The Alpha Family

The Blood on her hands

Serenya

The tires screeched as he stepped harder on the gas, the city lights blurring into streaks of gold and red outside the window. I sat frozen in the backseat, hugging my arms tight across my chest, my breaths coming in short, painful bursts. My heart slammed against my ribs with a rhythm so loud it was all I could hear.

This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. Not to Celis.

My eyes darted to the road, then to my phone’s screen. I had tried calling again. Twice, no answer.

Please answer, Celis. Please.

The driver’s voice pulled me from my spiral. “Miss, we’re just two minutes away. The GPS says the accident is just up ahead.”

My fingers curled into fists. “Let it be a mistake,” I whispered. “Let it be someone else’s car. Let her be okay…”

But when we rounded the bend and I saw the crushed white Mercedes, Celis’s car, my knees gave out before I could even step out of the car. I opened the door and stumbled onto the pavement, my vision blurring as horror filled every inch of me.

The front of the car was crumpled like paper, the windshield shattered. A dark red streak stained the hood. Glass sparkled like stars across the asphalt. There was a crowd forming, drivers slowing down, people gasping, murmuring.

“I think she was hit by a truck,” the chauffeur said as he stepped beside me, his voice grim. “It came from the opposite lane. Must’ve swerved.”

“No…” I whispered.

My breath caught in my throat as I saw her.

Through the broken driver’s side window, I could see Celis, her body limp over the steering wheel, her head tilted at an unnatural angle. Her golden hair, usually so pristine, was dark and soaked with blood at the edges. Her phone was still in her hand.

“No!” I screamed, lurching forward.

“Miss!” The driver caught my arm. “Don’t toucb her, wait for emergency, call 911. Now!”

I tore my arm free, fumbled for my phone with shaking hands, and punched in the numbers.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

“My sister!” I sobbed, falling to my knees beside the wreck. “Please send help. She’s been hit, there’s blood, she’s not moving, oh Moon Goddess, please—”

“Ma’am, I need you to calm down. What’s your location?”

I gave the address. My voice shook so badly I had to repeat it twice.

“Help is on the way. Stay with her, but don’t try to move her.”

“I can’t lose her,” I whispered. “Please, just get here fast.”

I dropped the phone and crawled closer to the door. I reached in carefully, touched her arm.

“Celis?” I whispered, tears pouring freely now. “It’s me. I’m here. Just… stay with me, okay? Don’t go. Please don’t go…”

No response. Just the sound of sirens in the distance.I sat in the dirt, crying like a child, my hands gripping the edge of the door, my forehead pressed to the cold metal of the car.

I didn’t know how much time passed before the ambulance arrived. The paramedics pushed me back gently, then worked quickly. I watched them strap her limp form onto a stretcher, her head still bleeding, her phone smeared with red.

I picked it up and cradled it in my hand. I rode with them to the hospital, clutching her phone so tightly I barely noticed the blood soaking into my dress.

She was rushed into surgery the moment we arrived. Nurses and doctors flooded around her as I stood frozen in the emergency room hall, still trembling.

The nurse looked at me with kind but hurried eyes. “You’ll need to wait here.”

“Will she make it?” I asked, my voice barely audible.

“We’ll do everything we can.”

And then she was gone. The doors swung closed. The silence that followed was deafening.

I sank into the nearest chair, numb. I pulled out my phone and called the only person I could think of.

“Dad…”

He picked up after two rings. “Serenya? Where are you girls? It’s late—”

“Dad…” My voice cracked. “Celis… she—she’s in the hospital.”

Silence.

Then a sharp inhale. “What?”

“I—I’m at Crescent Memorial. She was hit… I think she…. Dad, she’s in surgery. There’s so much blood—”

In the background, I heard Mom’s voice. “What is it? What happened?!”

Dad didn’t answer her right away.

I heard her again, more urgent. “Is it the girls?!”

Then he spoke, voice tight. “It’s Celis. She’s been in a crash.”

A scream tore through the phone.

“SERENYA!” Mom’s voice was venom. “What did you do?!”

“I—I didn’t—” I stammered, but the call ended before I could defend myself.

The hospital walls felt like they were closing in. My palms were slippery with sweat, my heart pounding again. I stood, unable to stay still, and began pacing the waiting room.

Ten minutes felt like hours. My thoughts spiraled, What if she dies? What if I really did fail her again? What if Mom never forgives me?

When the hospital doors finally opened again, I saw them, my father and mother, both rushing in. My dad looked stricken. My mom looked like a mad woman.

The moment her eyes landed on me, she marched over.

“You—” she seethed, grabbing my arm and yanking me up. “What did you do this time?!”

“I didn’t…Mom, I swear—”

“Why weren’t you affected to?” she demanded. “Why are you standing here while my daughter is fighting for her life?!”

“I swear—I don’t know—I was about to—”

She pushed me. Not hard enough to hurt, but enough to make me stumble.

“If anything happens to my daughter,” she hissed, “I swear on the Moon Goddess, I will never forgive you. Do you hear me?!”

I stood there frozen, tears running down my cheeks, watching her fall into Dad’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

He held her, whispering something I couldn’t hear. She kept saying, “She’s done it again. She’s taken her away from me again.”

I turned away, I couldn’t breathe.

I walked blindly down the hallway, away from the waiting room, from their grief, from their accusations. I walked past nurses, past the white walls, past crying families in other chairs.

I didn’t know where I was going, just needed to get away. I wanted to tell them I wasn’t the one driving, that Celis didn’t wait for me to arrive, but they didn’t let me.

“Miss? Wait!”

I turned slowly to see a doctor in a white coat jogging toward me.

“You’re bleeding.”

I blinked. “What?”

He pointed to my hand, and I looked down.

There was blood smeared across my fingers, dripping from a long, shallow cut on my palm. I hadn’t even noticed it.

“That’s deep,” he muttered. “Come with me. Let’s get that cleaned up.”

A nurse nearby prepared antiseptic. I sat numbly while they cleaned and bandaged it. I stared at the blood on the gauze and thought about Celis. About how her hair looked matted with it.

“She’s your sister?” the doctor asked gently.

I nodded.

“She’s in good hands. We’ll do our best.”

I nodded again, silent. But deep down, I knew. Even if Celis survived, my family would never look at me the same again.