SLASHER

◤t h i r t y - t h r e e◢

thirty-three: unconditional sisterly love.

TW: mentions of murder & slight abuse

 ▰

During the years of childhood and adolescence, growing up with an older sibling wasn't always about fighting. It wasn't about hating each other for a few minutes, before all the fighting and arguing disappeared, and then the love and care came back without an apology being issued. For Miko, having an older sibling meant having a designated bodyguard, a protector—someone he relied on with no questions. Having an older sibling was about loving them unconditionally, naturally wanting to protect them just as Isa did for him for years.

However, the loss of that older sibling, his only sister, cast a great darkness over Miko's life. He lost his big sister nine years ago. Though she's still alive and breathing, she'll never be the same. Not after what she had to go through, what he had to listen to as she went through it.

No one understood what he had to go through, what stages of devastation he had to go through listening to his sister scream for help, scream for someone to stop, beg for her life, and eventually go quiet. No one understood why that seventeen year old boy back then desperately wanted to find the culprits that hurt his big sister, why he wanted justice for her, and see the culprits burn in a prison cell for the rest of their lives.

Miko's guilt eats at him every second, minute, and hour of his life. He wished he never lied about being at Paine's house, completely blowing his sister's kindness off when she decided to host that author's book signing event herself without any help. The help that would've been easier had he been there. The break in that would've ended differently had he been there. He would've been able to protect her, it would've been him taking all the beating for her if it means he could have his sister safe.

When he saw his sister's face that night, he couldn't eat or sleep for weeks. She didn't look recognizable. She didn't have their mother's jaw and father's nose. Miko couldn't see the birthmark that rested at the corner of her right eye, he couldn't see her smile that used to irritate him when he would fall or trip or do something stupid enough that made her laugh. He didn't see it. He couldn't see it. She wasn't there. That wasn't his sister.

A soft hand touches his arm, shaking him lightly before the voice of Melanie fills his eardrums. "Miko? Your ID?"

The male flinches slightly and looks down at the short woman beside him. Melanie. His support. His support system. Miko fishes for his wallet in his pocket, before pulling it out, his ID, and showing it to the woman at the front desk behind the glass window.

"Oh!" The woman smiles enthusiastically before typing something. "Mister Rivera, your sister has been asking for you. When we called you before, you never answered, so I'm glad you finally made it. She's going to be so happy you are here, and with you-"