Saving Me (A SHATTER ME FANFIC)

U N C O N V I N C E D

JULIETTE JERKS BACK FROM my outstretched hand.

It stings when I see the fear and shock in her eyes. But I realize why she must've done that.

Her touch.

Her lethal touch.

The reason why she doesn't let anyone touch her.

Why she doesn't want me near her.

She was afraid her touch could kill me.

"Sister?" Juliette's voice is barely a whisper. Her words are slow and wobble fractionally. She mustn't have spoken to anyone in all of these months.

Oh, Juliette. You were all alone. You couldn't talk to anyone. Our horrible, horrible parents, how could they do this to you? Their own blood. Their daughter. I'm so sorry.

I want to hug her, but I manage to keep a hold of myself.

"Yes," I clear my throat, choking on tears that are threatening to breakout. "I'm your sister."

At first, she doesn't say anything and continues to stare at my face, her own masked with impassiveness and backs away into the corner again. I feel confused. And that's when it hits me. She thinks I'm some sort of deranged psychopath that's been brought into this asylum.

Great. Just great.

"You think I'm some sort of crazy person, don't you?" I almost groan but soften immediately when I see her flinch a little. She might be older than me but I am definitely more taller and healthier. "I'm not. I'm not, Juliette. I swear, you have to believe me, I know—"

"How do you know my name?" She croaks, her eyes widen in shock.

"I'm your sister that's why." I say, a little breathlessly as my exhaustion finally catching up. "Will you please sit down at least. I can tell you everything you need to know. But right now, I feel dehydrated. I'm gonna sit down."

I step away from her and nearly collapse on the mattress in a heap of exhausted mess. She sits still in the corner for a few seconds, not speaking. And just stares at me from her curtain of dark hair. Trying to look for resemblance, I think. She won't find anything. Except for my dark brown hair, that reaches a little over my shoulders. My eyes are brown, my skin is darker than hers because of the days I've spent under the sun. I'm taller and a little healthy. She's shorter and slenderer.

She finally sits stands up, slowly and moves to sit on the mattress across from me. Her eyes search my face and stop at the bloodied lip. She frowns. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"No." I say, "just a little bruise here and there. It's not that bad, though I'll be fine. Don't worry ..." After a thought I add. "... sis."

She grimaces. My hand reaches for some sort of warmth around me, I find an old scratchy blanket. I weakly wrap it around myself and feel my head lighten with the need for sleep.

I gently lay myself down and drift away.

***

I wake up to see a pair of blue-green wide eyes curiously staring at me.

Sunlight dully breaks through the windowpane and fills the room. It's enough for me to see the cracks on the walls. The smell of sweat and death heavy in the air. Fading echoes of screams and shouts are still reverberating through the atmosphere. I keep forgetting that the place I am in is an asylum. I yawn and prop up on my elbows, wincing a little at the pain. Juliette continues to stare at me, her dark hair covers her face like a veil, but I can see her luminous eyes.

Her pose is same as yesterday—defensive. But she sits on the mattress across from me. Which is a sign that she trusts me, even if it's a small amount. The thought makes me smile a bit.