Chapter 1:
MIA'S POV
I woke up in the middle of the night when I heard faint rustling and soft laughter. Curious, I went to the source of the sound. "Love, I'm so excited to surprise our daughter Lea, she'll be so happy," said the woman I knew for sure was my mother.
Here we go again. Always the same. Once again, I am nothing but a shadow unseen, unnoticed. I stood there watching, tears falling from my eyes. It felt as though every drop carried the words, "I wish it were me. I wish I wasn't just a shadow."
Lea's birthday was joyfully celebrated, while mine when it came was ignored, overshadowed by my sister's pageant. It doesn't hurt anymore; I've grown used to it. After so many years of the same thing happening over and over, it's no longer surprising. "Mia, I have work." "Sorry, Mia, your sister has a pageant." "Mia, your sister has a quiz bee." "I still have to accompany your sister to the mall." Words that play on repeat inside my head.
I am Mia, a girl who feels like nothing but a shadow, as if my very birth was unnoticed. Painful as it is to admit, being hidden and denied as a daughter has become the norm of my life .
In the dead of night, at exactly twelve midnight, the faint rustling downstairs could once again be heard. I was certain it was Mother and Father, probably planning another surprise for my sister. But suddenly, my thoughts shifted minutes had already passed, and yet the rustling continued. With trembling steps, I checked where the sound was coming from.
There, I saw the figure of my sister Lea, seemingly searching for something. "Ate Lea, why are you still awake? It's already midnight," I asked, my voice carrying both concern and curiosity.
"What do you care? Just go to sleep," she replied harshly, as she always did. Not wanting to annoy her any further, I returned quietly to my room.
A few minutes later, a vehicle stopped right in front of our house. I peeked out of our bedroom window to see what it was.
I couldn't make out the face of the man who stepped out of the car the night was too dark, and all I could see was his figure. Broad, intimidating, and filled with menace. Moments later, I saw my sister Lea walk out and join him, the very same man I had glimpsed minutes earlier. The engine started, and I stood there watching until the car finally vanished from sight, once parked just outside our home.
By morning, I was startled by the loud banging on my bedroom door. "Mia! Open this door!" Mother's furious voice thundered from the other side.
"Why, Ma" My words were cut short by the sting of a harsh slap across my face. "You're such a useless daughter! All you ever do is sleep!" she screamed at me.
"Your sister Lea is gone. They found her body in a hotel, hanging by the neck. She took her own life!" Mother's words nearly deafened me, the weight of them crashing into my ears.
"W-what?" I stammered, as the tears I had been holding back finally spilled down my face.
"Yes, and I know this is your fault! You must have been jealous of all the attention we gave her. That's why you just kept sleeping, content with yourself," my mother accused.
"All my life, I never wished for something like this to happen, Ma! What kind of sister would ever want her own sibling to die? Yes, I was jealous, I envied her. I wanted so badly to be like her full of love and attention. But your words cut deeper than anything, Ma. I was a shadow, yes but I never once turned against my only sister!" I cried out, my voice almost breaking as my sobs grew harsher, leaving me hoarse.
Mother's words stayed in my head. "It's your fault. You're useless. You were jealous." No matter how much I wanted to forget, they kept repeating.
Father said nothing. He just sat in the living room, quiet, as if I wasn't even there. His silence hurt even more than Mother's slap. It felt like no one in this house ever saw me, not even now.
The next day, I heard neighbors whispering. "They said she was with a man that night." "Maybe Mia knew something." "That other daughter is strange."
Everywhere I turned, people looked at me as if I was guilty. No one asked me what really happened. No one cared what I saw.
When Lea's wake began, relatives filled the house. They cried for her, comforted my parents, and spoke about how bright her future had been. But me? I was just a shadow in the corner. Some of them even whispered, "That's the other one, the quiet girl."
I stood by Lea's picture, surrounded by flowers and candles. Her smiling face stared back at me. She was loved, noticed, praised. And yet… no one had seen the sadness she must have carried inside.
Even in death, she shined brighter than I ever could. And still, I loved her. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I whispered, "Lea, I was jealous, yes. But I never wanted you gone. I wish we both weren't trapped you in their expectations, me in your shadow."
That night, when the house finally becomes quiet, something inside of me wondered why nobody believed me because i knew what i saw. That stranger is not just anyone, he was connected to the truth i was trying so hard to find out Days followed felt really heavy, I couldn't sleep properly, tons of questions running through my head.
Why would my sister do something like that? What pushed her? Did someone threatened her to do such things? Did someone hurt her? Every day every night, the same thoughts keep haunting me, lying in my hed, staring at the ceiling, my chest felt really tight, wishing my mind would stop for even just a second I wasn't ready for what was really coming.
The neighbors gossiping louder whenever i walked by, giving me strange look. And at night, I heard it again the same rustling sound i heard when Lea disappeared, I felt my chest pounding so hard and my hands are sweating, I wanted to tell myself it was nothing, but deep down, I felt something was wrong. Lea's death wasn't just a simple suicide, I know there is something behind it that I had to uncover. But how? by someone who was always been quite and just known for being a shadow.
Am I really strong enough to handle this? As the sound comes closer, I realized i don't have any other choice but find the truth myself I reached for the lock with a shaking hands, feeling my chest tight, I didn't want to look, I didn't want to know what's behind that door. But something inside of me pushing to know the truth waiting outside Slowly, I pulled the door open, I froze for a moment realizing i was just hallucinating, a small black cat was outside my door.
I exhaled heavily. It was just a cat I pause for a moment and got back to bed feeling ease. Sunlight hit my face though the curtains, I got up feeling the heaviness in my chest, my body aches from last night as if I've been carrying something heavy all night haunted with the same questions running though my head.
When I stepped outside to get some air the neighborhood still feels the same children wandering around, neighbors cleaning their yards. But their eyes stares at me longer that usual whispering around me. At the corner of our yard. I stared on the ground there were footprints leading away form our house, too large to belong to the cat.
I felt chills on my body my heartbeat race uncontrollably, for a very long moment I just stood there staring, trying to process I stopped to get a better look as my breathing quickened. The footprint was deep, as if a heavy person had been there for a while. I followed the marks with my eyes. They led the way to the street before gradually disappearing.
I wanted to call my parents, but I was unable to speak. I had a constricted throat. As usual, I was by myself. Then I noticed something partially buried in the ground. I picked it up with trembling hands. It was metal, small, and cold. My heart nearly stopped as I brushed the dirt away. It was a key. A key to a hotel. Lea's body was discovered at the same hotel.
I almost dropped it as my knees gave out. Outside, if the key was here on our own house it only meant one thing Lea didn't go there alone. Whoever was with her that night might be still be close. I could feel someone is watching me, moving quietly, hiding in the dark waiting for me to make a move.