Love Again

119. My New Pet

"It started off with a a grasshopper, then a locust... She came and showed it to me then we laughed about it. It seemed harmless for we were much younger. Afterwards, she wanted bigger objects...or living creatures. She said it was exciting."

"Like what?"

"A bird...a squirrel perhaps. She just held them in her hands and then snapped them. At first, I had thought she was playing around when she dealt with small insects but I had to inform my father about it when she squeezed my hamster to it's death with her bare hands, and when I asked her why she did that,she said it was cute."

A loud silence befell the room that each of the three occupants could hear each other's breathing.

"We have retrieved her military service report. It showed she was chosen under selective conscription. It also indicates she pulled out after four months due to an illness. At first, she had applied to be transferred elsewhere, I'm not sure why but it wasn't approved. She also didn't get along well with any of her bunk mates. The report goes further to attest a written confession from one of her bunk mates who claimed she left the dorm at specific times of the night. They'd assumed it's to answer nature's call however, upon noticing a daily pattern, they followed her and that's when she was confirmed to be ill. Would you like to tell us what happened?"

"I have no knowledge of that. All I know is while she was away, Mijin and I had started dating. When my sister came back, she was taken to rehab...at least that is what my mother said and after three months, she came back and was registered to join the community college. I introduced her once to Mijin once briefly and afterwards, Mijin told me she was taking the same course with my sister. I remember them being the best of friends. A few months afterwards, I was to wed."

Raising his head to glance up at Mora's brother, the doctor put his pen down together with a notebook he'd been holding onto on top of the table then crossed his legs. There has been two of them. One taking charge of the questioning while the other sat beside Mora's brother bearing witness to the conversation.

"Would you care to explain to us what you meant by your sister switching to larger objects? I'm curious to know more."

The other doctor raised his hand as if to stop his collegue."I don't think..."

"It's fine. I don't mind talking about it. What do I have to loose anyway than I already have?"

Both doctors stared at each other briefly before glancing back at a rather cooperative patient. Things were moving smoother than they had anticipated.

"We've had a few pets, none of which have stayed with us more than a month. I stopped having a pet after my hamster died but father always seemed to get Mora a new one. I never payed much attention to them since Mora was always with mother...and my mother and I are not very close. I've never expected much from my mother anyway apart from representation and father made it clear to keep it that way for the longest time too."

"Why?"

"I'm aware I'm not my mother's biological son."

Both doctors looked at each other then back to Mora's brother, whose eyes were fixated outside the window, his face empty, his body language unreadable.

"Anyway, my nanny informed me why all the pets went missing and we found out someone was hired to dispose off their bodies every month. Soon enough, I discovered that my sister was undergoing some sort of training and with every 30 days or more, if she were to behave favourably, she'd be rewarded a new pet. Her task had been to stay with one pet at a time and keep them alive for as long as she could."

"Why didn't you report this to...?"

"Father told me he was taking care of it when I confronted him. You may not know but sometimes I feel more like a stranger around my family. I never fit in with anyone neither do I resemble either of them. But still, family is family, right? We don't choose them, we just find ourselves with them by chance and if one is lucky, they get a good one like Mijin."