Sophia jolted awake, hearing someone pounding at her door. There was only one person who could be this annoying at the crack of dawn.
The voice that came through the door confirmed her suspicions. "Seriously, Sophia, when you finish the last Pop-Tart, you're supposed to throw away the goddamn box!" The banging continued. It was her older brother Mike. Older only if you consider his birth into this world a single minute before Sophia.
Rolling her eyes, Sophia headed for the door. "You can buy more Pop-Tarts on your way to the gym. I've got class and don't have time to deal with it, Mike."
"And you shouldn't be eating that junk anyway. You've got a fight coming up in a few weeks," she added, opening the door scolding him gently. Mike, towering over her at 6'5", shot her a classic older brother glare that she knew all too well.
Their daily squabbles were as routine as the sunrise. "Quit trying to change the subject. We've been living together since we left that fucking foster home, and you still have this habit of not throwing away the goddamn box when it's empty," Mike persisted, his tone familiar and exasperated.
Little did they know, this would be their final argument. "Okay, Okay! I'll throw the damn box away, Mike! I have to get ready for class now, so..." BANG, BANG, BANG! The sudden pounding at the door interrupted Sophia mid-sentence.
Not expecting any visitors and sharing a glance with Sophia, Mike approached the door cautiously, peering through the peephole. On the other side stood a middle-aged man sporting a baseball cap and sunglasses, an unexpected sight for the early hours of the morning.
"Who is it?" Sophia inquired, a flicker of concern crossing her features. "I don't know! Some middle-aged pale dude who's about to get his ass kicked!" Mike's response was filled with irritation and bravado.
Despite Mike's bluster, Sophia couldn't shake off the sense of dread creeping over her. While she typically brushed off her brother's antics, this time was different. The persistent appearance of this mysterious man had fueled Sophia's growing unease.
Recalling the unsettling encounters from the past week, Sophia's suspicions intensified. She had spotted the man lurking around her college campus, his presence becoming increasingly conspicuous. From waiting outside her classes to lurking in dark alleyways, Sophia couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.
"Mike, let's call the cops. I think this is the same stalker from last week." Sophia's voice held a note of urgency, her concern for their safety palpable.
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A new look of determination came over Mike's face. "So this is the jackass that's been following you around?! I'm gonna take care of this right here, right now!"
With swift decisiveness, Mike flung the door open and delivered a powerful right hook to the intruder's face. The man stumbled backward, crashing into the opposite apartment door with a resounding boom that echoed through the corridor.
"What have you done, Mike?!" Sophia's voice rose with a mixture of fear and anger, her eyes wide with disbelief.
Sophia's gaze fixated on the bleeding man sprawled on the floor, her mind spinning with a whirlwind of thoughts. How could her brother act so recklessly, jeopardizing his career and everything they had worked for, all for the sake of one creep? Someone the cops could have handled? The situation had spiraled out of control, far beyond Sophia's expectations.
Mike noticed the expression on Sophia's face and hastily interjected, "What!? He was here to do something dangerous! I was just trying to..." Boom! Boom! Boom!!
Mike's speech was abruptly cut off by the deafening roar of three gunshots that echoed throughout the cramped corridor. The shots reverberated like thunder, shattering the morning silence with a terrifying intensity. The intruder had regained his senses just enough to squeeze off three rounds before Mike lunged forward, delivering a brutal stomp to his face with a sickening crunch.
But it was too late. As the chaos unfolded, a sudden numbness enveloped Mike's body. He couldn’t feel his foot, his legs, or anything at all.
"Mike, you're bleeding! Oh my God! There's so much blood! HELP! HELP!" Sophia's panicked screams filled the air as she desperately cradled her brother in her arms. Mike's strength was rapidly fading, his final act in this world draining him of every ounce of energy.
"Sophia, your chest..." Mike's voice trailed off, his gaze fixed on something. Following his gaze, Sophia looked down and was met with a horrifying sight—a gaping hole in her chest where no wound should be.
Terror gripped Sophia's heart as she felt the warmth of her lifeblood trickling away, mingling with her brother's blood on the cold floor. At that moment, the light in Mike's eyes began to dim, his life slipping away with each passing second, and a sense of determination surged within Sophia. Mike was more than just her brother; he was her anchor, her only family in a world that had often been cruel to them. They had endured the hardships of foster care together, forming an unbreakable bond forged in the fires of adversity. She couldn't bear to lose him now.
Driven by a potent mixture of rage, fear, and love, Sophia felt a newfound warmth coursing through her veins, dispelling the icy grip of death. It was a power, unlike anything she had ever experienced, raw and primal, flowing through her with an intensity she couldn't comprehend.
With a strength born of desperation, Sophia focused every ounce of her being on her brother, willing their souls to intertwine, to become one in defiance of the darkness closing in around them. She poured her essence into him, her soul merging with his in a final act of love and sacrifice.
As darkness enveloped her, Sophia's last coherent thought echoed through the void, a solemn vow that transcended the boundaries of life and death. "We will be together forever, even through death and whatever comes after."