Kadian

The Great Realization

***************Author's Note****************

I have waited far too long to update, and I apologize for that.  Editing is the bane of my existence, it takes me much longer than the actual writing itself :(  I will do my very best to post more regularly (at least once a week, on the dot.)  To anyone still reading at this point, thank you  :)

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The sun crept through the tall trees to warm Sister's back as she pressed wooden, ebony beads into the soft forest soil. It pained her to make the path, but she couldn't think of a safer alternative.

"Would Alaba reaaaaallly do it?" she wondered.

The thought of Alaba murdering her own blood with such ease was more than unsettling. Actually, the thought of the two of them killing in general begun to upset Sister. She used to consider herself innocent seeing that no one had suspected her of anything, because she was so young. 'Alaba made me!' was often a phrase that she played over and over in her head to keep her morality in tact-strangely, it wasn't working that day.

But maybe it was wrong to not object, to not tell. Maybe it was wrong to not sacrifice one's self for others when the stakes were so high. Tears came to her eyes as she pressed the final bead in the ground. She studied her handy work, crying. All of the people she had helped harm from previous years flashed across their mind, but the first victim especially lingered-that was when she was three. Alaba was always teasing her back then, calling her a 'stupid baby,' and she tried so hard to prove her older sister wrong. Of course Sister couldn't help but jump at the chance that day when Alaba told her to-

"Are you crying?" Sister hopped up to see Kadian walking her way. The beaded trail was underneath her footing, but Kadian hadn't seemed to notice. As long as she didn't find out what was going on, things should run smoothly.

"Stay back!" Sister screamed. Kadian paused and gave her a confused look.

"Sister, what's wrong?"

There was only one way that Sister knew of to get rid of Kadian. "Shut up! Go somewhere!" Sister commanded through her tears. She wiped a large string of snot from her nose, and began to sob.

Kadian stepped a bit closer. "Stop!" Sister screamed.

Kadian continued to inch closer. "I can tell something is wrong! Please let me help you, Sister. Can I at least try?"

Sister almost wished that Kadian was insincere, because it would make the things Sister did much easier. Before she knew it, she picked up a sharp, jagged stone from the ground and let it leave hand.

"Ah!" Kadian doubled over in pain and grabbed her upper arm. Sister winced as she watched the blood seep through the baby blue t-shirt sleeve. She didn't think that the rock would've actually hit Kadian- the action itself was supposed to shock her.

Kadian looked at her wound, then Sister, and shook her head in disbelief. Without a word, she turned around and left, still holding her arm. As hurt as she was, she knew that there was a reason for everything. It didn't make the attack any less upsetting; it was just an afterthought.

Just as Kadian disappeared from sight, Alaba came bounding into the forest from a different direction. She brushed off her orange and green skirt and grimaced at all the shrubbery. When she saw her little sister, she didn't even bother to say hello. "Is it done? " she asked.

"No."

Alaba's face darkened. "I've walked it- it's done. Why would you lie?"

Sister's mind raced to create an alibi.

"Well, you see..." At that moment, a wave of bravery washed over her. A certain boldness that she had never felt before. An obligation.

"I lied to you because what we do is wrong! And you know it! And I know it!" Sister stomped her foot and looked her superior dead in the eye.

Alaba's hand flew to her heart as she stepped back, eyes wide. Never in her life had Sister been so defiant, or doubtful of their deeds. Yet there she was, telling her how wrong she thought they were!

Alaba had always expected an outburst like this to happen-when Sister was grown. She had always imagined that Sister, as a young woman, would sit back and reflect on it all, wondering if it was all a dream. If she had determined that the events that had occurred were indeed real, who would care by then?

But Sister was not grown, and people would care very much at that point in time.

"Bold, are we now?" Alaba asked calmly as she removed her cloth headband.

"No, I swear to Onile!"

"Ooh! Swearing on gods now, are we? Are you sure about that?" Alaba asked Sister, whose little eyes were glued to the headband.

Sister took two steps back. "No Alaba-"

"What? What's the matter? I'm just trying to see things your way." She stepped closer.

Sister took off. "Get back here you little-" Alaba chased her.

Sister ran as fast as her short legs would carry her, and soon reached the lake. Out of breath, she looked behind her to see if Alaba had found her. She had not.

"Whew!" Sister sighed, relieved, before she looked up and saw her on the opposite side of the lake.

She was walking along the border of the water, closing in on her. Sister's chest felt ready to burst, and she knew she didn't have the energy to run any further. "But- how did you-?!"

"I knew you would come to your favorite place." Alaba laughed softly. "You may be a smart child -but you are still a child the same. And children, by default, are stupid." She stretched out the headband tautly. "But that's okay, I can live with that. Because all I ever wanted to be was closer to you."

For the first time in her very brief life, Sister saw Alaba for what she truly was. She was not simply a little mean, or a bit bossy, but genuinely twisted. She was everything to avoid in a person. She was one of the monsters that she had always told Sister about right before she fell asleep. She was no one worth risking or living one's life for. Sister only wished she could've realized sooner.

Alaba got closer. "Come give your big sister a hug," she cooed. Sister straight ran into the water.

"What the hell are you doing Samara?!" Alaba roared.

"It won't be you!" Sister cried, and dove into the deep end. Despite knowing how to swim, she made no efforts to save herself, and neither did Alaba.