Chapter 1 A Painful Reminder

• TRIGGER WARNING: This story contains violence, abuse, dubious consent, stalking, murder, alcohol and drug use, bondage, and other scenes that may be triggering to some readers. Reader discretion is advised, and if you're willing to go forward, then take it all like the good girls and boys that you are.
• [Tabitha’s POV]
• I take in the room around me, trying to figure out why I'm here instead of my own room. It was all too familiar and left me with a rapidly growing fear because I knew exactly what was to come, and no matter what I did, nothing would change.
• "Brother," I whisper, throwing the gray-down comforter that is wrapped tightly around me off as my heart begins to pound in my chest. "Brother!"
• Feeling sick, I go crashing to the ground due to the comforter wrapping around my ankles like a hand that is determined to stop me from going to where he is, where they are, where a scene that should only be in horror movies awaits me.
• Kicking the fabric off, I scramble up and make my way across the cold, dark room until I reach the door.
• "Brother!" I repeat, pushing it open and scurrying into the destroyed hallway. "Brother, please answer me!"
• As I move, glass cuts into the soft flesh of my feet from shattered picture frames that line the floor. Their contents are ripped to shreds, and it’s clear the ones who destroyed them had a vendetta, but back then I didn't know why. However, now I know, and I wish I had known at the time so that I could have helped prevent what was to happen.
• When I reach the stairs, I hear the scene that is unfolding down below and stop dead in my tracks, though I know that I should continue to move fear grips at me like a fist threatening to squeeze all the courage I have left out of me.
• Shouts and shrieks fill the air, along with crashing and the cracking of wood from the fight that is going on between my brother and the creatures that were responsible for taking everything away from me. This is enough to spur me into motion once more.
• Bracing myself, I begin to take the stairs two at a time until I reach the bottom floor, where the living room is a mess with destroyed tables and overturned chairs and a couch that is shredded to bits and covered in blood.
• "BROTHER!" I scream, rushing into the kitchen, where I find him in the arms of a large man with glowing red eyes and pale skin that allows me to see each and every vein beneath it.
• As I enter, he locks his gaze with mine and lets a smile spread across his lips, revealing his long canines.
• "Oh, look," he cackles, tightening his hold on my brother. "Your little sister has woken up. It seems that we were too loud."
• "Tab!" my brother breathes, revealing his blood-filled mouth. "Why?"
• As I take him in, I find that his body is battered and bloodied, but even in what I was sure was an immense amount of pain, he tries to act strong.
• "Brother!" I repeat, attempting to move forward only to be stopped by arms wrapping around mine and lifting while I begin to kick in an attempt to break free. "LET HIM GO!"
• "How sweet!" the one holding my brother laughs. "How fitting for your little sister to see just how weak and pathetic you are," he continues. "Here you tried to play the diligent protector, but in the end you failed."
• With wide eyes, I watch as the man pulls his arm across my brother’s neck, letting it slide along the skin there until his long claw-like nail runs across his skin, slicing deep into his throat.
• His eyes grow wide as blood spurts from his lips, and the man leaves him to crash to the ground while he gasps for air.
• "NO!" I shriek, watching in horror as my brother begins to bleed out while I’m left helpless. "STOP! PLEASE STOP!"
• "Don’t worry," the man holding me purrs. "Soon you will be joining him."
• Right, they didn’t come to just kill my brother; they came to kill me too because I was just as much of an abomination as him.
• "Tab," my brother rasps, lifting his dulling gaze to meet mine. "You must…"
• The rest of his words get lost as the man who slit his throat lifts a foot and slams it on his chest, causing the sickening sound of cracking bones to fill the air around us, followed by a horrible groan from my brother before he goes still.
• "Now," the man says, kicking my brother out of the way and moving forward. "What shall we do with you?"
• Backing up, I try to look for a way to escape, but before I can find myself an exit, I trip and feel myself being yanked as the world around me disappears.
• And that’s when I wake up to find that I’m not in that time or place anymore. Instead, I’m in bed in my apartment, covered in sweat, with my heart racing.
• "Fuck," I hiss, slowly sitting up and taking in the room around me. "Again."
• Sighing, I shove my curly brown hair out of my face, swiping away some of the sweat that is already turning cold against my skin in the process.
• It never failed; every year around my brother’s death date, memories of that night would come back to me, causing me to relive the entire thing all over again while knowing damn well that there was absolutely nothing that I could do to stop it.
• "Brother," I huff, turning and taking in the single photo I still possessed of us. "Is this your way of reminding me to find your murderer?"
• For years, I have tried to find him with the help of the church, but so far, I have come up empty-handed. I even joined the Boston Police Supernatural Department once I graduated from college in order to find him, but it was almost like the bastard didn’t exist at all.
• It was frustrating as hell, and every time these dreams would come, I felt like my brother was calling me a failure for having yet to avenge him.
• Groaning, I throw my legs over the side of my bed and get up, then make my way over to the window and pull aside my blackout curtains to find that the sun is already beginning to rise.
• "Guess I’m not getting anymore sleep," I huff, heading to the bathroom and jumping in the shower. "At least I’ll be early today, so Bonnie won't get on my case."
• Once I’m finished showering, I quickly change into a black polo and a pair of black slacks, then throw up my wild hair so it isn’t in my face.
• Fully dressed and ready for the day, I head downstairs, where my black cat, Titan, is waiting for me to feed him.
• "Morning." I smirk when he yowls at me and begins to wind his way around my legs. "Too bad this is because you’re hungry and not because you missed me."
• Lifting the heffer into my arms, I make my way into the kitchen and rummage around until I find a can of cat food and then empty it into his bowl, ending our interaction as he leaps from my embrace to feed his face.
• "Figures," I shrug as my phone begins to go off in my pocket.
• Frowning, I pull it out and take in the unfamiliar number on my screen.
• "Who?" I murmur, clicking on the text and then waiting as it pops open to reveal a picture of Anthony, my boyfriend, and some bitch cuddled up in bed together. Both are completely naked, and their bodies are pressed together.
• Under the picture is an address, and with luck, it is in the same apartment building as mine.
• Not wasting any more time, I grab my bag and head out the door, making my way to where I was sure the cheating couple was still together so that I could catch them in the act.