The Last Purge

Chapter 2

March 21st 2026

I had been listening to music at full blast while I read one of my favourite books for a few hours. I used to be able to read for hours and hours on end. Not anymore.

I walked down the stairs to get a snack from the kitchen, the TV was on in the living room at a high volume. All the lights were on as usual and the security system meant all the doors and windows were barricaded with sheets of thick steel. No-ones getting in tonight, I thought. The Purge had never really worried me before, we had money to protect ourselves. I still felt bad for those who couldn't, but I was brought up to not think too much about that. Our family was wealthy, happy, we couldn't ask for more. My Mum and Dad both had well paying jobs and me and my brother both had the best education we could possibly get. We never had to worry about a thing.

I ended up getting myself a bowl of tomato soup with crusty white bread because I was really hungry, we hadn't had dinner yet. I decided to go and spend some time with my parents, they were both supporters of The Purge and the New Founding Fathers, but I knew that The Purge still scared my mother. My twin brother Sebastian always spent the night to himself in his room. He always wanted to go out and Purge himself, but my parents said that he was too young. Sebastian hated the poor, he said they were worthless and deserved to die. I didn't agree.

The door to the living room was shut so I had to try to balance my plate of bread on my arm to open it. As I stepped inside, I dropped my bowl of soup and plate on the floor. The soup splattered over the floor, like the blood of my dead parents that laid in front of me. Mum was spread across the sofa with two bullets in her head, blood ran down the sides of the leather seat. My father was laid on the floor near to my mother with what looked like a deep stab wound to the side of his abdomen. His eyes were open, dried tears streaked his kind, wrinkled face.

I've never had a particularly strong stomach, so before I did anything else, I threw up all over the blood stained carpet. I fell to my knees and continued to heave until there was nothing left. I felt paralyzed, I couldn't breathe, tears spilled over onto my pale cheeks. It took what felt like an eternity to gather together my strength, but as soon as I did, I crawled over to my father and held him in my weak arms.

"Daddy?" I whimpered quietly as I kissed him on the forehead and started to sob. I closed his lifeless eyes and tried to wipe away his tears but water from my own eyes fell onto his face. By now, I was covered in my own fathers blood. My white school shirt was stained red and my hands were wet and sticky. I looked over to where my mothers body was and stood, my knees shaky and my hands trembled. Fresh tears appeared as I pulled Mum onto the floor next to Dad and held her close. Even in death she was beautiful, her thick brown hair curled perfectly, similar to my own, and her skin had no imperfections or blemishes. Everyone said I looked just like her.

Panic rose up inside of me as I continued to sob uncontrollably. I tried to force it down but the pressure built up. My breathing was labored, I closed my eyes.

"This isn't real," I whispered and I tried to control my breathing. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale.

That's when I saw him. Sebastian stood in the doorway and in his bloody hands he held a gun. Lots of people thought my brother was very good looking, and although my twin, he always looked much older than me. We both had the same wavy, brown hair except his was always in a tangled mess on the top of his head, apparently girls found that attractive. Both of us had the same bright blue eyes too with long, dark eyelashes. You'd think it would make him look girly but it didn't, it suited him. Standing in front of me now, he was taller than ever, and he was still wearing his school uniform like me, shirt, tie, blazer. There was no other trace of blood except on his hands where it was patchy and dried.

"W-what did you do, Seb?" I stuttered and tried to stand to take a step back. My knees faltered slightly and my whole body still trembled. He smiled like a Cheshire cat and took a step forward.

"I did what's for the best," he said plainly, like it was completely obvious. His voice was so familiar and yet I didn't recognize the monster before me. I looked at him incredulously.

"Brutally murdering our parents is for the best?" My earlier panic was replaced by anger, and the sudden crack in my voice showed this. Sebastian chuckled, a harsh, bitter sound. "You're crazy," I said. My brother took two long strides forward and I realized I couldn't move back any further, there was a wall blocking my escape.

"Maybe," he dropped his gun, reached out, grabbed both of my hands and pinned them against the wall. My anger left as quickly as it came. I had no idea what he was going to do with me. He's going to kill me, I thought and my eyes brimmed with tears again.

As if he could hear my thoughts he said. "I'm not going to hurt you," and he softly brushed away my tears. I'm so pathetic, I thought, so fucking pathetic. My psychopath of a brother who had just killed both of my parents was here pinning me back against a wall and all I could do was cry? I looked for a way to escape, I knew he was much stronger than me so I had to find another way. I smiled. He looked momentarily confused until I kicked my knee up to meet his groin.

He growled in pain and I pushed him away from me. I bolted out of the room and ran towards the security system located in a nearby room. I ran into the room but he was too fast. Sebastian grabbed me around the waist and pulled me towards him. I flailed but I could feel him smiling.

"Why do you insist on making things more difficult, Soph?" he sighed but I knew he was smirking. Without thinking, I whipped my head back, smacking him in the face. I caught him off guard and he stumbled backwards, momentarily confused. I reached for the weapons cabinet and pulled out Dad's old revolver and pointed it at him. He frowned slightly.

"You're going to shoot me?" his frown turned to a slight smirk. I leaned to the side to type in the passcode to disarm the security.

"It's not safe out there," he continued and he glanced at the clock on the wall. "Still a few hours of The Purge left." I ignored him and pressed disarm. Anywhere is safer than here, I thought. As I walked backwards towards the front door Sebastian lunged forward and reached for the revolver.

I shot him twice in the shoulder and then ran, never looking back.