The Angel Project

The Angel Project

Chapter 1

Sera

“So, bumblebee, they’ve only gone and done it,” I sighed. “The parentals have booked the flights, and we have a new home and blah blah blah… I wish you could have seen their faces when I told them I refused to leave you.” I laughed. “Dad’s face went that purple-red colour you always laughed at, and Mum, God, she has got such a potty mouth. Worse than mine.”

I kneel down onto the soft grass and start to remove the leaves and twigs that have littered the ground. “In the end, as always, they won,” I sigh as I get out a plastic bag and start filling it up with the debris. “They said if I didn’t go, that I would be cut off and I wouldn’t be able to finish my education, and I swore…” My throat goes tight at the thought. “I swore to you I would finish my education and find out what happened to you, and I…” I can’t do it. I can’t say goodbye again.

I slump down in front of the headstone and let the tears fall. It has been a year since my beautiful younger sister, Juliet, died of an unknown illness. It feels like only yesterday that we were huddled up on her bed whispering about what tricks we could pull on Dad, how I needed to stop being moody and which boy I was into that day and did nothing about it. We were two peas in a pod, the Sterling sisters. Now my existence is remembering, trying to get up and live like I promised her not to make myself shrink until I was a speck in the universe or worse try to destroy it.

Funny how something so simple can turn you from a moody, ungrateful bitch to someone who cares, who feels. This is the new me, the real me. The old me was complicated, who I am now is far from who I was when I was younger and all due to my sister.

I was that person who didn’t care, who enjoyed getting off at the pain of others, who laughed at people’s misfortunes and differences, even at an early age I wasn’t just a bitch; I was pure evil. My mission wasn’t just to make my parents’ life hell, it was to cause as much destruction as I possibly could, and then at the age of ten this ray of light, this pure soul, was dumped into my lap. My adopted sister, Juliet. She was everything I wasn’t. Kind, happy, always seeing the best in everyone, and for a while, I hated her. Hated that she was that way, happy and kind, and fuck it, she just was bloody happy all the time! Everyone who knew her loved her. They gravitated towards her. I, on the other hand, had no problem attracting people, but I wanted to push them all away or hurt them. They were beneath me. With Juliet, she just fitted in.

Juliet was a year younger than me but in school years we still were in the same year. Escaping her was impossible. We both got reputations once we hit teenage years, her for how beautiful, kind, smart she was. Me well mine was how sexy but fucking psycho I was. We were polar opposites. Juliet had shiny dark brown hair that she kept in a chin length bob. She was small and cute, with a sculpted body from all the dancing she did. She loved pink and singing, baking cakes and the furthest she got with a guy was kissing Mike Anderson outside our house at sixteen. She had boys and girls, both humans and supernatural, climbing over themselves to be with her, but she was not interested.

I loved drama and craved chaos. I kept my long silver hair plaited and loved wearing leather and black. I had earrings dotted up my ears, and my mother had a fit when I came home with a pair of angel wings tattooed on my back at eighteen. Although I couldn’t blame her, they covered my entire back and to me they felt right. I got them done by a talented witch who had them spelled to shine like gold. It took the whole day and cost a small fortune, but I didn’t care. My strict mother didn’t feel the same way. I was grounded for a month and had to help out at my parents’ youth centre for free for two months. So worth it.

Both our parents encouraged us to do sports to expel our endless energy, so Juliet chose dancing I chose to learn how to fight much to my mother’s dismay. I first took it up to annoy her, but I grew to love it, and I was bloody good at it. Now I had to train everyday for my physical and mental health. It was my saviour this last year. It made my body was strong and lean. I had muscle and I loved how my arse looked. I was also tall, so standing next to Juliet, we stood out. My harshness to her softness; when we were together, we always attracted attention. I wanted to be different from her. Over time I secretly admired her.

I once heard her group of friends bitching about me and asked her how she could put up with my bullshit and how slutty I must be. I laughed at that, people always thought I was sleeping with everyone but alas I was still in the same category as my virgin sister. The boys were ok here but not enough for me to put out and a lot of them were scared of me. The ones who I did date, well I didn’t care if they embellished the truth, it gave me an excuse to punish them afterwards.

I expected Juliet to join in with her friends but all she said was, “She is my sister. She will find her way. I have faith in her.” I was shocked when I heard her say that, and for a second, my empty chest warmed a little. I scoffed and doubled my effort to be the worst sister in the world, but it didn’t matter how many times I was mean or bitchy, she just smiled and continued to say, “We are sisters.”

As I walked away from them, I realised that Juliet wasn’t going to give up on me and for once I didn’t want her to. She crept in slowly, first it was just to drop in my room to ask questions about schoolwork, as much as I hated school, I was competitive and I wanted to be the best at everything, so I worked hard on my grades. It came easily for me, I would read a text once and I would soak it up like a sponge. Juliet struggled and at first, I relished in that but soon I wanted to help. So, I didn’t turn her away. The studying then turned into watching movies together, then going shopping together. By the time I was approaching my nineteenth birthday we were inseparable and my heart went from ice to mush for this amazing girl. She softened my edges and life started to become more bearable. I started to talk to people, they didn’t avoid me. I joined in at parties and I had friends. I started to have a good relationship with my parents. We laughed together; I opened myself up to people. All because this ray of light decided she wouldn’t give up on a bitch of a sister.

The night when it all changed was a weird one. Juliet helped me get ready for my first date with Josh, the captain of the school football team. We were both excited, as I had been saying no for a while, and I finally gave in. We danced and sang as Juliet helped me get ready. Just before Josh was due to pick me up, Juliet felt funny and suddenly had a headache. We never got sick; in all the time I knew her, she never got a cold or broke a bone. I was the same. That should have been the first red flag. I wanted to stay at home with her that night, not go out with Josh, but she made me go. She said she would go straight to bed and sleep. During the whole time I was with Josh, I had the awful feeling that something was wrong, and I cut my night short to get back home. When I pulled up at home, I found an ambulance outside and Juliet unconscious being loaded into it. Mum and Dad looked stricken. I knew it was bad news just looking at them.

We spent the next few weeks going back and forth to the hospital. School had already finished, and Juliet and I were already looking at what university we were going to. She had planned to become a doctor to help people; I had no idea what I wanted to do, but I knew it would be with my sister. Juliet hadn’t woken up yet; I went every day and read to her. I read every medical journal I could get hold of. To understand what was going on with my sister. The doctors had no idea what was going on and why she wouldn’t wake up. Mum and Dad’s behaviour was strange. They visited her less often than I did and seemed to have given up. I argued with them about their aloofness. One day I caught Mum crying but as soon as she saw me, she went to say something then thought better and walked away.

Weeks turned into months, and nothing. I even snuck in different witches to see if it was a magical curse. I tried everything, and no one knew what was wrong with her. I refused to give up on her; she never gave up on me.

The last time I spoke to Juliet will be etched in my memory forever. It was late, nearly midnight, and I had just finished reading her the latest medical magazine. I was tired and desperate for sleep. I rested my head for a second when I felt someone brush my hair. I snapped my head up to see Juliet smiling at me.

“Juliet!” I grabbed her hand and kissed it. “You’re awake. Let me grab someone.” Before I could jump up, she tightened her hold on me.

“No, Sera, I need you to listen to me. I don’t have long.” Her face was serious. What was she going on about? She was awake. She needed attention.

“Sera, focus!” She shouted. I turned my attention back to my sister. I felt relief. She was okay.

“Promise me that you will always have kindness in your heart. You will love and not hate. And always, always, never give up. I want you to live and show the world what I have always known. You are special. The project doesn’t get to tell you who you are. Only you decide.”

I looked at her in confusion. What was she saying? I opened my mouth to say something.

“I love you, Sera Sterling, and I will always be with you.” She bends down to kiss my head, and an alarm starts blaring.

I wake up to people running around Juliet’s bed, pushing me out of the way. A warlock doctor runs in, shouting orders at everyone. I stand up in shock as I watch them give my sister CPR. I watch as her light fades, her machines bleeping uncontrollably. I watch as the doctor calls it. I’m still watching as her body gets taken away and the night turns into day.