An Older Sister's Responsibility: Chapter 1 – Unsettled in Peace

Chapter 1 – Unsettled in Peace

Today’s another normal day in the life I’ve always wanted. My adoptive parents, Johnson and Josephine Elio, wake me up on another sunny morning. I help them make breakfast and then get dressed, ready for today’s work on the farm. The work is hard for most, but with my strength and speed, it’s nothing more than a light and fun workout. While working, I try to keep my pink dress, dark pink jacket, and black boots as clean as possible. They’re all homemade, and I’d hate to ruin them in the slightest, even though my parents expect it, tell me not to worry about it, and have taught me how to repair them. My parents call me in for lunch and to take a break.

During lunch, my dad asks, “Have you thought about searching for your brother yet?”

I sigh and say, “If John wants to come home, he will.”

“It’s been a year since we last saw him, and he said you could search for him if he didn’t return in that amount of time.”

“I’m sure he’s fine.”

“Shouldn’t you check on him? He wouldn’t miss an opportunity to be with us. Don’t you find that strange?” my mom asks.

“He’s a weird guy.”

“When my siblings got in trouble or lost, I went out of my way to find them and bring them home.”

“He doesn’t need me to help him. I don’t think he ever did.”

“You’re his older sister. He’s always needed your help. You’re the reason why we met after all.”

“Can we stop bringing this up? I’m not going after him, and there’s no reason to worry.”

I go back to work, and the day goes on like normal. At night, I look at myself in the mirror and wonder about John since our parents brought him up again. Look at me. I’m nothing like him. He’s a bright symbol of justice and joy in the face of injustice. Me? I’m a short, grey-haired, grey and black eyed freak, with a white snake on the right side of my back and a black one on my left. The red scarring on my body reminds me of the experts done on me by John and I’s blood-related parents.

No. I’m not going to think about it again. It’s all in the past now, and thinking about it won’t do anything good for me. Going to sleep and waking up again, I go about my daily duties. My parents want us to go into town to walk around and eat lunch at our favorite diner. There, the people happily greet and talk to us as if we were family, and take special attention to me, especially since John and I defended the town on more than one occasion. I admit that he did more than I did, but they thank me, nonetheless.

Once we finish eating, we head to the graveyard. Here, I feel nothing but guilt for the people that I failed to save. My parents guide me to our family’s area and go specifically to the part where my blood-related parents are buried. There they pray over their graces, and my feelings of guilt give way to anger. They’re the reason why John and I have powers. We were put through experiments, and since I was the eldest, I got the harder of the two. John was born and kept in an adoration chapel, while I had two snakes in the room with me, one blessed by a Catholic priest and the other cursed by a Satanist. They tried to separate the evil from me, but only ended up giving me two voices in my head, one telling me to do good, the other tempting me to evil.

If that wasn’t enough, when I freed my brother from captivity as we were being transferred to another location, they forced me to kill, torture, and kidnap people for them to ensure John’s freedom. When John became a hero and showed my parents not only the extent of his power, kindness, and selflessness, they started to change in their ways, but not too much. They forced John and me to fight them to keep our independence from them, and after that, they fell under a villain’s control in pursuit of getting stronger to face us again, both times bringing destruction and death to this quiet and friendly town.

I spit on their graves and step on them. My black snake strikes it with its head, further damaging the ground and gravestones. They didn’t deserve to be buried. They don’t deserve to be honored. After all they put us through, they got what they deserved in the end, being blown to bits at their funeral. I’m sure they hated the fact that they couldn’t live the same happy life John and his adoptive family did. They were jealous of it, and I hope it bothers them for eternity as they burn in Hell.

“Idelle!” my mom says as I snap back to my senses.

My parents are trying to push me away from further damaging the grave, so I stop, realizing that I let my emotions and temptations of the black snake get to me. Back home, I think about why I was brought to the graveyard, and I think it was another attempt to push me to go after John. My parents tried to remind me of how I’ve always protected and looked after him ever since he was born, or at least that’s what I’m guessing. I’m sure they didn’t bring me there to bring up bad memories or make me feel bad for those other people I still reluctantly call parents. During dinner, I apologize for the scene I caused.

“We understand,” my mom says.

“We won’t push you in any other way to go after John, and just pray to God that he’s fine and we’ll see each other sooner or later,” my dad adds.

They said they won’t try, but now I feel bad for not doing what they want. I miss John just as much as they do, if not more, but I also don’t want to disappoint them if I can’t manage to bring him back. I’m not the kind of person who convinces someone to do anything, unless it involves violence and force. The next day is just as good as the others, and nothing special seems to happen until someone rings the doorbell. I answer it and see that it’s one of the secret government agents my other parents and I used to work with.

Before he can say anything, I raise my finger and say, “I know why you’re here. Let’s speak in private.”

I then grab the man and take him into the fields where we won’t be heard.

“You don’t have to be so rough about this. I’m not going to force you to do anything,” the agent says.

“That’s because you don’t have people like Isaias and Irlene backing you, and know that I won’t do anything you say because they’re not the ones giving you orders,” I say.

“Will it kill you to call them your dad and mom?”

“Yes. If you’re here just to get on my nerves, I won’t hesitate to drag you back to your friends.”

“I’m surprised you still know where that is, given you hated being there, and instead, liked sulking and watching happy families go about their lives. Is that why you won’t go after your brother?”

The black snake coils itself around the agent’s neck and is about to crush it until the white snake stops it and calms me down.

“I’m not in the mood for jokes. Say what you want already and leave.”

“Okay! Okay…We just wanted to tell you that John is doing fine. That’s all.”

“That’s it? What is this, some kind of favor to make me appreciative, or do you need my help with something?”

“Nope. That’s all. Just a courtesy call. If anything, it’s more for John than you, since he told us to tell you his status.”

“He…wanted you to tell us that? Why didn’t he come to tell us himself? With his superhuman speed, he could’ve delivered it himself.”

“He’s busy.”

“What do you have him doing?”

“He accepts odd jobs of his choice here and there from us. Nothing more.”

“Where is he?”

“That we don’t know.”

“Even with all your eyes all over the country?”

“His speed and seemingly random movements and actions make him a slippery man to follow.”

“He’s a very open and honest man. If you asked him what he’s trying to do, I’m sure he’d let you know.”

“It hasn’t been that simple. Trust me when I say that we’ve tried getting the least bit of information out of him, but he refuses to say anything other than ‘I’m just doing what God wants me to’.”

“That’s it? You guys don’t pry as much as you used to.”

“He’s not exactly the kind of man you can pry information out of. I’m sure if you talked to him, you’d get more information. We’re all surprised you haven’t gone after him yet.”

“Are you done talking yet?”

“I was, but you pressed me for more information.”

I take the agent back home, push him into his car, and tell him to go home. Later at night, I sit in the field and look up at the starry sky. I haven’t really wondered if what I’m doing is what God wants from me. I love and respect God, but I don’t always think to ask Him for help, especially since I have many unanswered prayers and some that seem to have backfired. I’ve also had the white snake on me, which has been my guide regarding faithfulness. Maybe I rely on it too much, and there might be a clearer sign right in front of me about what I should do.

On one hand, I could search for John. Maybe he’s happier out there than back in his hometown. He could be under some villain’s mind control. He could’ve done something he’s ashamed of and is in self-imposed exile. I can’t imagine fighting him to bring him back home, and it’s an even crazier idea for me to kill him if he did turn against me. In that instance, I’d allow him to kill me because I can’t bring myself to seriously hurt him.

No, no, no! I’m just imagining things. If I could rip this black snake off my back, I would’ve done it already, but since doing so would kill me, I just have to deal with it. Closing my eyes and praying, I remember how John would always leap into action because he knew it was always the right thing to do. He never thought about taking hits to save a life or throwing himself at villains and criminals of all kinds of strength and influence. He just had to know that he was doing the right thing and did it without a second thought. Even with his simple powers of superhuman strength, endurance, and speed, he’s accomplished so much.

Finally, two choices are presented to me. I could live here happily as I have and have wanted for my entire life, and just leave John to his own devices, or I could follow this push I’ve been feeling to go after him and try to bring him back. I’m not sure whether this feeling is from the white snake or the black snake. This is why I’m always hesitant to pray and just trust God with my gut feeling. It’s probably why John is a better and more faithful person than I’ll ever be.  Screw it. I don’t want our parents to be concerned about him anymore, so I’ll see what’s going on with him, and hopefully, he’ll find me before I find him.

Going back inside, I tell my parents what I’m going to do, and they’re overjoyed at my decision. They hug, kiss me, and tell me to get a good night’s rest before heading out in the morning. I treasure their embrace for as long as it lasts, knowing it’ll be a while until I feel it again. The night doesn’t last as long as I’d like it to, so I force myself up and get ready. I put on my golden armor and crimson bodysuit, which were made by the white snake and black snake while I was still being experimented on. I use this when I’m expecting a fight, and hate that I rely on it and am attached to it so much given its history, so I reluctantly put it on, eat breakfast with my parents, and hug and kiss them one last time before heading out. Please let me find you, John. Please be okay.