Friday April 21st, 1989

Lloyd’s older sister Brenda would see her ninth birthday soon. All this time they had spent living in the city’s orphanage, and yet there had never been any family who would adopt them. It was a time when many species still felt intimidated, even fearful of their species. But simultaneously, there were also a lot of species who revered and respected dragons. Some of the other residents had idolised them, but they had both felt undeserving of this praise, as had the orphanage’s staff. Their upbringings had taught them that humbleness was a valuable commodity.

Perhaps this was the reason why their caregivers had been so reluctant to show them much in the way of affection. And he had always wondered what they thought he could possibly do to hurt them, when he had felt no desire to. Brenda was the one who could breathe fire, as dragons like them were well known for, whereas he instead could manipulate and control liquids. And whenever they could do it without getting caught, Brenda and Lloyd would use these abilities to pull pranks and give makeshift performances, even though they still had to learn the finer things about how to control them. Perhaps what scared them was their potential to misuse these powerful abilities. They had never admitted this, but he still tried to avoid letting it dampen his life.

School, which both he and Brenda saw as a helpful reprieve, was over for the weekend. And during his art lesson that day, he had not only focused on his own work, but while his teacher wasn’t looking, he drew out a birthday card for his sister, adorning it with a drawing of the two dragons sharing a hug. It wasn’t much, but the sentiment was something that money couldn’t buy. He couldn’t imagine his life without the only family he had ever known. But with what little money he had saved up, he could still pick her up something to mark the near close of her first decade alive. He hoped it would go on forever.


Thursday September 14th, 2000

“You didn’t have to do all this for me!” beamed Lloyd as Brenda brought him into the living room in her small flat.

“Come on, Lloyd.” said Brenda. “You deserve this for your birthday. You’re my little brother.”

“Yeah, as you keep reminding me.” he said wryly. On the oblong coffee table was a triple tiered birthday cake, along with five of their closest friends from the orphanage. The candles were lit with green flames, Brenda’s fire giving it an even more sentimental touch. While some of their friends had not been able to make it due to education or work commitments, the ones who had cheered before singing him a happy eighteenth birthday.

Brenda snapped several photos of him as he blew out the candles, before she cut out the first of many slices of the beautiful dessert. But before he could start tucking in, she reached into her trouser pocket and pulled out a small leather box. He got up to hug her, but she guided him back down into the chair with her wing. She smiled at him, and in a heartbeat he opened it.

Inside was a gold ring adorned with two faceted diamonds that were shaped like two dragons interweaving into each other. He looked unsure for a moment, clearly wondering how much Brenda had spent on it. But he soon realised that she would not relent.

“Brenda,” he said, “I can’t believe you’d go out of your way for me like this.”

“I told you,” she said affectionately, “it’s your special day.”

“Your sister loves you, you know.” said Grace, a petite gecko. “I think this calls for the hug you wanted, big boy.”

“Well yeah, I...I suppose it does.” said Lloyd graciously, before he took his sister into her arms.


Monday February 28th 2005

The dragons had grown up now. But while both had been able to get themselves good jobs, neither had been able to find steady lovers. It was only after leaving the orphanage that Brenda and Lloyd realised how uncommon their species was, even amongst the sizeable populace of North Triston. And in many different ways, this worked to both their detriment and their benefit.

Unfortunately, Brenda’s desire for this kind of bond had impaired her rationality, her feeling of being starved of this much stronger than that which her brother harboured. And there were some things she had never told him, for she didn’t think Lloyd would ever see her in the same light again.

She had dated a white dove named Andrei, but had quickly grown very possessive over him to the point that she was jealous of any other women she saw him with. He had broken up with her and, unable to take the fact that she was losing him, she had ensured that if she couldn’t have him, nobody could. In her jealousy and despair, she had killed him in his home with one hammer blow to his head and then fled.

The lack of DNA evidence had meant that she was never suspected in the crime, so his murder had gone unsolved. Lloyd had avoided asking her about it, as he had not known about her relationship problems, but had still wanted to avoid risking opening old wounds. But it soon became clear that he had no idea what she had done.

It had just been reported on the morning news that the police were ending their investigation, relegating it to a cold case. Brenda sat silently on the living room sofa and was only aware of Lloyd coming in when he sat down beside her.

“How do you feel, sis?” he asked sympathetically.

“I’m not sure, bro.” she answered.

“I know you really loved him.” he said as he hugged her. “But I’m sure they’ll get whoever did it one day. I don’t know when, but...someday they will.”

“I sure hope so.” she said. As bad as it felt to lie to her brother like that, sometimes the truth was worse than the lie. You trust me, don’t you? she thought. “Sometimes it feels like he’s still out there somewhere.”

“You used to say that about our parents.” he noted. “I wonder what they’d say about us now.”

“I think about that every day.”


Monday July 21st, 2014

It had been nearly four years since Lloyd’s murder, and still Brenda found herself sometimes drifting towards the notion that she could have stopped him from going to live in Smokestacks. As the months had passed, she had kept herself busy and distracted with running her businesses and expanding her empire, but often her mind was interrupted by visions of her brother. There were so many things that she had never told him, so many things they had never done. But she comforted herself with the knowledge that they had never once argued unlike a lot of other siblings, and that he had cared deeply for her right until the very end.

The impact of his death had shaken her, and some days she thought it was a punishment of some kind for having killed her first boyfriend. She had got away with it, but it was an act she now wished she had never committed. And if anyone found out now, she would kiss her life goodbye.

She still remembered the sound and pitch of his voice, wishing that there was some way she could hear him again. Just one week before his death, she had congratulated him on getting his new job at a large electronics company. Better not talk for too long, or they’ll think I’m sharing trade secrets with you. Bye bye, sis! She had never imagined these would be the final words her brother would ever say to her. The ring she had bought for him for his 18th birthday, the hand made birthday cards she had got from him, the photographs...they were the only things she’d had left of him before having him tattooed onto her right arm.

What stopped guilt from surfacing was her knowledge that there was no way she could have known that there would be a serial killer who favoured dragons as her ideal victims. The memory of him never answering her calls again had always stayed with her, and it was something she had tried hard to drown out through her erotic dancing, profits from the busiest nights and her acquisitions of other clubs. She had not been afraid to take on run down buildings, for although she had to spend more money renovating them, the effect once they opened was immediate.

The tattoo was one she hoped she would have forever. The Black Widow Killer was dead now, so at least she could never kill anyone again. To her, Lloyd had been the one thing in this world she had cherished, but to Nancy, he’d been nothing more than her next victim. And her boyfriend, a Neko called Wesley, had failed to save him despite a clear opportunity to, even if his actions had meant he had been able to save her other two intended victims that day. Later on, Nancy had killed her own boyfriend's cousin and later lost him his family owing to Brenda allowing her to leave her club with him. Because of this, she had considered herself and Wesley to be on even terms. But she had still had him inscribed with the same tattoo, with the addition of a white feather next to the graphic of the black widow spider. It had served its intended effect - every time he looked at the tattoo, he was reminded of his cowardice.

Now a police officer, he had remained in touch with her, and his desire to repay his debt to her had been enough for her to let go of her animosity for him. While she could never have Lloyd back, sometimes she wondered if he would have liked what she was doing with her life now. The most important thing, however, was that she found a male dragon she could fall in love with. She was the last living member of her family now. And the latest of her acquisitions, a former youth club that had been badly vandalised since it was shut down, was one that she hoped she could dedicate to him, even more so than her other strip clubs. It was truly a question that would never be answered.


This picture is a close up of the tattoo that Brenda and Wesley have on their right arms of the former's late brother Lloyd, drawn by the highly talented  BooBoo. Though he had black scales, he is a grey colour in this image so that he can be seen on Brenda's scales. His death is what connects these two characters, who have both lost so much in their lives.

Original image: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/36326038/