Cal's mouth was dry. That might have seemed inconsequential and maybe it was, but his heart rate was also increasing and he felt lightheaded. It was his dry mouth, however, that bothered him the most because it made him realize just how damn thirsty he was and probably had been for a while now.

He swallowed and opened his eyes, blinking up at a misty swirl of light above him before slowly sitting up. His head throbbed and he clutched at it in surprise before trying to take stock of what was going on. He was outside, which was odd because he didn't remember leaving his house. The dirt beneath him was slightly moist, like maybe it had rained not that long ago, and now that he was taking notice, he realized that there was moisture beaded on his skin and soaked into his clothing.

He looked around and found his sister lying not too far away, so he crawled towards her, feeling sick and confused and any number of other things at the moment.

"Cassandra," he said, shaking her shoulder gently.

She stirred and rolled over, looking up into his face. Cal could feel a scream rising in his throat at the sight before him. His sister's face was covered in horribly dark bruises, but that was the least of the problems. What had him on the verge of screaming was the fact that her eyes were gone.

"Cal," she whispered, her voice scratchy. "Is that you?"

She reached towards him with a hand that had turned half black, and finally Cal screamed. He jerked back away from her hand and stumbled to his feet. His knees shook so much that he feared he might fall back over.

"Cal, please."

He shook his head before clutching at it again. What the hell had happened to his sister? What was going on?

He wanted to help her; he really did, but he couldn't make himself do it. He couldn't get back down onto the ground; he couldn't get closer to her. He was shaky and sweaty and his heart was racing so fast he was sure it had to be dangerous.

"Cal, please. Help me. I...I can't see. Please."

Why couldn't he do as she said? Why did the thought of going near her make him want to run away screaming? What was wrong with him? This was his sister for god's sake! And she needed his help, so why was he slowly backing away from her and desperately trying to escape?

"Cal!"

Kill her.

The voice was his own and yet not. He could hear it in his head and knew it sounded like his own inner voice, but...he didn't want to kill his sister, did he?

Kill her. Put her out of her misery.

No, that was horrible. He couldn't possibly do anything like that; he should be helping her! She could be saved, and she wanted to be saved. She didn't want to die, and he didn't want her to die.

He closed his eyes, breathing sharply, and when he looked again, he was kneeling beside his sister. He didn't remember having moved, and he certainly didn't remember picking up the rock that was now in his hand. He wasn't aware of making the decision to kill his sister, but he was aware of the moment he lifted the rock above his head and brought it down against her skull, cutting her plea off in the middle. He would never forget that moment.