FRANK

Joe fell back asleep quickly, thanks to the physical and the mental exhaustion probably. The conversation I had with him had shaken me up a little. Clearly, there was information that Joe was withholding from me. Seeing as it was the middle of the night, I tried to fall back asleep.

I started to walk down the staircase. My friends followed close behind. It was dark at the bottom of the stairs. The sole light was coming from a tiny window. We all turned our phone flashlight on. There was a body lying a few feet away from us. I walked closer to the motionless body, praying that this wasn't my brother. My heart began to beat rapidly as I stared at the body. There was a bullet hole in the head, blood all over the ground. Tears fell down my face when I realized I was looking down at my dead younger brother…

"Ahhh" I bolted up and looked around. My brother was sleeping peacefully in the hospital bed, "It was just a nightmare Frank" I told myself, trying to calm down. I looked at my watch, it read 7:30am. My parents would be arriving soon. My dad would probably want to know what had happened, since last night was so chaotic. I got out of my chair and began to pace around Joe's hospital room.

Forty five minutes later, my parents were here. They went in to visit my brother as I ran home to have a shower. When I got back, Dad took me outside while Mom sat in Joe's room with him.

"Frank, how are you doing?" My dad asked as we sat down on a bench.

"I'm okay dad" I replied quickly.

"Are you sure son? Because you seemed flustered this morning. Your brother is going to be okay."

"I, I don't know Dad. I blame myself for what happened to Joe. You guys were away and I should have done something sooner. I kept noticing how different Joe was acting but I, I never really asked why".

"How were you supposed to figure that out? You didn't know he had a lookalike. Do not blame yourself." I nodded, "Can you tell me what happened these past couple days?".

"Sure" I responded and began my story of investigating the high school and splitting up with Joe.

"Con said there was a body in the basement" My dad stated, when I was finished.

"Yes, that was Maurice O'Connor. I recognized him from the pictures you showed me. He, he was shot in the head Dad."

"Con told me this morning. What a way to go."

"It had to be Joe's lookalike that killed him. I wonder why."

"I think it's time we talk to Joe about what happened to him".

"Dad, I don't know if he's ready for that".

"We need to know what happened. We need to be there for him."

"I tried to ask Joe about it, but he wouldn't open to me" I said sadly.

"He will, with time. There's, there's also something that your mother and I need to talk to you about" My dad's eyes moved to the ground.

"What is it?"

"We should have told both of you years ago. Let's go back to Joe's room and have a family talk." Dad got up quickly and I followed suite. Joe and Mom were laughing at a joke Joe had said when we walked in the hospital room.

"How are you feeling Joe?" My dad asked my brother.

"I'm okay dad. My head is still pounding and my leg is pretty sore." Joe answered softly.

"I know this will be hard to talk about but can you tell us what happened?" Joe moved his eyes and stared at the ground.

"We will be right here with you the whole time." I said to him, pulling up a chair close to his bed, grabbing his hand and holding it softly.

"If I tell you, everything is going to change" Joe whispered, eyes still on the floor.

"What's going to change Joe?" My mom asked.

"Everything… this family… my life… everything."...