He Looks Like Me.
by ncalkins; I own nothing but the plot.
"Jeff, it's your turn to do the dishes," Masky called out to the scarred teen.
"What? Aw, come on!" Jeff cried.
He turned towards Masky, who stood by the kitchen door. He frowned as best as he could with his Chestier Grin. One of the chandelier lights buzzed overhead. He looked at the piles of dirty dishes on the stained dining table.
"My shows are on!" He threw his hand towards the door that lead to the living room.
"Your shitty romantic comedies can wait, Jeff," Masky said as he pressed a dish rag to Jeff's chest.
"They're not shitty," Jeff grumbled as he trudged over to the dirty dishes.
He wrinkled his nose as he picked up the sauce smeared dishes. He gagged when his thumb touched steak sauce. He curled his lip as he scraped left overs and fat into the trash. Hopefully, Smile would stay away from the leftovers, he loved steak just like Jeff, because the last time he got into the trash he had been sick for a week.
"Fucking Slobs," Jeff sneered.
He transported dishes into the kitchen as fast as he could. Before long, he had his arms soaked in soap filled water. He scrubbed all the plates and forks before he started on the knives. He payed extra attention to them to make them shine, and then his hand slipped.
"Ow, shit!" Jeff held his hand under the rushing water. His blood stained the water pink.
"Aw, did you get a boo-boo?" Liu appeared out of thin air.
Jeff's lips twitched. Liu always appeared when he got a scrape or cut, but when he really needed him he disappeared. Like last week when he got shot in the stomach and would have bled out if Ben hadn't been near by.
Liu's tan hand grabbed Jeff's. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it."
"Take care of what?"
Jeff jerked his hand back and stepped away from the kitchen sink. Ben Drowned stood in the doorway. His red pupils darted between the two brothers.
"The rest of these dishes," Jeff said. "I've got things to do."
The last thing he needed was his brother's alter ego coming after him because he said the word: killing or any variation. He ignored the hurt that flashed over Liu's stitched together face.
"Yeah," Liu said. "I've got the dishes. You do what you got to do."
Jeff hurried out of the room.
Jeff groaned, as he pulled himself up from behind the couch. The lady he had chased down had been a fast runner. He had tackled her behind the couch and stabbed her to death.
He yawned as he shuffled to the young girl's room. He stared at the still body; his fingers twitched. He loved the high of a kill, but hated the crash. It would be so easy to push the little girl's body off of that bed, and curl up for a nap; however, Liu would worry if he stayed out too late.
Jeff groaned as he turned towards the window. He stopped short of climbing out of it. A teddy bear laid on the floor by the window free of any blood. It looked like the one Liu used to have back before The Incident. On a whim Jeff grabbed the bear and hoofed it away from the murder site.
"Hey, Smile." Jeff crouched down to pet the red and black dog.
Clumps of fur stuck to his hand. The dog grinned at him with its human like teeth.
"Been out hunting down the bastards that refuse to spread the word?" Jeff asked.
Smile barked and growled.
"Haha, yeah." Jeff stood up. The bear dangled from his hand by its paw. "I've had a pretty good night myself."
Smile's eyes fixed on the bear. Jeff raised an eyebrow at the dog's silence; usually, the dog would answer him.
"Hey!" Jeff yelled as Smile lunged for the bear.
Smile's dull, human, teeth gripped the bear's leg. Jeff pulled as he pushed the Husky's head away. Jeff's bloody, sweaty, grip failed to hold on to the bear. Smile danced away from him. He shook the bear around, and proceeded to play a game of Keep Away with Jeff.
"Give it back!" Jeff shouted as Smile dodged him.
Jeff tried to grasp the bear, but Smile ran away. The bear's arm fell off from Smile's harsh treatment. Minutes passed before Jeff got the bear back. Smile pranced away to his next victim's house.
"Damn, Mutt," Jeff muttered as he picked up limbs and stuffing.
"Aw, man," he whined as he stared down at the ruined mess in his hands.
He stuffed the remains in his bloody hoodie pocket, and returned to the mansion. He rushed into the mansion and up the stairs with his hands in his pockets. The less people, mainly Sally and Jason the Toy Maker, who saw him with a ruined Teddy Bear the better. He entered his room, locked his door, tripped over some clothes on the floor before he dumped the Teddy Bear remains on his shoddy desk. He went over to his moth eaten bed and fished out a small blue case from under it.
He sat down at his desk, opened the case, and got to work.
"Damn it," Jeff said as he sucked on his finger.
The needle had once again pricked his finger. He had been holed up in his room for hours trying to stitch up the blasted bear he had snatched for Liu. So far the bear looked like Frankenstein's Monster. Stitches lined its arms, legs, stomach, ears, and face.
"Done." Jeff cut the thread of the last stitch holding the ear together. "Finally."
He held up the bear. The once soft, vibrant, brown fur now clumped together. Stitches littered its body in random directions. The once plump body sagged in his hands.
Jeff grimaced. At least it was something.
He got up from his shaky chair, and walked to his door. Jeff peered out of his room. He looked left and then right. No one was in sight. Liu's door stood in front of his own, so he didn't need to worry about someone seeing him carry a teddy bear.
He knocked on Liu's door.
"Come in."
He turned the brass knob, and let himself into Liu's bedroom. Much like the rest of the mansion, his room had walls that peeled and faded carpet.
"Hey," Jeff said.
"Hey," Liu said. "Got more chores for me to do?"
Jeff flinched. "Sorry, I know you meant well. I just don't want the others to rag on me."
"I know." Liu stood up from his bed. He rubbed his face. "I can't help it. We're all we've got left, and we need to look out for each other when we can."
Jeff bit his tongue. The last thing he wanted was to fight with Liu. So he wasn't there for the big things, he was there every other time and that counted for something, right?
"Yeah," Jeff said. He shuffled into Liu's room. It was a lot cleaner than his own.
"What do you have behind your back?" Liu asked. He raised his arm up as if to guard against an attack.
"This." Jeff pulled the teddy bear he had hidden behind his back.
"I had to stitch it back together because Smile got a hold of it," Jeff said. He traced the stitches along the brown bear's arm. "I know it's really lame, but I wanted to give you something. I appreciate everything you do for me–everything you've done for me. Even if I act like an ass most of the time."
He held the bear out to Liu.
Liu looked from the bear to Jeff before he took it from Jeff. "All the time."
Jeff snorted. "Okay, I act like an ass all the time."
Liu smiled. He held up the bear beside his face. "He looks just like me."
Jeff's eyes bounced from the stitched up bear to his stitched up brother.
"Yeah. Looks just like you."
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