A Cold Cup of Coffee

NOTE: this was supposed to be for the other contest about leaving something behind, but due to the contest expiring, here we are now!

Among the lands of Opreau lay a house. Its walls were containing cobblestone and cement, the cobblestones slightly dark and faded out, some chipped off from rain and weathering, the house still standing even after all of the industrialization around the land. After a war involving a secret society using AI to create military weapons, America had split into Opreau and Nyxus. Opreau was already going through industrialization, though following behind Nyxus. Nyxus already was technological with nice advancements and sift buzzes of electricity.

Renee's little sister laid in bed, her eyes shut with a rag hovered over her eyes, a huge stinging red blotch on her cheek. Her little sister's name was too sad to say, so let's just call her Other. Other laid still, her fingers not twitching anymore, her breath hitching before her chest stopped lifting. Renee's black hair was stuck to her cheeks as she squeezed Other's hand tightly, before breaking down in shaking sobs. Renee had just flicked her eyes shut and covered her eyes with a rag, before pulling her soft, blue-gray blanket down. It was loved to death, with dirt staining some edges of the yarn blanket, some threads pulled out from the huge usage. All over Other's skin were red marks from attacks; from her dad. From their dad. The tears which stained bags into Other's eyes were from her mom. Their mom. Her...no, their cruel parents.

It was an attack which led to Other's status.

Renee's eyes suddenly slowly narrowed, realizing the truth. Her parents killed Other. Other's dead because of her parents.

Renee slowly blinked, before turning around. Her eyes flickered towards a window, with dark navy blue curtains draping over the window. The door's lock had been ripped apart by Renee herself when she realized Other was close to death, her little sister which she made sure would live in the cruel world of Opreau, where once both the children turned above eighteen, one of them would be forced to compete for a spot on the Opreau council, involving life or death. And her family was going to nominate Other herself, not Renee. Why? Because Other was unplanned. She was a mistake.

Renee slammed her knuckle against the bed frame in anger, before her eyes continue to ponder the window. Her tears clouded her vision, but she could see a visible escape. From this cruel world, where she could then migrate towards Nyxus and run away from all her worries.

But she had to take the orphans from the orphanage next door as well. Each year, a batch of the orphans would be sacrificed to fuel the Opreau's heart, which kept Opreau alive.

But Renee didn't have time. She had to get out now before her parents realized Other was dead. If they knew Other was dead, Renee would be locked into her room and forced to die because Renee opened the lock.

She quickly glares at a cabinet, before shoving it towards the door to barricade it. If they knew Other was dead, Renee would be next.

That's all that was repeated in her head as she continued to attempt to barricade the door.

She's next. She's next.

She is next.

It hurt her brain as she thought these dreaded thoughts, before she glanced into the mirror next to her little sister's desk.

Renee's eyes hurt to look at herself. Renee should've been more careful and took care of Other better.

But she didn't.

The sight of herself was hideous.

Renee finally finished pushing the cabinet against the door, before grabbing duct tape inside the bedroom and placing a long fat strip of the tape across the door so the door was prevented from being pushed open because of the duct tape.

She blinked, before quickly scrambling towards the window, her fingers quickly trying to open the window.

Locked.

Renee cursed, before pressing down on the lock with her bare fists, her veins pulsing as she continued to exert her pressure onto the lock.

She heard a satisfying snap, before her eyes popped open. The mirror behind her continued to tease her as she stared at her messy hair and her bloody fingers due to all of the scrapes on the lock.

She pushed the window up, before looking around. It had just recently rained. The scent of all the mildew pained her; she remembered when Other was only a toddler, when she would lead Other outside and play with her in the puddles. Other was rejected by her parents, but not by Renee.

Renee swung her leg over the window frame, before crying out in pain. Her leg scraped against the window frame, releasing a huge cut of crimson liquids on her thigh. The window frame was extra sharp, like a sharpened knife. Renee bit her lip, before grabbing the curtain and pressing it against her bleeding thigh to soak up the blood. She wrapped the other curtain around her leg to provide for a softer fall, before quickly kicking her other leg over the window.

She fell down hard, her mouth sore as it collided with the muddy grass.

Renee wanted to cry, but her tears were already sought out.

She slowly shoved herself off from the ground, before steadying her self.

For some reason, the curtain ripped off from the fall, now loosely wrapped around her injured thigh. Renee bent down, before quickly tying the curtain around her thigh in a quick motion. The fabric was soft and the blood soaked up was inconspicuous due to the color of the fabric. Renee looked around, before deciding what to do; she ran.

She ran as fast as her legs could take her, to the city; to the orphanage where she could save the children she visited every Saturday for volunteer hours.

She ran as fast away from the pain they call "family."

Back at the house, Rowan's eyes were narrowed as he poured a cup of coffee into a ceramic mug with a light brown coating, his ears still forced to hear the crunch of his finger from when Lea threw the ashtray at his wrist due to anger just two hours ago. He smacked her head with a club though, so that dealt with Lea. He could never stand his wife, but for some reason, she was always unfazed.

Rowan sighed, before humming a slow and sinister melody to drown out the crunching of his finger. He couldn't run towards the hospital; he had better things to do, and Lea would reveal that Rowan almost killed her with a huge amount of acting.

Renee loved coffee; the coffee would distract her from Sera's sickly state. Sera was whimpering on the floor two days ago, coughing out blood as Renee screamed at Rowan and called him a monster.

Wasn't Renee supposed to be scared of him?

Sera was a runt, a useless piece of flesh and bones.

What did Renee see in her little sister anyways? Sera wasn't pretty, wasn't smart, wasn't witty, wasn't even strong. Since when did Lea have to be tortured with Sera? It just wasted he and his wife's time having Sera.

Rowan continued pouring the coffee, touching his finger towards the hot kettle of coffee to distract himself from the crunching of his finger. It was obviously broken. He could battle through it.

He quickly grabbed the mug, before navigating himself towards the living room. He slowly laid the coffee onto the coffee table, making sure it didn't wobble. He flicked a sleeping pill out of his pocket, before plopping it into the mug. He heard the subtle splash of the dark liquid, but he didn't care. Renee needed to stop worrying about Sera.

He slowly walked away towards Renee's room to tell her that her coffee was ready, before his eyes flickered towards the lock on the door of Sera's room; it wasn't there.

It was snapped with pressure.

His eyes narrowed.

It took him forty-six minutes to finally let the door to budge, before finally entering the scene. Sera laid in her bed, her eyes covered with a rag, her blanket yanked down to reveal her wounds, the window lock snapped open, one of the curtains ripped off, before Rowan seethed.

Renee escaped.

Suddenly, he noticed the mirror in the corner of the room, slightly shattered, but still intact. He couldn't bear looking at Sera's face, teasing him of his horrible behaviors.

His hands abruptly grasped around the mirror's frame, before he lifted it over Sera's face. Her eyes were shut; she looked happy that she was dead.

Without any second thought, Rowan threw the mirror down onto Sera's face.

It's been two weeks now. Rowan and Lea have found another house, selling the house where Sera had died. Renee was still missing. When the new people in the house found Sera's corpse inside the kitchen cabinets, they called the authorities and the child had received severe amnesia.

Sera's room had been cleaned out, the curtains repaired, all of the remnants of weapons used in the house were thrown into the ocean.

When the police arrived, the only piece of evidence found was a cold cup of coffee on the coffee table.

A cold cup of coffee, it's stench smelling of coffee beans and flesh.