Lifeless

The small boy of eight or nine lay motionless on the stone cold floor of the great hall. It seemed as if the young boy was asleep, but the hidden child knew otherwise. The young girl was his twin sister. She had seen him from her secret spot behind the banner of their coat of arms. She saw him enter, thinking he could be alone. She observed his every move, watching him, knowing exactly what he was thinking of doing. Just as suddenly as she had known what was going to happen, a shot rang through the hall. She jumped out from behind the tapestry, tears streaming down her face. She knew he was dead, but didn't want to have to grasp reality. She leaned over her brother's body, shaking him, trying to get him to wake up. She knew it was useless, but couldn't give up. With deep hatred in her glass green eyes, she stood and earnestly walked the length of the great hall. The pool of blood around her younger brother's neck was growing massive. She was growing nauseas, just looking at her limp brother. She turned to leave the great hall. Animosity surfeited, Skylar raced down the staircase that led to her bedroom. She just couldn't seem to get rid of the picture of Isaac, lying breathless on the floor of the great hall. She wanted to cry. Bawl her eyes out until it hurt. But she couldn't give up now. Not when she knew that someone had killed her brother. Her brother was the only one she could talk to. ‘Poor Isaac,’ she thought. ‘Now who will come into my room at night when I am scared, and bring me his sacred teddy bear? Like Isaac always said, "Teddies don't hug back, but sometimes, they're all you've got." I don't think I'll ever sleep again.’ Skylar couldn't stand the thought of not having her brother there. She collapsed on the staircase, bemoaning the reality that she must live on without her brother, her best friend. She shuddered, trying to gain control again. She rose from her spot and continued down the staircase. As she reached the dining hall, she gasped. Her parents wee collapsed on the floor. She ran over and her knees buckled, as she fell to the ground with grave remorse. She couldn't stop the tears that filled her eyes. The pain threatened to overcome her. She just couldn't bear to lose her parents and her brother in the same day, same hour. She leaned over the bodies crying. She heard a familiar beating, a sound that had lulled her to sleep so many times. For the first time, some hope trickled into her bloodstream. She got the cook to make some soup, and got some of the servants to bring her parents to their bedroom. Her parents awoke after hours of “sleep”. It being the 21’st century and all, the telephones were strategically placed around the castle. One in the children’s bedroom, one in the parents bedroom, one in the kitchen, and one in the living room. While in their deep sleep, her parents thought they heard a loud bang. When they awoke, they inquired what it was. Skylar could barely keep it together, trying to tell the story just how it happened. She burst into tears as she got to the part of her on the staircase, reliving every tear, every shudder of her body. As the saying partially goes, she was saved by the phone. The loud ringing shook her from her memory. As she picked up the receiver, she had no time to say hello when the message started.
“I heard about your brother. You may not know me, but I know you.”
She couldn’t breathe. She sat down to listen to the rest of the message.
“The killer ran from your home to the river. The gun was placed in a handkerchief, embroidered with a star and a ‘T’. If you run, you can get there before the rain.”
She almost passed out from shock. She dropped the phone and ran. The rain was just starting as she got there. She looked around for the handkerchief, but there was no sign of it. She had just gained some hope in her life, just to be pushed back down. She sat underneath the bridge and stared into the distance. The leaves were changing, snow would be coming soon, and she wouldn’t be able to run away. Just as she was contemplating leaving forever, a shadow fell over her. As she squinted upward, she noticed the silhouette looked vaguely familiar. The figure crouched down and she saw that it was her brother’s tutor, Mr. Sinclair.
“I saw you running and decided it would be good for me to follow. You run quite fast for a small child.”
She smiled as she wiped the ever present tears from her eyes. She noticed that there was a set of footprints to the side of Mr. Sinclair. She stood and followed the prints. The tutor gave her a quizzical look as she surveyed the spot. It looked as if the perpetrator had been here. The rain was coming down hard now. The tutor was running beside her now.
“What are you looking for, anyway?”
“You didn’t hear? Isaac was shot and killed this morning.”
She had to hide her face. The rain could mask some of the tears, but the tutor would still see her bloodshot eyes. As she came to the end of the trail, she looked up in surprise. She was at the one place she never thought she would go back to. Just as she had her hand on the door to walk in place, it swung open. Skylar gasped at the figure emerging from the orphanage.
“What are you doing here?” Skylar asked with disgust.
“Is it a crime to visit those less fortunate than I?”
“It is when you are the one that is the less fortunate.”
“I don’t think I know what you’re talking about.”
“I bet you don’t.” Skylar’s hatred could be seen and felt by everyone who made the mistake to look over. The stranger had come to the castle a couple of times. When Skylar and Isaac had first been adopted from the orphanage, he came to visit them.
“I can’t believe that you could sink so low that you would kill the people you once tried to help.” Skylar growled at the tall man blocking the doorway.
“I may have sunk low, but I still run this filth hole.”
The man’s name, oh his name. Just thinking about it ran shivers up Skylar’s spine. Mr. Radcliffe, the adults called him. The children were forced to call him “Daddy”.
“I was half-raised in that filth hole, thank you very much.”
By now, Mr. Sinclair was totally lost.
“What are you all talking about?”
“This man is the one that took Isaac and me in when our real mum abandoned us. I thought he was kind, but I guess I was wrong.”
Her eyes that carried animosity bore holes in Mr. Radcliffe’s face.
“I guess you don’t realize the financial status of this dump. No one wants to give to a place that is, apparently, run by a mad man. Your brother was just a pawn in this game.” Mr. Radcliffe stated matter-of-factly.
His grin was horrible. Skylar wanted to jump on him right then and there and wipe it off his face.
“You might have thought that both Isaac and I hated you, but you’re wrong.”
Just talking about Isaac made her hurt inside.
“Isaac loved and adored you. He was so thankful that you found us and got us a good home. Everyday he said that he was thankful that we had been found and that you were helping other kids just like us. Now how do you feel about Isaac being a pawn?” It gave Skylar great satisfaction to shove something right back in his face.
Some small part of the little black box that was Mr. Radcliffe’s heart, was touched that Isaac had liked him.
“I guess I didn’t know that I was liked by someone. I’m really sorry about w-what I did. I just needed some money. I was desperate.” By this time, he was in tears.
“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to. Sure, Isaac was my brother and my best friend, but he was my parents’ angel. Go apologize to them.” It took Skylar all the strength she could muster not to smack him for his stupidity.
“Are you all right? What happened? Where have you been? What are Mr. Sinclair and Mr. Radcliffe doing here?” Her parents smothered her in questions and hugs.
Skylar didn’t listen to all the questions, just laid her head into her parents’ arms. Mr. Radcliffe spoke first.
“I’m really sorry about what happened to Isaac. I’m even sorrier to confess that I am the one that killed him. I needed some money and thought that you would pay anything to get some information about who killed him. I didn’t think Isaac liked me, but apparently he did. I didn’t think---.”
“You’re correct. You didn’t think.” The king’s bitterness was harsh.
~ ~ ~ ~
The court found Mr. Radcliffe guilty and sentenced him to 25 years to life in prison for murder in the first degree. Skylar’s life went relatively back to normal, minus her brother and plus the feeling of not being all there. She missed her brother, but, again, as Isaac always said, “Life goes on.”1

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