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Rupert had been there when it all went to hell. He'd seen his family go down, one by one, until the only ones left standing was him and his sister, Margot.
And... Mikayla...
The human girl had been covered in his family's blood, and her eyes had been filled with anger.
Rupert had never been so scared in his life. He'd wanted to run to his mother and ask her for guidance, but Mikayla had taken her life.
Rupert remembered looking at Margot and seeing the genuine fear in her eyes as she looked at her former best friend. Rupert had known that it wasn't safe anymore, and so, he had taken action and done the only thing he knew how to do - grab Margot and run.
He didn’t check if any of his brothers were alive. He didn’t fight Mikayla off to try and get their home back. He didn’t do anything.
He'd been a coward.
He tried telling himself that he did it to protect himself and his sister, but he knew that it wasn't true.
He'd let fear take over and let a dangerous threat go free on the world. He knew that his parents would be disappointed in him, but it was too late to change the outcome of his actions.
Rupert's magenta eyes landed on his sister. She was cured together in a ball in the corner of the room where they were currently staying, hiding from the predators of the world. Margot was silent, but Rupert knew that she was crying.
She still thought about Mikayla almost everyday, and what she could have done to preventiv everything from happening. Rupert had tried to convince her not to blame herself, but his sister refused to listen, instead letting herself drown in guilt.
Rupert felt his heart hurt whenever he saw his sister like that. He hadn't been close to Mikayla, personally, but he'd seen the impact she left on Margot. A positive one, which made it hurt even more now that she was gone.
Rupert wasn't able to change the past, and he didn’t have any magic way of making the pain disappear. But he was going to be there for Margot, for however long she needed him.
He was her brother after all, and he wouldn't let fear keep him from doing what he had to do to protect her.
Not anymore.