged. Her eyes glow red and I could see her black veins becoming visible on her skin. Then she glared at Jake and screamed so loud that I had to cover my ears.

“I’m going to devour you, human!”

Candace began to charge towards Jake. Her nails suddenly grew into thick claws and she tried to wound Jake by scratching him with it. Fortunately, Jake quickly jumped back, evading Candace’s attack. It made Candace even more enraged and it made her act quicker so Jake wouldn’t be able to attack her.

“Run away while I keep her busy!” Jake suddenly yelled.

“Are you out of your mind? We’re not leaving you behind!”

“Just shut up and run away. You’re just dragging me behind. Save yourself, I’ll handle this thing.” He said as he pointed his shotgun towards Candace and began shooting her.

We can’t leave him behind with that monster.

“I have to do something,” I thought and started to think of a way. Candace is a middle type of monstrous cannibal meaning, she can still acknowledge her emotions because she was still aware. So I am going to use her emotions against her.

In the most gentle tone, I called her, “Hey, sister,” she paused when I called her sister and then she looked at me with a surprised look flashed on her face.

“W-What did you call me?” she asked.

I smiled at her sweetly and answered, “I called you my sister because you are”

“But I am no longer normal. I crave human flesh and blood.”

“But you also crave to love and to be loved one more time, right? ’

She fell silent and then looked down at her feet. I could see a hint of overflowing sadness in her but there were no tears falling down from her red eyes. I knew that she was infected, but she was still my elder sister so I feel sad and sorry for what happened to her. Seeing her like that made my heart break. Whilst I feel lonely for what must be done to Candace, I was worried as to what kind of monster she would turn into if we didn’t end her right now.

“Sorry, sis” I thought. When I saw that her guard was fully dropped, I gave Jake a sign to attack while she was defenseless. “Jake! Do it! Now!”