The Undoing of Sanity

by The Mad Otter

She see them all, the ghost of who she once was, who she is and wonders why. She wonders where her blonde hair or green eyes have gone. Why the people she loved have disappeared, the strangers she had mourned and experiencing time after time dying.

13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

It came as a surprise to her when her brother decided that he was going to join the army. He was scared about leaving her alone for so long but she reassured him. It was his life he had to think about, that she would never forgive him if he gave up his dreams for her.

Afterall she didn't have any dreams of her own.

She vaguely remembers someone else like her brother who never returned. But she hoped that he would, for he was all she had.

She had convinced her social worker to allow her to see him off from his small flat onto the army base where he would start training. She wouldn't be able to see him for a while but her first letter was already in the mail.

As she glanced in the mirror, she saw the reflection of boy her age, his tanned skin looked ashen with dust and soot covering it. His eyes, she could tell was once beautiful and full of life were now broken. She could feel in her bones how old and tired he was despite his age.

'Aelius,' a whisper echoed around her brain as her brother was packing his bags.

An old memory flickers to the front of her mind, a memory not her own. She sees the battlefield, of the many soldiers who were slaughtering innocents, those who only had sickles and wooden brooms to protect themselves from swords. Those who just wanted to be free from the shackles around their throats. The terrifying feeling of dying, a slash to the chest and how slow it takes to die surrounded by bodies. The strong hatred for the Roman Empire and terror of death overwhelmed her.

She could not help the tears, tears her brother saw.

"Darcy, please don't cry. Everything going to be fine." He reassures her as he cradles her to his chest, his hands tight as if he was afraid of letting her go.

"I won't ever stop supporting you, just come home. Please come home."

He doesn't answer her, knowing that he couldn't promise her something this important. The other reassurances fall flat and she watches on the sidewalk with her shoulder being held in a tight grip by her social worker as her brother drove away. The tears streamed down her face as she smiled at him, her cheeks ached as she smiled until the car had disappeared from sight.

She knew he was dedicated, she would support him in any way she could so that he always had hope to depend on.

If she weaselled out names of people in his unit that didn't have anyone writing to them, well the numerous letters she sent was no one's business.