Blood and Secrets

Caleb Jagger looked on with unfeeling eyes. He was concentrating on a flickering light above his cell.

Shadows always linger whenever there is light, he thought quietly to himself. That was how he felt.

Watching him from afar, his light, his sunshine. She was part of him yet too far from his seeking, desperate hands. Her dark hair like a waterfall down the sweater gave her, complimenting her long midnight skirt. He always thought she was beautiful. The others knew it too. He would see them look at her, wanting her for themselves.

But Lila belonged to him.

She needed him to protect her.

Now his light was taken from him. He could never get it back. They just did not understand. Those boys would ruin her, taint her lovely light. He had so enjoyed watching them suffer. He made her watch too, sometimes. He had always loved the fear in those eyes. The tears made them look like stained glass.

He liked cutting her most. She never fought back.

The guards came then. A crooked smile appeared on his thin lips. Perhaps his dear little Lila would pay him a visit.

Too bad he was not allowed his knife.

Meanwhile, Lila Jagger walked down the halls, the heals of her boots clacking against the marble. The guard brought her to a room with the two-way glass. There were others in the room but Lila focused only on the man behind the glass. The bright orange of the jumpsuit first caught her attention, then the white blonde of his hair. But it was the eyes, eyes of steel that sent a winter chill through her bones. The guard had assured her the prisoner could not see her, but that was a lie. Those eyes always found her.

Caleb had gone too far, too many had lost their lives. She thought she could save him, this dark creature who had no soul, no heart. But she remembered the boy who cared for her, who bandaged her scraped knee. That was when it started, the cool ice of silver on skin. Her hands gripped her arms, remembering red, always red.

For sixteen years he hurt her. Her pain was his joy. She had never been able to tell him to stop. Then she started dating. That had made him angry. He would hurt her and then Caleb took them.

Sometimes, Caleb made her watch him.

The guard turned when the clacking stopped. Lila held back, forcing herself to breathe. She could not do it, she could not face him. Her dark hair swished as she turned back to the outside, away from the darkness that sought to take her. A man was waiting for her, the one who saved her. She ran into his arms and shed her final tears. She knew she should hate him, but she could not.

After all, Caleb was her brother.