Lisa and Lucas had always been good siblings. They always got along. They seemed inseparable, because they were inseparable.
Lisa never liked being away from Lucas. The same went for him.
That bond only deepened after their parents died. They felt like they only had each other, so it was natural for them to lean on one another. It was natural for them to become each other's whole world.
Not even Helena's presence changed that. After all, she could never stay with them for long. Her presence was always temporary—she was a heroine, with duties to the world.
As they grew, the two siblings became even closer. They went to school together, ate together, slept together... even bathed together. They were happy children.
As long as they had each other, they felt like they could face the world.
But time passed. The children grew up. They became a man and a woman. And things couldn't stay the same.
An invisible distance formed between them. They could no longer sleep or bathe together.
Even though their rooms faced each other, that short distance felt infinite to Lisa.
Lucas had forgotten their old bond, but Lisa hadn't. She remembered everything.
As the years passed, that distance only grew. Lucas made new friends. Lisa did too. But she didn't want others. She only wanted him. For Lisa, Lucas was everything.
She tried to get his attention. Tried hard. Changed her style, even showed off in a swimsuit for her brother, hoping he'd look at her differently... but Lucas never seemed to notice. To him, she was just the little sister. And nothing more.
Trying to be noticed, Lisa adopted a more aggressive, even venomous personality. But still, Lucas didn't react. It was like she didn't even exist.
Her only hope was that, one day, Lucas would truly see her.
Those hopes, however, shattered the moment "she" transferred to their school: Rafaela. That spoiled girl who thought she was better than everyone just because she had a pretty face and a developed body.
And everything got worse when Lucas started paying attention to her. The little attention Lisa received became even smaller. He seemed to care more about Rafaela than about her.
Lisa envied that body as she looked at her own flat chest. She tried to comfort herself by saying she was still growing, that one day she'd reach that level.
But time passed. Her appearance didn't change. If anything, it got worse: she looked cuter, more childish—the complete opposite of the beauty she desired. No breathtaking charm. No body that drew gazes.
But Lisa was never one to give up. She got a boyfriend: Michael, a kind and honest classmate. At first glance, they seemed like a lovely couple. But it was all a façade. Lisa never even let Michael hold her hand.
Deep down, she felt guilty. Michael tried hard to be a good boyfriend, and she only used him to make Lucas jealous—which, of course, didn't work. He didn't notice a thing.
Lisa tried to justify her actions, telling herself that if she never got Lucas, she could at least give Michael a chance. He wasn't that bad.
Then the news came: Lucas and Rafaela had fought. The relationship ended. Rafaela had already set her eyes on someone else.
Lisa was ecstatic. Lucas was her brother, her love, her obsession. No one was happier about the breakup than her.
But seeing him sad, empty... she couldn't bear it. Because above all, Lisa loved him. And if he was happy with Rafaela...
She made a decision.
She would help Lucas fix his relationship with Rafaela.
Some would call her an idiot for not seizing the opportunity. But Lisa was just a girl in love—and she didn't want Lucas's love that way.
So she swallowed the pain and decided to just be by his side. Resigned herself to the fate of being just the little sister.
Lucas and Rafaela's relationship seemed to improve, almost going back to what it was before.
Michael, meanwhile, tried to cheer Lisa up—only to be scolded. Because the truth was, Michael could never fill the void Lucas had left.
---
Lisa was desperate over Lucas's sudden fainting spells, refusing to leave his side, even going hungry.
In the end, Lisa's body couldn't take it, and she collapsed.
She woke up in her bed, feeling weak.
A voluptuous woman, Helena, entered the room at that very moment, speaking in a stern voice:
"Lisa, don't do that again. You need to take care of your body."
Lisa looked at her and replied with a sarcastic voice, "And who are you to tell me what to do? My mom?"
Helena stopped at the door, crossing her arms beneath the breasts covered by a black silk robe that made her curves even more evident. Her gaze was firm, but there was no anger—only restrained sadness, the kind of silent pain that hurts more than a scream.
"No. Your mother is dead," she answered, dryly, with a calm that cut the air like ice. "But if you keep acting like this, she'll have to bury her daughter too, won't she?"
Lisa gripped the sheets tightly, her eyes filling with rage and frustration. She wanted to scream, break something, run out of that room and never come back. But her body wouldn't obey. She was too weak to even turn to the side.
"You don't understand," she whispered, biting her lower lip to keep from crying. "He might die... and I... I won't just sit here... I can't leave him alone."
Helena slowly approached, as if afraid Lisa would run, even knowing she couldn't. She sat on the edge of the bed, the mattress sinking slightly with her weight.
"I understand more than you think." Her voice softened. "But Lucas wouldn't be happy waking up to find you killing yourself over him."
Lisa looked away, her face flushed. "You only care because... because you like him too, right? You must love seeing him vulnerable in bed."
Helena blinked, surprised, and her expression faltered for a second. "Lisa…"
"Going to deny it?" her voice trembled. "You think I don't see the way you look at him?"
Silence dropped like a bomb between the two. Helena didn't respond immediately, because there was no way to deny it. Her eyes betrayed what her mouth wouldn't dare say.
"I'd never do anything to hurt him," she finally said, in a low voice. "Neither would you."
Lisa curled up, tears finally falling—not from weakness, but from frustration. "I just want him back... He's my brother… he's all I have left."
Helena hesitated, her hand hovering in the air as if to touch her again, but she pulled back.
"You're all he has left too, you know?"
Lisa finally looked at her. In Helena's eyes there was a mix of pain and tenderness. And for a moment, Lisa felt small—not because of her appearance, but from the weight of emotions she tried to suffocate day after day.
"Is he still asleep?" Lisa asked, her voice faltering.
Helena nodded.
"But his body is responding. Looks like he'll wake up soon."
Lisa closed her eyes and let out a shaky sigh.
"When he wakes up... let me know."
"Of course. But only if you promise you'll eat."
"Only if you stop meddling."
Helena smiled with that typical maternal sarcasm.
"Impossible. I'm an adult, pretty, and stubbornly responsible. I don't know how to do anything else."
Lisa huffed, crossing her arms, but her face turned slightly red.
"Bloated cow…"
"Plank," Helena retorted, already leaving the room with a victorious smile.
Even weak, Lisa grabbed her pillow and threw it, missing by far. And for the first time in days, she laughed quietly.
---
Lucas entered Lisa's room, feeling the tranquil atmosphere of the space.
Lisa's room was delicate, but meticulously organized. The pale pink walls and white furniture gave a classic and feminine air, without exaggeration. The light canopy bed was the centerpiece of the room, flanked by a bookshelf and an immaculate vanity. A huge stuffed bear hid in a corner under a blanket.
Lucas admired the room for a moment, but quickly focused on Lisa, who slept peacefully in her bed, her body sprawled out, her expression calm, like a little princess from a fantasy world.
He sat on the edge of the bed, simply admiring his sister as she slept, her red hair spread across the pillow like strands of soft fire, her slow breathing making her chest rise and fall in a hypnotic rhythm.
She looked so small, so fragile… so beautiful.
Lisa's face, even asleep, kept that slightly pouty expression, as if she were arguing with someone even in her dreams. The slightly flushed cheeks, long eyelashes, and parted lips in an innocent sigh made Lucas's heart beat harder than he'd like to admit. There was something enchanting about her—something beyond shared blood or a childhood lived side by side.
"She looks like a doll," Lucas thought, leaning slightly closer. "A spoiled, explosive doll that wants to kill me half the time…"
His gaze drifted down, tracing the line from her delicate collarbone to the small swell beneath the thin silk nightgown that barely hid her soft curves. Small. But they were there. Delicately shaped, the fabric pressed against pale skin revealed more than it concealed. Her nipples, hardened from the night's chill, were visible even through the thin material.
Lucas swallowed hard, feeling a heat rise along his spine.
"Why the hell does she sleep in that? This is torture. This is... this is a sin," he muttered to himself, trying to avert his eyes—and failing miserably. His body reacted on its own, and dangerous thoughts began to form like storm clouds in his mind.
But in the next instant, Lisa's blue eyes slowly opened and met Lucas's—still fixed on her chest.
For a second, time froze.
"You disgusting pervert!" she yelled, her voice rough from sleep but full of her usual fury.
Lucas was hit by a pillow with a speed and force that defied the laws of physics. Still dazed, he stumbled back, trying to explain while laughing nervously.
"Calm down, calm down! I was just… making sure you were breathing properly! It's important to monitor... chest movement during sleep! It's science!"
Lisa grabbed the second pillow.
"I should smother you with this, you idiot!" she screamed, but her face was red to the tips of her ears, and a small smile appeared at the corners of her lips before being wiped away by her usual scowl.
Even in anger, inside, Lisa's heart danced. He still saw her. Still desired her, even if he was an idiotic pervert.
And that, for her… was more than enough.
---
Lucas closed the bedroom door behind him, holding his face as he thought:
"Okay?... That was weird... It seemed like Lisa liked it?... I liked it too..."
Walking down the hallway, his footsteps echoed in the dark, silent corridor. Lucas muttered to himself:
"Hmm... Maybe I'm going crazy..."
He ran a hand through his hair, messing up the red strands even more, and kept walking as if the darkness around him could answer his existential doubts. (Spoiler: it couldn't.)
"Maybe I'm going crazy..." he repeated, looking up at the ceiling as if the gods of plaster had any answers.
But nothing.
Just silence.
And the memory of Lisa's subtle touch on his fingers.
"This isn't normal..." he murmured, shaking his head with a nervous smile. "She's my sister... technically. Morally. Legally. Biologically... And yet..."
He stopped walking.
Blinking a few times, he stared at his reflection in the mirror along the hallway. The blue-eyed boy stared back with the typical expression of someone pretending to be fine, but clearly wasn't.
"Dude, you've already died once... maybe twice... With strange memories in your head... And now you're getting hard because of your tsundere little sister with a height complex... Wonderful, Lucas... just wonderful..."
He sighed, resting his forehead against the cold wall.
"All that's missing now is Helena showing up and asking why I'm panting in the middle of the hallway..."
As if the universe had a sense of humor (spoiler: it does, and it's sadistic), soft footsteps began approaching. Footsteps he would recognize even if he were deaf, blind, and had amnesia.
"Oh no…" he whispered, turning slowly like a horror movie character about to meet the killer.
And there she was. The tall silhouette. The tight dress. The ice-blue eyes that seemed to see through any facade.
Helena.
With that lazy, provocative smile on her lips.
"What are you doing awake at this hour, sweetheart?" she asked, her voice low and warm like wine spilled on skin.
Lucas smiled. A smile that was part charm, part restrained panic.
"Me? Nothing. Just philosophizing... about life... and how everything is fleeting... Including sanity."
Helena raised an eyebrow.
"Hm. Deep. Very deep."
And then, unhurriedly, she walked up to him, her heels making a soft sound on the marble floor, as if every step had been choreographed to hypnotize.
Lucas swallowed hard.
"Helena..."
"Lucas..."
"Can we pretend I'm not blushing and you're not looking sinfully gorgeous?"
She smiled.
"And can we also pretend you weren't just whispering your sister's name a few moments ago, while rubbing your forehead against the wall?"
Lucas froze.
"You heard that?"
She got closer.
"I hear everything in this house, darling."
Silence.
Lucas took a deep breath, trying to keep his composure.
He was a genius at many things...
But in that moment...
He was completely screwed.
---
End of chapter.