Chapter 28

Susan could only add that Brothers were waiting at my house before she escaped into near-catatonia. Doris Alex and I sat her in the passenger seat of my car. I opened the trunk and tossed the keys to Doris Alex. I drew one of Jason's gifts out of its oaken home. I put on the holster that held his gift at the small of my back; the light jacket I kept in the trunk hid my state of arms. I doubted that I would need Jason's gift right away but its time was coming. The twenty minute ride from Susan's house seemed longer than usual.

The world called us victims until survivors became all the rage. Those acts change a person forever: killing what they were, and destroying what they could have been. I do not call learning to live with a hollow soul surviving. In a place the system called a foster home, I survived for six months.

Jason had been through many more levels of hell when we met; only someone like us could understand how bad it was for him that I can write the following words.

What happened to me was nothing compared to the nightmare Jason lived. Calling both of our experiences abuse seemed wrong so I never used it for what was done to me.

I do not remember who I was before those six months. I do not know what I was meant to be, although I imagine that man is better than the one I am. In the moments that I consider what could have been, I think about Jason. How beautiful a person would he have grown to be, if even after surviving the abuse his dying words were to protect me from myself?

I tried to imagine that Jason as Doris Alex drove towards the emptiness of my soul.

The Siblings were waiting quietly in the hallway.

Doris Alex and Susan were with me. Melisa waited at the bottom of the stairs. Janet sat at the top of the steps proud of her temporary position somewhere above Melisa. Heather stood in the doorway to the kitchen with her head bowed. Malia, sitting on the floor, looked up at me with teary eyes.

I stared at Melisa.

"Rachel's in our room," she said seriously. "They haven't woken up yet."

I nodded to her. Michael opened the doors to the living room and stepped into the hallway.

"They're waiting for you, Brother," he said quietly.

The Siblings surrounded Susan in a web of arms and comforting words. I walked into the living room. Robert was standing across from the doors. Samantha and Jeremy were sitting on the couch. I did not recognize the old woman in the wheelchair or the young man standing attentively behind her.

"Wait outside, Leonard," the old woman instructed in a hard voice.

The young man nodded respectfully and walked out of the living room closing the doors behind him.

"I apologize for the invasion of your home," Robert said politely.

I waved it off and looked at him expectantly. He nodded and held out a folder. I walked around the furniture to take it from his hand.

The pictures were horrific. She was barely recognizable as human, much less female. The pictures detailed the extent of her survival. There was not two square inches anywhere on her body that was un-battered. I studied each picture clinically; whoever had done her was amateurish but enthusiastic.

The medical report was edifying in its thoroughness.

Vaginal tearing.

Anal tearing.

Deep bites.

Six broken ribs.

Broken nose.

Concussion.

The list of injuries covered one and a half pages. I read each word and read them again while looking at whichever picture illustrated an injury.

The woman had steel for a backbone I discovered pulling the last document out of the folder. She had narrated the details of her ordeal before she allowed the drugs that would put her into a welcome and dreamless sleep. There were places where the ink ran from the writer's tears.

The pages vibrated with pain.

I read it, read it again and then again. I wanted her words inscribed on the inside of my eyelids so I could read them while I slept. I placed everything back in its place and put the folder on the endtable by the couch.

The monsters that do these kind of things never understand they are breeding bigger monsters; sometimes those babies get to meet their parents in a dark alley.

The first part is the heat in the air, an illusion from the oxygen feeding the fire in my lungs and being let out. I took deep breaths needing the extra air to control the shaking. I could not see past the darkness of the home I survived. I heard the sound of Jason's sobs when he woke up from his nightmares. The woman's words were there when I closed my eyes tightly. If I had nails, I would have cut my hands as they balled into tight fists. My head dropped as my mind tried to expand past the cage of my skull. I took a deep breath trying to take in all the oxygen of the world and raised my head to look at the ceiling. The anger and frustration, the old and new, mixed inside me bonding into a different element.

Rage.

I like the heat of rage. It burns the past, present and most importantly the future away until only purpose is left. I let the air out slowly enjoying the sensation of a heart that beat with rage's purpose. My mind was still, unnecessary until I could find the path to completing the intent I had become.

"Her name isn't on anything in the folder," the remain of what I was and could have been said.

Her name was not necessary but having it on my lips when the purpose was completed would be satisfying.

"The Sibling's name is Stephanie Laros," the old woman said.

I turned my head towards her.

"She's my granddaughter," she finished.

I nodded.

"David, this is Anna Laros," Robert said. "She retired thirty years ago from the role the Brotherhood plans for you. Interestingly, she held it for thirty years making her shoes very large ones to fill. We've had a disappointing run of Brothers that could not."

I nodded.

"This is the part where you're supposed to say something about me not looking my age," Anna encouraged.

"I didn't know we recruited Brothers seconds out of the womb," I said sincerely.

"Do you kill as easily as you lie?" she asked having expected the easy reply.

I stared into her clear blue eyes. Anna did not try to measure me, making her a new experience for me in the Brotherhood. She opened herself like I did and we smiled in recognition.

"They tell me you're different from other Brothers," she said. "Most of them do not understand the ones who serve our purpose so let me assure you, it is something they said about me. Wear the badge proudly, it is the only thanks we'll give you."

I bowed my head accepting her advice. She crossed her hands in her lap and waited patiently staring at me.

"You're not going to ask what your role is to be?" she asked.

I shrugged.

"I might not survive this," I said pointing to Stephanie's folder. "I have better things to do than waste my time on a decision I've already made."

She gave the other Brothers in the room a gentle smile.

"He is different," she said. "You picked a good one though, much better than the others you brought to me."

"I wouldn't say we picked him, Anna," Samantha said staring at me. "The Bloodlines seem to produce exactly what we need when we need it the most."

"Even Bloodlines that are lost and found again," Jeremy said.

"The Bloodlines are our strongest Sibling asset. I've always said we mix them," Anna said. "It's those stupid ninnies on the council that have not allowed it."

"It was the council's decision to make," Robert said in a tone that brooked no argument. "Obviously, the situation has changed. If the Bloodlines mix, they will do so without any encouragement or interference."

The last was a command that promised a retribution as final as I had in mind for Stephanie's rapists.

"Enough," Robert said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "It is too early discuss our hopes for that with David. We have a more immediate concern to deal with."

"What happened?" I asked.

"A Sibling was raped," Samantha said angrily.

"Stephanie dictated what happened during the rape," I said. "I want to know what happened before."

"Does it matter?" Jeremy asked.

"No," I replied honestly.

"God, I hate that we cannot twin some Siblings," Robert said in frustration.

"With these two assholes, it would have left us with two Sibling rapes," Samantha said.

"You cannot twin some Siblings?" I asked.

"No," Robert said. "The Siblings have not figured out why; maybe these type of Siblings are too independent. Considering how deeply untwinables take to indoctrination makes very little sense."

"We've tried many things," Anna said. "We even try to match untwinables together."

Susan's reaction clicked into place.

"Susan and Stephanie," I said.

"Yes," Jeremy replied standing up to pace. "Twining failures are not failures in reality. The two mismatched Siblings usually end up closer friends than with their eventual twins. It is especially true for any untwinables that we try to match together. Susan and Stephanie formed an unbreakable bond."

I watched him pace for a couple of seconds.

"When do you decide a matching has failed?" I asked.

"Why do you want to know?" Samantha asked curiously.

"Malia and Heather are not going to twin," I told her. "They are too different. Malia wants all of this to be an endless summer of fun. Heather requires what she gets from a Brother like a fish needs water."

"It's not our decision," Jeremy said. "Siblings developed indoctrination and twining. It falls in their purview."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Brothers are interested but the council prefers us not to interfere with the Siblings' little experiments," Jeremy told me. "The council does not dictate to a Brother but in most cases we try to follow the council's preferences."

"I'm confident that Doris Alex is monitoring the situation carefully," Robert said.

"You know this?" I asked him.

"She is an exceptional Sibling," Robert said. "She might fight the yoke of her responsibilities, but duty underlies every decision she makes."

"So what happened before those two entered Stephanie's apartment?" I asked.

Jeremy sat down and looked at Samantha.

"There was a Brother visiting from Europe a couple of weeks ago," Samantha said. "He ran into Stephanie and they spent a couple of days together. One of their sexual episodes was public and I think the two animals watched it. They arrived at the conclusion that Stephanie was available for them to do with as they pleased since she was so accommodating to a Brother."

There was silence in the room for a couple of minutes.

"Shouldn't the Brother take care of this?" I asked wrestling the words past purpose.

"What makes you say that?" Robert asked seriously.

"You've brought this here for a reason," I pointed out. "I assume I am allowed to ask questions, even unnecessary ones."

"You are involved with Susan, who will be greatly affected by this," Jeremy said careful not to give anything else away.

"Susan is not in the room," I said.

"A decision has to be made," Anna said. "Susan does not need to be a part of that."

"A decision has been made," I told her. "I want to make sure that another Brother does not believe this is his vendetta to pursue."

"Most of the time, it would be," Jeremy replied. "Stephanie being Anna's granddaughter changes things."

"Certain Siblings are exclusively associated with a specific branch of the Brotherhood," Robert explained. "We have some very important reasons when that happens. In Stephanie's case, her lineage as Anna's granddaughter gives her a special place. The Brother is a member of another branch so he will not be told until Anna is satisfied that what should be done has been done... by one of us."

"By me," I said quietly.

"Is that your choice, David?" Anna asked seriously.

"Yes."

"It brings you closer to what the Brotherhood plans," she warned.

"If I survive killing them, the Brotherhood and I can discuss plans," I replied.

"You'll survive," Anna assured me. "An animal is much easier to kill than a Brother."

"Killing, even people like these two, is against the law," Samantha said in a serious tone of voice. "Most of the world thinks that death is a cruel and unusual punishment for a rapist."

I stared at her.

"I didn't say I did, David," she said coldly. "They did this to a Sibling, but you have to think about consequences."

"Consequences don't matter any more," I told her purposefully.

"You're going to need things," Jeremy said before Samantha could say anything else.

We turned our heads as loud conversation penetrated from the hallway. The doors opened violently and my ex-roommate walked inside.

"I don't give a fuck who is in here," he shouted at the Siblings behind him. "I'm getting my shit."

He turned to give the room an arrogant smile at having forced his way in.

"Who is this?" Anna asked in a bland voice.

"He used to be my roommate," I replied.

"Here?" Anna asked surprised.

"No," I said. "Here he is Rachel's guest."

"One of our children associates with this?" she asked even more surprised.

"I'm standing right here," my ex-roommate said angrily.

"Rachel is not one of ours," I answered ignoring him.

"What is she doing in this house then?"

"She fascinates me," I said.

"Yeah, she fascinated me all night long," my ex-roommate announced with a crass laugh.

Anna looked him up and down.

"Get over it, David," she said looking at me. "Only a female pig lies with a male pig."

"What did you call me?" my ex-roommate asked her. "Get your things and get out, boy," Anna told him in dismissal.

"Hey old bag, you fucking don't tell me what to do," he said with a smirk of condescension.

I moved as soon as he started speaking. He was standing next to Anna so she did not have to reach far to place the knife in his crotch. She trapped something and pressed down. If his instincts had forced him back, his voice would have changed for the second time in his life. He went down on a knee to avoid the cutting tip of the knife. The wheelchair turned and Anna brought her other arm across her body to place the second knife at his throat. His eyes widened and his mouth opened.

The barrel of Jason's gift filled his right eye's field of vision. I was not a fan of modifying weapons; I did not like the crutch the modifications created. Jason had spent several pretty pennies to enhance the pair of.45's he gave me, and I had to admit the way they fit my hand and fired made them my favorites.

My ex-roommate's mouth closed with a snap when he peered into the darkness the gun promised him.

"It is the duty of a young man to kneel and listen attentively at the feet of an elder female when she wishes to speak to him," I said.

He had a hard time looking up at me within the restrictions of Anna's knives and my gun.

"Simplify my life, Joseph," I said.

I do not know how people like Anna and I radiate death, but we pounded him with waves of our intentions should he dare open his mouth. Anna moved the knife away from his crotch. She held it with the tip at his left eye for a second and then did something which ancient fingers should not have been nimble enough for to make it disappear. She pulled the other knife away and did performed her trick again.

"Look at me, boy," she instructed.

My ex-roommate stared up at me fearfully.

"I gave you an instruction, boy," Anna said dangerously.

Trying to keep one eye on me, he turned towards her.

"In my day, the only reason a boy like you entered this house was because you were ready to serve its Master. You would have crawled into this room naked on your hands and knees. With a voice filled with pride, you would have begged the house's Master to take your ass. When he was done, your cum would have stained the floor because your dearest heart's desire of feeling the heat of his seed inside your body had finally come true."

His eyes widened at the declaration of truth her voice made those words.

"I'm of half a mind to take charge of your education, and believe me, when I was done you would feel exactly that, boy," she said confidently. "Consider yourself unlucky that I'm not a year younger. As it is, my bones are too old to be rapping my knuckles against your thick skull to teach you proper behavior around your betters."

"I have young, hard knuckles, Anna," Samantha volunteered from the couch. "I would be happy to do all the rapping necessary."

Anna looked at Samantha and back to my ex-roommate. She pursed her lips in consideration.

"No, I do not think so," she said with a sad sigh. "These old hands are full enough with my Leonard. The boy tries my patience, but he is a sweet child. I would go sadly to my grave if I did not complete his training."

She patted my ex-roommate's face sadly.

"I'm sorry, boy," she said meaning it. "The fates have been cruel to you. I've trained many young boys but you've entered my world too late for me to take you on. You should crawl to Samantha and beg her to do it."

"No, no," Samantha said. "I have Simon and he fills my days."

"I've seen that young man," Anna said with a wicked smile. "I'm sure your days are not all he fills. Big boy that one!"

"Yes, he is that," Samantha said with a warm smile.

"Oh, to be seventy again," Anna said mournfully. "Anyway, we have more important things to discuss. Leonard?!? Where is that boy when I need him? Leonard, get in here or it's the paddle on your behind tonight."

Leonard walked in followed closely by a very curious set of Siblings. Melisa stood beside my ex-roommate and looked down at him. She tapped his skull experimentally with her fist.

"I don't know," she said loudly. "I don't think his head is THAT hard. Maybe I could manage it, even if I wouldn't want the same rewards Samantha or Anna would get. Although watching David..."

"Melisa," Doris Alex said in an exasperated tone of voice.

"Come on, Doris Alex," Michael admonished. "It is a great idea. It would keep the Taus out of our way since this asshole is likely to become their next chapter president from what I hear."

"The Taus have served their purpose," Doris Alex said dismissively. "Grow up, Michael."

"He's cute though," Janet offered looking at my ex-roommate. "I would give Melisa a helping hand if he 'doeth protest' too much the first time David..."

"Well, I never," Anna said in an annoyed tone of voice.