THE STERLING SIN _ MY SECRET SISTER

I watched the red tail-lights of mom's car drop out of sight and into the deep depth below. That red color was the last thing I saw before the darkness swallowed everything up. I wanted to scream but my mouth was too heavy to move, with trembling hands "I hit the ground hard, the icy mud splashing against my skin, but I was too numb to feel the chill." I finally let out a heavy scream. “No mom you can't leave me” I screamed at the top of my voice…. No words could describe how I felt at that moment all I knew was that I needed the ground to open so I could just fall into it. “Mom, how could you leave me in this world?” Deep inside my heart I know mom would never cheat, they called her a cheat. “Mom, you promised to stay, you promised to attend my graduation. I cried silently as the clouds opened up, a torrential weight of water that tried to drown out my screams, washing the salt of my tears into the grime of the cliffside." Suddenly an iron grip caught my jaw, pulling my head back. I caught a flash of a dark sleeve and the scent of an old harsh familiar perfume before the world began to tilt, the lightning streaked sky spinning into a whirlpool of grey and black. ________________ 6months later (Aurora) They say time heals all wounds, but the six months since that night on the cliff felt like a slow, agonizing bleed. Standing at my 6ft tall mirror, I smoothed the silk of my gown, waiting for the familiar warmth of my mother's praise. Instead, the silence of the house pressed against my ears, a cold reminder that the only person I wanted to see me today was at the bottom of a cliff. Our house smelled of freshly cooked spaghetti like when mom cooked my morning meal but this time it was just me, mom had always taught me how to make my own meals even though we had helper's, she usually says “Rory you have to learn” her arms on my shoulder patting me. “ But mom, why? You said you will always be here to cook for me your princess” with a face as bright as ever I would reply back in a rude but playful tone. Memories of my mom kept flooding my head for the past 6 months, staring at the mirror tears flowing freely from my eyes. I couldn't help but remember all the lovely memories we had together.. My graduation gown felt like a costume for a play I didn't want to star in. I stood before the mirror, waiting for a hand on my shoulder that would never come. Dad hadn't just left the house after the funeral, he had erased himself from my life. I was stuck in this house alone for 6months. And now it was time to leave for another city because a girl with no one as her guide had to work to earn a living. Even though I knew I would never heal from Mom's death I still decided to move on with Life. After all, a Dacksoline never gives up.. 3days ago, I received a letter from Aunt Beatrice, I tore open the cream-colored envelope, a faint scent of expensive, suffocating perfume wafting out. It smelled of Veridia money, and the aunt who had been too 'busy' to bury her own sister." "My sweet Aurora, It’s been six months, surely you’ve cried enough? I was heartbroken to miss the goodbye to my darling sister, my schedule in Veridia is quite unforgiving. You’re graduated now, lonely and likely penniless. Don't waste your youth staring at walls. Come to me. I’ll find a use for that business degree of yours. After all, someone has to look after you before you lose what's left of the family name. Aunt Beatrice’s 'invitation' felt more like a summons. She was offering a hand, but her words were a reminder of how low I had fallen from a princess to a girl begging for a start in a city that didn't know my name. I folded Aunt Beatrice’s letter and tucked it into my bag, her elegant handwriting still blurred by my last tear. She was offering me a lifeline, a chance to be a Dacksoline again, but as I stared out the window at the receding trees of my childhood, a whisper of a thought brushed my mind. Aunt Beatrice had never given anything away for free. I just hoped the price of this 'new life' wasn't more than I could afford to pay.