My name is Samuel. I have always been very close to my sister, Anne. Since we were kids we did almost everything together. We hanged out at the park, played videogames, had the same taste for movies and series.
Sadly, everything has changed since that tragic day.
In the last year of high school, walking with a group of friends in front of a building under construction, we challenged ourselves to see who would reach the top of that place with more than 10 floors first. We broke in easily, the only “secure” part was the shed with the building materials, the building itself only had a few metal plates around it. We jumped the plates and set the rules of our little competition. Whoever reached the top floor first won 100 bucks, 20 from each person. That might not seem like a lot, but for a jobless teenager, it was amazing for half an hour of climbing. We needed to find stacked materials or removable ladders to get to the next floor. Anne and her best friend Caroline were ahead. A bit of cheating due to the fact that both of them were on the town’s sports team, and the rest at most played some basketball at school. “It was a bad idea to compete with them for something that requires physical conditioning” I thought at the time. They were almost two floors ahead of the third place, pushing each other and laughing along the way, “cheating” to see who got there first. In one of these pushes, Anne did not measure the strength well and pushed Caroline with too much intensity, who tripped on a beam and fell from the eighth floor.
Desperate with the horrific sound of the fall, we went down as quickly as possible. Not that our speed would make any difference, Caroline died instantly. Anne stood there, unblinking, looking at her friend’s body smashed to pieces on the floor, head crushed like a watermelon and the insides scattered for yards.
After that day, everything changed. Anne no longer spoke to me. I tried to call her to watch something or go to the mall, but I always received a “Not today, I’m tired” for an answer. This behavior repeated itself for months, until Anne found something that apparently comforted her. Religion.
She went to meetings twice a week, and I listened to her pray every night. Usually she asked for redemption for her own soul, forgiveness for the sins committed.
I was happy for her, although she still didn’t talk to me at all, she seemed to be more excited, which wasn’t difficult considering the well of depression she was in for a long time after the tragedy. “A good first step”, I thought as I saw her smile periodically.
However, she grew stranger and more distant every day. She told us that God answered her prayers, and that she talked to an angel every day.
Already in the depths of the night, I paid more attention to her prayers, pressing my ear to the wall to try to hear the next room better.
In addition to the usual mantras, it seemed that there was another voice there, speaking indecipherable things. I was relatively baffled by the strangeness of the situation, but I just reasoned that there should be a plausible explanation and didn’t think too much about it.
Over the next few weeks, however, the mysterious voice that spoke to my sister during her prayers seemed to grow louder and louder. After repeating the unusual situation, I decided to investigate.
My sister’s bedroom window overlooked the backyard, so I went outside and tried to watch. The curtains covered the window, so I couldn’t see into the room, but I could clearly see a light flickering, like a firefly, behind the curtains. When my sister stopped praying, the light stopped immediately.
Every day I went out into the yard and the same thing happened.
One day, at breakfast, I tried to ask her about the light.
-Did you buy any special candles or lamps to light during prayers?
-What?
-I noticed that there is a light that keeps blinking in your room at night.
She looked away, as if considering what to say next.
-An angel visits me every night, he talks to me during my prayers and then leaves. I ask him to take me along, I hope that one day he does that.
I pretended to believe in my sister’s insanity. She’s probably making up stories to overcome the trauma she suffered.
-Don’t do that, Anne. I’m going to miss you so much, you can’t leave.
-I have nothing left in this world, I have already failed here. I just want to be accepted into God’s arms.
-You have me, our parents, friends who love you, don’t talk nonsense.
-I will not argue, this is not about you.
She took her coffee cup and bread and left the table.
I found her conversation to be somewhat suicidal, so I decided that, at night, I would walk into the room while the lights were flashing. Anne needed intervention, I couldn’t lose my sister any more than I already have.
Hearing the whispers, I left my room and stopped at her bedroom door. I could see the lights flickering under the crack in the door. I put my ear to it and could hear the conversation.
-Take me, you promised, I want to serve personally, I have no place in this world anymore.
Hearing my sister’s crazy speech, I decided to open the door. The light immediately became too bright, blinding me. I put my arm in front of my eyes and turned my head down, staring at the floor to cope with the light.
-SAMUEL? WHAT ARE YOU DOING, GET OUT OF MY ROOM NOW.
She was mad at my trespassing.
-NO! Enough, Anne. You need to talk to me, what do you…
I stopped mid-sentence, irritated by a deafening buzzing in my ear. A sound like static echoed through the room. I lifted my eyes with a little effort and visualized where the sound was coming from. A floating goo, which vibrated as if it was breathing, with its body flickering like a firefly, let out that sound from an opening in the middle of its gelatinous form.
-He’s my brother, don’t do anything to him.
My sister seemed to understand what that static sound meant.
-You can’t kill him, he won’t say anything to anyone, I swear.
The goo hissed into a more squeaky sound.
-VVVVVVVVVBOTTTTTZZZZZSSSF.
-I know, I know.
-ZZZPZZZZSSTTTFFHEM.
-Fine. I agree. Just take me, and leave my brother alone.
The goo floated towards my sister and slowly absorbed her. An inexplicable expression of fear and happiness filled her face, as if her eyes were terrified but her mouth was smiling. The entity floated upwards, opening a temporary hole in the ceiling and dismantling the tiles, which snapped back into place after the goo disappeared into the sky, as if it had never been there. My parents immediately appeared in the doorway.
-What happened? Where is your sister?
-I don’t know. She disappeared out of nowhere.
I didn’t tell about the whole experience, I couldn’t explain what I had seen. They called the police and reported her missing. The next day, I went to the place of the cult where my sister frequented. When I knocked on the door, a nice old lady answered.
-I heard a lot of good things about your meetings, could I attend the next one?
-Of course, young man. Come in, meet our leader.
A tall, middle-aged man was kneeling at the altar, appearing to be praying. He got up after a few seconds and greeted me.
-This young man would like to attend our next meeting.
-Of course, tomorrow at 7 pm you…
He stopped mid-sentence and started looking at the floor, moving his head as if he was listening to something. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke to me again.
-Sorry, boy. Unfortunately our meetings are closed to the public. There is a church two blocks away that can meet your spiritual needs, I recommend you talk to the priest there.
I couldn’t even answer, the man was already walking away from me and the old lady put her hand on my back, practically pushing me out. I still tried to investigate that place a few more times, but I never found out anything.
The next few months were difficult for my parents, clearly shaken by my sister’s disappearance. One day, however, they seemed calmer and happier. I celebrated their overcoming a little, even though I was still deeply depressed by the situation.
In the same week, when waking up to go to the bathroom at dawn, I heard voices coming from inside the house. When I walked to find the source of the sound, I froze in fear as I stopped in front of my parents’ room. From under the crack in the door, I saw a bright light blinking like a firefly, an indecipherable static and buzzing sound, and my parents responding to those annoying sounds:
-We can kill him tonight, just take us to see our daughter again.
I quickly filled a backpack and ran away, I didn’t feel safe in that house anymore.
In another city, after a few months of struggling, asking for money and food on the streets and sleeping on benches, I got a job and a place to live. I miss my sister, I wonder if she’s still alive. I hold back the urge to go back to my hometown, investigate that strange cult again, or talk to my parents, try to find answers.
Looking up at the night sky, I stare at all those stars, flickering like fireflies. Maybe I should pray…