Missing
Ulrich looked out the rain stained window of his and Odd's dorm room as he hugged his legs closer, curling into a ball. He'd had that nightmare again…. The nightmare he didn't tell anyone about…. The nightmare that he didn't want to believe was real….
"Daddy, can we go to the park tomorrow?" Ulrich asked his father one clear afternoon.
"Did you ask your older sister if she wanted to go? And what about your brother?" his father asked the then seven year old with a small smile.
"Anna said she wanted to spend time with her boyfriend and Henry would rather play soccer with his friends. He never plays with me anymore," Ulrich stated, looking up at his father with hope filled eyes. Maybe his dad would finally spend some kind of quality time with him instead of focusing on his artistically gifted older sister or his athletically gifted twin brother.
"Did you help your mother out today?"
His father was avoiding Ulrich's original question. That was normally bad news…. "Yes, Daddy. I helped Mommy with the dishes and I took out the trash with a little bit of help."
"What do you want to do at the park?"
Yes! Finally some sort of hint that he might take Ulrich somewhere! "Play on the playground and maybe go fishing. I think learning how to fish would be cool."
"I'll have to ask your mother, but if she says it's okay, then you and I will go to the park tomorrow, okay?"
Ulrich nearly jumped for joy, but knew his father would just laugh and tell Anna and Henry about Ulrich's reaction so he just excitedly nodded. He gave him a quick hug before running inside to tell his mother.
"Ulrich, please don't run in the house," his mom commented as he raced into the living room.
"Sorry, but I'm excited. Daddy said he'd take me to the park!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide with the joy of his dad finally saying yes to doing something with him.
"Really? That's good to hear," she told him, patting the spot on the couch beside her.
As Ulrich had grown up she'd been the primary caregiver to him. Her husband was too wrapped up in taking care of Anna or Henry and making sure that they didn't miss practices or classes or anything of the sort while Ulrich was left in the dust, not having found his talent yet.
Henry was only seven, but he was sure to become a huge pro athlete some day. He had the inborn talent for it. He'd been running around learning how to play games since the twins had been toddlers. It had been cute seeing him toddle around the house when they were three pretending to play baseball as he'd seen his dad watching it on TV.
Anna was the oldest at the age of thirteen. She looked much like her mother and had been artistically gifted. She'd first gotten an interest in art when she was seven, much like Henry had picked up his interest in sports at a young age. She'd begun painting, locking herself in her room for hours trying to perfect her skill. It wasn't until she was eleven that her talent bloomed. She did beautiful paintings and photos and had won many awards.
Ulrich had so far shown no talent whatsoever to his father. They'd tried so many different things, but there was nothing that Ulrich seemed to be good at. They'd tried sports, but Ulrich hadn't picked up on that like Henry had. He'd tried painting, but always managed to do something wrong according to Anna. He'd tried just about everything that his seven-year-old hands could do, but nothing seemed to work. His father put all of his focus into Anna and Henry at that point and had left Ulrich to talk with his mother. It was horrible.
"Don't forget, Ulrich, that Daddy and I love you very much," his mother whispered, kissing the top of his head.
"But Daddy never tells me that…. He never sits with me when I have nightmares and he rarely ever takes me out anywhere…. I think he doesn't like me…." Ulrich whispered to his mother, hiding his face in her shirt so she couldn't see his tears.
As Ulrich had grown up he'd come to realize that his father was ashamed to have a son like him. He had these two wonderful children, Anna and Henry, and then he had Ulrich who had no inborn talent like the other two. He was different and that made him unwanted….
"Ulrich, what're you doin' up?" Odd asked from the bed across from him, shifting to face the brunet.
"Just thinking…. Go back to sleep, Odd…." Ulrich whispered to his roommate. He couldn't explain to Odd nor his other friends…. He wasn't even sure if this was true….
That night after dinner, as his mom tucked him and Henry into bed, there was some noise from downstairs.
"Mommy, what's that noise?" Henry asked from the bed across the room from Ulrich's.
"It's probably just the heater or something. I'm not sure, but I'll ask Daddy, okay?" she told him, kissing both boys on the forehead and then standing in the doorway. "Good-night boys."
"G'night Mom," both replied.
She shut off the light and then made her way to Anna's bedroom. "Honey, it's time to turn off the lights."
"I have to finish this picture, Mom. I don't think the inspiration to finish it will hit me again," Anna stated, not even bothering to look up at her mother.
"Alright, but you'd better have the lights out and be in bed in an hour," she sighed. She knew that arguing with Anna wasn't going to get her anywhere. Her daughter was too hot-headed for that. She would do it whether her mother approved or not.
"I promise that I'll have the lights out by eleven, alright?" she answered, glancing her mother's way.
Nodding, Mrs. Stern shut the door. She didn't know that this would be the last time that she saw her daughter's face….
Ulrich didn't want to believe that the story was true, but he still had Henry's old baseball and the drawing that Anna had been working on that night…. He'd pieced together the whole story from what he'd been told by other people. Mainly by his parents and neighbors that they'd lived by during that time in his life.
When he couldn't sleep he rolled over and looked at the clock. It was past midnight and there were more strange noises coming from downstairs. "Henry?"
Henry rolled over and looked his twin brother in the eye. "Something's wrong…. There's something happening…."
He nodded in fear, creeping out of his bed to open the door a crack.
"Anna, you'd better leave with me or I'm setting your whole house on fire," a familiar voice from downstairs threatened.
"My father would know as soon as you did it. You don't just get to the top of a corporation like he did for nothing and of course he's going to have the house protected against things like this for those nastier competitors," Anna retaliated, sounding as if she wasn't going to believe Jonah (the boyfriend).
"Oh, you wanna try me?" Jonah asked, a clicking noise came to both the boys' ears.
"Anna!" Henry exclaimed, running down the stairs. He took his shoe and kicked it toward Jonah, knocking the lighter out of his hands and causing it to fall to the ground and crack.
Ulrich watched from the door of their room, too frightened to be as daring as Henry. He didn't want to go and alert their parents because Jonah might realize that Ulrich was upstairs and moving. The very thought scared the small seven-year-old.
"So the little baby brother comes to save the day, huh?" Jonah asked, messing with something behind his back.
If only he'd been faster or gone to his parents then what happened next wouldn't have happened….
"Get out of our house, Jonah," Henry commanded as he stood as tall as he could in front of Anna.
"You shouldn't mess with matches, kid," Jonah stated before dropping a lit match on the floor.
See, earlier when Henry had knocked the lighter from Jonah's hands he didn't realize what a flimsy thing the lighter was. It cracked and had leaked lighter fluid onto the floor. When the lit match hit the lighter fluid the two siblings went up in flames.
Jonah laughed. "If I can't have you, Anna Stern, then no one can have you and your little brother can die with you as well as the rest of your goddamn family."
Ulrich watched as Jonah fled the scene, too terrified to move as his siblings' screams echoed through the house.
His mother and father ran out of their bedroom. His father ran straight for Anna and Henry to try and put the fire out and their mother ran for Ulrich, covering his eyes as his siblings began to burn….
Months later and many calls and preparations made they held a funeral for the two children….
That wasn't right though and he knew it…. He'd been playing this façade too long to have realized until now that he'd even mixed himself and his twin up…. His father was always yelling at Henry for his grades and how he couldn't do what Ulrich could do. Ulrich was the amazing twin and Ulrich was the twin that had died….
As the funeral progressed he was forced to watch as relatives, friends, and neighbors alike were led to believe that it was him who died in the fire and not Ulrich…. Ulrich was the one that had died, but his father lied, living in the fantasy world where his star son was still alive and the one he never wanted was the one that was being laid to rest….
He laid on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Would Ulrich have lived the same life he did now with the same friends and such if he hadn't died in the fire and Henry had? He wasn't sure and there was nothing that was going to change the fact that Henry Stern had had to take on his twin brother's identity for the sake of his father's sanity….
The father that had finally promised to spend some quality time with Henry had been living in the lie that Henry had died a long time ago, but the truth was that Henry was the one alive today and that Ulrich had died…. Ulrich had been the athletic one and the more important one…. Ulrich had been the one that their father favored and showered with love and affection while Henry was left to spend time with his mother….
Henry Stern was no longer…. He could never be himself because he had to keep up this façade for as long as his father lived…. He had to do it, because he couldn't stand his father being so disappointed….
"Ulrich, you're still up…?" Odd asked, rubbing his tired eyes and looking to the brunet.
Henry…. His name was Henry! He wanted to shout that to Odd, but Odd wouldn't understand…. "Yeah, just too much stuff to think about…. Go back to bed…."
Odd nodded and silently drifted back off to sleep….
He wished that life was as simple for him, but maybe someday he'd be able to tell his friends, and Yumi, the truth…. Henry Stern was alive and living in his twin's shoes….
A/N: Definitely not where it first started to go. XD I'd actually planned this to be some sort of explanation of Ulrich's past and why his father had such high expectations (which the reason there was because Henry and Anna were better) but it changed into him living a lie.
VERY IMPORTANT!: First, I'd like to say there might be a sequel. =3 Now, to make sure that you all understand. In the flashback portions of the story we're seeing the story mainly from Henry's eyes or his mother's. Henry refers to himself as Ulrich, because that's what he's been called since Ulrich and Anna's deaths. His father didn't want to let his star son go and so pretended that Henry was the one that died and Ulrich lived, so since the fire that was caused by Jonah Henry was forced to live as his twin brother. Through all of this Henry would never get to learn what he was meant to do in life. He had to do what Ulrich would have done to try and get some kind of approval from his father, which he craved.
Henry did what he did (as in taking Ulrich's place) because he wanted that approval from his father. If he had to be Ulrich, then so be it. He just wanted his father to pay attention to and love him like he did Anna and Ulrich.
So, I hope that wasn't too incredibly confusing. XD If you need a better explanation PM me. =3
Read and review! (though I know I'll probably only get about three or five….)
~MoonlitxAngel