Page 2 of Sin & Fall
I’m sure you’re wondering why I didn’t do either of those things myself. Turns out, I wasn’t as strong as I thought I was. I couldn’t relive it again. Not when they’re always haunting me. They never leave. Every time I close my eyes, they’re all I see. I can’t live with them any longer.
Please don’t blame yourself for anything. I know you will, and I won’t be there to knock some sense back into you.
You’re smart enough to get out of this shitty town and have a good life. So finish college, become a famous guitarist, and go viral for doing some cool-yet-dumb shit on stage.
Please remember that I’ll always be sorry for this, and I love you, little brother.
Kat
When I finish reading, I stare blankly at the page.
She’s…she’s killed herself?No. She’d never do something like that. This has to be one of her twisted jokes. Like that one Halloween when she had me convinced she’d actually broken her arm and it wasn’t fake blood all over her costume.
Deep down, I know it’s no joke, and the reason why is on this tape.
It’s not like we have anything to play it on so what am I supposed to do?
I tear at my hair as I pace the room. “What the fuck do I do?”
I have no clue where she’d even go to kill herself.
“Fuck!” I scream through my tears.
Kat’s smiling face haunts me from the nightstand. I pick up the photo of us at the beach when we were six years old. I’m crying in it because Kat kicked my sandcastle down. I remember her making it up to me on the car ride home by giving me the last of her candy. Mom was still alive then, and Dad wasn’t a drunk.
I’d forgotten how alike we looked. We’re not identical twins, but the resemblance was always uncanny from our shared raven-black hair. I dye it white now so I’m more of my own person, and not her little brother. That tiny rebellion tastes bittersweet.
We’ve never had that twintuition thing when you feel each other’s emotions or crap like that. But if she died, surely I’d feel it.
Tossing the frame onto the bed, I scream again and kick her wardrobe. The door creaks open, and inside it, I see the old VHS player from when we were kids. I didn’t know we still had it.
My stomach drops as I look back at the tape. I have no idea what’s on it, but I’m certain it’s the last thing I want to see. Hopefully, it’ll give me a clue to where she is and I can find her in time.
As quickly as I can, I set up the machine on her television and insert the tape.
Barely thirty seconds in, and I’m throwing up into the waste basket.
The phone rings downstairs, and I quickly turn off the TV.
So Dad doesn’t find the tape, I hide it in my room along with the letter before running downstairs to answer the phone.
“Hello?” I pant out desperately. “Kat?”
“Is this Mr. Vaughn?” a soft female voice asks.
“Yes.” It’s only a half-lie.
“Sir, this is the Sheriff’s department. Is your daughter Katherine Vaughn?”
“Y-yes. Is she alright?”
“Are you able to come down to the station?”
“Just tell me what happened to her!”
“Sir, it’ll be best to do this in person.”
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me if she’s alright!”