So much for trying.

With my arms in the river, I watched as the blotchy red and black of my blood flowed away.

The river was cold. Like always… but for some reason it was even colder than normal. It was so cold the chill was hurting my arms more than the many cuts and scratches did.

Taking a deep breath, I bit back the sob that wanted to break free.

Fellisee really was just like the rest of them now.

“Maybe it had been something I said or did…” I wondered as I thought again and again of what just happened.

I had held her. After a bit… she had fallen asleep. So I went to cleaning her up. I had wiped her of the mud and grime. I had cleaned the wounds that I could. I had even put a blanket over her. The only one I had.

Then she had awoken and attacked. Shouting angrily at me as if I had been the one to beat her and ruin her tail.

Rolling my arms over, I stared at the largest of the cuts. One of her nails had been rather sharp, likely because it had been broken in her earlier confrontation… with whomever or whatever had hurt her.

There was a rather bad gash running down my forearm. It started not long after my elbow and went all the way to my wrist. It burned terribly, and looked really bad. The kind of bad that made me worry.

I’ll need to go get those plants that stung when applied to wounds. If I didn’t then that cut was definitely going to fester and…

For the tiniest moment I thought about gathering up some for Fellisee too… but then tossed the ideas away.

“Won’t be able to go home for a bit…” I mumbled.

She was still there. In our room. All curled up.

At least, she had been when I had left her.

It really was mean. I had been helping her. Why attack me for that…? Why was my family so weird?

Attacking me because I made a mistake, or insulted them, I’d understand… but…

I sniffed and went to rubbing my arms. Both to try and warm them a little and to better wash the wounds out.

The worst part was I didn’t even know what was going on.

Was it really just a family thing…? Was it father? One of my brothers?

Or was it not them at all. What if it were the humans or something else…? A strange animal maybe…?

Not that it mattered. Whatever was able to do such damage to all of them… well…

“I’d not survive it,” I whispered.

A splash startled me, and I looked up… and almost panicked again as I found the elder.

He was sitting on the other side of the river, which normally would have been far enough away to not have shocked me os much. But thanks to his immense size, I had nearly fallen over. If I hadn’t been kneeling down, I’d have definitely fallen.

“Elder…?” I greeted the huge cat, and glanced around.

No one else seemed to be nearby.

How the heck did he always sneak up like that? He was way too big to be so quiet…

The huge cat tilted its head, and I noticed the way his eye glanced downward. To my arms and legs.

Ah…

I lifted them, to show the injuries. “My sister,” I said.

The huge eye softened a little as it half-closed, as if in understanding.

I gulped, and remembered that he had said something before. Not too long ago. His words had been… rough and garbled, but…

“Do you know what’s happening…? I feel like everything’s falling apart,” I said.

He blinked but said nothing.

Right. Of course.

Taking a deep breath, I sighed as I looked down at my arms. They stung and throbbed… but I could tell the pain was lessening.

Opening and closing my hands, I watched the way some of the cuts started to seep blood again. Surprisingly the worst ones weren’t bleeding much anymore. It was the smaller, less deep, ones that blood was still flowing from.

Putting my arms back into the river, I flinched at the sudden sting of cold.

It really did feel strangely cold. As if it was winter. It felt cold enough that it’d not surprise me if tonight the top of the river started to freeze over and form ice.

Yet… it wasn’t time yet for that, was it? It was still the rainy season. And usually the rain kept it a little warmer… at least at first…

Maybe the whole world was going crazy, and I just hadn’t realized it yet.

A deep growl drew my attention upward, and I frowned at the forest in front of me.

Elder was gone…?

Looking around for him, I wondered when he had slipped away. I hadn’t heard him move again…

Then some branches rustled behind me. I turned, expecting to see the elder walking away. Him stepping over me wouldn’t have been that strange, considering his size, after all.

Instead though…

I sat up a little as Glennessa stepped out from some bushes and approached.

Before I could even really comprehend what was happening… Glennessa stepped over to me and then slowly sat down.

With a huff she sat right next to me… and even extended her legs a little, letting them get submerged in the river.

I’d make a comment of warning her on how cold the water was… but…

My eyes twitched as I stared at her side.

She was still naked. And still covered in wounds…

But only one of them was still bleeding. And it wasn’t…

“Sister…” I groaned at the terrible injury. It covered her whole side, under her left arm. It was dark and blotchy… and even looked like it had clumps of skin and fur dangling upon it.

Glennessa took a deep breath, which sounded oddly strained, and then she sighed.

She looked so, so tired.

“You’re so lucky, Rennalee,” Glennessa then whispered.

I gulped and had to put a hand down onto the ground, to support myself. I had almost lost balance.

That was the first time I’d heard her say my name in years. For almost as long as I could remember.

Last time it had been…

Tossing aside the memory of my youth, I flinched as Glennessa reached up, and gently placed her hand on her left side. I shivered as I heard her apply pressure, and the weird squishing sound that came from it as she did.

That didn’t sound good at all…!

“Glennessa…” I said softly.

My sister’s ears fluttered softly, as if in exhaustion. She tilted her head as she turned to look at me, and I noticed the way her eyes…

They were so dull. What had been beautiful gleaming orbs were now dull and blank. Her pupils wide, unfocused.

They reminded me of my uncle’s eye, right as he passed.

Leaning forward towards her, right before touching her… I noticed the red marks all over my arm.

Injuries given to me by my other sister. For trying to help.

They tingled oddly, as if in warning.

Yet…

Looking at my sister, and the strange look on her face… I decided to go against my better judgment, and try once more.

“Who did this to you…?” I whispered gently as I placed my hand on her shoulder.

“You’re so… so lucky…” Glennessa whispered softly.

“Glennessa…” I groaned her name. I didn’t like how softly she was talking at all! She was usually so loud…!

My sister coughed, and then shivered a little.

Just as Fellisee had done earlier.

A strange surge of panic filled me as I started to stand… to grab her and pull her out of, and away, from the cold river. yet before I could, she grabbed my wrist.

Going still, I hesitated as her goopy wet hand squeezed me. At first I panicked, expecting the next moment to be full of pain as she broke and shattered my wrist and hand… but instead she didn’t squeeze any harder. She simply held me.

“Glennessa… what happened to you?” I asked her, begged her, to tell me.

My oldest sister blinked and looked up at me. She gave me a strange smile that made my tail go still, and then she looked back down to the river.

“We should have left. All of us. Before this started,” she then said.

Slowly lowering back down to my knees, I reached over to grab her hand. She released my wrist, and we went to holding hands… for the very first time in our lives.

“We can still leave,” I said softly.

“Mhm…” she made a sound as if she was agreeing… but she shook her head instead.

“Was it father?” I asked.

Glennessa sniffed, and blinked… and I watched a very red tear slide out of her half-closed eye. It left a stained trail down what little of her cheek had no fur, and then disappeared into the black fur shortly after.

“No. Not this time. But it doesn’t matter,” she said.

Not this time.

My stomach hurt as I had no choice but to accept the fact it was true.

Glennessa and the rest had been abused. This whole time.

Her. Fellisee. My mother and grandmother…

And likely why my aunt had disappeared so long ago too.

“Glennessa…” I said her name, and it sounded weird thanks to the sudden rush of emotions.

“Run away, sister. You don’t belong here. They’ve ignored you all this time… but after this…” Glennessa tried to say more, but she had to grit her teeth and inhale sharply as she tightened up.

Her hand squeezed my own, and it hurt a little, but I paid no attention to the pain as Glennessa curled up, squeezing her side and stomach even tighter.

“Glennessa…!” I shouted in worry as she let out a pained whine.

Then before I could even see it… I felt it.

I felt it in the way her hand stopped squeezing my own. I felt it in the way her whole body suddenly stopped trembling.

“Wait…” I reached out and panicked as my sister rolled over. She fell to the ground on her side, and remained there.

She wasn’t moving.

“Glennessa…?” I felt unsteady as I leaned forward and went to grab her. To help her back up. To…

Her hand slid out of my own, and I noticed the way it landed on her side. At an angle. An uncomfortable one. And…

“You can’t…” I whispered as I hook her shoulder. She still felt a little warm. Still felt…

My eyes began to water as the cold realization that my sister had just died dawned on me.

Looking up, I gaped as I tried to find my voice. To shout for help. Yet I knew even if I did…

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Hadn’t the elder just been here…?

Had he done this…? But why…? He’d never bothered us before. I hadn’t even known of his existence until a few years ago! I had gone so long before even seeing him!

Was it revenge for uncle, maybe? Had Glennessa killed him…?

I stopped trying to shake Glennessa awake, and closed my eyes as I groaned.

“Why?” I asked the world. Why was it being so strange…? Why so suddenly?

Why couldn’t the world just make sense…? It didn’t have to be nice. It didn’t have to kind… but…

Sniffing, I stood… but before I stood up fully, I grabbed my sister by her arms.

Ignoring the sudden coldness of her body, I pulled her away from the river. I didn’t like how light she felt as I dragged her away from the smooth stones along the river, and to the grass nearby.

Laying her down, I sniffed as I stared down at my oldest sister.

She looked…

There was no longer a look of pain on her face. She didn’t look comfortable… but she at least didn’t look like she was in pain anymore.

In fact she kind of looked like Fellisee right now… what with the fur on her cheeks and…

Pausing, I hesitated and glanced towards the house. I couldn’t see it from here, but we weren’t far. I tried to strain my ears to hear anyone nearby.

Was she okay…?

Maybe I should have tried harder. Maybe I should have endured. Maybe I shouldn’t have left just because she had attacked me.

Looking back down at Glennessa, I gulped at the sight of her. The wound on her side was now clearer than ever. It was dark and black, but not because of her fur.

That was a bad wound. I wonder how she had gotten it. It even kind of looked…

Frowning, I knelt down a little… and went to smell the wound.

Before even drawing too close I had to pull away, and I groaned in disgust.

That wasn’t just blood. That was something else. Her wound smelled absolutely rancid, like a dead carcass.

There was no way she already smelled like that, having just died. That was the smell of rotting flesh and…

Stepping away, I felt a strange shiver as I realized something really was happening. Something beyond just the abuse and violence of my own family.

Which meant I was in danger.

And…

She had told me to run.

As had uncle.

Maybe I should listen to them…

“I would have left with you, Glennessa,” I said to her.

I really would have.

Stepping away, I hurried to the house. I wasn’t sure yet what else to do… but I did have something important I needed to do.

I needed to make sure little Fellisee was okay. Even if she hated me. Even if she didn’t want my help anymore…

I had to at least make sure…

Stepping out of the forest and into the open area around the house, I paused upon hearing voices.

“Just wrap it!”

“Fine, fine,” mother’s voice said, sounding tired of arguing.

That was one of my brother’s voices. The youngest, maybe…?

I didn’t care for finding out more and instead went straight to my room.

Fellisee was still in the room… and still alive. She was curled up on the floor, under my blanket, and snoring away.

Fast asleep.

Vastly relieved, I ignored my burning arms as I stared down at her.

She really did look like Glennessa. Especially when so…

What…? Peaceful…? Was that what it was?

Gulping a heavy thought, I stepped out of my room and went to find my mother. To tell her what happened.

“Finally!” my youngest brother shouted as I rounded a corner, and found him and mother. He was standing up, and admiring his right arm.

His whole arm was in a splint. Two large sticks poked out from a makeshift wrap, which…

I bit my tongue at the sight of my twine and leaves.

Mother sighed as she too stood up, brushing her hands on her thighs as she did. She looked annoyed.

“Took forever,” brother grumbled as he stepped away, likely not even registering I was here. Or rather, he likely had… but I was so insignificant to him I may as well not been.

“Mother,” I got her attention, and didn’t like the look she gave me upon doing so.

“What now?” she asked. Annoyed.

I opened my mouth to tell her… but the words wouldn’t come.

My eyes began to water, as I stared at the woman who had given birth to all of us… and yet…

Obviously hated us all.

She hadn’t wanted to tend her son’s broken arm.

She didn’t want me to annoy her further.

She likely didn’t even know, or care, that her youngest daughter was right now curled up in a ball thanks to her pain.

And…

“What? Say it already,” mother snapped as she tossed aside what little twine had been still in her hand.

Watching fly off, I felt all the scratches on my arms begin to tingle and burn again.

I’ll need to clean that up. Like always.

Because they didn’t care.

About anything or anyone.

Brother left the room, and then left the house. He was mumbling something, but I couldn’t make out his words. My mind was in turmoil. It was noisy. And my burning arms were strangely, oh so loud…

Mother glared at me for a moment, and then shook her head.

“Stupid girl,” mother scoffed as she turned away, to leave as well.

Before she could leave, I inhaled sharply… and said it.

“Glennessa is dead,” I said.

Mother stopped…

And so too did my younger brother.

Off in the distance I watched him turn around, his ears perking upward as if to hear me say it again.

I gulped at my mother’s strange expression as I nodded. “She died… she’s near the river, to the south. I… I don’t know who hurt her, but…”

“Wait…” mother stepped forward, and finally looked worried.

Which was honestly a surprise. I hadn’t expected her to be so bothered even upon hearing the news.

As mother approached, so did brother. He leapt up into the house, and rushed towards us. He reached us in the same time it took mother to draw close enough to me that she was able to grab my arm.

“Are you sure…!” mother shouted at me.

I nodded quickly, and then startled as brother pushed mother aside. She was thrown away, with such force that the hand she had been holding my arm with dug into me and pulled me along with her. My arm slid free of her hand, and her nails sliced my arm, making me yelp out in pain.

That had hurt more than Fellisee’s earlier cuts!

“You’re lying!” younger brother grabbed me by my arms, and shouted down at me.

Panic began to wash over me, and I instantly regretted telling them.

I should have either waited until brother was gone, or not said anything at all. I should have just let them find her body and…

“Girl!” younger brother shouted again, and shook me. For a tiny moment the whole world violently swung back and forth, and I nearly threw up from the crazy momentum. I had to swallow a weird bile of gunk, as to not throw up on him. He’d have only hit me if I had done so, so I bit the inside of my cheeks and did my best to keep the rest of the bile down.

Mother coughed as she rolled around on the floor nearby. She had landed near a pillar, and looked… hurt.

“I’m not lying. She’s by the river,” I said through clenched teeth as he squeezed my arms even harder.

I felt the strange sensation of flesh and muscles tear and snap. He was doing damage. Bad damage.

I needed to stop him.

“I didn’t hurt her that badly!” brother shouted in worry, as if I was accusing him.

For a tiny moment my pain disappeared… as I glared up at the man who suddenly looked terrified. For something beyond my understanding.

Yet that terrified expression was the last thing I wanted to see on his face.

So he had hurt her.

He might not have been the one to inflict that wound on her side… but he must have been the one to hurt her before. When I saw her at the lake.

Without thinking, I moved.

Once again my arms screamed out in pain as they went to burning… as nails once again scraped and sliced into them. Just like with my mother, my arms had been pulled and dug free of his grip thanks to extreme force and motion.

He flew backwards, hitting one of the pillars… then rolled. He landed on the floor of the house harshly, breaking floorboards, and continued rolling into the nearby room.

Stunned, I glanced around to find mother.

She had attacked him. Not a surprise, considering his earlier throw of her but…

Then I found mother.

Still on the ground.

Staring at brother in the distance with a shocked expression.

She hadn’t moved.

I turned, to see who else it had been then. Fellisee maybe…? Maybe our shouting had woken her and…

Yet no. She wasn’t here.

It was just me.

Just…

Younger brother let out a heavy, low, groan. One of pain. He barely rolled over, and was obviously suddenly out of it. His arm that had moments ago been in a wrapped stint was now free. Pieces of it still clung to his arm, and…

Yes. His arm was definitely broken. In multiple places, and ways. It was bent askew several times, as if he suddenly had more elbows.

“Brother…?” I asked as I stepped forward. Why wasn’t he getting up yet?

He was so strong. Like his father. Like Glennessa.

Maybe not as strong as Fellisee or uncle… but…

There was no way that I had just knocked him out, right…?

I stepped forward again, and hesitated as I heard him let out a strange wheeze.

A very recognizable one.

“Wait…!” I shouted as I ran forward, skidding to my knees on the floor right next to him.

Up closer, and with a clearer mind, I began to panic as I realized what was wrong.

He couldn’t breathe.

Brother was gasping for air, and what little he was getting wasn’t staying inside. It kept wheezing out with loud hisses, as if forced through clenched teeth.

Pushing brother over, my eyes immediately fell upon the cause.

There was a strange indent in his chest. Made all the more visible thanks to the fur covering his body.

It was about the size of my fist.

Although I could comprehend how, and why, I still couldn’t figure it out. I didn’t even remember hitting him…!

“Gwak,” he made a strange sound, like a word being spoken while under water. I tried to control my confused mind and went to grab him… but I wasn’t sure where. Should I lift him up by a shoulder? His arms? Should I push him down flat on his back…?

What did one do when someone was unable to breathe? How could I help him?

His eyes were bulging. He didn’t have the golden eyes of me and grandmother. He shared his father’s darker tone. More brown and black than not. Perfect for hiding in the darkness of the forests. They were staring upward, trembling and…

“Brother…?” I grabbed his head and neck, to try and help him up a little. To maybe help him get his breath…

But the moment I touched and felt his head and neck, I realized he was locked up. Tense beyond measure. Every muscle. Every tendon and bit of him was hard, strained, trembling.

Staring into his eyes, I felt my own breath slip away right as he stopped gasping for his.

He slowly relaxed… his head started to roll back, and a tiny little wheeze escaped his now un-clenched jaw…

Then…

“You killed him…” Mother whispered behind me.

I…

Looking up, I tried to find the words to say to mother. She was staring down at me, not her son.

Her look of shock was nerve wracking.

“I didn’t mean to…” I whispered.

Brother’s head suddenly got heavier, and I began to breathe quickly.

Another death. So quickly.

In my own arms.

And…

With blurry eyes, I bit back a terrible whine that wanted to escape.

I had killed my own brother.

Then I was lifted.

Blinking wildly, I gasped for air as I was lifted off the ground.

Mother had grabbed me by the arms again. This time though she had lifted me upward. I felt her strong grip as she shook me. Her long nails poked and scraped my sides, thanks to the angle of her fingers.

“You killed him!” she shouted at me.

“I…!” I didn’t know what to say. I had no defense. No excuse.

I had.

“What have you done!” she shouted up at me.

Squirming in her grip, I made sure to keep my balled up fists to my side. I didn’t want a repeat of what just happened.

“Of all of them, him? The calmest! You idiot!” mother screamed at me as she shook me violently.

As the world squirmed and shook, things became blurry. Colors mixed. The house and pillars blended together… mother’s face and the snarl on it faded. Yet oddly her tail remained clear. Even through all the shaking. Maybe it was shaking as much as I was…?

Then the shaking stopped… and I bit my tongue as I landed on the ground.

And rolled.

Then rolled some more.

The feeling of wood beneath me quickly turned into wet dirt and grass. Then I felt rocks. And then as I slowly slid to a stop, on my stomach, I felt the familiar thicker grass of the outer rims of the house property.

Mother had thrown me that far…?

Coughing, I groaned and began to blink wildly. My whole world was spinning like crazy, and blurry. There was a horrid ringing in my ears and…

Shouting.

Yes. There was shouting. And not just my mother’s voice either.

The world began to clear again, yet the ringing in my ears became even louder. It blocked out the words, but not the shrill screams and yelling.

Leaning upward, I coughed again, and tried to get my legs up under me. I knew I’d not be able to stand any time soon, but… it was normally wise to just accept any beatings. To just curl up and take it.

But right now something told me that was the last thing I wanted to allow. I couldn’t let it happen. Who knows what would happen, with her that angry… after what I had just done…

Flinching as I looked up, to the source of the screaming that sounded far off and distance, I frowned at the sight of my mother wrestling with someone else.

My mother had my colors. Brown tail and ears. Yet most of the rest of the family had darker blacks and deeper browns.

The one struggling with my mother was one of them… and…

“Fellisee…?” I whispered, doing my best to blink away the confusion. Was that her…? It surely looked like it. They each had a hold of each other, and were wildly stepping back and forth. As if in a tugging match.

Mother was trying to get to me… and…

It was. It was my younger sister. And she was trying to hold my mother back.

The sight made my eyes blur again. Tears filled them without any hesitation as I realized that was exactly what I was seeing.

My younger sister was trying to protect me.

Completely stunned by the sight, sound started to return. What had been muffled screams and shouts started to turn into angry outbursts of spite.

“She killed him!” mother screamed.

“Good!” Fellisee shouted back.

With my sister’s shout, I found some strength… enough to get my legs under me.

She sounded hurt. Strained. Weak.

She wasn’t going to be able to handle mother. Not alone.

Groggily getting to my feet, I ignored the weird feeling in my arms. They didn’t just burn and tingle now… there was a new pain. One I was very familiar with. Broken bones.

Stepping towards the two, I sucked in air to shout. To say something. To hopefully stop them from clawing at each other’s throats, which they were half a moment from doing.

And then right as I filled my lungs…

A blur of white rushed past.

“Wa…i…t…” all the air I had sucked in to shout left me, like a wheeze. Sounding similar to what had escaped my brother’s lips not a few moments ago.

Completely shocked, I barely comprehended the sudden… quietness.

The sudden lack of noise. The startling lack of… well…

Anything.

They were gone.

“What…?” I gasped as I turned, and my eyes followed a tail. A tail of white. As pure white as freshly fallen snow.

The white scales made strangely silent sounds as they rolled along the ground and each other. A strange sound akin to smooth rocks scraping each other filled the air, almost vibrating it. It didn’t just rumble in my ears… it shook my very bones. It hurt the ones that were broken.

Coiling around itself… I watched the very obvious creature rise upward. It heaved its huge head up, reaching higher than even the roof I had just been clambering all over… as it gulped down its freshly caught prey.

The pairs of legs squirmed as they were swallowed, and a very new and very real panic began to surge in me.

My mother and sister had just been eaten by a giant snake.