A loud, official-sounding knock fills our quaint home with anxiety. The calm, normal demeanor was disrupted. Before moving towards the door, I admire the shy sunlight flowing from the windows. They highlight the specks of dust lazily floating in the air. I look toward the hallway, but I don’t hear footsteps coming to answer the door. I sigh heavily to myself. I’m not supposed to answer the door without permission. 

As I ponder what to do, another disruptive and more aggressive knock interrupts my thoughts. My heart starts to beat a little faster as I clumsily stand up from the dining table. I make an excuse to myself to answer it; if I don’t, it could lead to trouble. Taking a few timid steps toward the door, I turn the cold door knob, opening it. 

More shady sunlight creeps in from the open door. Two men in familiar crimson-tailored suits stand there looking angry. I glance down at their polished shoes quickly, making myself appear smaller. I respectfully nod at them, “Come in. I’ll go get her.” As I walk back into my sister’s room, I can hear the sounds of their footsteps entering the house. I carefully and quietly opened her bedroom door. Inside is Cynthia in a rocking chair, sleeping, holding my nephew in her arms. I smile softly at the peaceful sight. Her obsidian skin and long, wavy black licorice hair, normally kept neat, are tousled messily around her. I slowly put my arms around my nephew, Routus, cradling him by pulling him close to my chest. He fidgets in his sleep, looking disgruntled for a moment, slowly relaxing his body and looking at peace again. I swoon over him in my arms, thinking he looks almost exactly like my sister, but cuter. I gently shake her shoulder to wake her up. 

“Hey Cynthia, the BloodBearers are here.” As she wakes up, she smiles tiredly, seeing Routus sleeping peacefully in my arms. 

“He almost looks like an angel like this.” I nodded, agreeing with her. 

“Do you think you can watch him while I go with them, please?” I move out of the way as she paces herself up, so I can avoid another interaction with the BloodBearers. They put a bitter taste in my mouth, I think to myself as I take Cynthia's seat. 

She gently kisses Routus on the forehead and heads out of the room. 

 A few hours later, I heard the front door open. My mom was laughing heavily at whatever my dad was saying. He chuckles, “Be careful if you laugh too much; you may just unravel!” His terrible joke booms through the house as they both laugh together. Routus wakes up in all the chaos and starts fussing at me. I go out to the dining room with him in my arms. 

“Guys, I promise you. It’s not that funny.” They finish up, putting their stuf f away, as my dad quips back at me. 

“And how would you know, Ms.SeriousPants?” I shake my head, replying dryly, “Aha, sorry, I forgot to laugh.” They both laugh again at my indifference. I take a good look at them. Even though they are trying to keep their day hidden from me, they look exhausted. 

“Cynthia is still with the BloodBearers; she left a few hours ago.” My mom nods at me but seems worried. I look at my dad to see his reaction, but he has turned his back on me. They sit down, both wincing softly in pain. Anger fl ashes through my body. 

“I don’t understand why you keep doing this to yourself. You both are old enough now! You shouldn’t have to do this anymore.” I make a fi st in anger. 

“Your quota is over; why keep doing this to yourself?” Salty tears slowly blind me. 

My mom sighs heavily. “Parvi, you know the licorice root from our veins saves people’s lives... There is a shortage right now, so they still need our help.” My mom’s lecture is interrupted by another knock at the door. When she opens the door, it’s the rationed portion of pixie stick powder for today. Mom brings it inside and gently puts it down on the table. Dad grabs one of Routus’s bottles and fills it up with water from the sink. When it’s mostly filled up, he hands it to my mom. She puts some of the powder into it before shaking it up and handing it to me. I start to feed Routus carefully and start to stir things up again. 

“I won’t work for them when I’m older...Vye and I talked about it. I’m going to start my clinic, and she’s going to be famous for her pixie dust. So, we’ll have money and resources.We won’t let the BloodBearers ruin our lives.” My dad laughs, “Ohh? That sounds like it’d be fun.” I smile at him, feeling happy at his approval of our dreams. 

I respond confidently, “This is where the cycle of abuse from the BloodBearers ends. I swear, I’ll break it.Then we won’t have to worry anymore.” My mom looks at me with concern. 

“Yeah, but make sure.” My dad interrupts her before she can finish. 

“Can you help me with dinner? I’m so hungry I could eat Routus.” She pauses for a second before nodding and walking towards the kitchen. My dad sneaks a wink at me, his eyes sparkling with mischief, before he follows my mom. 

A mouthwatering smell from them finishing up dinner fills the house. I’m sitting down at the dinner table, my stomach growling at me. I whisper to Routus, “Something smells good, doesn’t it?” He coos happily at me, carefully studying my smiling face. I can hear footsteps as the door opens up to Cynthia, who is leaning against the doorway. 

She looks like she could pass out on her feet. She forces a smile at Routus and me; she’s trying to seem better than she feels. “Do you think you can keep him a little longer? I need to take a nap.” I nod, and she smiles at me again. 

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“Thanks, Parvi; you’re the best.” She slowly makes her way over to her room, balancing herself on the wall. As soon as the door shuts, a loud and ominous thud fills the house. We all rushed to her room to see her collapse on the floor. An unknown black liquid covers the floor underneath her. Mom hurries over to her in panic; her words come out jumbled and dripping in fear. 

“Cynthia, what happened?” She starts to cry over her. 

“Hey?! Cynthia?!” Cynthia's unresponsiveness gives me goosebumps. Adrenaline runs through my veins. As I try to comprehend what's happening, My dad checks her vitals. 

“She’s still breathing. Let’s let her rest while we get someone to help her. Okay?” He picks her up carefully, laying her on her bed. The black liquid continues seeping out of her. 

I can’t look away from the black liquid slowly pooling on the floor. My heart feels heavy, and I feel sick to my stomach. I point to it: “Is that normal? Have you seen it before? My mom starts crying harder. Her body is shaking as she leaves the room. 

Dad puts his arms around my shoulders, leading us out of the room. 

“I’m sure she’ll be okay. The best thing right now is to let her get rest, okay?” I take one more look at her before we leave the room, her face twisted in pain. I don’t want to leave, but... what can I do? I nod at my dad and say, “Okay.”

It’s been almost a day now since that black liquid started spieling from Cynthia. It’s continuously been flowing from her all last night and into today. Whenever I tried to get answers about what was going on from Mom and Dad, they’d just change the topic. They had been asking everyone they knew if anyone else had experienced this before. No luck, though. I don’t think they even slept last night, and they didn’t go into their shifts today. The façade they normally put up for me to not worry about is also gone. The quiet panic is disrupted by a rapid knocking and a loud, serious yell. “It’s the BloodBearers; open up.” I quickly take Routus to my room. As I pass by Cynthia’s door, I see her there on her bed. 

The black liquid covered her whole bed and was now leaking onto the floor. A shiver runs through my body. I open my door and close it softly behind me to avoid making a loud noise. I lean on the back of the door quietly to listen to what’s happening at the front of the house. I breathed in deeply, my chest feeling heavy. The BloodBearers are scolding my parents loudly. 

“Neither one of you showed up for your shift today. That is very bold of you considering all the people who need the licorice root to survive.” I hear my dad speak up respectfully, “Our apologies, sir. Our oldest daughter is currently in an unstable condition, and we were worried.” There’s a small pause. 

“Cynthia?” “Yes, ever since she came back from her shift yesterday, she’s been unconscious, and there’s been a black liquid leaking out of her. We haven’t ever seen anything like it.” Another heavy pause. 

“You seem to overestimate how much I value your daughter’s good health. No matter what happens, you need to stay focused on fulfilling your quota of licorice root. These quotas are mandatory. No matter the circumstances.” “Of course, sir. I understand. Please forgive us.” … “Go acquire Cynthia, Mr. Zimms.” The voice speaking commands another BloodBearer. 

“Of course, sir." The voice from the other man answers. 

I can hear heavy footsteps walking towards Cynthia’s door. My mom speaks out, choking on her words. “Please, sir. If she goes now, she will probably die.” She starts crying. The door to Cynthia’s room opens forcibly. “She has a quota too. It’s for the good of society. If you stand in my way, you’ll be prosecuted for treason.” The echoes of my mom’s wailing give me goosebumps. I slowly open my door, peeking out. In the hallway, my dad stood there next to the BloodBearers. 

Their red suits seemed sinister. Dad looks like all the life in him has been drained out. He stands there, disassociating, as they enter Cynthia’s room. I see what I assume is my mom's shadow in the other room. Her shadow disappears, but I can hear frantic footsteps getting softer. After a few seconds go by, I can hear her again. Her footsteps are slowly getting louder again, but this time they are quicker. Is she running? My head jolts up towards my dad as he screams out desperately. "No, don’t!” It’s too late now, though. Before I can process what’s happening, my mom hits the back of one of the BloodBearer’s head with the frying pan. The BloodBearer with silver hair falls to the floor, blood gushing from their head, no longer moving. The other BloodBearer beeped a walkie-talkie. 

“We need backup here; we have an agent in critical condition.” Routus is awake now and uncontrollably crying in my arms. 

“Shh, shh, please stop crying.” I rock him, trying to get him to stop crying, but it isn’t working. Feeling overwhelmed, I start crying too, my throat tightening up. The other Bloodbearer lunges at my mom, who is in shock over the body she knocked out. 

My dad wrestles him, and the Bloodbearer takes out a knife from his belt. I find myself crying out. 

“Please stop!” My body and voice are trembling. My dad took a back look at me. 

The man takes that moment to cut my dad’s throat. He collapsed to the floor, eerily still. He then looks at my mom, who starts crying as she backs away from him. 

Lunging forward, pinning her against the wall. He cuts her throat. I can hear her last word. 

“…Cynthia…” A deadly silence falls over the house. Routus is still crying loudly. I can see the Bloodbearer wipe off his knife and start walking towards us. A bolt of adrenaline begs my body to run. To get away. But as he walks closer, all I can do is hold Routus closer to me, frozen like prey. 

The agent comes into my view, his eyes murderous. His black hair reminds me of a dark, deadly abyss. 

“You’re not going to attack me too, right?” I shake my head no. He smirks at me. 

“Good.” He reached out his hand. Before he can grab me, an unnatural, loud thud fills the room. He crumbles forward onto the door edge next to me. As he falls, I see Cynthia behind him holding the frying pan. Her eyes are dim and in pain. Her whole body is soaked in the black liquid. Parts of her hair and clothes are matted from the liquid. She drops the pan, exacerbated. Her mouth weakly smiles, and her body wobbles to keep balance. Her voice is cracking and she is in pain as she forces her body to kiss Routus on the head. She leans against the hallway wall, slowly sitting down on the floor. Her voice is crackling and in pain. 

“I’m still a little tired.” I drop down to my knees, still holding Routus in my arms. Leaning my head on her shoulder, I start crying violently. She reaches her hand weakly toward me, still smiling weakly. I hold her hand. Cynthia’s voice gets quieter as she talks. 

“Hey Parvi, keep him safe for me; you’re the best.” She closed her eyes, still smiling, and she dropped down to her side. Any strength left in her body is gone now. I watch her closely, hoping to see her chest moving—any sign she could be all right. But there’s nothing.