The Pendant

I remember how I felt when my parents had died in that terrible fire. I remember feeling pain, and even more pain seeing Valerian so hurt. I thought that was the worst pain I could have ever experienced, and I knew I could handle it with my brother by my side.

How exactly was I supposed to handle this one?

This pain felt nothing like what I had felt back then. It was so much worse.

I didn't even realize I had collapsed on the floor, I only vaguely felt my knees hit the ground below, my eyes wide, the tears filling them steadily.

Dead? Suicide?

My brother was the happiest person I knew. He was optimistic and beautiful, and even when things didn't go his way, he never slipped. Never became sad. Never ever let his smile falter.

Besides, he had just told me he wanted to come back in a few months during Thanksgiving. He had been excited to tell me about all the cute Alphas there, and he had even teased me about setting me up with one of them so I could give him a cute niece.

I turned to the phone. He couldn't be dead. They had to be lying. This had to be some sort of stupid joke. My brother couldn't be dead.

I grabbed the phone I had subconsciously let go of and started to call the number that had called me, but all of my calls were ignored. My vision became blurry with tears, till I could barely see what I was doing. Till I could barely see beyond the blinding pain that sat in the form of tears on my eyes.

I let out a frustrated scream, and without bothering to carry my bag, I turned, abandoning whatever cleaning I had to do, and started to run back home. No, I wasn't going home.

I was going straight to Rosendale High School and seeing for myself. I needed to see my brother hale and hearty. I needed to know that this was a cruel joke. Maybe an excuse he used to see me because he missed me so much? Maybe...

I ran blindly, my hair falling in front of my face, my chest heaving. I was semi breathless, my knees weak, but my brother couldn't be dead. He can't just die like that. He is an alpha. I have seen Alphas heal from wolfsbane. I have seen Alphas heal from everything. Hell, even as an omega, I do heal faster than the average human. How dare he succumb to one shot of wolfsbane? How dare he even put it in him?

I could see our house from a distance, and I pushed further, my chest heaving hard. Suddenly, the sound of a siren reached my ears, and I froze in place. I was bathed in sweat, my hair all over, tears staining my cheeks.

I stood there, a small distance from home, as the ambulance stopped in front of the house.

My blood ran cold as they opened the back of the ambulance, and there, on a stretcher, was Valerian. He was still just as beautiful, pale, and very, very dead.

"Valerian," I managed to say, my knees weakening beyond what I needed to keep me standing, and I found myself falling to the floor again, my heart falling right beside me.

They wheeled him out and walked to the door, then slowly knocked on it. Of course, there was no answer. I am the only one remaining now.

"Valerian!" I screamed, the pain finally ripping through me like hot wax. This wax just happened to be on my heart, and that heart was already broken.

"Valerian!" I yelled again, pushing myself to stand up, but I ended up falling back in the dirt, my face buried in the ground, my body trembling with tears.

How could he do this to me? How does he expect me to go on now? How does he want me to move on? He had been the one to support me when our parents died. What does he expect me to do now?

"Ma'am?" I heard a voice say, and then two hands helped me get up.

Without looking at whoever it was, I pulled myself away from him and ran towards my brother. He was unnaturally pale, his eyes closed, forever.

"Valerian. Valerian, no. No. No. No. You... are joking, right? You are doing this just so you can see me, right? You are doing this just..."

"Ma'am?"

I looked up again, my heart thumping. "Y... yes?"

"We only brought him so you could confirm. According to the school rules, we will take care of his burial. You need to sign these papers and..."

"Who killed my brother?" I asked, my chest heaving.

There was no way. Valerian hated needles. He hated pills. He would rather be sick all day than swallow pills or take an injection. Why would he do it now just so he can die? What was he thinking?

"He committed suicide," the man said simply. "We have his suicide letter and the statement from the last person to interact with him."

"The last person? Who is..."

"He has been granted anonymity. He does not want to..."

"My brother died! I don't care about the identity of this man, I just need answers! My brother would never kill himself! My brother would never ever do it!"

The man gave a small sigh. "I am sorry. Please sign these papers, and you can come with us to witness the burial."

I looked down at the papers. So that was all my brother was now. A bunch of signed papers, and he is carted away forever? A bunch of papers, and no one will ever see him again?

I turned to Valerian. He has never been this quiet. I have never seen him so still. He was always hyper, always trying to annoy me. Did I even cross his mind once when he entertained that thought?

Of course I did. Because there was no way he would have done that. No way he wouldn't think of me. He always thought of me. He had said it himself. He loved me the most.

"Please sign the papers."

I turned back to the man and slowly collected it and the black pen he had given me. I absent mindedly signed it, my mind reeling.

I knew it, deep in my heart, that Valerian would never do it. Why would someone want to kill my brother? Why would anyone hold such a grudge against my innocent brother?

"Are you coming with us?"

I slowly nodded, tears running down my cheeks on their own, my mind working overtime. I can't just accept that Valerian... that Valerian would commit suicide. That he would willingly opt to leave me forever like this. Without even a warning. He would never.

"Here."

I entered the ambulance, my eyes fixed on Valerian, who they wheeled back inside. He looked so real. So perfect. Like if I pinched him, he would wake up.

I slowly reached my hand to his body, then reached for his hand. Fuck, he was so cold. Valerian was always warm.

I gently pulled his hand from under the white sheets, tears blurring my vision again, my body shaking with the reality that hit me. My brother was dead. Gone. Just like that.

A clank sound caught my attention, and I turned, my brows furrowed. Right underneath my brother's hand that I was holding was a small chain wrapped around something.

I slowly leaned to take the chain. Valerian never wore any sort of jewellery. My brows furrowed as I slowly opened the chain, and hanging from it was a custom pendant. It was a golden colour, and it held the name: Eros.