A Sister's Love

"Good morning, Metro area! Another beautiful day in America's capital. We are looking at a high of sixty-four with nothing but sunshine today. A perfect October morning if you ask me. Time to look at the traffic before you head out the door for work. Oliva?" "Good morning, Steve. We have reports coming in of an accident on the beltway involving three ca-" Nova reached over and turned her alarm clock off. "Eight already?" she mumbles to herself. Nova sat up and gave a small sigh. As she climbs out of bed, her cat jumps off the bed and walks to the kitchen sink. The grey tabby jumps onto the counter, waiting patiently. Nova follows closely behind, walking through her bedroom door right into the kitchen.

"Are you hungry, Leo?" Nova got some food out of the cabinet in a little measuring cup and dumped the food into his bowl next to the kitchen table. "Eat up, boy." Leo jumps down, looks up at Nova, gives a soft meow as a thank you, and eats his food. Nova smiles down at him and turns to fill up the kettle with some water. After putting the kettle on the stove, she turns around and looks around the loft. Her loft was small, standing in the kitchen, the bedroom is to her left, and the living room in front of her. On the right side of the kitchen is a set of stairs leading up to a partial upstairs, another small living room, and a decent-sized storage room the landlord uses for any upkeep needed of the place. The partial upstairs Nova used to use as a study area and library. On the other side of the living room wall was another flat, the neighbor's moved in about a year after she did. They weren't strangers, they even messaged sometimes, but Nova did not consider them friends. Over the last two years the upstairs became a place for her sister to crash whenever she wanted to come through. Eventually, Nova realized she was staring at a newspaper sitting on the kitchen table with a note on the top "Just because I know you are crazy enough to go outside to grab this in your PJs. Enjoy your morning tea. See you tonight. Love you, sis! Xoxo Christina." Nova has not picked up the paper since the day her sister went missing. Nova hears the kettle screaming for her to turn the stove off. Blinking a few times to bring herself back to reality, she swings around to turn off the stove and accidentally knocks the kettle over.

"Shit," she mumbles to herself and turns off the stove. She picks up the kettle and decides not to have a cup of tea. "I'll wipe that up when the stove cools off, I guess." Turning around to look at the newspaper again, she swallows hard and shakes her head, trying to clear her thoughts. Leo nudges up against her in appreciation for the food making Nova smile. Walking back into the bedroom and turning left through the closet into the bathroom, she turns the water in the shower on to warm up. Stepping in to take a long shower, taking her time trying to avoid thinking about the day.

Stepping out of the shower, Nova wraps herself in a towel and walks into her closet. Looking around at everything neatly hung up and folded in its place, she picks out her black dress. Quickly slipping the dress on, Nova sits down at the sink in the bathroom and looks up at a picture hanging in the mirror of her and her sister from last summer. Wiping away a few tears, she starts to brush out her hair. She pulled out some makeup from a small makeup bag; she thought back to that summer when she took a vacation with her sister.

"Nova! Come in the water. It's perfect!" Christina yelled towards her. When she got up and walked towards the water, Christina started jumping for joy. She splashed some water at Nova as she stepped into the water and smiled big.

"What?" she asked Christina.

"I'm glad I could get you out of the house and not studying for a few days! There are some cute guys over there; should we talk to them? Guys love when girls make the first move." Christina gave Nova a little shove.

"Chrissy! Are you crazy?" Nova was shocked she even suggested such a thing.

"Oh, come on, little sister, live a little!" She said as Nova was shaking her head.

"Is it not enough that you got me to come on a weekend get away with you? I could be studying right now." Christina just laughed.

The doorbell rang, snapping Nova back into the present. Looking up at the picture again, Nova whispers to herself, "love you, sis," she got up from her seat and headed out of the bathroom, grabbing a sweater on her way out. Turning right on the other side of the kitchen, she walks towards the front door. She opens the door, and her brother is standing on the other side.

"How are you doing?" Jason says.

"Please do not go big brother mode on me. You know how I am doing, probably just about the same as you." Nova slips on her sweater and heads out the door with her brother following closely behind. She thought that Christina would be bundled up right now if she were here; anything below 75 degrees would be like the South Pole to her.

Nova stands up front next to her brother and parents at the funeral home with family and friends taking their turns to come up to give hugs or say a few words and walk past the coffin. Nova becomes numb to her surroundings with all the faces that pass by. Then her brother nudged her out of her head.

"If you don't want to go up there and speak, you don't have to." She shook her head and looked up, realizing the service had started and everyone was sitting down, quickly standing up to hug her parents and brother before heading up to the podium. Speaking clearly into the microphone, Nova started her speech.

"Thank you, everyone, for being here today. I'm Novagale Violet. Although everyone just calls me Nova." She stopped herself from rambling too much and took a deep breath. "Christina was..." Nova bit the inside of her lip to hold back some tears from saying "was." Taking another deep breath, she started again, "Christina was my sister. She was the most kind-hearted person on this planet. Christina was my rock whenever I needed her, even at 3 in the morning. Everyone she knew she loved with her whole heart." Nova took a glance at the coffin and instantly knew that was a mistake. Clearing her throat, she tried to go on.

"Christina, she.... she...." No more words came out of her mouth, the tears filled up in her eyes, and she could not catch her breath. Nova's brother Jason quickly stood up and was by her side. He was grabbing her shaking hands and walking her off the stage to the next room.

He whispered to her, "It's okay, Nova, it's okay. I'm here." Jason wrapped his arms around her, trying to calm her down. Nova's legs gave out, and she fell to her knees, Jason falling with her, so she did not fall too hard.

The rest of the morning was a blur of hugs and apologies. At Nova's parent's house for the luncheon, Nova picked at her food, not paying attention to anyone or anything. Just as she would get up and leave, Jason came over and sat next to her.

"And where do you think you are going?" he said, making her sit back down. Nova put her plate of food back on the table and sat down.

"I think I'm just going to leave and go catch at least one of my classes today." Jason thought for a second before responding.

"Are you sure you don't want to take the rest of the day off?" Nova shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know, you know me. I'm always better if I just keep busy and keep my mind off things." Jason grabbed her plate, "That's true, but remember you cannot just push everything down and ignore your problems. Grieving is normal; sadness and anger are normal. I'm here for you. At least let me give you a ride so you can go get your car at home." She slid her sweater back on and followed him out. "Fine, but only because I know you'll worry if I walk home."

Back at her loft, Nova hugged her brother, and he went back to the luncheon. She quickly slipped out of her black dress and put on jeans and a hoodie. Leo sits on her bed, and gives him a quick scratch under his chin, and turns to grab her bag. She heads out to her car and drives to the college nearby. When she walks in the door to the classroom, Professor James Clark looks a little confused.

"What are you doing here? I expected you to take a day or two off." She puts down her bag right next to his desk and pulls up a chair.

"You did? Really? Come on, you know me better than that." James shakes his head

"I did; I know how close you guys were. It is normal to take a couple of days off to get yourself to fall apart and back together again. But I also know there is no point in arguing with you; you will do what you want. Since you are here, I have some papers that need graded." He shakes his head and hands her the stack of papers.

"See, you do need me." She said, grabbing the papers and setting down next to him. "Ah, your famous beginning of term paper of who you are. Oh, joy. I cannot wait to read this year's batch of first-year students trying to show off how they think they understand the world. Also, I know if I sit around not doing anything I will overthink. I want to know what happened. The police closed the case last week and wrote it off as just an accidental overdose. There is no way that's all that it was. Christina did not do drugs, and that does not explain the bruises."

Nova grabs the first paper and starts reading it. James stopped what he was doing and looked right at Nova, shocked.

"You do not intend to play vigilante and try to figure it out yourself, do you?" Nova kept looking at the paper she was reading, "I want to know, I thought about it. I bet I could figure a few things out that could make the police reopen the case." James grabbed her chair and turned it to face him and looked her right in the eyes. "Novagale, hear me now. Please. Do. Not. Try. That. Promise me you will not go out trying to look for answers that might not even be there." Nova was shocked at his bluntness and took a second to respond.

"First, you know how much I hate my full first name. Call me Nova. I have been your TA for three years now; you know that. Second, why does it matter so much to you? It's not like you did anything to Christina." James sat back in his chair, sighing, and taking a moment to respond.

"Nova, please. You could get hurt. If someone did murder your sister as you think, those are not nice people. You do not want to be in their cross hairs. Plus, you're the best damn TA I have ever had. You're so much smarter than any of the clowns that go to school here. I can have a genuine, intelligent conversation with you. I do not want anything to happen to you. Please consider my side; you could get hurt." Nova chewed the inside of her lip, thinking for a minute.

"Fine. I'll consider how you feel. I apologize; I did not realize how important I am to you."

"Novagale, if you want something to distract you from all this and get your mind off revenge and such. How about I give you the final assignment for class if you promise not to tell anyone. After all, you will have about seven extra months that the other students won't have. Rather, you work on this final assignment on top of your other work versus trying to go down this dark path. Would that help?" Nova glared at him for using her full name again, nodding. She responded flatly, "I could do both." James took a deep breath, obviously getting frustrated with her. "Listen to me, the people you are trying to hunt down are not good. Yes, something happened to your sister, and it is terrible, but you are trying to play with fire. Just listen to the police, trust their judgment. Your sister is dead, and there is nothing anyone can do to fix that. She will not come back even if you find the answers you are looking for." Nova started at him with wide eyes and an open mouth.

"James.... d-do you know something?" Fighting back the tears, she stood up and walked closer to him. "If you know something, tell me, please." She started crying again, "Please, I-I want to know why someone as good-hearted as her and a shining light to everyone she knew could get into some type of trouble. That's not like her. P-please," she pleaded with him, hands folded together in a begging position. James grabbed her hands with one hand, wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and brought her in for a hug. "I will show you if you promise to forget trying to find things out. I've already been working on it." She looked up at him in surprise. "Y-you have?" She said through tears. Looking down at her, he nodded. "Show me."

They walked to his office, shut the door behind them, and sat her down in front of the desk. He walked behind the desk, and Nova heard four beeps and a click; then he opened his bottom drawer and pulled out a couple of files filed to the brim with papers and sticky notes sticking out of the files. James came around the desk and sat next to Nova.

"All of that can't be about Christina...." Nova said, staring wide-eyed at the files.

"Of course not. I've been collecting information for many years. These are all cases of overdoses and drug-related deaths in the last twenty-three years. I wanted to write an article on the lives of junkies. Why they turned to drugs, the type of people they hang around, how their family sees them. Things of that nature until I started noticing people like your sister overdosing every couple of years. People who had amazing jobs, amazing families, seemed like they had it all, and still were junkies hiding that fact from everyone they knew." He opened the file a few pages in and showed Nova.

"I know this is not what you want to hear or believe, but Christina was a junkie through and through. She got in with the wrong dealer when her addictions got worse, and she could not pay the man. He had her killed as payment. An autopsy showed drugs in her system, and her organs were starting to go bad because of the drugs. She would have died in a couple of years anyways at the rate she was going. I'm sorry." Nova stared at the papers, trying to grasp what she was reading—trying to find one thing she could disprove to shatter the whole case.

"There. This report is all a lie. There were no drugs in our flat. I would know I was the one who cleaned it. Wait a second...." Nova notices the police department stamp. "How did you get the police report? They did not tell me half of this stuff. They only said it was an overdose and a jogger found her in the morning..." Nova looks up at James with confusion evident on her face.

"I have a friend at the department. He has been giving me copies of the closed drug-related cases for years. He knew I wanted to write this paper. He was shocked when I told him I did not want any more. This paper did not seem right anymore after your sister died." James closed the files and quickly got up to put them away. Nova sat there quietly, looking down at her hands. James came and sat next to her again after closing the drawer and ensuring the lock was in place. He pulled her in for another hug.

"I am sorry, Novagale. People like that can be brilliant about their addictions. They don't want the ones close to them to know, so they find ways to hide it. They stay on top of their bills, jobs, social life. Everything is in their control. It is always hardest to find out after it's too late. It's not your fault at all. Just remember that." He pulled back, keeping his hands on her shoulders so that he could look at her.

"There was nothing you could do unless you caught her in the act. She got in with the wrong crowd and betrayed their trust. Her lifestyle cost her life. I truly am sorry. Are you sure you don't want to take the rest of the day off?"

"I'm sure. I'll just grade those papers and see how I feel after that." Nova stood up to leave the room, and James grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Nova, wait. After what I showed you, are you going to give up your endeavor? They would not have given me the file if it wasn't a drug-related death." The words came out faster than he intended. She turned around to face him.

"You called me Nova. You must want me to listen to you. I only promised to consider not doing anything. I thought about it, and I still would like to figure out what she had gotten herself into and why she did not reach out for help if it was all bad. I am still confused about where they found drugs in my flat, and I would have known that." James took a second to respond, shocked that she wanted to pursue her sister's death.

"I honestly thought I had changed your mind. You can't do this. It will just lead you to more heartache and some bad people. You could get hurt, and you could die. You have such a bright future ahead of you. Please don't throw it away because you think the police are lying. You graduate this year, and you already know I chose you as my understudy; no one else stood a chance to take that spot. You have no idea what you are getting yourself into here. I can only protect you so much." He lets out a big sigh and tries to read her face, and she's not giving anything away this time.

"I... I hear you, but I must do this. I have to know all the facts." She whispered, looking down at their feet. He got up and pulled her into another hug, feeling powerless because he knew he could not change her mind.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have." He whispered. She hugged back in appreciation.

"It's okay, and I know you are only trying to help keep me safe. If it helps, it's not like I even know where to start. I must figure out where my sister hung out when she wasn't at work. I did not know any of her friends." She pulled out of the hug and smiled up at him. "Thank you for looking out for me. You're like family. You know that." They walk out of his office and go back to grading papers.

After grading a few stacks of paper and helping James teach a class, Nova starts packing up her stuff to put in her bag. James comes over and hands her a book. She grabs the book and puts it in her bag. "Thank you."

"Why do you always carry my book with you?" He asked her, trying to start a conversation. She zips up her bag and looks up at him.

"I feel like we have talked about this before. You know I have idolized you since that first book of yours that I read when I was thirteen years old, and when you signed the book at a meet and greet was awesome. You have figured things out that historians took decades to study. When you are not out in the field, you are here teaching. You attempt to broaden young people's minds. I can have a conversation with you, not the whole 'this is my opinion, which is the whole truth' type of conversation. If I have at least one of your books on me, I can read a well put together sentence when I have down time." She put her bag over her shoulder.

"What was that Japanese cartoon type show you used to watch? What did they call that guy all the girls loved? Idol-senpai?" He said as he let out a laugh.

"Oh, please. Way to stroke your ego. I should not have said idolized; I should have known you would take it that way. The difference is all those screaming fan girls loved him, wanted a piece of him, and that he was the best-looking man ever created. But it was because he was a Vampyre they ever gave two shits about him. And it's called anime." They both laughed real genuine laughs that made Nova forget about the pain of the last few weeks.

"Oh, maybe I am a Vampyre. That's why I know things about the past because I lived through it all. And I am ruggedly handsome if I say so myself. But then again, I get sick at the sight of blood, so maybe not." Nova picked up a notebook and threw it at James. He caught the notebook quickly and tossed it on the table.

"Oh, please! Stop trying to boost your ego." She rolled her eyes with a smile and continued, "Anyways, my parents are going to have another great work Christmas party. They want you to come again."

"Wow, that's forever from now. How am I supposed to know what I am doing two months from now? They just want me there because of my status in the community." He gives out a fake sigh. "Why does everyone have to use me?"

"Oh, please, your assistant probably has you booked out for the next few years. Yeah, they want you there because of who you are, but I could use you as a friend—my first Christmas without my sister. I could use the moral support. After all, you know how much I wouldn't say I like their big social events. It's like yeah, we get it, you own a huge company and are rich, why do we always have to have benefits and shit?" Nova sat back down.

"Hey, you watch your mouth, young lady. They put you through college once they found out you wanted to work your way through college. You are something else. Hey, here is an idea. Because I am such a homebody, why don't they let me throw their Christmas party? I have a big space; they would not have to rent a place again. That way, they focus on me and how thankful they are, and you can duck out early and do whatever it is you 24-year old's do." He sits down and rolls his chair over towards her.

"You're kidding. Why would you do that?" Nova looked confused and put her bag back on the desk.

"Why not? Wouldn't it be fun? I have not had a party in a long time, not since my last book. Plus, I owe them for giving me the greatest TA I have ever had, and at the end of the year, the greatest Padawan. I must pass my knowledge onto you; it is my duty as a Jedi Master to mold the next Jedi Knight." They both laugh, and he continues, "Look, I'll even call them right now. I'm sure it will be a welcomed distraction" Before she knows it, James had grabbed his phone from a drawer and is calling her mom on speakerphone. The conversation is a quick one.

James: Yes, hi, it's James. First off, my deepest sympathy. I would have been there today, but somehow, I knew Novagale would come to class today, and I wanted to be here if she needed anything.

Mom: (obviously been crying, for apparent reasons) Thank you for always looking out for her. You are a great mentor and family friend.

James: Novagale was sitting here telling me you are going to start planning your yearly Christmas party. There is no arguing; I have already made up my mind. I will arrange everything and have it at my house. You guys have enough on your plate.

Mom: Crying more.

Dad (takes phone): We would be honored for you to throw the Christmas party. We have not picked out a charity yet for this year's benefit. If you come up with any ideas, just let us know. We cannot express how grateful we are. Also, thank you for the beautiful basket you sent over; it means a lot.

James: Of course. Then it's all settled. Chat with you soon.

He hung up the phone. "There, it's all settled. I'll have my people start planning it first thing in the morning."

"I cannot believe you just did that." Nova stood up and hugged him. "Thank you." She whispered.

"Of course, anything, anytime." He hugged her back and continued. "Now go home, get some rest. Take a day off." Nova grabbed her bag and started heading for the door.

"Thank you for the laughs; I needed them today. Thank you for everything." She walked out of the building.

"Anything, anytime, Novagale," James whispered to himself as the door closed.

Nova strolls to her car and gets in. She takes a big breath and lets it out slowly. Putting her head on the steering wheel, she whispered to herself, "Christina, there's no way any of that is true. I will find out what happened to you. I'm so sorry, James" She starts heading home, to her empty flat.

The drive home was like switching on autopilot, and Nova did not have to think at all. The car turned where she needed it to turn and stopped where it needed to stop. Before she knew it, she was back at her flat. Nova's flat, not Christina and Nova's flat, only Nova's flat. She lives alone now, officially. Nova got out of her car and walked to the front door, where there was a package.

"Please do not be for Christina. Please, nothing more of her today." Nova says to herself, picking the package up. Somebody addressed the box to Nova. "I don't remember ordering anything." She whispers and unlocks the door. Heading inside, she walks to her room, puts the package on her bed, and runs back to the kitchen.

"Leo, dinner time. Where are you at, boy?" she calls out for her cat, who comes running up to her and gives her an "I missed you" meow. "There you are my love." Nova gets out another half cup of food, plops it in his bowl, and goes into her fridge.

"Hmmm, what's for dinner, Leo? It looks like I have some left-over pasta. I'll finish that." She pulls the bowl of pasta out of the fridge and puts it in the microwave. As she waited, she went to the bedroom, looks at the box addressed to her, and puts it next to her desk. "I'll open that later." She mumbles to herself and opens her laptop. She clicked on a video of her and Christina from last summer. The microwave beeped, and she got up to get her food.

Placing the bowl down on her desk, she plays the video.

Christina: Nova, where are we, and what are we doing?

Nova: What are you doing? We are on the beach, having a good time!

Christina: Jason! Will you stop being such a party-pooper? Get over here and enjoy the beach!

Jason: You guys are so weird. I am enjoying it, just from over here away from the weirdos.

Christina: Jump into the wa-

Nova closes the video and scrolls around the internet for a few hours. When she looks up, the clock says 10:00 pm. She closes her laptop, puts her bowl in the sink, and heads off to bed.

Nova looks up at the night sky. She's walking around the city after dinner. People her age are probably at the bar or a random party, but Nova never really enjoyed that lifestyle and enjoys the evening chill. It is only about 9 pm, but the moon is shining, and all the streetlights are on. When she gets home, she sees the kitchen light.

"You home?" Nova calls out, and she takes her shoes off.

"Yeah, got off work early. Did you bring home any dinner?" the voice calls back.

"No, but I think there are some leftovers in the fridge. Probably pasta, the usual." She heads towards the kitchen.

"Oh yummy!" the voice calls back.

"Why do we eat so much pasta, Chrissy?" Nova sees her sister looking into the fridge.

"I think the better question is who killed me?" Christina responded and looked up at Nova. Blood and bruises all over her. Nova stays silent.

"Come on, Nova. Help me. Save me." Christina starts walking towards Nova, and Nova steps backward.

"No, what? I... I... What is happening right now?" Nova freezes.

"Come on, sister. I was left out there in the freezing night, beaten and drugged up. I was all alone and scared. Find out what happened to me. You have to, and you are the only one that can." Christina reaches out to touch Nova but falls just short.

"I don't know how! I would not even know where to start. Chrissy, you must help me. Tell me how to find out what happened to you. Please." Nova tries to reach out to Christina but cannot move.

"You have to save me. Find out what happened." Christina fell to the floor.

"Christina!" Nova sat up in her bed and was sweating. A horrible, horrible dream. She turns on her bedside lamp and looks at the time. 3:07 AM.

"Holy shit. What was that? No way she wants me to figure out what happened to her, especially if she was actually in with the wrong kind of people." Nova rubbed her neck and stood up, stretched a bit, and walked to the bathroom. Flicking the light on, she walked towards the tub and turned the water on. She found the perfect temperature and took her clothes off, letting them fall to the floor. Nova stepped into the water and relaxed into the warmth. "What did that dream mean?" she whispered to herself.

"Novagale, wake up." A voice called for her.

"Hm?" was all she managed to get out.

"Novagale Violet! Wake up!" The voice was aggressive but also worried. Nova opened her eyes. Blinking a few times, she saw buildings around her and the night sky. Looking over, she saw a man kneeling next to her.

"James? What's going on?" She tried sitting up but felt pain through her body.

"No, don't try getting up. Someone struck you. I told you not to go looking for other possible answers. These people are dangerous. You're not bleeding too bad, and you're just hurt, probably bruised a lot. Here, I'll take you home and take care of you." Just as he was going to pick her up, someone yelled down the alleyway.

"Hey! You fucked with the wrong group of people." The guy started running towards them. James grabbed some wood next to the dumpster and slammed the guy in the face knocking him out instantly.

"You leave her alone!" James picked Nova up and started walking to his car.

"What happened?" Nova asked, holding on around his shoulders.

"You called me about an hour ago saying you were in trouble. It took me forever to try and find you. I was hoping you would tell me what was going on. I was so worried. You are so lucky I found you." He placed her in the back seat and hopped into the driver's seat.

"I was running from them. That's the last thing I remember. Whoever they were, they found me; they knew what I was doing. I'm so sorry." Nova tried to sit up, but it only caused more pain. James started driving away

"Just stay lying down. I told you not to go after these people. How did you think all this would play out? You don't even own any mace. We'll be at my place shortly; you can rest and recover there." They came to a stop at a red light as someone pulled up next to them.

"Shit..." Nova heard James mumble. The next thing she knew, there was glass everywhere, and James was not moving.

"James? James?!" She called out, and people opened her door and dragged her out of the car.