Blood

Chapter One : A Bar Called Clover

"Liz? Where are you going?"

Perhaps if I was more aware at the time, I could have stopped my sister that night. I was only seven at the time, and was not aware that the Ki Virus existed.

In my half-asleep stupor, I didn't question it when she slowly brought her finger to her lips and smiled.

The window was wide open, allowing a cold breeze to caress my cheeks as I sat up in bed. My sister looked so beautiful, so happy as the full moon's light illuminated her figure. Her long dirty blonde hair looked golden as a few strands seemed to wave at me farewell in the wind. My sister's eyes seemed to glitter and glow, her previous empty turquoise eyes finally filling with life.

I was so entranced seeing her smile so freely, that I didn't notice the stuffed bag tightly clinging onto her back like a parasite.

In the corner of my mind, I had the feeling that things weren't right. I knew deep inside something was wrong, and that I should have reached out to her.

I wanted to speak, to tell her not to go.

But for the first time in my life, I saw her genuinely happy for once, snapping my mouth shut.

Later on, I found that it was probably better that my sister left that night. The morning after, officers came to our house to personally confine my sister and most likely kill her.

So even now, I don't regret stopping my sister's figure as she leapt out the window from the second floor of our house. Even if I couldn't see her, at least I knew she was safe.

...

"This looks like the spot."

Glancing up to the flashing sign, I gripped the piece of paper in my hand.

It was a bit shady, located near abandoned buildings in the back alleys of the city. Nonetheless, the blinking sign seemed to stand out, flaunting and showing itself to the world.

Swallowing the lump in my throat I didn't know I had, I cautiously read the sign just to double check for the twenty-sixth time.

On the blinking sign were glowing letters that spelled out, "Clover", with a lime green line swirling into a four leaf clover around the 'C'.

Glancing at the paper in my hand again, I compared the two.

'No doubt, they're the same,' I shakily exhaled.

The piece of paper my elder sister left behind. The only clue as to where she could have gone.

I swallowed again.

After my sister left, I didn't know what was happening. There was a big search for her, but I always thought it was strange.

Previously, my parents didn't seem to care whether my sister lived or died and suddenly they care?

Something inside of me told me not to tell them what I saw that night. I didn't know why the adults were making such a big fuss... until I came to know of their existence in third grade.

The Ki Sehnen, and the Ki Virus.

The day our teachers began to teach us about them, something inside of me just... cracked. I could feel the fragments of my innocence falling apart as I slowly saw the world for what it was. When I realized how the world worked.

When I realized my parents had intended to kill off my elder sister.

We lived as a happy family up until I was around three. Something changed in this world. Something changed in my sister, and that changed mom and dad.