Brother (Short), Page 2

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  1

  Brave

  I never used to be brave. Not like this. Some may say it was brave of me to return to school and the imminent torture I was to face from the Painfully Perfects, day in and day out. I however, would neither say that was brave or smart for that matter. It was more the fact that I had no other choice, dropping out of school and running away to join the circus was unfortunately just not an option in today’s society; not to say that I hadn’t thought about it.

  Yet as I stood there, in front of the entire class; each person fixated on me, staring at me as though they were glued in my direction; and spoke directly to the Perfects, especially after what they had done to me, in that exact moment I was brave!

  “What’s the matter with you guys? You look like you have seen a ghost.” I said. My voice was strong, steady, and full of courage. I had no need to be afraid of them anymore. There was nothing else they could do to me now. They had killed me once already, and yet, here I stood, in the flesh, Delilah May Martin.

  I watched as the colour drained from each one of their stone like faces. Their eyes widened, I could smell the sweet scent of fear in the air. Time stood still, or at least it felt as though it did to me. The world was silent, allowing me to bask in my moment of glory. A single tear trickled slowly down Katie’s face, as the realization of her unnecessary loss of Sebastian set in.

  Six pairs of eyes stared at me so intently I could feel them trying to make certain I was real. I could almost hear the thoughts rushing through their heads.

  “How is it possible?” Their first obvious question; a question they would not be able to ask anyone without exposing what they had done to me. Then I saw Katie’s lips move slightly, a low whisper escaping from them, dancing to my ears. I smiled, satisfied with her one solitary word. Vampire. Oh how very wrong she was.

  “Delilah, Art, I am glad you both made it.” Mrs. Watson said bringing me back to reality. Her eyes were red and swollen, much like the rest of the eyes in the classroom that were still all locked in my direction. The news of Sebastian’s death had circulated the town of Echo quickly, quicker than the usual news of such trivial things like haircuts and new cars.

  “In light of the recent tragedy we will not be having our regular scheduled classes today. However, in ten minutes each class will be heading to the gym for a special memorial assembly. We have Pastor Graham here to speak to us all, and try and help us make sense of such a senseless situation.” Mrs. Watson could barely make it through her sentence before tears welled up in her eyes again.

  Katie and the other Perfects hadn’t taken their eyes off me. I pretended I didn’t notice. I sat in my desk, second row from the front. Sebastian’s empty desk was to my right; I couldn’t help but glance at it almost hoping to see him there. Jack was sat at the back of the room in his usual spot; I wished he were closer to me.

  “Is your wrist better dear?” Mrs. Watson asked. I looked up and smiled.

  “It’s seems that way.”

  “Well, that’s good, it healed nice and quickly for you. I like your new haircut.”

  “Thank you Mrs. Watson, so do I.” I glanced towards Jess who was obviously wearing a wig.

  “Did you do something different with your hair too, Jess? It looks...different.” I asked. The whole class turned to look at her. Jess just shook her head, tears rolled down her cheeks. She looked as though she was about to get up, but Katie grabbed her arm. For the remaining eight minutes and fifteen seconds the whole class sat silently and watched the large clock on the wall and the seconds passed by slowly. I wanted so badly to twirl my hair, I reached for it a few times and quickly pretended to scratch my head. I wondered if Jack was watching the clock too, but I didn’t dare turn around to look. I was afraid the Perfects would try and stab a stake through my chest or something. They were looking a bit crazy today, especially Katie. Not to mention the fact that as confidant and brave as I felt to show up to class and face the Perfects, the part of me that was dealing with Sebastian’s death was only hanging on by a thread.

  “Okay everyone, it is our turn to head to the gym now. Please do so in single file, there will be no assigned seating, we just ask that you be respectful to each other.” Mrs. Watson finally instructed.

  As the class started to leave, I waited in my seat for Jack, and I watched the Perfects leave the room together. Kevin was supporting Katie as she had now begun sobbing uncontrollably. Jack tapped me on the shoulder and took my hand. It felt so good to have him with me.

  We followed the rest of the class down the main hallway to the gym. The school had new floors since the flood so the sound of every shoe seemed magnified and the smell of fresh paint and disinfectant burned my nose. As I passed each locker I wondered what personal effects had been lost in the flood that Jack and I had caused. How many workbooks or homework assignments had been ruined? Would students be expected to redo their work or would they be let off the hook?

  When we passed Sebastian’s locker I stopped, it was being covered with signatures and good-bye messages from students. Then it hit me. Had any of Sebastian’s things been ruined by the flood? What was left in his locker now? Had his parents cleared it out or had Katie? What if all his things were still in there, what would happen to them? Would his locker be cleaned out and given to another student or would it forever be a shrine to him? I wanted to open it and see what was inside. I couldn’t bear the thought of Katie having his things; she didn’t deserve any of it.

  Jack tugged at my hand, I continued on our way to the gym. Each and every student seemed to be affected by Sebastian’s death, whether they knew him or not. Some of the younger students that definitely were not friends of his were even crying as they made their way to the gym. I couldn’t help but wonder if everyone would be reacting the same way if it was a week earlier and it was my death they had all just been informed of. Would they be writing messages on my locker? Somehow I doubted it.

  Jack and I took our seats across the room from the Perfects, I didn’t want to be too close to them, but I wanted to see them, I wanted them to see me. I needed the constant reminder of what they had done to be right in front of their faces as much as possible. Jack had been right, death for them was too easy this was far worse torture.

  Jack wrapped his arm around my waist and I rested my head on his shoulder as Pastor Graham along with Principle Foster walked to the front of the student filled gymnasium. Teachers were consoling other teachers; students were hugging each other all the while tears were flowing freely. Sobs could be heard from all directions, echoing through the gym, it was unconceivable how much Sebastian’s death was affecting so many.

  There was a large picture of Sebastian at the front next to a microphone; I recognized it right away as his school photo. Flowers were placed along the floor and a reef on a stand with Sebastian Dale in blue ribbon tied to it was placed on the other side of the microphone stand. There were large white candles lit around the whole make shift stage. It was really quite beautifully somber.

  Principle Foster was an older man, probably in his sixties almost. He had grey hair and hard eyes that were not at all hidden by the half rimmed glasses he wore. He was always well dressed in a clean suit and polished shoes. Students seemed to fear him. Fortunately I haven’t had to spend too much time in his office before. He had always been a fan of the Perfects, just like all the other teachers.

  He slowly walked up to the microphone and tapped it to make sure it was working; it made the high pitched squeal that had everyone covering their ears, the telltale sign it was on and working. Jack gave me a little squeeze and I took a deep breath. I was trying not to lose control of my emotions. I didn’t want the Perfects to see me cry.

  “Good morning students.” Principle Foster began with a shaky voice. “I am sure that you have all heard by now about the tragic loss of one of our students, Sebastian Dale.” Tears escaped my eyes at the sound of his name; I wiped them away quickly.

  “The loss of s
omeone so young is devastating beyond words; and to lose them because they took their own life leaves us all with so many questions; questions that will never be answered. Why would one do that? What was so terrible that one would feel they had no other option?” I knew the answers to those questions, and so did the Perfects. I wanted to shout out that it was their fault, Katie and the others; they were the ones responsible for Sebastian’s death! But I didn’t. No one would believe me anyway.

  “We all go through times where we feel that life is unbearable, that there is nothing that could ever make things better. But life always gets better; you just have to hang in there. Suicide is not the way to solve your problems. Suicide is a very permanent solution to a temporary problem. No matter what you may be worried about, or what problems you are facing, there is always someone you can talk to such as your parents, teachers, guidance counselor, myself or Pastor Graham.” I wondered what they would have done if Sebastian would have tried to talk to them about the Perfects killing me?

  “If you are worried you will get in trouble, you have to remember, that trouble isn’t nearly as bad as death.” Principle Foster went on for ages. Talking about all the different ways we can be there for each other and help with our grieving process. He also told us that extra guidance counselors would be there for all those who needed their help. I didn’t hear all of his ramblings, I’m sure he meant well, but none of it actually applied to Sebastian’s suicide, the circumstances of his choice were unique.

  I watched as the students around me nodded along with his words, wiping their tears and blowing their noses. None of them had the slightest clue about the truth of it all, other than the Perfects. They would all go on thinking of reasons why Sebastian would do what he did, wondering what could have been so terrible in the life of a boy who seemed to have everything so, so perfect.

  After what seemed like hours, Pastor Graham got up and began to give a sermon, about life, death and something about God guiding us all through our struggles. I had a hard time listening to him too, especially because I couldn’t help but wonder where God had been through all of it. As he went on I felt the overwhelming need to get out of there; I wanted to run away as fast as I could to the island, to be away from all the sadness. But there was no way for me to escape unnoticed. Besides, I wasn’t sure the island was the best place to escape. How could I ever go back there again without seeing that terrible vision of Sebastian hanging from that tree?

  A young man took the stage who I didn’t recognize; dressed in neatly pressed khaki pants and a wrinkle free collard dress shirt, not a hair out of place and gleaming white teeth; he looked like he was there to sell us all a bible. Apparently he was from a youth group that worked with troubled teens. The school had really gone out of their way to ensure we all knew that suicide wasn’t the answer to any problems we may be having. I was slightly impressed I have to admit, but couldn’t help resent the fact that they were too little too late. Where had the school been all those years when the Perfects were bullying and torturing me? The teachers didn’t even notice let alone offer any helpful advice on how to deal with it. They say they are here for us if we need them but are they really? Would they have been saying the same thing to me if I had tried harder to get them to help me, that things are never that bad, life always gets better?

  The young man was far to chipper for the crowd. I’m sure his intentions were to lighten the mood, and help stop anyone one else from following in Sebastian’s footsteps, but he just annoyed the hell out of me. He began with explaining about the group he was from, “God’s gang” he called it. I wondered if he knew the only gang Echo had was a group of snobby women that took over the coffee shop on a Saturday morning. After explaining about all the wonderful life altering hiking, fishing and camping trips they have taken; and all the bonding and communicating that happens while just spending time together, he finally began his speech.

  “Imagine that you are standing on a bridge, you take a deep breath, you say goodbye to your friends and family, and you jump to your death.” He definitely owned the stage as he walked around with his hands flailing about. “Like your principle dude said, you’re making a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” Did he really just say dude?

  “You may be solving your own personal problem, but imagine the pain, suffering, and anguish that your friends, family, and peers go through. The people around you are wondering what was going through your mind and why you did it. Maybe you even told some of your friends that you were going to do it, and they didn’t believe you, now how do you think they feel? You may have told your friends about your plans, but apparently your parents had no clue as to why you would choose to take your life, but this is the case with most teenage suicides. A lot of the time the parents don’t have any clue that there was anything wrong in their children’s lives, and also the teen’s friends might have had some kind of clue, but they didn’t do anything about it. Overall, they are left grieving their dead child or friend who took their own life away without any real explanation left behind. There is always help out there, for everyone. At “God’s gang” we accept everyone, and there is no initiation.” The guy laughed at his own joke, geez, what a wacko. Then he went on to list the warning signs of suicide.

  “So if anyone you know shows any of these signs, it is so important you tell someone, you could be a life saver.

  Suicidal talk

  Preoccupation with death and dying.

  Signs of depression

  Behavioral changes

  Giving away special possessions and making arrangements to take care of unfinished business.

  Having trouble eating and sleeping

  Taking excessive risks

  Increased drug use

  Loss of interest in usual activities.” He held up giant cue cards with each list item on it for everyone to see. I felt like I needed to learn them all right then, as though we will be tested on them when we get back to class.

  “So dudes and dudets, take care of each other, love each other, and most importantly talk to each other. Save a life, be a friend!” Really? The whole thing was more than painful.

  Some of the teachers and members of the football team he had played with for the past few years got up and spoke about their memories of Sebastian. It was too much, I couldn’t hold my tears back; I spent the whole time turned into Jack, leaning my head on his chest to hide my eyes. Not that it would have mattered. Everyone else in the gym, especially Katie and the other Perfects were pretty much doing the same thing.

  When it was all finally over, it was time for lunch. I wasn’t sure if that was going to be any better. Jack and I headed for the cafeteria, amongst the somber crowd.

  “How are you doing?” Jack asked.

  “I’m glad that part is over. I couldn’t take any more of Principle Foster’s attempt to prevent anyone else from following Sebastian. And that guy being all chipper and making jokes why would they bring him in, and where did they find him? God’s gang, seriously?”

  “I suppose it’s the first suicide Echo has seen. They are probably stumped as to what the best way to handle this, that’s all.” Jack said.

  “Well hopefully next time they don’t use him.”

  “Hopefully there won’t be a next time.”

  We sat at the same table Jack had always sat at alone. I used to eat my lunch on the floor in the back hallway, except for my one week as a Perfect. This was different, I felt like I was actually supposed to be there, like I finally belonged, even if it was only to Jack.

  I watched the Perfects walk in and take their seats at their table. They were still glaring at me. I cringed slightly, more out of habit than anything.

  “I won’t let them hurt you any more Delilah. I promise.” Jack said, holding my hand across the table. I smiled. It was easier to feel brave and safe when we were not at school, not at the place where I had been tortured and teased for so long.

  “You are not the same person any more Delilah, remember, you’re an Abe
rrant now. That changes everything.” I wanted to believe Jack. I wanted that same confidence to return that I had first thing that morning.

  “Why won’t they say something? I want to know what they are thinking.”

  “They are probably too scared to. They don’t know if you are a ghost or a Vampire. They don’t know what to do. Or worse, they don’t know what you will do.” Jack said.

  “I do like the idea of them being scared of me for a change.”

  “They are terrified. After the week they just had, I am surprised they haven’t left the school running and screaming yet.” I turned to look at Jack, I knew once I looked into his eyes I would gain at least some of my confidence again. He smiled, flashing his perfect white teeth and beautiful eyes.

  The other tables filled up quietly. It was like watching a movie with the sound turned off. People were moving and eating but they did so all in silence. No one talked or laughed as they usually did at lunchtime, even those who were crying didn’t seem to make a sound. It was unnerving. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs. Silence only seemed to make the time go by slower. Not even Jack and I seemed to have any more to say to each other.

  The Perfects stared at Jack and I the entire time. Why couldn’t they just say something? The suspense plus all the sadness was going to drive me insane. I fidgeted with my hands, tapped my fingers and my foot and shifted in my chair. Lunch was taking forever.

  “How about we ditch for the afternoon? I heard Mrs. Watson has put a sign out sheet up on the classroom door for anyone who needs to go home. I don’t think we will be the only ones using it.” Jack finally said.

  “That sounds so good to me Jack. I really don’t think I could take much more of this today.” We signed out, along with a few others from our class and headed towards the parking lot and Jack’s car. I was relieved to be out of the building. It seemed as though a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders the moment we stepped outside.

  I took a deep breath and slid into the passenger seat. I turned towards Jack, who looked slightly worried. Yet when his eyes met mine his expression changed instantly.

  “Are you okay?” He asked.

  “I am now Jack. That was just a lot to deal with; I’ve never known anyone who died before. This is really not the best first experience to have. Not that any death is easy, but a family pet or even a grandparent dying at a hundred years old would be easier to understand at least. But I’m okay.” And I was for the most part. I felt the same way I always had with Jack. Safe. Jack took my hand, held it tight and looked into my eyes.

  “No matter who or when or why, death is never easy, you may come to understand the reasoning behind it sometimes, but it doesn’t make it easy. And no matter how many times you deal with it, it just seems to get harder. The important thing to remember, is you are still here, and whoever died, Sebastian included, would want you to enjoy every moment that you are.” Jack said before kissing my forehead. I wondered how many deaths he had been through, but I wasn’t about to ask, not right then anyway.

  We drove straight to Jack’s house; it was great having a place to go without worrying about anyone else bothering us, a place we could just be ourselves, and not have to worry about keeping our voices down or being stared at. I wondered if Katie and the others stayed at school. I had been slightly surprised that they had shown up at all. But I suppose high school was their whole life. And why wouldn’t it be, high school for them was, well, perfect. Or at least it had been.

  Jack led the way to his front door but stood frozen on the step. The door was opened slightly. Jack sniffed the air and looked around, which threw me off guard. What was he trying to smell?

  “What is it?” I asked; I figured it was better than asking what he was doing.

  “Someone’s been here.” Jack said.

  “Are you sure you didn’t just leave the door open?” I knew Jack wouldn’t do that, but I was hopeful, seen as it was less worrisome than the possibility of an intruder.

  “No, someone has definitely been here, or is still here.”

  “Who?” I asked, looking around expecting to see the intruder, but desperately hoping not to.

  “I don’t know; I don’t recognize their smell.” I sniffed the air the same way Jack had just done, but all I could smell was Jack.

  “Your Father maybe?”

  “No, he wouldn’t come here, he has no reason to. Besides I think I would remember his smell.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I just have a good sense of smell, everyone smells different, but I can usually remember a person’s smell and recognize it.”

  “That must be an Aberrant thing, I don’t know of anyone else that has that good of sense of smell. I know I don’t, although I can smell cigarette smoke on my Dad every time he tries to sneak and have one.”

  “All Aberrant’s are different remember; we don’t all have the same capabilities. Wait here, I’m going inside to see if they are still inside.” Jack said.

  “Please be careful.”

  Jack nodded and then slipped inside the door. I held my breath the whole time he was gone, terrified that someone would be in the house and that Jack would get hurt. I assumed he still could get hurt. I paced back and forth while I waited, fighting back the urge to run inside after him to make sure he was okay. I pushed horrible visions of him being hurt by some crazy person inside out of my head. It seemed to take forever, but finally Jack came back outside.

  “Whoever it was is gone now.”

  “That’s a relief. Did they take anything?” I asked as I followed Jack inside. The house was a complete mess; books and papers covered the floor, drawers and cupboards had been emptied, their contents thrown out everywhere. However, I noticed that the TV, stereo and computer were all still there, whoever it was, wasn’t there to rob the place; they must have been looking for something, which didn’t make this any better at all. My heart sank, how could anyone do this to Jack?

  “Jack, why would someone do this?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t think it was the Perfects do you?” I couldn’t think of anyone else that would do something like this.

  “No. They didn’t know I had anything to do with you until today, and they have been in school all morning.” Jack was right. The Perfects had no reason until now to target Jack, and we had both seen them all this morning. But that meant that this was somebody new, a new threat, and to Jack.

  “Who else knows where you live Jack? And would anyone have a reason to think you are hiding something?” I was nervous and angry, but most of all I just wanted to wrap my arms around Jack.

  “I don’t know. I have been covering my tracks very carefully. I haven’t given anyone a reason to think I am anything other than normal, at least I don’t think I have.” Jack’s eyes darted around the room desperately, when they settled on a pile of papers sitting on top of a box on the desk he froze. I recognized the box right away. Jack walked slowly towards the desk and dropped his head.

  “Jack?” I was sure I knew what it meant, but I hoped desperately that I was wrong.

  “Why now?” Jack said so quietly if I wasn’t standing right behind him I wouldn’t have heard. I stroked his arm but he pulled away from my touch. I didn’t like seeing him like that, I wanted to help him, to let him know it would be okay, the same as he would do for me.

  “Jack, what is it?” He took a deep breath and dropped his shoulders.

  “Trouble.”

  Jack picked up the box placing the papers back safely inside, and then he slammed his fist down on the desk, splitting it right down the middle. I jumped back, terrified. I had never seen Jack angry like this before. He turned around to face me. His eyes were large black circles, his mouth ridged; his teeth were showing like he was snarling. I’m sure he had grown slightly again just as he had done when he explained Aberrant to me. Only this time it was slightly different, he was terrifying this time. I backed away as Jack continued to glare at me. Did he bla
me me for this?

  “Jack, I am sorry.” I said. My trembling hands reached out in front of me, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hold Jack off or pull him close to me.

  “Delilah. I’m sorry.” Jack blinked and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

  “It’s okay Jack.”

  “No Delilah, it’s not okay. Somebody knows, about me. Who I am, what I am.”

  “Who? How did they find out?” Panic was rushing through me so fast, I wanted to grab a hold of Jack and run. Run away as fast and as far as possible. I had to keep Jack safe, but my stupid feet seemed glued to the damn floor.

  “I don’t know who. But I will find out.” Jack said.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea, maybe we should call the police?” The last thing I wanted was for Jack to go searching for whoever this person was.

  “No, we can’t go to the police. We need to go to your house Delilah, to see how much, whoever did this, knows. To see if they know about you.”

  “Why would they go to my house?”

  “I don’t know, to look for something to tell them who you are maybe? I’m not sure, but we need to know if they did.”

  “What if they did go there and my parents were home?” I knew it was a long shot, my parents are never home but if they did and they were, how would I ever explain this?

  “Let’s go find out.”

  Jack and I went straight to my house. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that the door was still closed.

  “We need to be careful, just in case.” Jack said. He reached for my hand and pulled me closer to him. Instantly I felt my nerves return. I pulled my key out of my pocket and slid it slowly into the lock and turned it. The click made me jump. Jack moved in front of me and opened the door slipping inside ahead of me. I could envision the look on my mom’s face if she had been sitting in the living room and seen Jack come in the door. I laughed a little, silently.

  Inside, everything was as it should be, empty. Not one item out of place. We searched the house any way, just in case. However, all we found was the note of the day explaining where my parents were and what time they would be home.

  “Looks like we have the rest of the day and most of the night to ourselves. We should go back to your place and start cleaning up.”

  “No. I’m going back alone. You need to stay here. I will pick you up for school tomorrow.”

  “Jack, no way. I am coming with you.” There was no chance I was going to stay here and worry all night about him.

  “Forget it Delilah. We don’t know who did this, it is far too dangerous.”

  “I think I do know who did this.” I had a hunch at least.

  “I told you, I don’t think it’s the Perfects.”

  “Neither do I. I think it’s the guy from the coffee shop. Do you remember seeing him there? He always wore a hoodie and sunglasses. The last time we were there he talked to me, he said “I watch you” maybe he knows what we did, to the Perfects I mean.”

  “How could he? We would have noticed him at each of the houses.”

  “What if he just knows what we did to the school?”

  “Then why wouldn’t he have called the police? Besides, we still would have seen him.”

  Jack was right we would have seen him. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was the same guy. I also couldn’t shake the fear I had at the thought of being left alone. What if after Jack went home, the person who had messed up his house started heading in my direction?

  “Jack please let me go back with you. I don’t want to be left here all alone right now. What if they come here after you have gone and I’m here by myself?” Jack thought about it for a moment and then nodded. I knew he would rather keep me close by where he could protect me.

  “Fine, but you have to promise if I tell you to run, hide or both you will do so without hesitating.”

  “I will.” I said it, knowing Jack needed me to, but I couldn’t promise I would do as he asked.

  When we got back to Jack’s house I started straightening things up right away, just the books and things I stayed away from the broken desk and papers, as Jack seemed to only be concerned about them.

  “Do you think they found what they were looking for?” I asked, nothing seemed to be missing, so they were obviously not just thieves, whoever they were.

  “I think so, they found evidence.”

  “Evidence of what, that you are Aberrant?” How could anyone know, Jack had covered his tracks down to every last detail.

  “That has to be it, why else would anyone break into my house and not take anything? A burglar wouldn’t leave the electronics or money behind.”

  “Unless something spooked them? Maybe we got here and interrupted them so they left out the back?” It was possible; doubtful but possible.

  “They could have grabbed the cash, it was right on top of the desk. And why else would they care about a picture of my mother and me? Whoever did this knows my secret now. The only question is, what will they do with it?” Jack tensed up, his breathing became heavy, he was changing. Something was wrong even I could feel it.