Konnichiwa mina! I truly apologize for my absence last week, but I got ill over the weekend...

My Friday evenings are all that I have now - exams and labs have stolen my occasional weekend joy. On the bright side though, 24 more days till summer vacation! Woooo (even though I have community service and SBAs) !

Enough of me, though. On to the story!

Lucas is equivalent to Ace.

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

REVELATION

Alice's eyes fluttered open. She moaned as she struggled to sit up. Ignoring the shooting pain that coursed through her body, she propped herself up against a pillow and looked around her. She was lying down on a narrow bed with a comfortable mattress covered in white sheets. The walls and tiles were white too. There were tables on either side of the bed, one had a tray chock full of medicinal equipment and the other was sparsely decorated with a glass vase of flowers. Apart from that and a crème sofa, the place was painfully bare. The only sound was that of the heart rate monitor, and the whole place reeked of hospital.

Hospital. So this is where they put me. Alice scrunched up her nose and leaned back on the pillow.

When she looked down, she was reminded of all the events of the day before. All of her wounds were dressed and bandaged, and she kind of looked like a mummy. She didn't realize until now how bad her injuries were.

Just then her face began to colour. I wonder if the doctors found out that I'm not a virgin. Aargh – more than likely, mother and father already know.

Alice knew that her parents would be extremely displeased. If her father found out that it was Joseph's doing, he might hunt him down and kill him himself. Alice could remember the harsh tone he had spoken in and the hard look in his eyes. She remembered how her mother's voice trembled in sadness and in fear. She remembered the absent look in her brother's eyes. It was just like when they had cut him off for a week when he did something disturbing to the neighbour's dog a few years ago.

Fear suddenly washed over Alice. Fear and hatred and seething anger. Her blood boiled within her veins. She wanted to pity him. She honestly did, but he had gone way too far. Alice gritted her teeth and gathered the sheet into her fists. She remembered how he'd made her cry, how much pain he'd forced her to endure, how much humiliation she had to suffer. She wished that he was dead; that someone killed him while they were away. She wished him a brutal end – one that would make him feel the pain she was bearing for the past month.

Before, she had clung to the hope that he could be saved, but he'd used that foolish weakness of hers to manipulate her and twist her around his defiled fingers. She realized now that she was merely another object to him, just like their parents, friends, teachers and everyone else. He…

A knock on the door shook Alice from her thoughts.

"Come in," she said, after releasing her dead-lock on the sheets and giving her teeth a break. The door opened a crack exposing a shock of teal hair. The person suddenly lurched forward and almost dropped the parcel he was carrying. He shot a death glare at the culprit before running up to Alice and placing the parcel down. Her eyes widened in joy.

"Lucas!"

Behind the young lad came in three other teenagers who seemed overjoyed to see the girl awake. Lucas hugged Alice and cradled her head in his arms. Julie and Runo sat at the bed's edge while Daniel desperately tried to separate the two so he could get his hug. After Lucas finally decided to stop hogging Alice, the others received their hugs.

"How did you know I was here?" Alice looked at her friends puzzled. Daniel averted his gaze. There was an uncomfortable silence in the room for a while.

"I-I figured that something had to be wrong with you because I found your brother at your home. He'd lost a lot of blood and the rain really did a number on him."

Alice's eyes widened a bit. What? He found Joseph? Injured? She almost didn't want to ask the other question because she was almost sure what the answer would be.

"Wh-where is he?"

"Admitted in this hospital. He's a few rooms away from you." Lucas carefully studied her change in expression.

Her eyes widened in fear now. "What?" she whispered to herself. He's here? In the same hospital…Just-just a few rooms down.

"It looks like you guys did more than just fight." Julie looked at Alice with worry. The young redhead painfully brought her knees up to her chest. She cradled her head in her hands and shut her eyes in disbelief. She wanted to shut everything – everyone out.

"Whoa there." Lucas sat beside her and placed his hand on her back, trying to comfort her. Runo and Julie pulled the sheets further up on her body and Daniel gently pried one of her hands away and placed it in his.

"Everything's going to be okay Ally. We don't know what really happened between you two, but I promise, we won't let anyone hurt you," Runo soothingly cooed.

I want to believe you, Runo. I really do, but there really is nothing you can do about this. I want to tell you all what happened between us, but, I just can't. Not because I care about his reputation, but I don't want Mom and Dad to suffer humiliation and possibly get dismissed from their jobs because of us. Come on, Alice. You can't just keep breaking down like this. Regain your composure. At least act strong.

She took in a few deep breaths, and removed her free hand from her head. Opening her eyes and allowing herself to be cradled in Lucas' arms once more, Alice forced a smile at Runo and said, "Thank you, everyone."

At hearing this, one of Daniel's eyes twitched. "You know, talking about our problems really does make us feel better. Come on, we won't judge. Bottling things up never helps. I can't promise that I won't push or pry, but, at least be honest with us. We'll stick by you no matter what."

Alice averted her gaze to the white sheets on her. She bit down on her lower lip, trying to keep her emotions in check. The whiteness of the sheets reminded her of how pure she was a few days ago. All of her other friends were innocent, untouched, unmarred, yet she had to be the odd one out. She'd never be able to go back to how she was. She'd never be able to not feel guilty whenever their guidance counsellor lectured the class on fornication and abuse. The innocence and stability that she had struggled so much to maintain when life threw so much at her, had finally been stolen in only a month.

Her eyes watered up and she began to tremble. In a few moments, tears were streaming down Alice's face. Daniel sat beside her and began to trace little shapes on the back of her hand in an attempt to soothe her. Julie got a box of Kleenex tissues from a side table and Runo just looked at her friend sadly. Lucas brow knotted in confusion as he tried to wrap his mind around the situation.

After a good fifteen minutes of crying, Alice accepted the box of tissues from Julie. She dried her puffy eyes, blew her nose and pulled the sheets further up on her body. "Something…something's wrong with Joseph. He's not himself," she began feebly. Lucas' face grew solemn. She placed her hands on her lap. "Ever since this month started, he's been…"

"He's been what?" Runo pressed.

Alice shook her head and continued. "He's been doing things to me." She squeezed her eyes shut. "He even raped me the last time we were at home."

"He did what?!" All four teens shouted.

Lucas released his hold on Alice and rose from the bed. His fists were clenched and he held his head down. "So he's the reason you're here, covered in bandages?"

Alice hesitated at first, but nodded.

"When? When did he rape you?"

"On the same day that he told you we weren't weren't going to be at school."

"I'm such an ass!" he sighed in exasperation. He stalked out of the room, with Daniel following close behind, smoke puffing out of their ears.

"Neh. This has been going on for so long, Alice! Why didn't you say anything to anyone?" Julie looked at her in frustration.

"I had foolish hope. I still believed that he could change and that he would change. I didn't expect him to go so far."

Runo walked up to Alice and began stroking her hair. Julie decided to change the subject and speak about something that might get all three of them into cheerier spirits.

Joseph had his eyes narrowed. He glared at the bandages that covered his wounds. He tightened his jaw every time he heard the heart rate monitor beep. He clenched his fists.

Why am I here? Who did this to me? I was sure that I had everything calculated perfectly. I should be dead, not lying down in this bloody place. Someone should be finding my cold dead body on the portico by now. Sister, mother and father should be getting the wonderful news that the Tormentor is finally gone. I don't want to have to go through all the trouble of mentally preparing myself to inflict pain on my body. That's just not me.

He sighed in annoyance and ran a hand through his silky blonde hair. Just then, his door opened. His eyebrows arched in expectance. Lucas and Daniel made their way inside. "Aren't we the nosy ones," he snorted in irritation.

"Neh, that's how you repay me for saving your life?" Lucas walked up to the side of the bed and took a seat, staring into Joseph's slate eyes.

"How're you feeling?" Daniel queried, a look of false concern shrouding his face.

Joseph looked down at his lap and withheld a reply. Lucas brought a hand up to Joseph's cheek and started stroking it gently. After a few minutes, he slapped him across it, gathered a fistful of his hair in his hand and threw his head back.

Wincing in pain from the sudden attack, Joseph made the mistake of looking up at Lucas. Instantly, pangs of guilt washed over him. They know.

"What did you do to her?" Daniel asked, his features, now consumed with anger.

"What's the sense of telling you? You already know." Joseph made a weak attempt to put up resistance.

"We just wanted a second opinion."

Lucas' grip tightened. "Why would you hurt your own sister like that? Aren't you supposed to be the one protecting her? All along we thought that you cared about her, but you were just pretending, weren't you. In the end, you're just another sick bastard."

Joseph desperately tried to cover up his agony with sick joy. He tried to indulge in pleasure that such words would normally elicit from him, put the pain and guilt were just too much. This had practically never happened to him before. Every word that escaped Lucas' lips felt like a dagger was being driven through him. His heart rate increased rapidly and his breaths became short and raspy. He brought his hands up to his ears and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Shut up! Just stop talking! None of you can understand! None of you will ever understand my reasoning. Just-just leave me alone." He began to tremble, and tears escaped his eyes (a very rare thing to happen to him).

Confused by his words, Lucas loosened his grip on his 'friend'. Daniel walked out of the room, shaking his head in disgust. Lucas stood up, grey eyes carefully regarding the weakling that lay before him. "You're right. We'll never understand you."

A few weeks passed. Both siblings were released from the hospital. Alice lived with her parents in an apartment close to her aunt's house while Joseph stayed at home alone. Their parents sent someone every week to check on him and to restock the house with whatever was needed.

At school, Joseph had completely separated himself from everyone. He had cut off all ties with his four friends, and totally avoided coming in contact with his sister. He refrained from participating in any extracurricular activities and revoked his membership from the Science Club. As soon as school was over, if he didn't have to meet with a teacher, he was often one of the first persons to leave the campus.

One particular day, he and his sister were called from class to Ms. Finsen's (the Counsellor's) office. The two waited in uncomfortable silence outside her door. Alice nervously glanced over at him, while his right eye twitched. After a few minutes, the door swung open, revealing a petite lady with shoulder length brown hair, coffee eyes and unblemished skin. She wore a nametag on her grey suit which read 'Dr. Laura Finsen, Psychologist'.

"Hello you two. Sorry I couldn't get to you sooner. Please, step inside."

Alice and Joseph entered the small office and took their seats as far away from each other as possible. The room had crème coloured walls with paintings of nature hung up on it. On one wall hung Dr. Finsen's qualifications. Behind her desk was a leather swivel-chair with a bookcase to the right of it. In front of it were four comfortable brown single seat couches. The lady took out a notepad and adjusted her thin framed glasses.

"I understand that there has been a bit of conflict going on between you two. I only want to help you, so try not to be embarrassed or offended if I ask some personal questions, and please, please tell me the truth. When you lie, you waste valuable energy and time."

Alice tried to get comfortable, and nodded at Ms Finsen's plea. Joseph just stared blankly at her.

"Okay, first and foremost, do you to live together."

"Yes, we do," Joseph replied without batting an eye.

Alice sighed and looked at the lady. "No, Ms Finsen, we don't. He lives alone, while I live with my parents."

"Alright, Joseph, darling, I recognize that I might have a problem with you. You need to be more willing to open up and express your emotions to other people. I promise, I won't hurt you, or judge you."

He exhaled sharply and quickly averted his gaze.

"Ah, I hear that during the past month, you've been getting into frequent fights with each other, and often times, Alice would be the one who's wounded the most. Is that true?"

Alice nodded her head.

"Alice, would you care to share what he's been doing to you?"

"Well, he's beaten me, molested me, verbally abused me and just before I was admitted into hospital, he raped me." Alice kept surprisingly strong throughout the statement.

"Is this true, Joseph?"

"Yes, it is." Joseph stared at the floor, deciding not to put up any resistance.

"I also hear that you have been injured as well. Has Alice been the one doing that to you in self defence?"

"No. My wounds were all self inflicted." Alice looked over at him in disbelief, not expecting him to tell the truth.

"Now, Joseph, why would you hurt yourself?"

"To make my lies seem more believable."

Ms. Finsen scribbled on her notepad and adjusted her glasses once more. "What kind of lies would you tell?"

"I'd say we were fighting again, and I'd lost control."

"So, your fighting is all a lie? You deliberately abused your sister who could barely defend herself. Did you pre-think what you would do to her?"

"Yes."

"Alice, please give me an idea of what he would do to you and what was running through your mind."

Alice shrank back into her seat. She tugged on a few strands of her hair, and glanced at her brother who was avoiding all eye contact.

"Every afternoon when we came home from school, he'd molest me until it was time for Mom and Dad to come home. After, he'd leave me so I could clean up, and after dinner, he'd probably molest me once more, or insult me or put me through whatever physical punishment he felt like. He was sick. He is sick. I'd always thought that I could save him, but he was too far gone. I had always suspected that something was wrong with him. He confirmed that when he began to hit me with a belt the night before the rape. He-he even used the buckle, and he didn't stop until we were both covered in blood. Even before the rape, he started beating me with a hammer."

The psychologist looked sadly at Alice. Her fists were clenched and her face was red with anger. Joseph looked as if he were about to vomit. She got up and placed a bucket near him, just in case. Sitting down again, she urged Alice, "Go on, go on. Continue to express yourself."

Alice turned sharply to her pale sibling. He still refused to look at her. "I hate you. I hate you so, so much. Do you have any idea how much pain you put me through? How much pain you put all of us through? Every day, Lucas blames himself for not seeing through your act. Every night, Mom cries because she doesn't know what went wrong. Dad and Daniel both want to strangle you. I want you to suffer, Joseph. I want you to suffer every bit of what you put the rest of us through. Honestly, every night, I pray for you to die a horrible death someday. It hurts to admit it, but you're just like grandfather. You're just as abnormal as he is. Everyone who knows about you is humiliated and ashamed of you. We're all wondering why you've turned out like this. It's a good thing Anya died before she was able to witness you lose your mind."

At the mention of Anya's name, Joseph doubled over and threw up into the pail. Ms. Finsen retrieved it, and helped Joseph into the bathroom. When they returned, Alice was finally able to see how her brother looked. He looked weak and frail, like he would just collapse at any moment. His hair seemed much thinner and his skin, much paler. There were dark circles beneath his troubled eyes.

After Ms Finsen took her seat again, she said, "This is the first time I'm hearing about this Anya. What's the connection, and what did your grandfather do?"

"Anya was our older sister. She died when I was seven and Joseph was eight. We all used to go to grandfather's house during vacations. Joseph loved it the most. Grandfather always used to tease him about how he was the most expressive one of us. When Anya and I would go out to play, he would always stay behind and talk with grandfather. One summer, grandfather took us all to his store-house. We all put on heavy coats and followed him out into the woods to go hunting. He was giving us tips on what to do in case we saw a deer, when suddenly; he reached behind him and grabbed Anya by the collar. He knocked her on the head with his shotgun, and he hit both Joseph and me with it too. Hard. I was going to run to grandfather to tell him to stop playing so rough when he shot at me. The only reason I missed the bullet was because Joseph had pushed me out of the way. Anya realized what was happening and begged grandfather to let us go. Instead, he shot her in the stomach. Right in front of us. She fell down, but held on to grandfather's pants and begged him to keep Joseph and I alive. He looked over at us, smirked, and shot her in the heart. He kicked Anya's dead body to the side and looked at us. I remember him telling us how lucky we were and telling me that I should run. I started to run away, but I looked back when he called Joseph. He went to him. I remember that Joseph was crying because he loved grandfather the most, he loved Anya, and that he'd just witnessed her death. I think grandfather must have spoken to him, and when they were done, somehow, Joseph got hold of the gun and killed grandfather. I've never seen Joseph cry since then up until a week ago. He didn't even cry at Anya's funeral."

Ms. Finsen looked worriedly over at Joseph who seemed to have just blocked out every word that his sister said. His slate eyes looked dead and empty. "Um, Joseph, what was your experience with your grandfather like on that day?"

Yup. Things should be winding down soon. Only about two or so chapters left. You know, I can't write long fics. Your reviews and PMs are always welcome. I might not reply right away though, but do not be discouraged! I want to know if the ending should be happy or bittersweet. I have no intention of turning this into a tragedy...then again, that idea's pretty good too. Anyways, please stay safe, and don't lose sight of the important things.

Thought: "Tough times don't last, tough people do, remember?

- Gregory Peck