Night exam /Lysandra Morwen

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Lysandra was born into a family that, to the outside world, appeared functional and stable. The house was orderly, resources were never lacking, and there was no explicit violence. Even so, from a very young age, Lysandra learned what it meant to grow up unseen. Her parents, Alaric and Elena Morwen, were almost always absent—both physically and emotionally. Work, travel, and responsibilities filled every space that could have been occupied by affection, listening, or genuine presence.

Their absence became even more evident with the birth of her younger brother, Elliot Morwen. Fragile, sickly, and dependent on constant care, Elliot became the absolute center of their parents’ attention. Every medical appointment, every crisis, every small improvement revolved around him. When Alaric and Elena were home, it was to care for their younger son. For Lysandra, there was only silence.

She grew up learning not to ask for anything. Birthdays passed almost unnoticed, celebrated mechanically or in solitude. At home, there were no questions about her feelings, her thoughts, or her fears. Little by little, Lysandra stopped trying to be noticed there.

At school, however, she found another way to exist. She became popular, extremely intelligent, and disciplined. Always among the best, always praised, always admired. Every high grade, every recognition, was a silent attempt to prove that she, too, deserved attention. But when she returned home, nothing changed. Her parents remained too focused on Elliot to notice who she was becoming.

Over time, the feeling of invisibility transformed into something deeper and more dangerous. Elliot stopped being merely a fragile brother and came to represent, in Lysandra’s mind, everything that kept her away from her parents. She no longer saw him as someone to be protected, but as the cause of her neglect. Too fragile. Too sick. Too present.

When she entered college as a science student, Lysandra finally found something that did not reject her. The human body fascinated her in an intense, obsessive way. Anatomy, internal systems, veins beneath the skin, organs working together—everything made sense to her. Unlike people, the body followed