The Four Sisters - Chapter 9 Finding No Hope

The search for my sisters brought me to my homeland. I was tempted by this land, the land that I grew up in. I did not know what to expect upon my return, but I hoped to find more clues to my sister’s locations. I ended up finding more than a clue. I found my younger sisters.

My youngest sister and second sister were both in situations that I can only refer to asdifficult. A few levels higher than troubling and just short of dire. My second sister’s situation was bad off, but my youngest was just as bad. To be entirely honest, I am not entirely sure if one’s situation could have been described as worse than the other’s.

My youngest sister, when I found her, had been in an almost comatose state for quite some time, though,I do not know how long. I found her at a lovers home, sitting on their bed. I walked in and she did not recognize me. She did not acknowledge me. She just stared forward, without a word.

She sat there, in her undergarment and nothing else, as if she had awoken one day and her spirit fled away in that instant, and had not returned since. I asked her lover how long she had been in that state, but he did not seem able to answer. He was a suspicious man, he wouldn’t meet my eyes often. He was quick to look away when he did, even if what he said was truth. As if his conscious was forever guilty. He did not seem responsible, or worthy of much trust. As if the only thing that he was truly capable of doing and doing right was going to bed at night and waking the next day. I did not like him much, though I did not know him well.

I sat beside my sister, calling her name gently. I had remembered that time when we were young and her reaction when I had attempted to use more force in coercing her back to our world.

She did not answer.

I watched her stare off, her spirit gone, and was overcome with emotion. If I had not allowed them to leave, if I had been a better older sisterperhaps she would not be in this state. This was my first reaction. My second was in fact to blame her lover.

What was he doing during this time that she had been this way? Had he tried to help her at all? Did he attempt to call a doctor, or anyone, for that matter?

But, despite my disdain, I said nothing to him.

I only glanced in his direction with a loathsome gaze, and he left. Just like that, he left. Left me there to attempt to bring her back, bring her home.

I spent hours trying to coerce her into awaking from the spell. I spoke gently, calling to her. I spent the rest of the day, and some of the night trying to bring her back. Trying to awake her from her stupor.

It did not work. Nothing worked. I decided to find someone to help. I needed to find my other sister.

To give some perspective about what time in our lives this was happening at, I was far into adulthood at this point and both of my sisters were also adult women. I hadn’t seen them in quite a number of years. As I said before, I lived with my mother for a time. That time period was quite long, actually, if I were to think about it in comparison to the years I had been alive, it was not a short amount of time at all.

I did not mention this before, but my youngest sister was very pretty. When I found her, I was shocked to find that her hair’s color and body shape was almost exactly the same as my eldest sister. Though, my youngest sister’s hair was perhaps, a bit curlier and thicker. Her eyes were big and brown, they gave off a feeling of innocence. Strangely, they gave her appearance a more innocent feel than when she was younger. Freckles, because of which she had received no end of teasing as a child, were scattered across her nose and cheeks. They page her a youthful appearance. In truth, I was a bit in awe of her when I first found her. I did not expect that she would grow into such a lovely woman.

I left her in that house as I went to the place that I had heard my other sister was. I left a note fotr that lover of hers to wait until I had returned and that I would speak to him then. If I had known what kind of a man he was, I would not have left her there defenseless.

Spineless, lying, swine.

The rumors about my second sister were ones that were not very flattering. In fact, I was not entirely sure she was the one the rumors were about. But, I had a feeling in my gut, a feeling that I needed to follow these rumors and find out for sure. It turned out, that the rumors were indeed about my sister. And accurate.

I found my second sister in a very lively place. It was in complete contrast to the lonely and dark room that I found my youngest sister in. There were multiple shades of lighting everywhere. Exotic music and dancing. I heard people laughing all around. A man tried to goad me into dancing with him as I made my way through the bodies around me. The men were young and devilish. The women were loud and dressed in flashy and revealing clothing. I asked around and a few people were able to point me in a direction.

Not, I must say this. My youngest and second sisters were in fact not far from each other. My youngest sister, whom I visited first, lived with her lover in a small home on the outskirts of a city. It was far enough out, that it may have been considered part of the next city over. I found my second sister in the heart of the city, surrounded my people, music and dancing. It was all quite interesting. After all, though my family had moved around a bit, we had always lived in the wilderness, away from the excitement of the larger towns and cities. This was all an entirely new experience for me. I wasn’t sure how to act, or speak, with these people.

It wasn’t long before I found my second sister. She was there, sitting at a table in the corner. Between her fingers was a cigarette and around her shoulders was a man’s arm. I saw her before she saw me. She was laughing, carefree and worry free. Her laugh was one of the things that set she and I apart. When she laughed, it had always been wild, unrestrained. Whereas I could barely ever seem to allow myself any freedom, I always felt pressured to be in control.

Even from a distance, I could see those seated around her leaning in to hear her words. I could see the gazes of some of the men around her linger on her visage, when they thought she was not looking.

I hesitated. I was unsure if this was the right time and place to approach her. But, I was too late in deciding, as she happened to glance over and spot me, the only figure standing still in the wave of constantly shifting bodies.

She smiled, waving me over. I attempted to smile back, still uncertain, but began to make my way forward.

It was then that I say it.

The hand wrapped around her shoulder. Its nails were dark, the blackest black I had ever seen. They were long and sharp. They were not the nails of a human.

Fear gripped my heart as the man at her side turned toward me.

He was handsome, in a dark way. His hari was tied back and his face was covered in a dark shadow of scruff. His eyes met mine and I swear, for just a moment, they were black. No pupil, no whites, all black. He smiled a handsome smile, though for some reason, it felt threatening. My fear tightened around hy heart further. His arm around my sister pulled her closer, tightly grippinng her shoulder until she turned from me to glance at him. He kissed her.

It wasn’t a sweet kiss. Even from where I stood I could feel somethingwrong about it. It was possessive while at the same time being provocative. As if he wanted to show to others that my sister would never leave him. Not ever.

The next moment, I felt strange. I became dizzy and weightless. The vast colors around me began to blend together. The words around me became foreign and untranslatable. I do not know what I did, where I was, or who I was with.

I do not remember.

I only remember waking at an inn. I was sitting on the edge of the bed as I awoke. The room around me was bathed in darkness. I sat there, the shock as what I had seen finally washing over mer.

I knew what it was. I knew. It was that thing that had embedded itself into my sister’s shadow. That incorporeal claw that would reach out to her at nightBut, how? How had it taken physical form? How had it taken the form of a man?

As I sat trying to make sense of it all, I felt my own darkness pushing forth. It started slow, making it’s way from the back of my mind and slowly taking over, pushing me out.

I didn’t want to allow it to take me, but I wasso tired. I wanted to fight. I really did.

The world around me began to grow numb and distant. My vision began to grow darker, slowly fading.

As it started to claim my mind, chills spread across my body as a single word flashed through my mind in a whisper. A sinister voice echoed out.

Yes.

Then, I saw no more.