Checkmate

XVI.V

"Ciel-ge, I'm hungry," a child's whisper brought Luciel out of unconsciousness. He painstakingly pulled his sister to his other side, closer to the wall, and hugged her. Luciel prayed she would forget about her complaints and just fall asleep, but the little girl kept whining. "I'm really... really hungry, Luciel-ge."

"Darling, let's just wait for tomorrow, okay?," Luciel cooed, his expression tainted with pity for his sister.

It was nearly 1 am.

If their father finds out he's sneaking around that time, who knows what he might do to them?

"Please just hold it in for tomorrow, okay?," Luciel pleaded. "When I wake up, I will make you a big, big princess pancake."

The girl peeked from his arms. She forcefully freed her right hand and held out her pinky. "Promise?!"

Luciel nodded, intertwining his pinky with hers. "Promise."

"Ciel-ge, we will go to the beach, right?," Adrienne giggled softly. She held her arms up to the ceiling and drew circles in the air. "And we will see a turtle, right?"

"Yes. And seashells, too." Luciel closed his eyes and brought his beloved sister to his chest. "Sleep, darling."

Luciel smiled contentedly when he felt the girl's breathing slow down, her body relaxing.

There was no doubt Luciel loved the little girl even more than himself. His five-year-old sister, who their family had affectionally called "darling", was the apple of their eyes.

But things now weren't as they used to be.

Luciel chased the thoughts off his mind and protectively draped his arms around his sister, soon falling asleep.

♟

He woke up to a large bang, followed by the screams of a woman. Luciel instantly recognized the voice as his mother's. His initial reaction was to check on Adrienne, but the child was nowhere by his side anymore.

His heartbeat hammered so loud against his chest that he felt deafened at the moment. His blood ran cold at the thoughts running in his mind.

Luciel knew most of the time he would only be overthinking it.

But now, he was proven right.

"Lucas let her go!," the woman screamed, her appearance disarrayed with hair sticking all over the place. There were bags under her eyes and bruises on her pale skin that once used to glow brightly.

"Pa," Luciel called his father in hopes to calm him down. "Please let her go."

"You're planning to leave me, aren't you?" The man gripped little Adrienne's hair harder. He paid Luciel no attention. "You want to take this girl with you, bitch? They're staying with me!"

"No!," their mother bawled. "Lucas, that's our daughter, you're hurting her. I won't leave you!"

Love.

His father claimed it was love.

Everything he was doing was because he loved them and he was afraid he'd be left behind.