Second Chances
By Celestina Van Helsing
The year was 1816, during the height of the Underground Railroad, and in the underground cellar of a small winery in Wabaunsee County, Kansas, a young woman with long red hair and striking teal-green eyes was running for her life.
She was barefoot, clad only in her nightgown, which was covered in blood. Her husband's blood. She'd been the one to find him after he'd been murdered and now she was running from the very person who'd committed the crime, the one other person she'd loved her entire life... her brother. Her heart pounded in her chest and she knew she had to stop and rest, but at the same time she knew she couldn't stop for fear that her brother would catch up to her. She looked around for a place to hide, finding a small space she could squeeze into behind some barrels. She took long deep breaths, drawing in air as quietly as she could so her brother didn't find her hiding place.
"Where are you, sister of mine?" a young man called affectionately, strolling through the cellar as if nothing was wrong. This was the young woman's brother. "You know you can't hide from me, you weren't even good at hide and seek when we were children!" He laughed. "Come on Radha, stop playing and come out, I won't hurt you."
Radha froze in place. She desperately wanted him to keep his word, but all the faith she had in him vanished the moment she'd found him standing over her husband with the bloody knife in his hand. "How can I trust you anymore, Finn?" she asked, loud enough for him to hear her without giving herself away. "You murdered Gareth! He was your best friend and you killed him!"
"I know," he replied, "and I'm sorry you had to be the one to see it, but it was necessary. I had to do it, Radha. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?"
Radha bit her lip as tears began to stream down her face. "You killed him, Finn; I could never forgive you for that!"
He sighed. "I should have expected that, I suppose. You loved him more than you loved me, your own brother."
His sister gave a strangled sob and emerged from her hiding place. "I didn't love him more, just differently," she said, "He was my husband, you're my brother. You've taken Gareth from me, and now I'll lose you too, since I haven't got any choice but to turn you in!"
"But you do have a choice, Rara," he replied, using the nickname he'd given her when they were little, "You could let me go, and you'll never see me again. I'll disappear with the next shipment of 'cargo'."
"I can't let you do that, Finn; I have to turn you over to the authorities. Justice must be done!"
A look of great sadness appeared in her brother's eyes. "And there's nothing I could do to convince you to reconsider?"
Radha shook her head. "No, my mind is made up. Finn, I'm sorry."
Finn walked towards her, quickly closing the gap between the two of them. "I'm sorry too, Rara," he whispered, embracing her, "I'm sorry too." These were the last words Radha heard him say before he plunged the knife he'd carefully concealed in his coat into her stomach. He watched her fall to the floor, clutching her abdomen, then knelt beside her as the light slowly left her eyes and her breathing stilled. "Don't worry, Rara, we'll be together again, you and me, someday. Until then, know that I'll always love you, dear sister. Goodbye." Finn picked up Radha's hand as it cooled and kissed it, picking up the knife from the floor, "I guess it's my turn now," he said to himself sadly, "I always knew that it would be."
Gareth, Radha and Finn's bodies were all discovered the next morning.
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