The Open Door Chapter 1

My brother was in the living room with our neighbor, Mark, and I walked in on them.

My mom had a complete meltdown. She broke Mark’s... well, let's just say his days as a man were over.

My brother, Kevin, hated me for it.

He drugged me, dumped me at an abandoned construction site, and let a group of men destroy me. I died.

Now, I'm awake.

It’s the day it all happened. The day Kevin left the door open.

This time, I’m just going to lock it.

They can play all they want.

* * *

“Ugh… does it have to hurt? Go easy… I-I’ve never…”

Hearing my brother’s voice through the door, I realize I’m back.

It was this same suffocating afternoon.

I was taking out the trash when I heard... noises... from the apartment next door. Mark’s apartment.

I don't know why, but I leaned in.

The door was cracked. I saw my brother, Kevin, pinned to the sofa by Mark.

They were in a position I didn’t even know was possible.

A hot rage filled my head. I thought Kevin was being attacked. Mark was, after all, my dad’s best friend of twenty years.

So I screamed and threw the door open.

My mom heard me and came running. When she saw them, she just... broke.

She grabbed a floor lamp and started beating Mark with it.

He was screaming, and by the time it was over, his future was... gone.

That’s when my nightmare started.

My mom blamed me for everything.

“If you were a better sister, if you’d watched him, would that pervert have targeted him?!”

They pulled me out of school. They made me take Kevin to therapy.

Eventually, the therapists "fixed" him. He could supposedly "react" to women again.

Everything seemed to go back to normal.

But Kevin never, ever forgave me.

He put something in my drink. He stuffed me in a canvas bag and left me on a pile of rubble.

That day…

My fingernails were all torn out. I heard my own bones snap. Fists, cigarette butts, beer bottles…

I was a broken doll, and they tore me apart.

I died in agony.

As my vision faded, I saw Kevin standing a few feet away, filming it on his phone.

“You bitch,” he hissed. “You ruined my life. You deserve this.”

After I died, my mother shed a few tears. Then she sighed.

“That girl was just born bad. I’ve already lost her; I can’t lose your brother, too.”

Because I "died dirty," they said I brought shame to the family. They wouldn't even bury me.

My mom cashed in the small life insurance policy I’d paid for from my part-time job—at a 70% loss—and used the money to buy Kevin’s way into some scam online college.

“Aah… Mark… please…”

“Relax, baby. You’ll learn to love it…”

The sounds from the apartment yank me back to the present.

I step forward.

I quietly reach for the handle. I gently push the door shut until I hear it click.

This time, my dear brother, you can leave that door as wide open as you want.