Chapter Text
"Why would you do that?!" Mari shouted at her brother. The broken violin had settled at the bottom of the staircase, the result of an act of frustrated impulse.
"Do you have any idea how much that cost?!" she continued, her face growing red with anger. Her words were sharp, each one cutting through the silence like glass, leaving jagged edges that pierced the air between them.
That violin had been the one thing bonding brother and sister at the time. Mari had been busy with her studies, and it had been her idea to play music with Sunny. She wanted to stay close to him.
"Are you even listening to me?!" she went on, only to be met with a glare from her brother. He had clearly been pushed to his limits this time. The room felt far too small to house the pair, Sunny had to go.
Sunny moved to the staircase, attempting to leave without a word. The house around them was unnervingly still, the faintest creak of wood under Sunny's feet being the only sign that time had not stopped entirely in the wake of their argument.
"Don't you dare walk away from-"
CRASH
...
He had pushed her.
Sunny had pushed his sister.
Down the stairs.
Time slowed, each second stretching into infinity as Sunny stood frozen, his eyes wide, his breath caught somewhere deep in his chest. Sunny could barely hear his own heartbeat over the silence, though he knew it was beating faster than it ever had.
...
"Mari?"
He walked down the stairs slowly. Surely, she was mad at him. He deserved it. That probably hurt. He was slow to descend the stairs, with every step creaking under his weight.
...
He arrived at the bottom of the stairs and attempted to poke his sister.
...
No answer. Sunny tried to turn his sister over—she had landed on his violin.
"M-Mari?" His voice was shaky. He must have knocked her out. She was all scratched up, and still...
Sunny heard a gasp from behind him. He turned.
"S-Sunny? Is Mari... Is she okay?" Aubrey and Basil stood behind him, Aubrey with tears in her eyes and Basil’s face whiter than a sheet.
Sunny’s hands were slick with sweat, the air far too thick to even breathe, his chest tightening with each second that passed without Mari moving.
Basil knelt next to Sunny, placing two fingers on Mari's neck. He stiffened.
"Don't worry, everything's going to be okay." Basil assured Sunny and Aubrey, his eyes not leaving Mari.
"She's okay?" Aubrey asked, relief washing over her face.
"She's dead." Basil responded blankly, he was far too shocked to react, or grieve, or cry, or scream. He had a plan. He had seen enough television to know that if they did not act, they would go to jail for a very long time.
"W-What?" Aubrey asked, all signs of hope vanishing from her face.
"Let's take her upstairs." Basil’s voice was flat, his movements robotic, his face expressionless with shock, he was not himself.
Without any words from the others, the three dragged Mari upstairs.
The air felt thick with a cold, mechanical dread, as if each step they took would be an imprint on a distant future where nothing could ever be the same again.
BANG BANG BANG
Sunny awoke from his dream to a loud noise. It was a good dream. He had played hide and seek with his friends. His eyes adjusted to the sunlight.
The loud noise persisted, knocking. Pounding without any sign of letting up.
BANG BANG BANG
"Hellooooo..... Hellooooooooooooo? Sunny? Are you there?"
Someone was at his door.