2000
"It's diabolical!" He argued.
"Get out of here," The General growled. "And if you ever so much as show your face around here again, I'll kill you myself, is that understood?"
For a moment my brother looked startled, but then he returned our father's sneer and said, "You won't see me again."
"For your sake, I hope not."
2001
"Why don't you come with me?" He murmured.
I shook my head. "This is my life!"
"Not much of a life," He said quietly.
"But it's my place," I said adamantly. "If I go with you, I'll be hunted. I love you, but I…I can't throw all of this away. Not after how hard I've worked to get here."
He nodded. "I think I know what you mean." He dug in his pocket and came out with a slip of folded paper, which he then tucked into my breast pocket. "For emergencies," He explained. He seemed to hesitate for a few moments before he said, "Do me a favor?"
"I'll look out for the girl," I murmured.
He nodded, then suddenly hugged me, his fingers curling through my hair as he held me to his chest. He let out a desperate sob, pressed his nose into my hair with a last deep breath, and then he let me go so forcibly I was pushed back several paces.
"It was a mortar of some type," I muttered hoarsely. "It blew up in their faces. With the heat and the shrapnel, he…he didn't stand a chance."
"You saw him die?"
I looked down at the shredded jacket in my lap, stained with my brother's own blood. "Yes," I answered. I bowed my head, wracked with guilt and raw grief at the loss of my brother and best friend. Even though I knew he wasn't really truly dead, he was as good as. The odds of me seeing him again were slim to none if I wanted him to stay alive.
I noticed the glint in the General's eyes and wondered if my own eyes were playing tricks. Was that really gloating I saw in their black depths? Could he not feel sorrow for his own son? But of course not. He was more preoccupied with the fact that with my brother out of the way, I would no longer be anchored down by our strange relationship.
I raised my chin. "Permission to be dismissed, sir?"
He jerked his head. "Granted."
I fled the Citadel with my brother's jacket in my arms, then at last minute, I tossed it aside to be washed away in the sluice pipes. I walked briskly in the shadows. I knew the route so well, having followed my brother along it in the years before Elliott was born.
Molly nearly screamed as I stepped through the doorway. "I didn't open my mouth," She babbled. "Never let loose the slightest whisper-"
"I know. I'm not here about that," I interrupted. "He's dead, Molly."
She choked.
"You won't see me again. Oh, and one more thing," I paused in the doorway. "Don't tell the girl," I advised.
