What Could Have Been

By Tia Cox

The living room stirred with excitement and happiness; it's the holidays after all. Family was chatting, friends were humming along with the music, everyone was just having a good time. The house smelt of festive foods, and Christmas decorations littered the halls, filling each room with the Christmas cheer.

Anna hadn't really been in the mood for all this celebration, so she had hidden herself away in the corner of the room with a book. Mikhail, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. Anna knew something was up with him, but she couldn't place exactly what. Mikhail had been distant all day, which was unusual. He's usually the star of the room, the life of the party. Last she saw of him, he was heading upstairs, about 30 minutes ago.

No one seemed to notice the absence of Mikhail, only Anna. Anna is always looking out for her brother; that's her best friend after all. But as time passed and still no one questioned where Mikhail was, Anna had begun to get a bit worried. He had just gone all of a sudden. Naturally, Anna wanted to go look for her brother, but something just kept telling her not to, so she stayed where she was, and kept reading her book.

Focusing on her book was becoming increasingly harder, as the overwhelming anxiety started to take over her body. Something wasn't right- something wasn't right with Mikhail, but she was too scared to find out, because something was telling her she didn't want to see that. She didn't want to see what was wrong with him.

After a bit Anna decides that her best bet is to just go ask her mum. She walks up to her mum who is engaged in some conversation with her friends. Anna waits for her mum to stop talking before speaking, "hey mum, have you seen Mikhail?" She asks quietly, her voice holding a slither of worry as she speaks. Her mother replies without an inch of worry, "I'm sure he's just upstairs or something." Her voice filled with joy from the party. "Why don't you just go find him, okay?" Anna nods, trusting her mother. What's the worst that could happen?

Anna's steps felt heavy as she pulled herself upstairs to begin to look for her brother. The closer she gets to the top of the stairs, the more the anxiety starts to set in, something wasn't right, she knew that, she could feel it in her bones, and in her soul.

The upstairs was eerily quiet, too quiet. The air felt stiff, full of unspoken words, and regret. But regret for what exactly? Anna didn't know, but she kept going, walking towards Mikhail's room first. She knocks on the door and waits for an answer, when she gets none, she pushes the door open, revealing his empty room. She takes a step inside, her steps feeling heavier than the last as she looks around the room. The undeniable dread filling her body, like a cup filled with water. Anna walks towards Mikhail's bathroom, once at the door, she knocks. No answer. "Misha?" Her small voice crocks out, "Misha, are you in there...?" Anna's voice started to hold quite a bit of worry.

Anna pushes the door open, and in that moment her breath stills. The whole room stills. All she could see was the blood covering the floor, and Mikhail on the floor, still, pale, borderline lifeless. Anna's heart rates picked up, as the tears started to stream down her cheeks. "MISHA" Her voice once quiet, screams out. She's quick to rush to him. "Misha- what did you do?" Anna spits out between sobs. "I fucked up, Anya" Mikhail's voice spits out breathless, quiet, so quiet Anna almost missed it. Anna watched as the last of his life left his eyes, leaving just the shell of who he was, leaving his body there on the cold tilled floor in the bathroom, covered in his own blood. How poetic.

It felt like hours before Anna was able to pull herself from Misha, she had to tell someone. Anna picked herself up from the floor- from Misha's body, and took herself downstairs, her clothes covered in blood.

The moment the room saw her, it went quiet. So quiet you could hear a pin drop. "Anna...?" The voice of her father speaks. "Anya, what happened?" His voice hurried, worried even. Anna couldn't even look at them, all she could do was sob. After minutes of sobbing she finally looked up and her parents and spoke, her voice carrying the pain of a thousand broken souls. "Misha- Misha is dead."

By Tia Cox