Last Night

It was nearly 1 AM, and Alexei was only now returning home. His curfew was 11, and he was late.

Very late.

The lights in the house seemed to all be turned off, his sisters were asleep, of course. His youngest sister, Bella, seemed to always be sleeping, and Raine was always in bed by 10. As the oldest, Alexei was given the most freedom, but not by much, even though he was 17. His father was extremely overprotective, and never let his three children go anywhere without his permission.

He had finally managed to convince his father to let him go out with someone. He had planned the date to be at eight, but somehow they had ended up staying out together far longer than that. Not that he didn’t like to see Riley, but that boy was going to get him in some serious trouble if he kept that up.

Alexei crept silently up the steps, hoping, praying his father was asleep. He managed to make it inside without making hardly a sound, but as he tried to make his way to the hall that led to his room, he heard the deep, disapproving voice behind him.

“You’re late.”

Alexei turned, lowering his head a bit,“I’m sorry, we were just-”

“I agreed to let you go out with that boy because you told me you were old enough to make smart decisions. Yet here you are, proving to me that you can not. You are still a child, just as you have been, every other time. You wil not see him again. Is that understood?”

There was no trace of warmth in his father’s words. There hadn’t been, not since...

“Don’t ignore me, boy!” Alexei flinched, shrinking back against the wall as his father snapped at him. He did not reply. He didn’t dare.

“What? Are you deaf now, too? Answer me!” his father’s voice grew louder.

Never see Riley again...?

“No.” it was so quiet that they could both hear the quiet ticking of the grandfather clock in Bella’s room on the other side of the house.

“What did you just say?” his father growled, taking a step closer.

“I said no. You can’t stop me from seeing him.”

“You dare disobey what I tell you?” Alexei took another step back, and nearly fell. He looked down, there were empty bottles of vodka littering the floor. Now that he thought of it, he could smell the sting of spirits in his father’s breath.

“I love him. I’m not going to stop loving him because you tell me to.”

Silence.

Raine awoke to the sounds of screaming. She rushed down the hall to Bella’s room, but the little girl was only quietly crying, staring with rounded eyes at the events in the living room. She gently picked her little sister up and hugged her, trying to calm whatever it was that had upset the girl.

The screaming continued, and now Raine could hear two voices. She heard something fragile, most likely a glass liquor bottle of some sort, shatter, but the other voice only got louder. It was Alexei.

“You only want to keep me from him because you can’t get over losing Mother! You don’t want me to be happy because you can’t figure out how to be happy yourself!”

The ground was covered in shards of glass, but Alexei stood among them, still shouting at his father. His face was bleeding, but he paid no mind to it. Raine could see that he was actually somewhat badly hurt, and he was struggling to stay standing.

Without a word, their father threw the bottle he held in his hands at Alexei, screaming some obscenity at him before storming off to his room and slamming the door shut behind him.

Almost as soon as he was gone, Alexei nearly collapsed to the floor, clutching at his head. Bella almost ran over to her older brother, but Raine put an arm in front of her. She might have been young, but she understood what her sister wanted. Raine cautiously walked over to where her brother was crouched on the floor.

“Alexei?” she asked timidly, her voice nearly a whisper.

He said nothing.

She repeated his name, reaching out to gently touch his shoulder. As soon as she touched him, he recoiled, stumbling backwards and nearly falling again.

“Are you okay?”

Still nothing.

Raine sat in silence, watching him for a few minutes. She was about to ask again, but he finally responded, though not with words. He nodded, a tiny movement, most likely to get her to leave him alone.

The next morning came around. Raine walked out into the living room, perhaps expecting to see her brother, happy and cheeful, like nothing had happened. Like it had just been a dream.

She found him where she had left him, but he was lying down. There was a sheet of paper on the ground in front of him, next to... a knife..? She reached down to pick up the paper, hoping it was not what she thought it might be. As she took it, her hand brushed his, and her face went pale.

The note confirmed it.

He was gone.

Forever.