Chapter 1: Sibling Trauma

I can't escape this hell
So many times i've tried
But i'm still caged inside
Somebody get me through this nightmare
I can't control myself

Animal I Have Become - Three Days Grace.

Standing in the middle of Los Angeles with my brother, I stared at the people around us. They were chatting mindlessly, their bodies relaxed as they waited for the light to shine green. My body stood rigid and straight, a hand on my sibling's wheelchair. Jake was disabled, all because of an accident I could've prevented.

At twenty-two years old, I had faced things that these people could only endure during their nightmares. It was hard sometimes, to take care of my brother and take care of myself. Sometimes I didn't even care about my wellbeing to take care of Jake. Maybe it was guilt, or maybe it was just pure love and worry for him.

Tommy was our other brother, Jake's twin. They were polar opposites, apart from their looks. Tommy and I were going to a new planet for a program called Avatar transfer. Jake was going to stay here in LA by himself, something that I wasn't too sure about. But he had reassured me countless times, which sort of settled me down.

The light flashed green and before I could assist my brother, he pushed himself with his hands across the street. If there was any other resemblance to Tommy, it was their stubbornness. I guess all Sully's had it. After a couple more lights we reached our apartment, a small thing that was about the size of a prison cell.

It didn't really matter; we were never really in the room much. The room consisted of a single bed, a pull out couch, a mini fridge and a bathroom. Clothes were everywhere, along with empty pizza boxes and half-eaten food that I'm sure is mouldy and out of date by months. I walked over to the Television and turned it on, tying my light brown hair into a ponytail.

"The Bengal tiger, extinct for over a century, is making a comeback. These cloned tiger cubs at the Beijing Zoo are..." I could feel my eyes roll, thinking about the Genetic Mutation in today's society. Back when I was little, it was a mere experimentation but now, it was a natural scientific investment that just kept on expanding.

Dumbasses.

I heard my brother struggling and worry overcame me. "Hey, Jake! Do you want some help?" I called out to him, eyes on the cracked bedroom door.

"No, I can do this on my own. Okay?" He replied with a tone of slight annoyance. Jake hated it when I mothered over him, but come on, I was his younger, yet more mature, sister.

Biting my lip, I said, "Ok, but if you need me, just call."

He was rolling his eyes; I knew it.

I changed into a black shirt and turned the Television off as Jake wheeled out of his 'room.'

"You ready?" He asked quietly.

I nodded and picked a random jacket off of the floor, holding the door open for my brother. Chilvary is never dead. After locking the door, we headed down to the pub.

Let me just say, it was not somewhere where normal, actually happy people go.

I walked over to the bar and ordered two tequila shots. You could never come to Ernie's without buying Tequila. My brother also liked to show off. So, as I brought his drink to him, he balanced the shot on his forehead and lifted his wheels slightly off the ground, balancing himself and the precious alcohol.

Onlookers – of course – started to cheer and whoop for him. It was the norm for us, cheer at Jake, we get thrown out, we come back.

Endless cycles.

As he took the shot off his forehead I raised mine with a smirk, and we downed it with a gulp. The TV was on view in front of us, well it was in front of everyone really for something the size of a wall. It played the Antelopeon Soccer Team, winning the final season. I watched as jealousy clouded Jake's eyes as he watched the screen, and immediately felt guilty once more.

If I hadn't have been watching my back for one second, Jake would've never been paralysed. If I had been more careful, he would still have his strong, healthy legs.

We were fighting in Venezuela. Our side was winning and – being me – I got too excited and ran through the enemies, shooting them left and right. They were down in seconds. That's the only reason why I was allowed to fight with the big guys.

I wasn't looking behind me, nor in front, until finally I heard Jake yell out to me, "Lara, watch out!"

And it wasn't until I heard a gunshot and someone collapsed on top of me that I knew something was wrong. My eyes found the clear, blue eyes of my brother. They were tearing up in anguish, and his face contorted in pain.

"What's wrong, Jake?" I asked him worriedly, pushing him gently so he was on his back.

He landed on the dirt floor with a gasp of pain, and immediately my mind flicked back to the gunshot, "Did you get hit?"

Jake nodded and tears filled my eyes; he took a bullet for me.

"I can't feel my legs, Lara," he murmured to me, and that was the downfall of the Sully siblings.

No matter how many times he reassured me, I still couldn't believe that I wasn't at fault. If I listened, and was a good soldier, Jake wouldn't have been walking fine.

Jake – wait, where'd he go? Damnit!

When I caught notice of him, he was yanking the stool under from a random guy. Idiot. The guy crashed to the floor with a loud bang. Jake hurled out of his wheelchair and jumped on top of the guy, proceeding to beat the holy hell outta him. I rolled my eyes but cheered him on, moving his wheelchair so he could jump right back on. We were probably going to be kicked out, but for whatever reason, it was worth it. I was grabbed and thrown outside along with my brother, the wheelchair landing painfully on my stomach.

I groaned and pushed the wheelchair off of my body, blinking with a slight gasp of pain. That wheelchair must've weighed a ton.

Jake struggled to get up on his elbows, but called out with a loud voice, "I hope you realise you just lost two very valuable customers."

"Damn right, Candy-ass bitch," I muttered, leaning my head against Jake's stomach.

Two shadows fell over us, shiny leather shoes at our level. Gee, I need to ask these guys where they get their shoes shined. I will hook that shit up! I squinted up at the two men. Yep, FBI agents. Should've known, only they have the best private shoe shiner in the world.

"Are you Jake and Lara Sully?" One of them, most likely the good cop, asked.

I could basically feel Jake roll his eyes, "Shove off, you're ruining my good mood."

"It's about your brother."

Oh well then, that's a different story.

Yes I'm back and i'm sorry i haven't done this earlier. I had promised to re-write it, so here it is. It's going to be HELLAVU LOT BETTER than the other one, after reading it I literally wanted to set it on fire. The grammer and paragraphs even made me pull my hair out.

So I hope you like it, and i'll be adding the next chapter tomorrow.