[December of 2047]
“I- I’m sorry, Louis!”
Cassandra was seven years old. Her brother was eleven, trying to fix a bruise on his hand and his forehead before their mother overwhelmed them and screamed at the boy.
“Don’t speak a word, Cassie.” He says softly to the girl who cries loudly. Her fists wiped her tears as it was raining.
It was a tragic day.
At night, they witness another drunken Intercourse her mother had with someone they didn’t know. The man stayed at her place, along with the kids, stating that he could pay her more for the rent. Immediately agreeing to a few pennies for a one-day rent at her shabby house, their mother failed to see the intent of the male.
Baby Cassandra was in grave danger when Louis came back from school just then.
He saw the man banging on the girl’s door, demanding her to come out so he could relieve his frustrations with a poor little girl.
Understanding his intent and feeling the nasty aura of the male, Louis quickly grabs a plank with nails in it and hits the bald man in his head.
By then, the man had lost consciousness.
But how would Louis manage to call the police and tell them what happened?
How would he tell her mother that they were home alone with an abusive man who tried to abuse a little girl?
Everything seemed messy in his head.
Stepping over the body, Louis knocks on the door and says with a soft voice.
“Cassandra? It’s me, Louis. Open up, Cassandra. You’re okay, right?”
Her loud wail bothers him.
Running out and entering the room from the window, he sees his baby sister cowering in fear in a corner. Her pastel blue skirt was soiled. His anger knew no limits as he opened the door.
He takes the plank again.
The splinters which stuck out from the plank pierced his skin, yet he wouldn’t stop beating the unconscious man to a pulp.
“Stop it, Louis! I am okay! I okay now!!” Baby Cassandra screams, trying to stop Louis from hitting the man to death.
A small pool of blood around the male against the dim evening sunlight bothers her.
“I don’t feel good, brother… I’m hungry.” Cassandra says what she feels.
As they step out, Cassandra throws up in the front yard, ruining her dress all over.
Their mother shouldn’t be home until 7 in the night, or it could go up to midnight as well. They just hoped she wasn’t drunk again.
8 struck, and the woman was home.
She brought a bag of edibles with her to celebrate with her kids and the stranger. How catastrophic for her to see the battered man on the floor and her kids going out of sight.
She calls the police immediately.
Louis and Cassandra were declared missing after searching the whole neighbourhood.
“Ouch.” Louis softly whimpers as he ties his own bandage.
“I- I’m sorry… Louis!” The girl says from behind a big dumpster.
The boy pulls out another splinter with tears in his eyes. Yet, he pats her head and says, “It’s okay, Cassandra. Don’t speak a word.” Louis gestures to her to be quiet.
It was around midnight.
Louis had only his school jacket on him and beside him was his shivering sister against the cold breeze.
He removes his jacket, pulling the half-sleeping girl in his embrace. He had cleaned her frock the best he could, but it was still cold with wetness.
Stuffing a rag doll between her clothes and her body, he pulls her into his embrace while leaning against the wall behind him. He was in pain all over his little body.
“I’m sorry, Cassandra. I shouldn’t let Mom do such things again. Getting drunk… bringing men to stay with her… look what happened.” He murmurs to himself. Suddenly, he was crying in fear as he mumbled,
“What if I wasn’t there…” he didn’t want to picture such an imagery anymore.
He smelled the intent of a psychopath from the man before. It was as if he wanted to torture the innocent and be pleasured by their screams.
He was twelve in a suburb. He would listen to people think and speak in such a manner and listen to the radio often, which scared him to death every day about the rise of serial killers in the suburbs.
“I’m sorry, Cassandra. I’m sorry, mom.” He says, thinking of running away.
****
“Sir! We found the missing children!” A policeman in uniform scrambles in, holding the hands of two little children who are weary and want to go back to the little shed they nomadically found relief in.
Louis stole a few things to keep and a few to eat if they got hungry. Overall, he was planning to stay away from his mother, building a resentment towards the woman who was responsible for the state that Cassandra was thrown into.
The police questioned them both as they revealed everything that happened.
“What do we do, sir? They’re children.” The man asked the SI.
“These children helped us catch a criminal. They’re brave and strong, but they need their mother. They’re so young…” the policeman pats them on their heads.
“We are calling your mother now, okay? Do not try to escape-”
“No! We don’t want to go back to her!” The policeman nods, understanding where the words are coming from.
“I understand you, lad. But you have a terribly young sister who is a little… weak. Your mother will protect you from now. I promise.”
“We don’t want her!” Louis screams out.
Just then, their mother enters the station. Her frantic eyes were searching for her children, and she found them on the wooden bench with the SI.
“Louis! Cassandra! Oh god…” Throwing everything away from her, she runs to her children and embraces them.
“Get away from me!” Louis yells at his mother.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry my child. I’m so sorry! Mama won’t do it ever again, I promise!” She lied.
After the police talked to their mother concerning her behaviour, she was sent back home with her children. Louis noticed the house was in a better state than before. He feels an itch in his heart, that their mother was doing better when they weren’t home.
She nonchalantly moved to her TV and sprawled herself on the couch.
Louis was disappointed. But from today, they would be invigilated by the police. Police would visit them every week and enquire about their status.
Louis gave up on being good.
Louis gives up on his mother as he promises to his sleepy baby sister.
“Cassandra, I promise to keep you safe from anything. I’ll be strong for you, sister. I promise, I promise…”
****
[16th June, 2023]
The brief memory of her brother surfaces with her. She breathes shakily as she narrates the story to Zayn at 4 in the morning.
“Louis was such a good brother. I realised only now, how similar they are.”
“I know, right? I feel like I’m betraying him. I don’t want Louis to leave me…”
A/n: I have a brother as well. But I ain’t stupid enough to sacrifice him to save a thousand other people. I’m sorry.