I run far away from the injured. My heart is racing and my legs feel numb. What am I even doing? My ODM gear is broken, my blades- snapped, and my horse... dead. I'm vulnerable... playing with death... Death... that's why I'm here. I was born to die.
My feet slide as I turn sharply. I grab the flare gun from my side and prepare it. Fear... there's no time for any of that. I raise the flare above my head and hold my stance. I close my eyes, preparing for the end. I pull the trigger... a loud screech fills the air. That's when I felt the ground shake... I hear nothing but my own heartbeat. The pumping of my blood, the coldness from the rain, and the ground shaking as I near my death. Death... is this what it feels like?
Was this my end? Was I really going to go out like this?
I promised someone... we would find a field of flowers... I promised myself that I would tell him how I felt.
Where did this even all begin-
-Right... I remember.
Many Years Ago....
My family was quite peculiar. We weren't like many others. The name Borus was not very common but well known. A name like that had an odd reputation. Some people respected those with that name, while others feared it. The Borus family always meant business. All types of business but many of them killed. It was what we were born to do.
My father, Alaric Borus was a messy young man. He once had a woman by the name of Ida Balmer. I never really knew much about her... but she loved my father. Ida Balmer and Alaric Borus one day gave birth to a baby boy. Kilian Borus, my father's first son. Kilian was born to take over the family business. To become a killer. That idea, simple enough was natural amongst the Borus family. And this idea scared Ida. It scared her so much that while my father slept, she and Kilian disappeared and never came back.
My father grew angry that the boy he created is now gone. He didn't even care for the woman. He only cared for his son. Not because he loves his son, but because he needed someone to take the family title.
That's something I always questioned... Love seemed unfamiliar when it came to my father. Love and him in the same sentence sounded odd. Like they didn't match. I always thought my father never loved anything. But- I was wrong.
Rosalia Alvarez, a woman my father met at a tavern. A delicate and beautiful young woman. She had soft and long blond hair and brown eyes. My father found interest in her, but she was a strong individual. A challenging woman, that's probably where I got my stubbornness from. She was not easy to get. She made it clear, that she was not some slut that would fall for any man. A man even like my father who is handsome, has money, and well known. She didn't care much about his image or what he did. That made my father like more.
A few years of playing hard to get, and my mother soon became pregnant. That was when I was born. Lonnie Borus. A baby girl. You would think my father would grow angry. That he would be upset that I existed... that I wasn't a boy. But apparently that wasn't the case. He loved my mother- and apparently he loved me. I wasn't as pretty as my mother. I had dark brown hair and brown eyes. Unlike my mother whose hair is blond, and like my father whose eyes are grey. I was very normal looking. Nothing too different. Nothing special.
I was coddled and loved from the day I was born until the day my mother became pregnant again. That's when love became confusing. That was when I last remembered the love from both of my parents.
When my mother was pregnant with her second child, it was unlike her first. She grew very sick this time. I didn't get to see my mother throughout her first pregnancy, but I always heard how strong and glowing she was during it. My mother was always in bed, not allowed to walk out or do anything, which meant I couldn't be with her like I used to. I never understood what was going on. All I remember was the worried look on my father's face from time to time.
One night, when I was supposed to be asleep. The sound of rustling and groaning comes from outside my room. I hear low voices. I heard my father... my mother... and a few I were unfamiliar with. I cracked my door open a bit, just to peak out and see what the commotion was. My mothers gown, the front part around her crotch area was, was covered in blood and wet all around. You could even see liquid and blood dripping down her legs onto the floor. My father was wrapping her up with a warm coat and a sheet. My mother looked pale and sick. My father... worried. A man stood by them as they turn towards the door.
My eyes grew wide as I watch them leave. I wanted to chase after them but I couldn't. I was too afraid to move my legs. The man who was with them was still here. He stood in front of the closed door. His head turned towards the crack of my door and our eyes met. I felt stiff and scared. He slowly approaches the door and fully pulls it shut on me. I stand still staring at the door, still unable to move.
For a little while, I stayed with this man in my home. He didn't really speak to me. All I knew was that he knew my father. That him and my dad did business together. I assume he was here to watch me while my father and mother were gone. He would make me meals and would wipe me down with a rag rather then give me baths. He had a cold look in his eyes. I wanted to ask for his name but I was far too afraid to even do so. That man scared me.
I wanted my mother and father. I wanted to run away and go find them. But this man's presence made me even too afraid to leave my room. I only came out for a meal or to be washed up and then stayed in my room, waiting for the sound of my mother and father to return.
Day turned into weeks... and my worry grew more. Did my mother die and I didn't know? Every night I grew more and more restless and scared that I was never going to see my parents again.
Then the next night came and I heard a few familiar voices. My eyes widen and my body jolts up. I rush to the door and crack it open to peak out from the crack of the door. It was my mother and father. My mother was holding something in her arms and my father was talking to the man that was watching me for the few weeks they were gone. I push onto the door slowly, as I walk out my room. My father's eyes stop at me and so does my mother. The room grows quiet and my eyes fill up with tears.
"Mommy-" I sniffle. She smiles to me and slowly walks towards me.
"Lonnie... remember when I told you that mommy had a baby in her belly?" She asks. I stare at her for a bit and slowly nod. She smiles more and leans down towards me, showing me the small baby in her arms. It was pinkish pale and it's hair was so light that it looked like it didn't even have hair. I stare at the baby in her arms a bit, not knowing how to feel. "His name is Kaius Borus..." She softly says.
"Kaius Borus?" I tilt my head in confusion.
"Mhm... he is your baby brother."
Baby Brother...
I stare at her smile and then back at the baby in her arms. He looks soft and delicate. My eyes then wander to my father who has a worried look on his face.
That night was quiet. And so was the next night... and the night after that. It was quiet for a few weeks... until the quietness turned into loud muffled cry's piercing through the walls. It was hard to sleep, hearing the baby wail and cry. My mothers face begins to look tired and worried over the days. The baby always in her arms, as she tries to keep the baby comfortable and calm. I didn't quite understand what was happening and why my parents were so worried... but I'm sure that worry was for my baby brother.
I never really expected my life to change after my brother was born. I thought that things will go back to usual. That I was going to continue being my mother's baby girl. But- my brother needed more attention than me. I didn't quite understand what was going on. Neither did my parents. They didn't know until my brother turned a year old.
He was a small and cute baby. His hair was white. I thought his hair was very pretty and his eyes were a light grey with a pink hue to them. I would always talk to him and I begin to adore him as he got bigger. But there was something odd about him. He's never looked at me before. When I stare at his eyes or try to show him something, he's never looked at me or whatever I tried to show him. He would only coo and smile to the sound of my voice. His eyes would shake too sometimes, and they only moved to the direction a sound was coming from.
If I stood on his right side and talked, his eyes would move to the right and so would his head. He would smile and coo at me. If I walked to his left and talked, his eyes would move to the left and he would giggle and coo. But he still wasn't looking directly at me. I believe my parent's began to notice that too. That was when...
"He's blind." The doctor says, slowly standing up.
"Blind?" My mother questions. The doctor nods.
"His body lacks the stuff we have. His eyes are delicate to the light so I'm sure it can irritate his eyes when light shines in them... and his skin is more prone to getting burned under the sun. This is the first time I've seen a baby like this before... but If I'm right... I do believe he may have something called Albinism... It's something I have heard of before but not quite seen."
"Albinism?" My father looks at him confused to what the doctor means.
Albinism... Something I didn't understand at the time. But this condition affected his skin and eyes. The night that my brother was diagnosed with this condition was the same day I heard my parents argue for the first time. This is when I also heard about the condition my mother was in... and how she lost her uterus when giving birth to Kaius... meaning she couldn't have any more kids. Kaius was her last kid. Kaius is a boy, meaning he was meant to take the title of the family business when he gets older... but due to his condition... that was out of the question. My father grew desperate. He could of left the business and handed it to his brother, allowing himself to live happily with his wife and children but that didn't happen. He still needed a child to continue the Borus legacy... and to that; that was when... I, Lonnie Borus became the first female Borus to become a reaper. This is when my life changed for good.
TO BE CONTINUED AUGUST 12TH!