For as long as I could remember it had been my brother and I. This was before Kieran Giese came into my life and sweeps me away from him. For the past year, I had lived on the Giese estate as a slave. When Dasan staged my death it gave me a real chance at freedom. So, when the demon asked for my help in teaching Kieran a lesson, I had to admit at first I wanted nothing to do with it. The only thing I wanted to do was see my brother again. I knew on some level I couldn’t go home not if Kieran was watching my brother as he had promised. My presence would be noted and it would put him in danger. No, I wanted no part in this so called plot. I only wanted to check on my brother and move one with my life somewhere else content with the knowledge that he was alive and well.
However, this would all change. My brother was living in a modest house. Modest in regards to most places. However, it was a nice house at the same time. It wasn’t the flashiest of places but it was far from the run down apartment that had been our home once upon a time. I paused at the door unsure what I would find inside. Would be still be the same person I had left behind? I know a year might not be that long. It could feel like forever when you were missing someone. A minute could see like an hour, an hour, like days, and a year an eternity at least this was how it felt to me.
Pushing open the door I called out his name moving through the quiet house. The house was neat and ordered. I was always the messy one I mused as I carefully removed my shoes. I knew if I got dirt on the run he would never forgive me. I smiled as I moved through the living room. I stopped to pick up a picture on a nearby end table. The two of us sat with our heads together, we were about seven years old at the time and our mother had taken the picture. I could still remember that day as so many others they were etched in my mind. I had replayed the memories a thousand times over the past year. The isolation and loneliness I felt had made those moments my only comfort. I glanced around at the other pictures that were scattered in various locations across the room. I was content with the knowledge that like me he had chosen to remember our life together.
Shaking my head, I continued to move pondering the silence. It might be he was sleeping. I knew nothing of his schedule any more. It was also possible he wasn’t here. A slight sound of a cat meowing caught my attention as I opened the door and like a bolt of lightning the yellow feline darted out of the bathroom and down the hallway. It hissed at me like a being possessed as it flew out the door I had left open. Shaking my head I wondered what could have caused it to flee. Peering in the room I was assaulted with the smell or urine and shit as I glanced at the over full litter box. It was strange that my brother would not have changed it. It was almost like it hadn’t been changed for a few days maybe more. A light frown formed on my face as she shook my head shutting the door.
Now, my mind was in full panic as I ran for the bedroom. Throwing open the door I could feel the magic that still lingered in the air. It was something I had learned to sense during my time. I could see the remains of the room as it appeared it had been torn apart by invisible hands. These hands must have been mad because everything inside the room was destroyed. The outside seemed unaffected by the inside looked like a giant hand descended and ripped the insides out. Like a magical gutting of the room. IT almost seemed anger as if trying to rip the world apart. I stood there for a moment in awe of the scene in front of me. The power used to do such a thing must have been immense.
There on the bed untouched by the chaos all around was my brother. He lay there like he had been perfectly arranged. It was a mockery in the middle of the chaos. He seemed so peaceful, so quiet I was afraid to approach him. I moved towards the side of the bed as I peered down at him. His eyes closed, long lashes framing them. His hands folded neatly across his chest. I reached out to brush strands of his dark hair so like my own out of his eyes. His skin was cold to the touch pale as death. I knew the truth my mind refused to accept. My brother was dead killed by the same magic that had destroyed this room. Yet, he had been preserved forever in this state. A frozen testament to what I could not say.
I felt the anger boil up inside of me. Kieran had promised he would be alright. And he had lied. The second I was gone he had killed him. I didn’t break our deal. I had died or so he should have believed. I had kept my part of the promise and would have not for Dasan. If Kieran was in front of me at that moment I would have rung his neck. The grief washed over me and I refused to let it take me. I should have cried. I should have mourned. Instead, I put a layer of ice over my heart and pushed it back. I was going to more than help Dasan Black with his plan to teach Kieran Giese a lesson. I was going to look him in the eyes and tell him exactly what I thought of him. One way or another I would make him pay.
