Vengeance

Zacky wanted nothing more than to repair the damage he had been part of doing to his hometown, and his own sister. He’d taken part in causing her death, like he’d taken part in ruining the lives of thousands of people. Now his life began to fall into pieces, and partially he had himself to blame.

Numb and heavyhearted, Zacky mounted the creaky stairs leading to Kendra’s apartment. The door was slightly ajar, and as he approached the stench of vomit, alcohol, pot and something rotten grew stronger. Zacky pulled up the bandana from his neck to cover his mouth and nose before he pushed the door open with his foot.

The mirror in the entrance hall was cracked. On the bright carpet underneath were dried up drops of blood. He was to find more of these as he got further into his little sister’s former apartment. When glancing around at the deformed living space, Zacky found it hard to believe that this was the same place he had visited just a couple of months earlier. Kendra had been so excited about showing him her own place. She, unlike him, had always been so neat and responsible, almost to the extremes. And now, the once approachable, decorative flat had become a nasty reflection of her inner chaos.

Kendra’s belongings were scattered all across the carpeted floor of the one-roomer. Everything was a mess, and everything of value seemed to be missing. If not sold by Kendra, they’d been stolen, possibly by one of her dealers. Zacky bent down to pick up a broken photo-frame that had caught his eye. He shook off the glass-shards and devoted his full attention to the photograph in his hand.

An intense sting of pain filled his broken heart as he looked down at his younger self, with an arm around the shoulders of his little sister. He couldn’t remember the moment the picture had been taken, but guessed it must have been about seven years ago, taken in the summer. Intense sunlight was reflected in the window behind the two siblings sitting together on the stairs leading to a backside porch. Zacky recognized it as his grandmother’s porch. Their mother used to drag him and Kendra there for a couple of weeks every summer until their giddy old grandmother passed away. He guessed the picture must have been taken the last time they visited gran before she died.

The two siblings looked incredibly bored as they unwillingly stared into the camera lens. Zacky thought to himself that the picture was pretty much a summary of what the summers at gran’s had been like – eventless and boring. He continued to stare at the photo for a few moments, before finally folding it and putting it in his pocket.

Apart from a sparrow necklace that used to belong to Kendra, he couldn’t find anything more of personal value amongst the broken things. The photo had been the only picture he could find in the apartment. Dejectedly and burdened by loss, Zacky left the apartment to wander the somber streets aimlessly.