Chapter 13: Briefing


The room was ill-lit by a single fluorescent light bulb that dangled loosely by its wires, casting an eerie and dark aura throughout its entirety. The walls lacked character; each on made of plain cement blocks that made patterns up to the roof. The two girls sat on one side of a table in the middle of the room, and they knew that they were being watched. Elsa scanned the room once more, finding the two-way mirror they had on the wall to their left. The older girl sighed, dropping her head to look downwards at the table in front of them.

Elsa's head was pounding. There was silence, but it was deafening. The ticking of a clock somewhere in the room. Anna tapping her feet on the ground as she waited. Elsa's heartbeat was loud enough to blow down the entire facility with every beat. Elsa put her hands over her ears, trying to block out the noises that drove her mad.

Anna looked over and saw her sister; a grimace on her face and struggling to stay still. The younger girl reached over and wrapped an arm around her older sister. "Elsa?" Anna whispered, worry struck over the younger girl's face.

A door suddenly whipped open, letting in a ray of light that was so bright, it blinded Anna as she turned to look who opened the door. All that was apparent was a tall, dark figure standing in the way of the luminescent rays, and then suddenly, everything was dark again. There was a moment of complete and utter silence, no one moved, and neither Anna nor Elsa dared to breathe. Then, the two girls heard footsteps, growing ever louder as they approached they table where they sat. Anna's eyes hadn't diluted back to being able to see in the dark room, and had no idea where the being might be.

Out of seemingly nowhere, a hand was stretched out to grab a hold of the chair opposite of the sisters, causing Anna to jump a little in her chair. Elsa looked up, having her head tucked into her sleeves of her hoodie, and met eye to eye with the inspector who was at their house yesterday. The same inspector who grabbed her.

"Good morning Anna, good morning Elsa," the gruff voice easing the tension in the air, "my name is Inspector Fiske, but you can call me John. I hope your accommodations were satisfactory for you."


The trio sat in silence for a good time while Fiske brought out a suitcase, unlocking it after entering in the code for the locks, and pulled out a manila folder, the word COFIDENTIAL stamped in red ink across the front. He handed over the file to the older sister, giving her a look of sympathy.

"Now, Elsa," Fiske said, timidly placing the folder in Elsa's hands, "there is one image you may find disturbing, but if you so choose, you may view the crime scene photographs." He turned his head toward the red-headed sibling. "You as well, Anna, as long as Elsa gives you permission."

Anna looked over to Elsa, and received a slight, but confident, nod from her older sibling. Anna scooted closer to Elsa, and they opened up the folder to see a collection of neatly placed photos with information regarding the pictures placed on every divider in the folder. Every divider held a different photo, and every photo made Elsa cringe as she remembered seeing the pictures, but with her own eyes, during the actual event. The two girls flipped through the folder, reading the information on each of the sheets, until they stopped on a particular page, and upon seeing the two girls' reactions, Fiske wished he hadn't had let them view the evidence.

Elsa brought up a hand to her mouth as she viewed the scene; Anna, letting out a gasp as her eyes closed shut, buried her head into her sister's arm to escape what was in front of her. There, taped to a divider in the folder, was the pool of blood where their father had been shot, along with splatters along the floor where the exit wounds must have trailed off. Also in the picture was the wall behind the small puddle of blood, now imperfect in its structure as three bullet holes were clearly visible.

Elsa sat the folder down, putting a hand on Anna's head to comfort her, but feeling no comfort for herself. She could feel Anna's hair, and the softness it produces; she could feel the heat radiate from her scalp, but she couldn't feel Anna. The physical being of her sister beside her was undeniable, but Elsa felt as though she wasn't anything more than Elsa. She couldn't feel her sister.

"Thank you, John," Elsa said, her voice weak, "but we don't want to see anymore." Anna still had her head buried into Elsa's hoodie sleeve, and Elsa felt her sniffle.

"That's good," the inspector said, pulling the file towards him, "I didn't like letting you view this anyway." Fiske put the briefcase away, and pushed his palms together underneath his chin, his stubble scratching his hands as he rested his head. "Now, I didn't just call you here to show you traumatic photos," he said, pulling an ink pen and a notepad out of his dark black suit's lining, "I need to know where you were and what you were doing yesterday."


"Hey Anna, do me a favor?" Elsa asked as the two sisters approached their car; the police station becoming more distant with each step, but to Elsa she could still feel herself sitting in the cold steel chair in the interrogation office.

Anna looked over to her sister, seeing her older sister watching the ground as they walked, keeping her hands inside her hoodie pocket. "Sure Elsa. What'd you need?"

"Can you drive?" Elsa asked, making Anna give her older sister an odd look. "I just… Don't really feel like driving right now."

"Wow, you must really feel sick or something," Anna said, smiling as she walked past her sister to go to the driver's side of the Nissan. "You never ask me to drive."

Elsa walked to the opposite side of her sister, opening the door to the passenger seat, pulling the hood over her head as she hopped into the vehicle. "Yeah…" She said.

"I'm definitely feeling something."


The GPS was telling Anna to turn right as Elsa looked out the window. The younger sister looked over after making her turn to see her older sister breathe on the cold glass window, forming a fog on the glass and then commencing to draw faces with her finger. Elsa's actions induced a smile on Anna, turning her attention back to the road. Never before had she ever seen Elsa so torn up about something, but even still, Elsa managed to remain strong. Anna admired that in her sister, for it was a feat that she couldn't do, and hadn't been able to do her whole life.

Anna made another turn to exit onto the freeway, merging into traffic smoothly. After she had cleared a few vehicles, she found herself going the same pace as the vehicles around her. Anna felt relieved, as she saw she was nuzzled safely into the flow of traffic heading on the freeway, and looked over to Elsa. Anna's eyes found her sister in a motionless form, keeping her hands in her hoodie pocket, but leaning her head down on her seatbelt, letting her blonde bangs and braid fall to her hooded garment.

She's probably tuckered out, knowing her. I don't think she got a wink of sleep last night. Elsa looked back over to the road, letting out a sigh, smiling all the while. But the smile was for naught, fading as thoughts of self guilt encroached in her mind. Well, maybe she wouldn't be tired if you would have just listened to her. Anna's expression turned sour, biting her bottom lip as she drove behind a large semi.

Maybe she wouldn't have cried herself to sleep if you'd have just stayed home. Anna felt her head screaming at her.

Maybe your mother wouldn't have been raped and your father wouldn't have been shot if it weren't for you. Tears welled in her eyes.

Maybe your sister wouldn't be an emotional wreck, and maybe you wouldn't have to be driving to a hospital to see your mom, and maybe your dad is gonna die, and depending on the state of your mother, she might die too! It'll just be me and Elsa! Just us! The voice in Anna's head was screaming at her, causing tears to fall.

And it's all because of me.

Elsa stirred, releasing a small noise that sounded a lot like the younger girl's name. Anna gasped, causing her to swerve slightly. She tried to dry her eyes as she corrected her driving, not wanting her older sister to see her in her moment of weakness.

"E-Elsa!" Anna stammered, "I-I-I uh, I just, uh, yawned! I yawned and my eyes were all like-"

Anna smiled as she saw that her sister had turned over, still asleep, but moving as she napped. The younger sister chuckled, realizing what a fool she would have made herself out to be if her sister had heard her stammer session. Okay, yeah, that was a little embarrassing. Anna looked back to her sister, still sleeping, but now unmoving once more, breathing through her mouth with a quietness that was barely audible.

Anna looked back to the road, focusing on the big truck in front of her.

I just hope that she can stay stronger than I have.


Elsa was awoken by her sister's hand gently pushing onto her arm, the vehicle was unmoving. Elsa opened her eyes slightly, closing them and opening them lazily as she tried to gain a consciousness about where her and Anna were. The sky was clouded over; a small flurry of snow was falling. Elsa finally managed to get her eyes to cooperate with her as she looked out of the window beside where she rest her head, seeing the tall, bland looking building whose parking lot Anna had parked them in.

"Get up, sleepy head," Anna said in a monotone voice, "we're here."

Elsa rubbed her eyes with her hoodie sleeves. "Okay," the older sister managed to say, sleepiness still prevalent in her voice, "but where is here, exactly?"

"'Here' would be the hospital," Anna sighed. "The hospital where mom is."

Elsa pulled her hands away from her face and looked out the window once more, a melancholy aura surrounding her instantly as she saw let her gaze wander to the illuminated red cross atop the building. The sign almost looked like a smudge due to the snow whisking about in the air, but it was more than visible to Elsa, causing her to hurt with every second that she gazed upon the luminescent emblem.

"Oh," Elsa said bleakly, "right."

Anna looked over to her sister, staring out the window at the hospital. She followed Elsa's gaze, and met the very thing that Elsa was gaping at. "Hey," Anna said, trying to get her sister to concentrate elsewhere, "stop looking at that stupid sign."

Elsa didn't move from her position, staying totally still as if her body was a statue. "I can't," Elsa said.

"What do you mean you can't? Just look away from the thing. I don't like it either, but we can't let a dumb sign make us feel like shit."

Elsa turned around, a tear making its way down her cheek as she met eyes with her sister. "Maybe you can't let it make you feel bad, but I sure as hell can! It's all because of me that my mom is in here in the first place! It's my fault! And all I can do is just look at that fucking sign and just let it tear me apart, because every second that I think of that sign, or every second that I can actually see it, I realize that because of me, my mom and dad are both in critical condition, and I'm not even able to see my dad because of how fucked up he is!"

The snow that was flurrying was turning into a much more potent whirlwind of cold December air and stinging flakes of the powdery condensation, gently tapping as each crystal made total contact with the windshield of the car the two girls sat in.

"Not only that, but I also am the worst fucking sister ever," Elsa stated, putting her head into her sleeves yet again. "I've let you down by letting you get into drugs again, I couldn't even keep you from going to that stupid party where I was an ass to Hans and Eugene…" Elsa's body convulsed with each breath as her feelings poured out, everything that she kept bottled inside came forth in a display of emotion.

Anna was dumbfounded, unable to speak due to the deepest thoughts of Elsa's mind came out, depicting herself as a bad older sister and the cause of everything that had happened. As soon as Elsa had finished, Anna could relate everything that she had said with what Anna felt, giving Anna a sentiment that made her feel as though Elsa must be seeing things through her eyes. "No! No Elsa, you've got this all wrong! None of this is your fault, I take full responsibility. It was my fault for deciding to make those choices, and they came with consequences. It's all on me, okay?"

Anna reached over to put a hand on Elsa back to rub her, hopefully to insinuate a feeling of understanding and comfort in her older sister, but was instantly pushed away as Elsa saw that her sister was going to show affection towards her. Even in the slightest of ways, Elsa had decided, that she wasn't about to let anyone else get hurt. No one else.

"No Anna, don't touch me," Elsa yelled, swatting Anna's comforting hand away. "Nothing I have done so far has earned me any kind of affection, nor do I feel like I deserve it in the slightest way. Please don't touch me… I don't want to hurt anyone else."

Anna, heartbroken, pulled her hand back, looking at the small red mark across her hand where Elsa had applied enough force to effectively knock her hand away. Anna's eyes welled with tears. "Elsa…"

"Let's go inside. This storm is about to get bad." Elsa opened her car door, pulling her hood over her head. "Oh, and don't you ever say any of this is your fault ever again," Elsa said, pointing a finger at Anna as tears ran down both sides of the younger sister's face, "because it's not. It never will be." And with that, Elsa closed her car door and made her way to the front door of the hospital, looking up at the red, glowing cross once more, feeling the heat inside of her as she walked.


"This is it, Elsa," Anna said, standing in front of room 634, arms crossed and all her weight on one leg, as was her customary stance. "Are you ready to go see mom?"

Elsa sighed, pushing her bangs backwards as she looked up at the ceiling. "Honestly, I'm not," Elsa said, shrugging. "What if she blames me? I mean, I blame myself, and it was my fault, but if mom blames me for this, then I really don't know what I'm gonna do."

Anna looked over and was about to grab Elsa's hand, but pulled back with a solemn look across her face as she remembered what Elsa had said in the car about touching her. "I think that she's gonna want to see us, and I don't think that she's gonna blame you, honestly."

Elsa looked at her sister, a worrisome look rife on her face. "Looks like there's only one way to find out."

The older sister opened the door to their mother's room, which was a dark and silent area with the occasional beep from the medical equipment,. The blinds were closed; the heater was on. And in the cent of the room, there lay Idun, and upon seeing their mother in her current state, the two sisters gasped at the sight.

Idun's face had been bruised severely, casting a bluish-purple tint from her left eye to her right cheek, almost as if she had been kicked in the face. Her skin was pale, almost as the snow that fell from outside.

Elsa felt the tears well back up in her eyes, and moved backwards a step from her mom. Anna spun around to see her older sister and call out her name just as Elsa let out a shriek and left the room, slamming the door behind her. Elsa ran to the elevator, tears pouring down her face and doctors all around telling her to slow her pace. Finally she reached the elevators, and got in a vacant one just as a family was getting out of one. Elsa pushed all the buttons on the levels below her, and rapidly pushed the "close door" button. Elsa felt and heard herself whimpering as the thought of her beaten and broken mother flashed in her head like a strobe light. As soon as the elevator had closed its doors and started to make its descent to the floor below where Idun's room was, Elsa mashed down on the emergency stop button, halting her between floors and encompassing her in solitude.


Elsa slid down the wall of the elevator as she covered her face, trying to catch some tears before they fell to their final resting place on her hoodie. She sat there, alone, crying inter her sleeves as she tensed to her sobs and sniffles.

I'm so sorry mama… I'm so sorry… I'm sorry I couldn't have been there. I'm sorry that I haven't been the best sister. I want to help you and dad, and I want to help Anna, but all I do is mess everything up. I just keep hurting people. And now that you're hurt, and went through this whole thing, nothing is gonna be the same… I won't ever be the same…

Elsa looked up at the roof of the elevator.

Just make it through. I can't live without you or dad, and neither can Anna.

Elsa sniffled, dropping her head back down as she burst into another fit of tears.

And I'm not letting anything happen to Anna ever again.