It was 2:45 in the morning, and Megan still had not drifted off to sleep. Thoughts of hatred had transformed her mind into raging storm of bad memories, all concerning Kelbo.

The time Kelbo and replaced her skin purification potion with a pimple potion.

The time Kelbo had put invisi-glue on the toilet seat and she'd been stuck there for three hours while she was home alone.

The time Kelbo had given her a magic swimsuit for her birthday that when put on turned the wearer into a moray eel.

The time Kelbo had accidentally turned her into an avocado during a spell-improvisation test and forgot to change her back.

The time Kelbo had stolen her opera-gum and replaced it with inflate-a-head. Her head had increased three feet in diameter.

The time Kelbo did this…

The time Kelbo did that…

Kelbo this…

Kelbo that…

She rose from the bed in a fury of rage. Her eyes were glassy and red, but it was from a mixture of hatred and lack of sleep. After throwing on her bed robe, she opened the top drawer of her night stand and pulled out her wand. After popping on the ceiling-fan light, she stepped over to her closet and pointed the wand at the door.

"I hate the family of which I'm apart. Open the door to my world of art."

This wasn't actually the pass word to Megan's magical art studio. The door was charmed to recognize her voice, but her mood had engineered her words.

Light blasted from the crevices between the door and the doorframe. It swung open to reveal a relatively large art studio. Megan had created this alternate pocket in the universe for her own personal use. It could change to fit her mood with the slightest thought. But for the past few years, it had been her own, personal art studio. It was here that she painted her "sinister master pieces," as she called them.

When Megan had first started painting, her art had been pretty and simple. Her parents had encouraged her to continue to express her feelings in the form of art. As rifts had formed between her and the rest of the family (particularly Kelbo; she didn't care that much for Jerry either), her feelings changed from pleasant to down-right very unpleasant. But she took her parent's advice to heart and continued to express her feelings in her art. The result had been rather disturbing pieces of work usually consisting of her brothers caught in tragic predicaments while she stood by and watched. She had called them the "Sister on Top" series.

The first of its kind had depicted Megan sitting on the couch eating a bowl of potato chips while on television she watched her brothers be torn to pieces by prehistoric monsters. Her latest issue had pictured Jerry and Kelbo hung by the throats with nooses during the Salem witch hunts. The townspeople in the picture poked at their dead bodies with spears and pitchforks. The pieces of art varied from terrible to gory. It was a freakish way of expressing herself but expression none the less.

Megan surveyed her wicked masterpieces with an impish grin. She chuckled sinisterly as an idea for a new piece of artwork that entered her depraved mind.

Megan speeding away on a motorboat while her brothers were left struggling in the ocean to escape the hungry jaws of a great white shark.

The idea was invigorating and would work for the first of a new series should would begin painting in the future entitled "Every Russo for Themselves." Yes, she liked the sound of that.

As her eyes went from one painting to another, they eventually fell on one that she had not seen in ages. It was a picture of Jerry, Kelbo and herself huddled together in a sibling group-hug. Big smiles were plastered across their faces, and Megan held her baby brother, Kelbo, close like a priceless treasure. She had painted this picture when she was in elementary school.

Megan stared at the image. It had been a long time since the three of them had smile together for anything. The rifts that had formed between her and her siblings would have spanned galaxies. It was rare that they smiled at each other at all (unless one was causing the other great displeasure).

Megan's eyes brimmed with tears. For a moment it would have appeared that the cold shell of hatred surrounding her heart was finally starting to melt away. She raised her hand and pointed at the image of Kelbo in the center of the painting.

FWOOOSHHH!!!

The portion of the picture consisting of her little brother exploded into flames.

Nope. The hatred was still there. And it would never be appeased until she had rid herself of Kelbo for good. In that hateful second, Megan knew what she would do. Making sure to keep as quiet as possible, she exited her bedroom and headed downstairs. Her destination…The Lair.

She had remembered seeing in the family's Forbidden Book of Spell a spell that would allow you to rid yourself of a pest, whether human, or inhuman. There was several variations of the spell, including one for family members. She would use this spell to be rid of Kelbo for good. But what about Jerry? What he say? What would he think? No doubt he would hate her for the rest of her existence and even afterwards. For the rest of her life he would hang this moment over her, never allowing her to be relieved from the burden of guilt she knew she would definitely feel when it was all said and done. Megan had a way of getting over guilt, but not when the incident was continuously brought up over and over again. Jerry would do exactly that.

So, if she ever wanted true peace…she would have to get ride of him too. No problem. Like he wasn't a pain in the butt to contend with as well. But then, what would her parents do. They would probably disown her after they had grounded her for 400 years. There was only one thing she could do to counter this; and that was to erase her parents' memory. They would never remember that they had had two sons and it would be as if she had always been an only child. Life would be awesome!

It was a perfect plan for success, for freedom, for revenge!

When Megan entered The Lair, it didn't take her long to locate the family spell book. They all knew where there father kept it and had unrestrained access to it. They just were never allowed to perform any of the spell within the book. Their father had trusted that they wouldn't. It was a big mistake on his part.

It took only a couple seconds to find the correct spell, and after a few second thoughts that she brushed aside with ease, Megan proceeded to quote the incantation.

"Of mothers, of fathers, of siblings I hate,

Redirect the paths of fate.

They trouble the thoughts both of day and of night,

Annoyances shall be removed out of sight.

Whether they go thither night or by day,

Be sent unto places far, far away.

Or fire, or earth, or water, or wind…"

Megan jumped with a start as the Lair door burst open. She was more enraged than surprised to see her eldest brother standing in the doorway.

"Megan, stop right there!" he exclaimed, face pale as snow. Megan didn't answer. Her eyes narrowed as she glared wickedly at her brother. Her expression seemed to say, "Stay out of this. You're next!"

"Megan, put the spell book and wand down." Jerry was trying to sound as calm as his pounding heart would allow. She answered with a telepathic message.

"I'm too close to freedom to turn back know!"

"What freedom?" Jerry thought back. Megan didn't reply. Instead she returned her gaze to the book. Before Jerry could object any further, she rambled off the completing phrase of the spell.

"…Kelbo may never be seen here again!!!"

Jerry's eye's went wide as a light as bright as the sun flashed from the end of Megan's wand. There was an enormous thunderclap and the earth shook violently.

"What have you done?" He thought to his sister. She stared at him, refusing to answer by word or my mind; an evil glint in her black eyes.

Hatred had stolen Megan's sanity.