What's in a Name

Chapter 14

"Al! Wake up; we're going to be late!"

His brother's voice was muffled through his bedroom door, but was still loud enough to wake him. Alfred sat up, ruffling his hair to get it into the right place before pulling back his bedclothes standing up.

It had been another late night, not getting in until three o'clock and then having to be careful not to wake the other members of the household. He'd parked his bike around the corner in the neighbours' space again, knowing that they were away and wouldn't need it for another couple of weeks. This was much more convenient than usual; his parents wouldn't be able to tell whether he'd been out or not or what time he got back each night.

Matthew hammered on the door again, this time a little more urgently. "I'm up, Matt!" He called back, fumbling around for a clean shirt to wear. He'd gone to bed without changing out of his clothes again, and had woken up feeling more uncomfortable for it.

"You could at least wear the proper uniform." Matt groaned when Alfred finally emerged from his bedroom wearing his usual bomber jacket over the top of his school uniform instead of the regulation blazer. Matthew, as usual, looked smart in his own uniform, his tie done up properly and shirt tucked into his plaid trousers.

"You know I can't stand the thing." The older sibling whinged, yawning widely and rubbing his bright blue eyes. "You wanna ride?"

"Aren't you going to have breakfast?" The younger looked up at his brother worriedly, his own slightly violet eyes glancing into the kitchen as they passed it, giving their mother a quick nod. "And you know you're not supposed to take that thing to school." He hissed, knowing that their mother was still within hearing distance.

"I'm sixteen, Matt. There's nothing they can do about it." Alfred grinned, picking up his helmet as he reached the front door, grabbing his jangle of keys and heading outside. "Do you want a ride or not?"

"Fine seeing as we're going to be late anyway." Matthew sighed impatiently. The fourteen year old seemed to be understanding his older brother less and less in recent months, ever since he had joined that group and started staying out later every night, carrying out whatever tasks he just had to be a part of ever since he'd saved up enough to buy that stupid bike.

"Don't give me that look, Mattie." Alfred shoved his brother jokingly.

They carried on walking around to the next street where Alfred had parked his bike, avoiding the looks their neighbours were giving them as they walked passed, they were all aware of Alfred's night time activities.

"I heard you get in last night." Matthew murmured, not wanting other people to overhear their conversation.

His brother didn't answer and just carried on walking, though his face had become more serious. He didn't like it when Matt confronted him about the group.

"What time was it?" He pushed on, willing his brother to give him a reply.

"I dunno, Matt. Three, three thirty maybe? Can't remember." Alfred tried to brush him off and didn't look at the younger blonde. "Does it really matter?"

"Yes!" Matt's pace sped up slightly. He frowned back at his brother, brushing his bangs out of his eyes. "What if Mom and Dad find out? Then what are you going to do?"

"I'll think of something when it actually happens." He tried to brush his brother off, matching the younger's pace and soon overtaking him with his longer legs. "C'mon, or do you want to be even later."

School had always been mandatory for Alfred. Just another part of his daily life, but he didn't care about it. He was good at some subjects without having to try and others he just didn't bother with. A lot of the time he bunked out of his later classes, instead just heading out to meet up with some of the other members. Other times he took Matt home and pretended to do his homework before sneaking out of one of the back windows before driving off. But somehow Matthew always knew when he had gone out and was waiting for him to arrive back half of the time. It always made things awkward, having to come up with an excuse that his younger brother might believe at God knows when in the morning, and most of the time his stories made no sense and he knew that Matt could see straight through them.

On this particular day he'd gone home with Matt, eaten dinner with the family like the good son he pretended to be for his mother, and then had stalked up stairs and stared at one of his schoolbooks for about half an hour, scribbling down a few answers to some maths problems, before listening carefully for any noise outside his door, grabbing his jacket again, and climbing down the drainpipe next to his bedroom window. The first time he'd done this he had worried about the pipe falling off the wall when he was halfway down, but that hadn't happened as of yet, even after he had gotten taller and older. And as he had gotten older he had also gotten more confident, dangerously so, and his skills had improved so that now no one heard him when he jumped down the last few feet to the ground after having climbed out of his window.

This time they were raiding another gang. They'd gone after them before, terrorising the girl who ran it alongside her giant of a brother. Alfred always remembered her blonde hair sticking up all over the place, even while it was tied down with her trademark hairband, and her blaming her ever the silent-type brother for not intervening while they still had the chance. That particular gang was now so small that it was an easy target for them. They couldn't muster up a good enough defence anymore, so they were all just easy pickings for a good pipe and, if they were particularly rowdy one day, a knife. But Alfred always left the choice down to one of the others, he was fine with either.

"Late as usual." Ivan greeted him, smirking slightly as Alfred pulled up on his bike, removing his helmet before he had even stopped. "I was beginning to lose hope in my number two."

"As if." Alfred laughed, clapping his partner on the back and waving over at Natalia in greeting. The girl nodded shortly before returning to checking over a couple of the other members' bikes, making sure they were ready. "So what's the plan? The usual one two three finish?"

"Probably." Ivan pulled his scarf a little tighter around his neck, "I think we should leave their boss to Natalia and the girls, while we target spikey and the others. He's always been more of a threat even if he does keep quiet most of the time."

"I'd be surprised if it went any differently than usual. They haven't had any new members for months. Too scared." Alfred laughed, tossing his helmet between his hands.

"We need to get going pretty soon." Natalia joined them, retying her ponytail. "I heard their meetings are a lot shorter than they used to be so we won't have long to get there."

"Okay then." Alfred smiled, assisting Natalia onto her bike before swinging himself back onto his one. "Shall we?"

Ivan nodded around to the rest of the group, who followed suit in getting into place on their bikes. They had grown in numbers even in the last week, probably another three or four people than there had been previously. It was hard to control a group so big, but somehow these three managed it without a hitch. They were well known as being the top three throughout the gangs of the town, even if the other leaders didn't like to admit it, Ivan Braginski being in charge, closely followed by Alfred and then Natalia, who was very much considered to be the favourite of the other two, mostly for being Ivan's half-sister.

Finally Ivan swung his leg over his monster of a bike, revving the engine hard before speeding out of the warehouse in front of the others.

Alfred looked at the clock on his phone. Eleven o'clock. Still early. They had finished far faster than they had originally anticipated. Their group must have lost around ten of its members since the last time they had targeted them, there couldn't have been more than fifteen of them there! Some of them must have legged it when they'd found out they were going to be attacked again. The leader and her brother had been there though, and put up quite a fight alongside their remaining members, but had ultimately been wiped out rather easily.

Ivan was standing at the front of the warehouse, looking out into the night. It had been a disused building for many years now, no one daring to come close to it since Ivan and the gang had moved in. The taller man looked very much composed, not a drop of blood staining his beloved white scarf, unlike Alfred and Natalia who both had red liquid splashed down their clothes and on their hands. They were currently busy cleaning off whatever weapons they had decided to use against the rival gang, Alfred wiping his bar on a patch of grass that had grown up through the concrete floor of the warehouse and Natalia carefully hiding her knife under her coat again. Ivan had barely moved since they had gotten back, merely using a piece of cloth to wipe off his piping, leaning it on his bike and then moving to watch the night outside their headquarters.

Suddenly though, Ivan darted outside, disappearing from sight momentarily and bringing the whole group to attention. Alfred sprinted the distance across the building to the door, closely followed by Natalia, and peered out to try and catch some sight of where their partner had gone. The man was standing by the entrance to the nearest alleyway, bent over something. Alfred could see the smile on his face even from where he was standing just outside the warehouse. That sly, sadistic smile that Ivan always wore when he'd caught someone who shouldn't have been there. It had happened before and was bound to happen again.

Alfred waited for the inevitable screaming of the gang leader's victim, knowing how he usually dealt with the people who tried to spy on them. However Ivan was already returning to the building and was dragging something behind him. It looked like a roll of material at first and it wasn't until Natalia gasped and ran forward to meet her brother that Alfred realised that the man was actually pulling a person along behind him. Together the two siblings frogmarched the person towards the building, shooting comments that Alfred couldn't hear back at them every now and then.

Alfred made his way back inside, not really caring who his friend had found this time. It was probably just that gang leader trying to find some weakness in their group after hers was so easily thrashed.

A hand on his shoulder, however, stopped him in his tracks. Natalia guided him around to the front of the group, Ivan following closely behind them, still holding tightly onto his prey. The girl wouldn't let Alfred turn around to look at whoever the person was, instead grabbing hold of the sides of his head whenever he tried.

Eventually, when they reached the front, Natalia pulled Alfred to one side while Ivan stood in the centre, holding the person in such a way that Alfred still couldn't see who it was. Ivan looked at him coldly. He was still smiling, yes, but Alfred had learnt when the man was happy and when he was angry from the change in his eyes. And this time he was certainly troubled.

"I found this hiding around in the alleyway outside." He spoke to the rest of the group, occasionally glancing over at his sister to make sure she was keeping Alfred in place. "I know he looks familiar to you all, and I'm certain that most of you know why, but I'm also certain that the person in question had no idea that this person would be out there."

He threw the person forwards, letting them land in a heap in front of him, his blonde hair flying in front of his face and covering it. But Alfred had seen what he needed to.

Matthew sat up slowly, turning his head widely to try and get some bearings of where he was. Catching sight of his brother standing to one side he tried to stand and cross to him, but instead was held in place by a large hand on his shoulder.

Natalia finally let go of him and Alfred walked slowly up to Ivan, not moving his eyes from Matthew's figure crouched down on the floor. He was surprised, of course. But showing that in front of Ivan would have been a bad idea; the man always noted weaknesses and looked for openings, even among his allies.

"How long was he there for?" He hissed, not wanting the rest of the group to hear him.

"He's been following us for most of the evening."

"Really?" Alfred didn't need the answer to his question. He continued to watch his younger brother, noting how he too hadn't removed his eyes from his older brother since he had caught sight of him.

"What should we do with him?" Natalia joined them, peering down at the younger boy in front of them.

"That is a good question." Ivan seemed to be ignoring the rest of the group now, solely addressing his two partners. "What should we do with him, Alfred?"

"I-" Alfred froze. They were discussing how to punish his brother. His brother. There was no way he could do that. Matt was still watching him as well, hearing every word that was said. But he couldn't show any weakness to the others, that wouldn't serve him well in the slightest. It would be used against him in the future. "Do what you want. I'm going home." He said finally, his gaze hardening on his brother.

"Al!" Matt shouted at Alfred turned to walk away, his eyes widening as his older brother abandoned him there.

Natalia caught his arm, pulling around to face her again. "Are you sure?" She questioned, looking slightly worried.

Alfred looked around, making sure that Matthew and Ivan could still here him. "I don't need a brother who thinks that he needs to spy on me."

Matthew's time seemed to stop. His eyes widened as he saw his brother turn his back on him and swing himself back onto his bike, scattering the gang members as he sped out of the building.

"Very well." Ivan smiled icily, his grip tightening on Matthew's shoulder.

Alfred felt sick. He couldn't believe that he had just done that. He had just left Matt back there with Ivan, known to be one of the most violent and potentially deadly gang leaders around.

He knew this, and had been scared for himself instead of his brother and God knows what the consequences of that were going to be. It wasn't going to be anything good that was for sure.

But maybe Ivan would go easy on the boy. He was Alfred's younger brother after all, and Alfred was his number two, his partner. Maybe he would just rough him up a bit and then let him go. It was a long shot, but maybe.

His thoughts rushed through his head as he walked through the front door, not bothering to be quiet because he knew his parents would still be up. He answered the questions they asked about where he had been, lying through his teeth for the most part, but then came the question "So where's your brother?" and he felt himself freeze again, flinching at the unwanted curiosity of his parents.

"Dunno." He replied quickly, before darting out of the room and up the stairs.

The time passed slowly, Alfred once again mulling over his unfinished homework as a way to distract himself, but his mind kept wandering back to what he had just done.

Fifteen minutes. Nah, he's fine. Just walking home.

Half an hour.

"Al? Are you sure you haven't seen Matt?"

"No Mom!"

Forty-five minutes. It's getting late. No. No. He's fine! Nothing to worry about.

An hour.

"Shit." He sat up from the pillow, throwing his pillow off the end in frustration. Alfred grabbed his jacket again, practically running down the stairs towards the front door. "I'm going to find Matt." He called through the living room door, grabbing his keys off the shelving unit by the door.

He vaguely heard his mother shouting after him, "Alfred? It's after midnight!" but ignored her, practically lunging himself through the front door and back out into the night.

It wasn't particularly cold for the time of year and the wind rushing past him as he rode was relatively warm, but even so he shivered, the dread building in the back of his mind.

Ivan wouldn't have done anything. He always had a sort of soft spot for families. He always took great care not to put Natalia into situations where he thought there was any chance of her getting hurt, and Alfred knew that he had another, older sister that he was fond of as well. So he would certainly treat Matthew the same way, knowing that he was Alfred's brother. Yeah, yeah, he'd do that. There was nothing to worry about.

He kept running that thought through his mind until he arrived back at the warehouse, noting that it was nearly completely empty now. Most of the members had left, having finished that evening's raid, leaving a few of the regulars, Natalia and Ivan behind.

Matt was nowhere to be seen.

"Ah, he's back." Ivan looked up, smiling at Alfred's arrival. His clothes, Alfred realised, were a lot dirtier than they had been before. His usually pristine scarfs had dark black smudges all over it, and were mirrored on his face and hands. It almost looked as if he had been up someone's chimney.

Natalia's appearance was similar, but she didn't look nearly as burnt. The marks were obviously soot of some sort, nothing else would make them look quite as dishevelled. She shifted awkwardly from one foot to another, carefully avoiding making eye-contact with Alfred.

Ivan, on the other hand, looked quite pleased to see him. He patted Alfred on the back as he dismounted, his eyes actually giving across the impression that he was happy for once.

"What do we owe this pleasure?" He drawled, raising Alfred's suspicions all the more.

He took a step back from the gang leader, surveying him carefully, unsure of how to answer him. "What did you do with my brother?" He decided it was better to be direct rather than beating around the bush, knowing that if he came across as being nervous and worried, Ivan would turn it to his own advantage.

"Your brother?" Ivan tilted his head to one side, his eyes fixed on Alfred. "He was punished suitably and left alone." He waved his hand as if the matter was unimportant, returning to rubbing his bike over with an old cloth.

"He hasn't gone home yet." Alfred looked sternly at his partner, seeing that he was obviously trying to brush the subject off.

"How would you know if you aren't there yourself?"

"Don't patronize me, Ivan!" Alfred's temper was fraying, his worry growing steadily.

"You're the one who said I could do what I wanted with him."

Alfred stared at him. His mind had gone blank. This was his fault for leaving Matt behind and now he didn't know what Ivan had done with him. Ivan, the man who only two hours ago had been smashing a great lead pipe over the heads of the members of a rival gang. And Alfred had left his younger brother with him saying he could punish him how he saw fit. What the hell had he been thinking?

"What did you do?" Alfred muttered, almost inaudibly.

"What's this? Regretting now are we?" Ivan snickered, looking Alfred up and down. "I wonder if he managed to get away."

"Where is he?" He said a little louder. The other members who were still there had started gathering around.

"Starting to feel the heat yet, Jones?"

"Where is he, Ivan?" Alfred yelled, grabbing Ivan by the scruff of his neck. He glared into the taller man's eyes, knowing that this was exactly what he had wanted Alfred to do.

Ivan laughed. He was actually enjoying seeing Alfred looking so panicked. The younger man pulled back his fist, striking his partner hard across his jaw.

The other members scattered, scared of what was going to happen next. No one had ever hit Ivan before, and anyone who had tried had come off a lot worse than they had been before. Ivan was known to be an extremely violent man, which was why Alfred had gotten so worried in the first place.

But there was no reaction. Alfred dropped the man in front of him, breathing heavily and glaring down at him. Ivan was still grinning away, but his eyes had turned cold and were positively boring into Alfred.

Neither one of them spoke; waiting to see which of them would break eye contact first. Natalia had backed off, looking terrified at the sudden development between her brother and their partner.

Alfred eventually looked away, returning to his bike. "I'll find him myself then." He muttered, shooting another glare back at the others.

"Does your brother like cars?" Ivan called out to him suddenly, just before he pulled his helmet over his head. He ignored the tone of his voice, hoping that the comment had been some sort of clue as to where Matt was. He revved his bike and was gone again, leaving the other two behind him. "I wonder whether you'll make it in time."

Cars. Cars. What did he mean by cars?

Damn it, why are there so many cars dealers in town?

Alfred's patience was slipping further and further away. He'd been searching for far too long and he still hadn't found Matthew. He could see Ivan in the back of his mind laughing and goading him for being so soft. They'd never look at him in the same way again; he'd gone and mucked up his place as second in command. But this was something more important than his reputation in the gang.

Where else were there any cars.

He'd been to every single auto dealer in the town and Ivan couldn't have taken Matt too far away, there was too little time between him leaving and getting back for him to do anything like that.

Cars. Cars. Cars.

Then it hit him and he realised what all the things that Ivan had said had really meant.

There was an old scrap dump just outside the town that they often went to when the warehouse was being searched by the police. They'd lost a few members that way. Of course they'd take Matt there when Ivan k new that Alfred was bound to go back to their normal base to look for him.

Ivan had planned this all out from the very beginning.

Then he remembered something else Ivan had said.

"Starting to feel the heat yet, Jones?"

There was smoke rising in the distance. Alfred could see it even in the night, standing out against the glow of the streetlamps. Shit! He wouldn't!

He kicked his bike into gear again and sped down the street, swerving in between cars dangerous. He had to get there, and fast.

There were already fire engines parked at the entrance to the dump, battling the flames down.

Alfred pulled up behind one, peering through the smoke in at the piles and piles of rusty old vehicles and rubbish. They'd never find him in time.

Carefully scooting around the engine he lined himself up with the open gate, revving the bike so that he could set off with enough speed, and kicked off, shooting forwards.

A couple of fire-fighters jumped to the side, not expecting the speeding biker to suddenly appear, and were shouting something after him as Alfred disappeared into the smoke.

The smoke was thick, so thick that he eventually had to abandon his bike and continue into the dump on foot.

The fire was worse the further in he went, enveloping the many different piles of rubbish that had been left there over the years. The smoke towered into the air, almost choking Alfred even though he had taken care to keep his helmet on. The smell of the burning metal and fuel was almost overpowering as he made his way through and combined with the smoke making his eyes water it was almost impossible to keep on going.

Pile after pile he went past, hoping for some sign of life amongst them somewhere. He prayed that Ivan had shown some pity on the boy and not set fire to the place where he had left him, but for as far as Alfred could make out, everything had been set ablaze.

But then he saw it, the one car that wasn't a flaming mess. He could just about see the limp form of a body protruding from under the car's body amongst all the smoke and he could have cried. It was Matt.

Oh, please God, let him be alive!

He ran over, waving the heat away from his face. The helmet seriously wasn't helping in that aspect, it was just making him even hotter.

Matt's leg was stuck under the vehicle, making it practically impossible to move him without hurting him even more. What Ivan had used to move the damn thing, Alfred didn't know, and that was the last of his worries at the time.

The smell of burning fuel was getting stronger and the flames were getting dangerously close to where Alfred was leaning over his brother, trying to find some way of removing him from under the car.

There was a massive crash and a van fell off the top of a nearby pile, the windows smashing and covering Alfred with broken glass as he leapt over Matthew to protect him. Other debris hit his shoulder, burning through his jacket before he had a chance to beat it out. A final piece shot through the car's windscreen, landing on the front seat and setting it alight.

No. No! Shit!

The fire in the car was spreading quickly, leaving him little choice but to try and pull Matthew free. His leg was bleeding from where the car was resting on it, obviously crushing it badly. There was also a growing red patch in his hair. Ivan had really gone all out this time.

Another smash as one of the car's windows shattered.

Alfred pulled his brother but still couldn't move him. The car was too heavy and he didn't want to hurt Matt any more than he already was.

He pushed himself up under the vehicle's front bumper, willing the car to raise off the ground enough for him to ease Matt out. He felt his jacket rip from the strain on his back, the hot metal burning his back.

And then it shifted.

It was only an inch, but it was enough. Alfred pressed up against the underneath of the car again, mustering up all the strength he could and pushed upwards again.

Another inch up. And another. Perfect.

He reached for Matthew's waist with his feet and kicked out against him, unable to move his hands from where he was supporting himself under the war. He kicked again, mentally apologising to his brother. His leg was almost free, but he couldn't stop yet. Another kick. His back was aching terribly, but if he dropped out now then the car would fall straight back on Matthew. One more…

He was out. Alfred dropped the car down the few inches he had lifted it, rolling back out from under the bumper. The hot metal scraped against his waist, burning through his jacket and leaving a thin red line where it had touched his skin. His shoulders were burnt and in agony but he had to get Matt out of there.

Standing rather stiffly, Alfred removed his helmet, choking slightly on the smoke that suddenly flooded into his lungs. He reached out to find Matthew again, lifting him up slightly and pushing the helmet over his head instead of his own in some frugal attempt of protecting him from any further damage by the fire.

He hoisted his brother over his shoulders, grunting from the pain that shot through them and gingerly started walking back in the direction he had come from.

Everything looked different in the growing flames. Alfred had been to the dump more than once in the past but he didn't recognise anything. It was all a complete mess.

He finally saw the form of his bike appear through the smoke and sped up his pace to get to it. Luckily the flames hadn't reached it yet but were getting uncomfortable close. Everything around him smelled like burning fuel and he hurried to position Matthew onto the seat and take his own place behind the handlebars.

It took him several attempts to kick the bike into gear, his shoulders screaming out every time he took hold of the bars. Eventually though the bike revved and he shot forward, careful not to go too fast so that Matthew didn't fall from the back.

He could feel his brother slumped up against his back, still unconscious, but definitely breathing. Alfred could hear his breath, rasping but still warm and present even if it was slower than usual. Every now and then he would let out a small cough from under the helmet as the smoke cleared from his system.

And then the fire was gone and Alfred was slowing down in front of a crowd of fire-fighters who had rushed towards them as soon as he had emerged from the smoke.

He was rushed to one side and bombarded with questions while others carefully lifted Matthew from the bike and lay him on a stretcher, checking out the wounds on his head and leg.

The next thing Alfred knew, he was waking up in hospital. His mother was standing at the end of the bed talking to a policeman in hushed voices, not realising that the boy had woken.

During his time in the ward other officers came and went, questioning about what had happened at the dump, how he had known that Matthew had been there, and other things along those lines. He didn't hide the fact that he had been a member of Ivan's gang from them; he was too tired to try and deny this fact from them. However he quickly found out that Ivan had disappeared and hadn't been seen for days since they had raided the other gang.

It wasn't long after this that Natalia secretly came to visit him, telling him that they were leaving without him. She was cold in repeating her brother's words to Alfred, and told him that Ivan had found it a great treachery that he hadn't been able to control his own brother. Alfred just let the words roll over him, barely acknowledging that the girl was even there. He knew that he wasn't going back to them once he got out. He couldn't trust them anymore and had since realised how much trust he had given them without even considering what he was doing.

The doctors ultimately told him that he was fine, save the damage the smoke had done to his eyes. He was prescribed glasses and discharged from the hospital, going home with his parents.

Matthew had told the police that Alfred had had nothing to do with the incident and had phoned him to tell him where he was before he passed out. Of course, this had been enough for the police, although they had continued looking for Ivan and the rest of the group for several weeks afterwards.

Alfred himself had been charged for minor damages that the gang had incurred since he had joined, though not the fire itself as it was clear that he had not started it.

Soon after this he had taken his bike and set fire to it in secret, somewhere where no one would see or find it.

He felt as though he was tired all the time and had no energy to do anything. School was more mandatory than ever, people passing him in hushed whispers after everything that had happened. The other members of the group who had attended the school all avoided him. They had been left behind without a word from Ivan as well. One or two confronted Alfred about it but got no answer.

Matthew was discharged from hospital a little while after Alfred. His entire right leg had been severely crushed, leaving him wheelchair bidden and unable to walk. However the wound on his head had healed without much of a problem. He too now had to wear glasses, though, due to the smoke damage. His leg was going to be permanently disabled, though he soon taught himself to walk again with crutches after a few months of being in the wheelchair ("I can't stand having to sit down all the time. It feels like I'm in a jungle of legs all the time.").

Their parents had started fighting a lot after the incident. Their father adamant that Alfred was at fault for letting Matthew get into trouble with the gang that he was a member of because he cared more about himself than his brother. Their mother, however, placed the blame solely on Ivan, saying that Alfred had no way of knowing what Ivan was going to and was right to worry for his own safety.

Alfred, of course, agreed with his father. The guilt was almost too much. Matt had gotten him out of trouble with the police when they had wanted to charge him for the whole thing and he couldn't do anything in return. Matt had always wanted to go to college, whereas Alfred had never really been bothered with his education, so he buried himself in his studies, working hard in the subjects that his brother loved rather than the ones that he was good at, and eventually got good enough grades to enter college to study literature in Matthew's stead. If his brother couldn't carry out his ambitions then he'd do it for him and then teach him all about it himself.

Two years after the fire Mr and Mrs Jones divorced, the fighting between them having escalated from just their disagreement over the incident. It seemed that they had grown further and further apart until Mrs Jones couldn't take it anymore and filed for their separation, taking Alfred and Matthew to live with her until Alfred moved out to go to a different college after another year. He couldn't take her nagging at him to change his name to hers any further and just left.

He could start anew this way. The town was close enough, so he could stay in contact easily if he had to. No one would know about his past unless they made their own inquiries, which he knew some people would, of course. The college and his landlord would know. That was compulsory, but other than that it was a clean slate.

If only things had stayed that way.

[A/N: Three very quick updates this time, I know, but I've been away for two weeks with no internet so all I could do was write and draw, so here's three chapters.

This chapter was one I've been planning since the beginning, but was a lot harder to write than I had originally thought ^^;;

I'm still writing chapter 15, but I've pretty much planned out the rest of the fic, so not long to go now people. Thanks for kicking around for its duration =)

I've also finished Francis's headshot for this series, so that'll be up some time soon too]