Eden & Ebony

'Eden was...was good... she was my baby sister. She was full of life, and love, and generosity, and-' Ebony broke off, her grief crippling her for a mere moment. The hole lurched inside of her, invisible hands pulling at the raw edges, threatening to engulf her. She straightened. 'I have to say I know I didn't always encourage the spark that was Eden. I used to, you know, do the older sister thing. Bully her, leave her out, that sort of thing. And now she's gone, and there's this- this crippling thing raging inside of me that makes me want to scream out in pain that she's not here, that I can't tell her I'm sorry and that I love her. She gave her life to save my own. It wasn't fair, but she felt she had to. Because for some stupid reason I have yet to grasp, my life has apparently somewhat more meaning than hers did. My life, apparently, has a larger ability to save ourselves from the turmoil which we have let consume our worlds.  Someone once decided that we were part of a grand design. Someone decided what we would be for, what would happen to us, that one of us would die in the process...It made me so confused sometimes as to why we couldn't just be like everyone else. I'd look over at my best friend or my worst enemy and feel this pure, aching, yearning to be them. Just to get a taste of what normality was. To feel the same amount of importance as everyone else. To those people who decided what we were, Eden was - what was it again?' Ebony rummaged in her pocket and withdrew a crumpled piece of typed paper. '"An amazingly inspirational, powerful being who sacrificed herself for the greater good." But to me- to me, Eden was just....she was just my baby sister. And I loved her so much, I'm afraid she didn't know how much I did. Eden, sis, I love you forever, baby. I'm so sorry.'

Three hours passed. She was sitting on the end of her sister’s bed, her sullen shoes next to her stockinged feet. She held a wine glass, sipping it, an absent stare invading her eyes as she succumbed to her thoughts. She had decided not to have a wake. How could she celebrate her sister’s life when it all seemed to be a lie? It was her own fault, for letting them get into this. There was no way she could organise a reception. Dealing with caterers, pictures, memoirs...dealing with people, their sorrow, their small talk, their putrid pity. She could imagine them all, chattering insects invading Eden and hers’ space, their home. She would never have allowed it. The door slammed open. Ebony jumped, the champagne spilling onto her skirt as Freya, her sister’s Pommy drunken friend and roommate came stumbling into the bedroom, a vodka bottle in hand. ‘Shit.’ Ebony cursed, her hand brushing down the wet patch in her skirt as she stood up abruptly. She walked over to the bedside table, flicked the lamp on and rested her glass down. She examined the damage as she addressed Freya, more out of forced obligation than genuine interest.
‘What’s up, Freya?’ She muttered carelessly.
‘Oh, did I do that?’ Freya’s glazed eyes brimmed over with tears as she hiccupped and raised her hand, stifling the giggles which threatened to erupt from her thin mouth. She swigged the bottle, wiped her mouth and fell onto the bed, dragging a frustrated Ebony down with her.
‘Sorry, Eb!’ She sighed as she examined Ebony’s face and rolled her eyes. ‘Geez, man, you’d think someone had died or something....oh wait-‘She broke off in heartless spurts of laughter. Ebony’s eyes clouded over. She narrowed them in anger.
‘How can you be so cold?’ She demanded. Freya sat up quickly, then sank back into the cushions as her head span.
‘Well, it is rather sad, I suppose, isn’t it?’ She deliberated momentarily, then jumped up, wincing once more as she stumbled into the dresser. She flung open the top drawer and drew out a piece of lacy material. ‘Did she leave all her clothes to you?’ She wondered. ‘You don’t really want this, do you?’ She examined Ebony closely, dangling the clothing in front of her face. Ebony’s eyes followed it back and forth, glittering dangerously. ‘She never wore it, anyway, you know. She was always out, saving the world on a daily basis, I suppose. Too busy for something as attractive as this. She wouldn’t have been able to pull it off, anyway. She didn’t have the body to fill it out.’ This was all too much. These simple-minded, ignorant people who Ebony had put up with for so long had finally gotten to her. Freya, at this moment, was to Ebony, the scum of the earth. These people did not deserve to live. She looked up at her, her face unmasking the rage which had boiled over. She snatched the top out of Freya’s hands.
‘How dare you.’ She screamed and scrambled upwards. ‘You were meant to be her friend...You were meant to be her BEST FRIEND!’ She strode out the room, and ran down the hall, falling into a door. She shoved against it with all her might, slammed the door behind her and sank into a corner, sobbing. She let absolutely everything out. This was the first time she was alone since the night it had happened. Her mind was so confused – there were a million things going through her head, none of which made sense. But the one thing that loomed out of the darkness, the one thing that kept coming back, was the night that it happened. The night she hadn’t let herself think about for fear of being lost in it. But now, alone, unable to see, she fell far. And once more relived the nightmare which would continue to haunt her for the rest of her life...

'Hur-ry.' Eden croaked. Her eyes were a blazing white, her hair streaming backwards. Her hands were up in front of her, straining to keep control over the large, bright white ball of energy that encapsulated Demetrius. Ebony looked up, terrified and in shock. Tears filled her eyes as an invisible hole ripped apart inside her abdomen. The dark figure thrashed and struggled inside the ball, suspended in mid-air. It appeared more like layers and layers of black material swathed over and over one another, as the fury of the man inside fought with all his might against the power Eden held. He threw his suspended body back into a pale, silent arch, rage engulfing him as his lips twisted wide  in a silent scream of hatred. Ebony's eye-line swept back to Eden. Time slowed and she watched as the struggle's ferocity and Ebony's intolerance of the situation making four seconds last what felt like an hour. A drop of blood was making its way from the opening of Eden's left nostril, and dripping down to her mouth, where her wild hair, puppeted by the force of the wind, dipped itself -almost gracefully in Ebony's eyes -in and out of the thick red substance of life that was escaping from Eden, the exertion straining her to the point of collapse.  'No, no, no, NO!' Screamed Ebony, racing forward and latching onto her sisters' arms, pulling in vain to get her to relinquish the hold. Panic had taken over her senses. Eden faltered for a second, the ball of light dropping and fading slightly, until her eyes re-opened and focus re-appeared, her eyes squinting with the exertion. The ball grew brighter, the white reflection of light  forcing a shockwave of energy and wind out of the sides, the power forcing Ebony to fall to the ground. Eden's grunt of effort escaped from her mouth as she willed the ball back upwards. Once more, she struggled to tear her eyes away and meet Ebony's gaze. 'E-bony, go!'
'No!' She hurled back, grabbing Eden's arm, dangling off it and sobbing in desperation. 'No, no NO! You can't leave me! Don't do this, you know it'll kill you!' Eden's white eyes turned to Ebony's. An emulsified, cloudy white tear escaped from the corner of her eyes.
'For me.' She whispered. Ebony shook her head from side to side violently. She shook. Head back and forth, back and forth, faster and faster.
'For me.' Eden insisted. 'Please!' Ebony took one last, longing look at Eden's face, then without looking back, struggled upwards and started running. Her sister turned her head back, her hands shaking with strain. The white light grew, nearly touching Eden.  'I love you.' She said, and closed her eyes to welcome her fate. From a mile away Ebony heard the roar that engulfed the valley. Demetrius was free again. And her sister was gone.