When the days are cold, and the cards all fold, and the saints we see are all made of gold. When your dreams all fail and the ones we hail are the worst of all, and the blood's run stale.
"Jesus Christ, Daryl," Merle breathed.
His eight year old brother stumbled into the room and collapsed on the bed. Merle bit back tears. He was a tough kid, but he couldn't stand to see Daryl like this.
"What the hell happened?" Merle asked.
"I says happy birthday to ya and he say ya don't deserve it," Daryl shuddered.
Guilt flooded through Merle's body. He knew his father hated him and mainly him, but he frequently found excuses to take his anger out on Daryl. Sure, Merle had been excited for his sixteenth birthday, but not if it meant his little brother taking a beating.
I want to hide the truth, I want to shelter you. But with the beast inside, there's nowhere we can hide.
"Lemme see," Merle insisted, inching over to Daryl.
Daryl pulled away.
"Come 'ere, Daryl, ya know it can't get better if I dunno what's going on."
The eight year old reluctantly allowed his brother to pull the back of his shirt up. A few bruises were scattered along his spine, but that's not what got Merle's attention. Three jagged scars ran across Daryl's back; one near each shoulder blade and one from his left shoulder down to the right of his lower back. Merle turned to his brother.
"Why didn't you tell me 'bout this?" Merle whispered.
"It ain't nothing," Daryl protested, looking away.
When you feel my heat, look into my eyes. It's where my demons hide, it's where my demons hide. Don't get too close, it's dark inside. It's where my demons hide, it's where my demons hide.
"Daryl, this is serious. When did this happen?"
"You were out," Daryl confessed. "Not anything ya coulda done."
Merle nodded slowly. He climbed into bed as if in a trance.
"Night," he muttered.
"G'night, Merle."
8 years later
Merle turned to Daryl and put a finger to his lips. Daryl gave him a slight nod as the door slowly opened. The twenty-four and sixteen year olds were home after a long night of running. The cops had almost busted them for delivering a message that ended up being crucial to smuggling drugs over the Mexico border. The boys hadn't known that at the time, but they found out pretty quickly when patrols started showing up in their neighborhood.
Neither of them knew if the police had questioned their father. If Dad was sober, he might've covered for the boys. But usually the case was he had been drinking and the cops would hear some twisted story. As it was, Daryl had almost gotten placed in foster care because of the condition of their household. Tonight, the two were sneaking in to grab their things and then were going to high tail it out of there. Merle had arranged for a friend to pick them up at the street corner and drive them to the airport. From there, they would get the next available flight Kentucky.
"Think we have enough money?" Daryl whispered.
"It's our life savings. We have enough," Merle said, silencing his brother.
They were leaving the house a few minutes later with as many of their belongings as they could carry.
"Merle, do you-,"
"Freeze!" a man screamed.
"Whoa, whoa!" Merle shouted, lifting his arms into the air.
"We know you two cleaned house at that deli today," a woman called. "And you're not getting away with it!"
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Daryl asked with bewilderment.
"You killed thirteen people! What, you thought that would go unnoticed?" the male police officer yelled from behind the flashing lights.
"We didn't do shit!" Merle cried.
"Both of you stay right there. If you move, we shoot."
Merle looked at Daryl as the cops advanced.
"This isn't it, little brother. We didn't do this. No way in hell am I gonna let you go to jail over this," he whispered.
"What about you?" Daryl snapped.
"Just run when I give you the signal," Merle winked.
"What signal? You're not making any sense, Merle!"
"You'll know."
"Merle! What the hell are you talking-,"
"Hey, officers!" Merle waved his arms.
When the curtain's call is the last of all, when the lights fade out all the sinners crawl. So they dug your grave, and the masquerade will come calling out at the mess you made. Don't want to let you down, but I am hell bound. Though this is all for you, don't wanna hide the truth.
The older of the Dixon brothers started running to the left of the house. He was shot down almost instantly. Daryl almost cried out, but he bit his tongue until he tasted blood and crept around to the right.
He ran and ran until he was sure he was far, far away. Daryl leaned against the side of a brick building and let himself cry.
"Merle," he whimpered. "Godammit, Merle. I wasn't worth it, brother. I wasn't worth it."
When you feel my heat, look into my eyes. It's where my demons hide, it's where my demons hide. Don't get too close, it's dark inside. It's where my demons hide, it's where my demons hide.
Daryl couldn't stop thinking about their childhood together. The countless times Daryl had walked into their room with tears stinging the cuts on his cheeks were when Merle took Daryl into his arms. Merle never let anyone else know, but he really had had a soft spot for his baby brother. Hell, Daryl remembered Merle telling him that he cried when he found out Daryl was on the way. Even though Merle was only eight, he understood that life with their father was a living hell.
They say it's what you make, I say it's up to fate. It's woven in my soul, I need to let you go. Your eyes, they shine so bright, I wanna save that light. I can't escape this now, unless you show me how. When you feel my heat, look into my eyes. It's where my demons hide, it's where my demons hide.
Daryl sniffed and wiped his eyes. His brother had gone the way he wanted, when he wanted. That was more than most people could ask for. And, as Daryl would learn in a few years, soon no one would know if they would make it through the next day.
Don't get too close, it's dark inside. It's where my demons hide, It's where my demons hide.
Author's Note: I hope you guys liked this short fic about Daryl's and Merle's childhoods. I really wanted to use this song because the lyrics fit well with the storyline, and I thought it'd be different to kill Merle before the apocalypse even happened. (The song is Demons by Imagine Dragons if you couldn't tell by repetitive use of "demons" and how this is titled.)