My brother and I both had high fevers at the same time. My parents gave me the last three fever reducers, and he turned into a slow, unresponsive kid. When he was bullied, he retaliated against his classmates. When he was ignored, he hurt our parents. Reborn, I shoved all the fever reducers into his mouth. The thick stench of blood clung to my nostrils. In the dim living room, two cold bodies lay still. It was my mom and dad! They had been murdered! They lay on the floor, eyes wide open in death, a sight that sent shivers down my spine. But I was pinned down on the bed, held tight. My hands and feet were tied, leaving me completely immobile. A large, grayish-blue hand gripped my throat, making it hard to breathe. A sharp dagger dripped with blood, wet and cold against the pulse point in my neck. “Sis… Sis…” The person on top of me let out a low, pained sound. Stuttering, broken. This person was my younger brother. Ten years ago, he and I both had persistent high fevers, our temperatures soaring past 104°F. Medicine was scarce back then, almost impossible to find on the market. Our family only had three fever reducers left. After much agonizing, my parents decided to give them to me. My thirteen-year-old brother, after that fever, became what everyone called an “idiot.” He became a target for bullying at school and a transparent, ignored presence at home. And that led to this grim outcome… He’d killed Mom and Dad, and now, he was coming for me. Why was he looking so hurt right now? The man’s hand tightened, and I slowly lost my breath, unable to respond. “Sister,” he called me again, slowly. Perhaps from years of not speaking, he could barely form full words anymore. His voice sounded like it was squeezed from his throat, tinged with a manic eeriness. “Everyone who bullied me at school… I killed them all.” He slowly lowered his head, his warm breath ghosting over my face, raising goosebumps all over my skin. Meeting his bloodshot eyes, I painfully squeezed mine shut. “These two people, I killed them too.” He continued to utter chilling words. I knew he was talking about Mom and Dad. Suddenly, the large hand on my neck loosened slightly. He pressed the knife deeper into my skin. A jolt of pain shot through my neck. With every breath, an icy chill pierced me. He had slit my throat.
He gently rubbed his face against mine, whimpering, “I gave you all the fever reducers. Why did you have to get married?” So, he still remembered what happened ten years ago. Because of a high fever, the clever and lively boy he once was became clumsy and blank. He had lost his promising life. I owed him for that. But he shouldn’t… he shouldn’t have… killed so many people, and he definitely shouldn’t have acted like a monster and murdered our parents. I didn’t quite understand the second part of his sentence. After graduating from college, because of his condition, I worried he wouldn’t be able to take care of our parents in the future. So, I chose to stay by Mom and Dad, marry a gentle man, and together, we’d take care of them and him. I had planned out our whole family’s future… I’d met a decent guy through a setup, and we were getting married next week. “Sister, after you die, I’ll kill him and then come join you.” “Don’t worry.” At this moment, he spoke more than usual, no longer like the silent, slow kid he used to be. I knew he was talking about my fiancé. Tears blurred my vision, and I could only shake my head in agony. As my consciousness faded, I could feel him holding me tightly. And his pained whimpers, like a trapped beast. He must be in pain too, right? Unable to control himself? It shouldn’t have, shouldn’t have ended like this. I seemed to see glimpses of our happy family of four from when I was little. If only, back then, I had given him the fever reducers. If only, back then, I had known his classmates were bullying him, and I had helped him. If only, back then, I had shown him more care at home. Would things not have turned out like this? But alas, it was too late. He killed everyone. And I died too.
It hurt. My head hurt. My whole body ached. My eyes refused to open. In a hazy state, I couldn’t distinguish between dream and reality. It felt like I was being cooked in hot water, excruciatingly uncomfortable. A cool hand pressed against my forehead, followed by the cold beep of a device. Then, a woman’s anxious cry: “What are we going to do? Avery’s temperature is already 104°F!” Hurried footsteps echoed in the room. “Leo’s at 104°F too! We can’t buy medicine, and the neighbors don’t have any to lend. This won’t do!” “Let’s go to the hospital!” “It’s on lockdown! How long will it take to get approval? Plus, with the special circumstances, there might not even be beds at the hospital!” “Why do my children have such a hard life…” A familiar male voice declared decisively, “There are only three fever reducers left. Give them to Avery? She can’t be harmed! Otherwise, we’d never forgive ourselves…” These words felt like they came from another lifetime, instantly clearing my hazy mind. Like someone struggling for survival, I burst out of a steaming cauldron. I opened my eyes! Startling the man and woman in the room, who then erupted in joyful surprise. “Oh, my sweet Avery, you’re finally awake! You scared Mom half to death!” Two much younger faces leaned over me, two living, breathing people, bringing tears to my eyes. My hands trembling, I touched my neck. It was perfectly fine! I shot up, ignoring the damp sweat on the bedsheets. Due to the high fever, my voice was hoarse. “What year is it?” Mom and Dad exchanged glances, their worry evident. “Oh no, the fever made her confused.” “It’s 2022. You and Leo are on winter break. Avery, just take the medicine…” I suppressed my pounding heart, snatched the three fever reducers from Mom’s hand, and jumped out of bed, rushing towards Leo’s room.
When I burst through the door, the young boy on the bed had his eyes tightly shut, his face flushed red, muttering in pain, “Dad… Mom… Sister…” I finally let out a heavy sigh of relief. There was still time. It was good, I’d been reborn, and I had a chance to choose again. I tore open the medicine packet and immediately threw myself onto Leo’s bed, forcefully prying open his mouth. I cried, muttering, “This time you eat it, you eat it! Just take it down…” Perhaps my frantic actions scared Mom and Dad, they rushed over to pull me away. “Avery…” But I yelled, “Don’t move!” I turned to them, my eyes blurry with tears, my voice firm. “Give the medicine to my brother.” Just then, my hand was gently licked, and I froze. Looking down, I met a pair of dark, weak eyes. As if crossing a long decade, and countless bloody, cruel moments, they converged into this handsome young boy before me. “Sister.” He called me. My body stiffened. I didn’t know what expression to show. The terrifying scene before my death made it impossible for me to face him calmly. This was the future killer… Could I really change everything? Thinking of Mom and Dad behind me, I gritted my teeth, making up my mind. This life, I absolutely couldn’t let him feel hurt or ignored. I had to make him happy, had to soothe him. I forced a strained smile, popped the medicine into his mouth, and said softly, “Good boy, Leo. Take your medicine, and you’ll feel better soon.” Mom and Dad behind me seemed to hesitate, as if wanting to say something, but in the end, they just sighed and said no more. Leo blinked his dark eyes, then suddenly smiled, innocent and harmless, his voice hoarse, “Mommy said there were only three left. Sister, you take them.” I didn’t care about anything else, tears streaming down, I clumsily kept shoving the medicine into his mouth. “You take it, you take it…” If you don’t take it, we’ll all die ten years from now. He frowned, reaching out to stop me, and forcibly pulled out two pills, weakly offering them to me. His gaze was calm, his voice still holding the clear tone of a young boy: “Then I’ll take one, and Sister will take two.” I couldn’t refuse again. Because his eyes were terrifyingly bright. Just like they were when he cut my throat. Even though, in this year, he was only thirteen. Perhaps the fever reducers really worked. I don’t know how long I slept in a daze, but when I finally opened my eyes, I was startled.
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