Bonus chapter 3: Violet Seeks The Truth

All her life, Violet Brownstone thought her big brother Caiseal was the best brother in the whole wide world.

He wasn't a superhero by any means, but if Violet had anything to say about it, she'd say that he was definitely one, even if he didn't have superpowers. Sure, like normal siblings, they had their squabbles, but for the most part, they were extremely rare. In Violet's eyes, he was just a cool big brother. He would show his little sister his books on Pokemon, teaching her how to say their names, their type advantages and weaknesses, their natural habitats, etc. He'd help Violet with her homework every day, even on subjects they both hated, sit on the couch and watch TV together, and play whatever games in the backyard they could think of. Pretend sword fighting was a particular favorite. Six-year-old Violet and nine-year-old Caiseal would wear cardboard boxes on their bodies and whap each other with blow-up swords. Good times.

Her earliest memory was when she was three years old. Using her chubby hands, Violet stacked block after block onto a big pile of them, giggling as she watched the tower get bigger and bigger. Caiseal, who was only six at the time, was sitting just three feet away, drawing a picture. Occasionally, Caiseal would turn his head and see if Violet was okay. As a big brother, he had to look after her and make sure she didn't wander off somewhere or get hurt. But Violet barely paid him any attention. She waddled over to her toy blocks, grabbed another one, and practically slammed it onto the tower.

Of course, that clumsy action resulted in the block tower tumbling to the ground.

The crash pulled Caiseal's attention away from his picture. "Violet! You okay?" He ran over to his sister, hoping she didn't hurt herself. He didn't see any visible injuries, so it was safe to say that she was alright. But Violet's face scrunched up, and tears pricked out from her eyes.

"My bwocks all fall down go boom…" Her squeaky voice was low and sad. She had put so much work into the block tower, and now it was destroyed.

Knowing what would happen, Caiseal immediately sat down next to her. "It's okay, Violet! I'll help you make a new tower! We can make it bigger and better!"

Her desire to cry vanishing, her desolate expression immediately brightened into a hopeful smile. "Really? A new one?"

"Yeah!" Caiseal cheered, gathering some blocks so they could start. "We'll make it so big it'll touch the ceiling!"

Touch the ceiling...to a three-year-old, getting something to reach as high as the ceiling was like trying to grasp Heaven itself. But such a lofty goal was good enough for her. She plopped back down on the floor and began stacking blocks onto each other, this time with Caiseal's help. It didn't take long for the wobbly block tower to get taller than Violet had originally made it. It reached just a little past Caiseal's head. It didn't reach the ceiling, but it was tall enough. Just looking at it made Violet's eyes sparkle with delight.

"It's all big!" Violet squealed, clapping her little hands cheerfully.

"If we had more blocks we'd make it even bigger," Caiseal said, crossing his arms. But he was satisfied with it nonetheless. Violet certainly liked it, so seeing her happy was good enough for him.

He loved Violet, and Violet loved Caiseal.

But she wouldn't realize until later that she was the only one in the Brownstone family who loved him.

One time, when Violet was six years old, she realized something was very, very wrong. It had started off innocently enough. She was running around the house, pretending to be her favorite TV show character, Magical Fancy Amy. She waved a cardboard cylinder around as if it were a magic wand, chanting nonsense words and flaunting her poofy pink tutu as she ran through the halls.

"I'm gonna purify your evil heart!" Violet shouted at the top of her lungs. Nobody was there to listen, but she didn't care. She was lost in dreamland, and too happy to keep on pretending she was Fancy Amy. "Super Magical Lovebeam!" She waved the cardboard cylinder all around, pretending she was shooting light beams at evil monsters. She was so absorbed in her whimsical fancies that she stopped paying attention to what was around her.

She accidentally bumped into a small table. "Ow!" Violet felt the impact, and a jolt ran through her hip. Her eyes shut from the pain, but a crashing sound pulled her out from her mind. She turned around. Pale blue shards scattered all over the floor, with some right near her feet. Violet's blood ran cold. Oh no! She had knocked over her mother's new vase! Any joy she had conjured up had been knocked right out of her. Her mother had bought that vase just two weeks ago, and from what Violet heard, it had cost a lot of money. Now it was broken, and it was all her fault! What could she do?

"Violet?!" Caiseal came running into the hall, right up to Violet, looking over her. "What happened? Are you okay?" He asked, gently moving her away from the shards. "Don't go near those. They're really sharp."

Unable to take it anymore, Violet hid her face with her hands and cried. "I'm sorry, Caiseal! I didn't mean to break it!" She wailed, not even bothering to wipe away the tears that cascaded down her red cheeks. She was so sure Caiseal would get mad at her. Her parents always got mad at Caiseal when he did something bad. The last thing she wanted was to get yelled at.

Instead, Caiseal flashed a sympathetic smile. "It's okay, Violet. I know it was an accident," He told her reassuringly, in a soft, caring voice. "But you do have to be more careful, even when you're playing pretend."

Wordlessly, Violet nodded. She was definitely going to be more careful from now on.

Unfortunately for them, the happy moment was put to an abrupt end.

"What in the world was that?!" Their mother came running into the hall, blonde hair defying gravity in every direction. She stopped to observe the damage, and her eyes suddenly blazed bright. Knowing what was going to happen, Violet braced herself, squeezing her eyes shut and holding the cardboard cylinder up as if it were a shield. She was sure her mother would yell and ask, "Who did this?!" Oddly enough, her mother didn't. Instead, she glowered right at Caiseal, not wasting any time in accusing him of the act in question.

"Caiseal! I don't believe this! What is wrong with you?!" She screamed.

Violet looked up. Why was she yelling at him? He didn't break her vase, Violet did. Didn't she hear them talking just now? But her mother just kept going.

"I go out of my way to put food on the table and a roof over your head, and you straight up break my vase?!"

"Mom, it was an accident-" Caiseal tried to reason with her, but she wasn't having any of it.

"I don't want to hear your excuses, you dumb brat!" Their mother just kept on yelling, her voice almost bordering on hoarse and animalistic. "I spent $200 on that vase and you had to go and break it! Do you enjoy making my life miserable?!"

Violet shrunk the more she heard her mother yell. She couldn't understand why she was yelling at him. He hadn't done anything wrong. She could see his eyebrows furrow in frustration, and he kept facing the floor with a sad, abject look on his face. He didn't deserve to get yelled at like that. It was then that she remembered something one of her teachers in kindergarten had told her: If you've done something bad, it's better to tell the truth than to lie about it. Caiseal didn't do anything, but their mother was yelling at him, treating him like some kind of troublemaker. Clenching her fists tightly, Violet plucked up her courage.

"Mommy, stop!" She finally cried out. "It's not his fault! I broke your vase!" There, she said it. For a moment, everyone was silent, even her mother. But Violet wasn't done yet. "It really was an accident! I was playing and I hit it and it fell and broke! I'll clean it up, I promise!" Violet finally confessed. Maybe now her mother would stop yelling at Caiseal. Sure, Violet knew she'd probably get scolded, but better her than Caiseal. She was the one who broke the vase, so it seemed fair. Right?

Unfortunately, Violet's confession did nothing. Their red-faced mother glowered right back at Caiseal, continuing her vitriolic tirade. "You must have put her up to this! Do you have any idea what you're doing?! You're setting a poor example for Violet!" Her tone of voice didn't change, and her eyes were still blazing red hot with anger. "Do you honestly think you can just do whatever you want, ruining my life and wrecking my things?!"

The little girl couldn't believe what was happening. She admitted to doing something wrong, and she was still yelling at Caiseal! Why didn't telling the truth work? But more than that, why was she so intent on blaming Caiseal for the whole thing? This didn't make any sense at all. Wait...now that she thought about it, she had seen her mother yell at him before. In fact, that was all she ever did when it came to Caiseal. But why? She couldn't make heads or tails of it.

In time, the vase incident was forgotten, but her mother's treatment of Caiseal didn't change much. She noticed more and more that her mother seemed to have something against Caiseal, but couldn't put her finger on what. Whenever they would go out, their mother refused to even speak to him or acknowledge him in public. On birthdays or holidays, Violet received everything she wanted in huge piles, and Caiseal didn't get a thing. No birthday presents or Christmas presents under the tree. This one was particularly confusing. Shouldn't everyone in the family get presents?

She had asked her father about this during one of the rare times he was home. "Daddy? Why doesn't Caiseal get any birthday or Christmas presents?"

The only response she got was, "Don't worry too much about it."

She asked her mother the same question. She simply smiled and said, "It's complicated, sweetie. Don't worry too much about it. Why don't you try on the new dress I got you? Isn't it lovely?"

Not very satisfying answers. In fact, that just made her think about it even more. What did Caiseal do to deserve not getting any birthday or Christmas presents? This just didn't seem right.

That Christmas, Violet woke up early in the morning, turned on the lights, and worked tirelessly on drawing a picture. She knew she wasn't the best artist, but Caiseal liked anything she drew for him. This one was going to be special. She drew a crayon picture of herself and Caiseal standing in the grass, smiling under a blue sky and sunshine. Next to them were two Pokemon, whom Violet labeled Teddiursa and Cyndaquil. Caiseal had mentioned once that Cyndaquil was his favorite Pokemon, and the one he'd pick if he became a Pokemon trainer someday. After about an hour, her drawing was done! Sure, it was just crayon scribbles, but as far as Violet was concerned, she didn't care how good or bad it was.

When Caiseal woke up, bleary-eyed and dressed in his favorite T-shirt and camo pajama pants, she raced right up to him, drawing in hand. "Merry Christmas, Cash!"

"Huh? Violet? Wha…?" He looked down, seeing the drawing she labored over. Taking it in his hands, he took a good, long look at it.

"It's your Christmas present!" Violet told him straight out.

This wasn't the first time she had given him drawings. But upon realizing he never got any birthday or Christmas presents, why couldn't drawings suffice? She wished she had some money to actually buy him something, but she didn't have any, so drawings had to do. Caiseal's hands trembled as he clutched the drawing in his hand. Violet's smile turned into a frown when she saw tears streaming down his face. Why was he crying?

"Don't you like it?" Violet asked. Wasn't he supposed to be happy to receive a present?

Instead of answering right off, Caiseal wrapped his arms around his little sister. "Of course I like it. I love it. Thanks, Vi. You're the best little sister ever," He told her through his sobs, unable to keep his voice steady. Violet returned the gesture by rubbing his back with one hand. She realized right there that not being given any Christmas or birthday presents really affected him greatly. From then on, she vowed to always make or give him something on his birthday or holidays. She didn't see why he didn't deserve any.

On another day, Violet came to another realization. It seemed like her mother loved her more than she did Caiseal.

Violet had always gotten everything she had ever wanted, even when she didn't ask for it. Pretty dresses. Johto Girl dolls and the cute outfits that came with them. A computer. Stuffed animals. Books. Her mother always bought her stuff, so her room was practically a paradise of toys. Not only that, sometimes Violet would see her mother talking to other adults at school, and all she would talk about was Violet, Violet, Violet.

"My little daughter's getting prettier every day! I bet she'd win a beauty pageant with her looks!"

"Violet's just so sweet. Her teachers always tell me she's a delight to have in class, and I couldn't be more proud!"

"Just last week, Violet helped me wash the dishes and even raked the leaves, and she really lit up when I gave her five dollars as an allowance!"

As much as she liked that her mother talked about her so much, all the excessive praise she was getting everywhere she went was starting to get a little annoying. She also noticed something else. Not once did her mother ever talk that way about Caiseal, even when he did good things like get good report cards and help with the chores. She couldn't recall a single time when her mother praised Caiseal for anything. Even when he did what he was asked, like clean his room or do his homework, it was never acknowledged, or if it was, her mother would focus more on finding flaws and yelling at him all the time. One time, she was at a friend's house, and she watched her friend's older brother accidentally knock over a glass of milk. She had braced herself to hear their mother yell at the brother, but instead, she just smiled and gently asked him to clean it up. Later on, she had asked her friend's mother about it.

"How come you didn't yell at Terrence when he spilled the milk?"

"I knew it was an accident, so there's no point in getting angry over stuff like that. Why do you ask? Did you...want me to yell at him?"

"No. My mom always yells at my brother when he does stuff, even when it was an accident. She even yells when he doesn't do anything bad."

"Really? Does this happen all the time?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm not sure why you'd think everyone yells at their kids over trivial stuff like this, because that's not normal. It'd be one thing if Terrence actually did something bad on purpose. Then I'd scold him. Does your mother yell at your brother a lot?"

"Yeah. She calls him mean names and says he's worthless and a bad kid. She doesn't give him birthday or Christmas presents."

"Oh. That's not good at all."

Seeing the worried expressions on the woman's face told Violet that whatever was happening in her own house wasn't normal. Other kids didn't have moms who yelled at them all the time and never gave them birthday and Christmas presents. It also looked like moms loving one kid more than the other wasn't normal either. The pieces were gradually coming together, and she knew, without trying to work it out in her head, that what her mother was doing was wrong. Did that mean...her mom's love for her was fake? It was no wonder her mother's excessive praise for everything Violet did and said started to get annoying. Was it all even real? It did explain a lot, like how her mother never acknowledged Caiseal whenever they went out in public, or why she only talked to him if he did or didn't do something. She never hit him or anything, but there was hardly a day that went by when Violet didn't see her mother yell at Caiseal over some perceived slight.

On one occasion, Caiseal was watching a movie he saw on TV. It was about a group of people trying to survive a zombie apocalypse. Caiseal thought it was cool and didn't freak out at the sight of blood flying everywhere. Violet happened to come in and watched it with him, also thinking it was cool. The zombies looked scary, people actually died, and Violet really wanted to know what happened next. But just as they got to the part where one of the guys was trying to save his sister from falling into a ditch, they heard the door behind them creak open. They turned around, seeing their wide-eyed mother right at the entrance. Glowering at Caiseal, their mother stormed over to the TV, shut it off, and wasted no time going off on a tirade.

"How dare you!" Her mother shouted as soon as the TV was off. "You have the nerve to show Violet these violent movies?! What are you trying to do?!"

"Mom! Wha-?!" Even Caiseal couldn't fathom what she was so mad about. "I didn't even know Violet was here, honest! I-"

She paid him no heed. Instead, she just kept on going. "I can't even say I'm surprised! All you ever do is cause trouble and mess up my life, and now you're trying to corrupt my darling Violet!"

Violet winced the more she heard her mother yell. What was she talking about? She was making it sound like Caiseal forced her to watch the movie, which she knew wasn't true. Violet just thought it was cool and wanted to watch, that's all. She knew it wasn't real, and she certainly wasn't going to turn into some psycho just from watching a movie about killer zombies. Caiseal and some of her teachers had taught her all this. Movies weren't real, and they didn't make people turn evil. Why was her mother so convinced of the opposite, and that Caiseal was supposedly in on it?

It didn't stop there. Their mother went on and on, calling him all sorts of mean names, including some Violet knew she wasn't allowed to repeat. But her heart fell to the pit of her stomach when she saw Caiseal just standing there, taking it all in silence, with tears streaming down his face. Never before had she seen Caiseal so...desolate. Violet's vision blurred. He didn't deserve this at all. He hadn't done anything wrong and she knew it. She just couldn't understand why her mother was like this. This was just too frustrating. Violet clenched her fists, and closing her eyes didn't stop the tears. But more than being sad and frustrated, she was straight up livid.

"Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to be outside with you?! The neighbors are always gossiping about me behind their back! Whose fault do you think that is, huh?!"

"STOP!" Violet shouted at the top of her lungs, hoping she was louder than her mother was in that moment. Both their eyes were on her in that moment, and Violet didn't care. She was done listening to her mother treat Caiseal like dirt! "Stop yelling at him! He didn't do anything! Why are you always so mean to him?!"

The answer to that question wasn't given in that moment. With just a grunt, Violet's mother stopped and left the room, leaving brother and sister alone. A silence hung over them like a heavy fog, and even though their mother was gone for right now, they still felt like garbage. Caiseal flashed a sad smile and put a hand on his sister's shoulder. She still trembled from the frustration of it all.

"Thanks, Vi."

Violet nodded.

A second later, their father poked his head in, looking none too pleased. "Kids. Would you please stop yelling? I'm trying to read the newspaper."

The little girl pressed her teeth together. Where had he been all this time? Anger rushed back into her. Their father had been home this whole time and heard everything, and he couldn't even be bothered to do anything except scold them? Violet couldn't believe what was going on.

She was in no way prepared for what would happen next.

Four days after the incident, Violet woke up one morning, hoping to find Caiseal...but he was gone.

She looked in his room and saw that everything else was where it should be. All his books and comic books were on the shelf, his skateboard and scooter were by his bead, some of his clothes were strung across the floor, folded higgledy-piggledy in all different directions, and all of the drawings Violet made him were taped to his walls. But no Caiseal himself. Violet looked all around the room, wondering if maybe he was hiding. Where was he? She looked and looked, but there was no sign of him.

"Caiseal?" She looked all around the house. The kitchen, the living room, the basement, the laundry room, the backyard, everywhere she could think of. Still no Caiseal. At breakfast, she asked her parents about it. "Where's Caiseal?"

Her father, sipping his coffee and reading his newspaper, only said, "Dunno. He's probably at a friend's house."

Violet eyed the clock. It was 7:16 AM. Caiseal at a friend's house that early in the morning? That didn't sound right. There was no way he'd go to a friend's house unless it was much later than that, like eleven or noon. "Mom? Do you know where he is?" She asked.

Instead of answering, her mother simply handed her a big batch of pancakes, smiling sweetly. "Here you go, Vi. I put on extra maple syrup just for you!"

"Where's Caiseal?" She repeated.

"He'll be home soon," Her mother finally replied, her sugary voice unchanging. "Don't worry."

But that just made her worry even more.

Violet waited the whole day for him to come back. Surely he had to come home some time! But he didn't. The day changed to night, and the day became two, three, four days. Caiseal was still gone. Where was he? She knew her parents' claim that Caiseal went to a friend's house was a complete lie from the start, but to be gone for four days? Something was wrong. This was confirmed when she saw her mother cleaning out Caiseal's bedroom. His possessions were being thrown into big black trash bags. Violet was so shocked, she didn't even have it in her to ask why she was throwing everything away in that moment. His shelves were empty, and his drawers had been cleaned out. When her mother had taken a break, Violet took the chance to go right in. She couldn't just sit there and let her mother throw everything away!

Much to her relief, the drawings she made for him were untouched. She knew her mother would come back and throw those away as well. Well, she wasn't going to let that happen. Shr gingerly removed every single drawing from the walls, making sure to remove the tape as well, but not so much that it'd rip the paper in the process, lest she ruin the drawings. She piled them up neatly and hid them under her bed. Nobody ever looked under there, so for now, they'd be safe. Once she was finished with that, she rummaged through some of the open bags and pulled out whatever books, comics, figurines, photos, and sports memorabilia she could salvage. She knew she wouldn't be able to save everything lest her mother find out, but a few of his things was better than nothing.

Two weeks had passed. No sign of Caiseal anywhere. His room had been completely cleaned out, with no trace of him left behind. Violet found herself afraid. What happened to him? Was he kidnapped? She needed answers, and she needed them NOW. Unable to take it anymore, she marched right into the kitchen, where she found her mother washing the dishes.

"Mom! Where's Caiseal?" Violet demanded.

"Stop asking about Caiseal," Her mother replied.

'Stop asking about Caiseal,' Those callous, heartless words hung all around Violet, as though they were taunting her. She shook her head. This was not the time to give up. "Why? Why can't I ask where he is? He's my brother, and he's been missing for two weeks and I'm worried about him! Why won't you tell me where he is?!" Violet's voice rose several octaves, unsteady with frustration and anger that had amassed in her for a long time. It was a simple question. Why won't her mother answer? "I'm not leaving until you tell me where he is!"

"I don't know!"

"Yes you do! You say it's bad to lie, but I know you're lying to me!"

All Violet could hear was the sponge squeaking against a china plate. But her mother's silence spoke volumes.

"Aren't you worried about him?! Even a little bit?! I want to know where he is!"

"Rrrgh!" Her mother growled, slamming the plate into the sink. Violet winced upon hearing it shatter in the water. "He's gone, Violet! He ran away!" She whirled towards Violet and glowered at her, baring her teeth like a hungry Houndoom. "He ran away and doesn't want to be found! He doesn't love us, Violet! He never has, and he never will! There! You happy now?!"

No. Violet wasn't happy. She knew in her heart that her mother was telling her yet another lie. Ran away? Because he doesn't love the family? Of course that wasn't true. Caiseal loved Violet. He taught her right from wrong, appreciated her gifts, stood up to the bullies who picked on her, taught her about Pokemon and all of their names and types, and played with her. His love was real, and she knew it. He never turned his back on her. Violet pressed her lips together, determined to keep from saying something she'd regret and risk getting yelled at again. Her mother's answer was yet another lie. Lie upon lie upon lie piled up. At this point, Violet could tell she wasn't going to get any real answers from her. Talking to her mother was like talking to a stone wall. She was never going to budge.

"Violet. Just forget about him," Her mother said, returning to washing the dishes. She gathered the plate shards she broke earlier and threw them in the trash. "It'll be best for all of us if we do. Besides, you need to get ready for your piano lesson."

Forget about him? Violet stomped away from the kitchen, face red like a Growlithe's fur. Her mother seriously wanted her to just forget about him? Just like that? Pretend like he never existed? Violet threw herself onto her bed and screamed into her pillow. It was all too clear: Her parents didn't care about him at all!

And she hated them for it, even more so when she learned the truth.

For months, Violet never stopped thinking about Caiseal. She told her teachers that he was missing and how worried she was about him. They filed missing person reports, and some policemen had talked to her parents, but nothing came of it. Every chance she got, she looked all over for Caiseal. At school, in her yard, around the parts of Route 45 she was allowed to access...like before, she came up empty. She asked anyone she saw if they saw him, and they all said they hadn't. But Violet was just a little girl, and there wasn't much else she could do. Eventually, she had to get back to focusing on her life as of right now. But Caiseal always remained on her mind.

The afternoon was calm, and snow was beginning to fall. Grey clouds darkened the skies, even though the clock on Violet's night stand said it was 2:45 PM. Violet sat on her bed, reading a book on Pokemon. She had been reading a page on the Pokemon named Teddiursa, and it detailed how it liked to hoard large quantities of food before winter. If Violet ever became a Pokemon trainer, she decided she would definitely catch a Teddiursa. It was her favorite Pokemon, and she wanted more than anything to have one as her best friend. Her seventh birthday was coming up, but she needed to be ten years old in order to apply for a trainer license.

She had just closed the book when she heard it.

"Mom? Violet?"

That voice...Violet thought she was hearing things at first. But her door was open, and she heard it. Was someone in the house? Was it...him? She stood up, walking right out of her room. She hadn't heard that voice in months. But was it really him?

"Hello? It's me, Caiseal!"

Caiseal...her brother! Caiseal was back?!

"Caiseal?!" Violet couldn't control herself. She sprinted downstairs at the speed of light, only stopping at the front door when she finally saw two figures in the living room. One was a pretty, dark skinned lady who was well dressed. The other was a young boy with shaggy blonde hair, wearing thick clothes that looked too big for him, including a big orange jacket. But the boy smiled at her, his hazel eyes warm and kind. Violet felt her heart lurch. She knew those eyes and that smile all too well.

It truly was her brother! He really had come back!

"BIG BROTHER!" Overcome with joy, Violet leaped on him like a stampeding Ponyta, wrapping her arms around him so tight, she didn't want to let him go ever again. Finally, Violet's prayers had been answered! Her brother was back! She knew he'd come back, and her parents said it was better to forget about him. She didn't care that he smelled bad and that his clothes were wet, dirty, and soggy. This was the best early birthday present she could ever ask for. "I thought I'd never see you again! Mom said you ran away and never came back!"

"Well, I'm back and a-okay."

Violet's cup of happiness was not only full, but overflowing. Caiseal really was back, and this time, she thought, he was going to stay. She finally released Caiseal from her hug, her blue eyes sparkling with joy.

"I gotta tell Mom about this!" She announced before dashing into the hall.

"Wait, Violet! Don't-"

She didn't hear, as she was too lost in her excitement to heed his warnings. She burst right into her mother's bedroom, not caring that she had only just gotten dressed. "Mom! Mom! Caiseal's back!" The words spilled from her mouth right as she burst inside. "Isn't this great?!"

Instead of answering right off, her mother simply sped right past her, sprinting towards the entrance like the house was on fire. Before long, Violet heard noises coming from the living room. Screaming. Objects shattering against the walls. Caiseal and the woman pleading. A door swinging open. What was going on? She ran back to the living room, and it was a mess. Throw pillows and a tissue box scattered all over the floor. Glass shards from one of her mother's vases made a fragmented puddle on the rug. The door was wide open, allowing the frigid air free passage into the house. She looked outside, seeing her mother's back and a frightened Caiseal sitting on the snow.

"Mom! Why did you leave me at the Ice Path?!" Caiseal cried. "Why do you hate me so much?! What did I do that was so bad?!"

Her mother did what? Violet's jaw dropped. Did he say their mother left him at the Ice Path? All the way on the other side of town? But her mother said that he ran away! No, she knew that was a lie. She knew it all along. But leaving him at the Ice Path? Was that what had happened? Everything started coming together in that moment, confirming everything Violet had suspected all along. Her mother really did hate him, going so far as to abandon him in some icy cave full of ferocious Pokemon that would probably hurt him. But why? What had Caiseal done to deserve years of being treated like some monster? Was that why she preferred Violet over him? Tears started to flow, and Violet couldn't suppress her sobs any longer, not even as she heard her mother's cruel answer.

"I was...pregnant with twins...but one day I wasn't! The doctor said...that one fetus...consumed the other."

Violet didn't understand what those words meant. All she could hear was her brother's wails, her mother screaming like a crazed madwoman, and her own wild crying. This was just too much. Nothing made sense, but at the same time, everything made sense, as crazy as it sounded. Everything she heard her mother tell Caiseal just sounded so crazy and farfetched, especially the parts about him being a murderer. But...in her heart, she knew her mother was telling the truth for once. She just knew it. She knew that this was the end of everything. No more Caiseal. No more spending time with her favorite big brother. Everything she thought she knew had all been a complete sham.

And it was all her mother's fault.

The years that followed were a blur in her young mind. Her mother had gone to court a few times, but had come back home. Her father worked less often, so he was around more. Things were slowly getting back to normal...except for one, huge thing. No Caiseal. The police had taken him away, and from what Violet had overheard, he was sent to a foster home. She heard her mother tell some people that they could have Caiseal, like she couldn't get rid of him fast enough, along with other things she didn't dare repeat. This time, Caiseal wouldn't come back. He was gone forever. But her mother's reason for why she hated him still echoed in the far reaches of her mind. Something about twins and a fetus consuming another. What was a fetus, and what did consume mean?

When she was eight, she went to the internet for answers. She typed in 'feedus consoom other' on the search engine, and it corrected her spelling. It was there that she discovered the fateful three words: Vanishing Twin Syndrome. Apparently, the website she found said that sometimes, while twins are in a mother's womb, one will suddenly stop developing and die for some reason, while the other twin survives. Consume was a big word meaning to eat or absorb, and a fetus was the name for an unborn baby. Violet stared at the webpage, her mind blown. Caiseal was supposed to have a twin and didn't? Gradually, the pieces came together. It all made sense now! The revelation swept over her like a tidal wave, but it did nothing to appease the simmering anger that swelled in her heart.

She could only come to one conclusion: This was why her mother hated Caiseal so much. Was she convinced Caiseal was some killer out to hurt them? Her tiny hand squeezed the computer mouse tightly, and her knuckles turned white. This was it? All that time, her mother hated her brother over something that wasn't in anyone's control? She was only eight, but even she could tell this was just completely unfair. The injustice of it all made her want to explode. Caiseal didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve any of this! She was seeing red. Without knowing she was doing it, she let out a scream, yanking her computer mouse off of the motherboard and threw it with great force. The mouse crashed against the wall, and pieces of it fell to the floor, with the rest of it coming down soon after.

Trembling, she fell to her knees, buried her face in her hands, and sobbed openly, not for herself, but for Caiseal. Her beloved brother who was wronged by the very people who should have loved and protected him no matter what. If her parents were going to yell at her for breaking the mouse, fine. Let them yell at her! She didn't care anymore. She didn't care what they thought. It was just a mouse. Stuff like that could be replaced. Caiseal couldn't. Nothing could ever replace Caiseal in her mind, not even a Pokemon. He wasn't fake. Everything else in this house was, even her parents' love for her. Now, she would never see Caiseal again, or at least until they were adults.

The whole thing sucked.

Her mother sucked.

Her father sucked.

Everything sucked.

But she had answers. Real, genuine answers for once. This time, she was going to let her parents know that she wasn't stupid. No more buying into their lies.

A few weeks after her ninth birthday, she found her mother cutting coupons in the kitchen, preparing to go grocery shopping. "Violet, honey? We'll be leaving in about an hour, so get yourself ready."

Violet pressed her mouth into a thin line and clenched her fists. She was prepared. "I'm not going."

Her mother looked up, meeting her eyes. "What?"

"I don't want to go. I can stay home by myself for a while," She kept her voice steady, refusing to show weakness.

A coupon slipped out from her mother's hand. She stood up straight and a worried look came over her face. "I don't think you're quite ready to stay home by yourself yet, Vi," She told her. "Your father won't be back until five, and we'll probably be at the store for about-"

"I can handle staying here for two hours," Violet asserted. "I'm not a baby, Mom."

Her mother frowned, and her eyebrows furrowed in frustration. "What's going on with you, Violet? First you decide you don't want to take piano lessons anymore, you donated all of the Johto Girl dolls I got you to charity, you're walking to school all by yourself, and now you suddenly don't want to go anywhere with me anymore?" She crossed her arms. "Violet, I don't understand."

Violet glowered at her mother, her blue eyes blazing with rage. "Actually, I'm the one who doesn't understand you! You treat me like I'm some kind of royal princess, even when I haven't done anything to deserve it!"

"I'm your mother!" She exclaimed. "It's my job to-"

"Oh, like it was your job to treat Caiseal like garbage and throw him away because you hated his whole existence?!"

Neither girl spoke for just a brief moment. "Violet...it had to be done. I had to protect you-"

Protect her? That was her excuse? "Protect me from WHAT?!" She screamed. "My brother? My brother who actually loved me?! Don't you dare lie to me, Mom! I know why you hated him so much! You hate him because he absorbed his twin while he was in your stomach!" There, she said it. What was her mother going to say to deny this? Her mother's jaw dropped, and her daughter's announcement took her breath away. But Violet didn't care. She kept going. "He didn't do it on purpose! It just happened! It's nobody's fault! And you have the nerve to say you threw him out to protect me?!" She held her index finger up. "Name one time he hurt me! Name ONE TIME he ever, EVER, hurt me in any way!"

Her mother was silent. To Violet, her silence spoke volumes.

"...I didn't think so!" She continued her tirade. She wasn't done yet. "How could you treat your own kid like that?! Caiseal didn't deserve anything you did to him, and I know you prefer me over him! Parents are supposed to love all their kids, not just one and hate the other over something that's not their fault!"

"Violet, we're not having this conversa-"

"Oh, yes we are!" No way was Violet going to let her mother worm her way out of this one. "You basically erased Caiseal from existence! He's my brother and I love him, and you took that away from me! Do you have any idea how much you hurt us?!"

Finally, her mother walked right past Violet and went into the next room without another word, leaving Violet all alone. That told the girl all she needed to know. She sat down on a chair and cried into her hands. Her mother was never going to love Caiseal or change her ways. She hated Caiseal with her whole being and didn't want him back, nor did she even want to acknowledge his existence. Violet hated herself for not having realized this sooner. Talking to her mother was a lost cause. Violet walked back to her room and pulled one of the drawings she made for Caiseal out from her bed. It was the one she made that showed Caiseal, herself, a Cyndaquil, and a Teddiursa. They were all smiling.

Caiseal's smile flashed in her mind. She clutched the drawing in her hand. That was it! She could become a Pokemon trainer! She could leave the house and find Caiseal all on her own once she turned ten! Caiseal had to know that someone in the Brownstone family still loved him. If not her parents, why not her? They couldn't tell her who she could and couldn't love, especially not her own brother. She held the wrinkled drawing close to her chest.

"Big bro…" Her voice was barely above a whisper. Good, since she didn't want her parents to hear what she had to say. "I promise I'll never, ever, EVER treat you the way Mom and Dad did. When I become a Pokemon trainer, I'll find you, and you'll never be alone again."

It would be a while before she could try to fulfill it, but it was a promise she intended to keep.