Chapter 9
A/N: after this chapter there's only two more left so grab hold of your seats, it's going to be a bumpy ride!
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The darkness in his mind was all consuming, mesmerising to a certain degree, as it pulled him down darker and deeper than ever before. No war could do this, no unsurpassable massacre or genocide could pull Luke down into these depths. It didn't take the death of a million or even a thousand; just the death of one man, one boy, one human being. This one death threw out all of the therapy, all of the talking, all of the hope. One tiny bullet, insignificant to the world but his world to Luke, was all it took.
Lying in the forest, he was broken. Yet again the bruises and cuts on his arms from the fights, the beatings and the attacks he had both lost and won, the melancholy madness driving him further and further into oblivion. Had it not been for Will and the girl he helped escape he too would've been shot in the head like his brother, save the shooter wasn't a guard, or a soldier, or an invader; but his own dark mind, controlling his own dark hands.
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The clock ticked too fast, or so it seemed, time itself had bled into a menagerie of periods and gaps; the long waiting hours creeping on Luke like a panther stalking its prey. The three of them had sat down to have a meal; the event becoming more frequent now after Matthew's 'accident'.
"There was a car crash today, three kids were killed" Edward said between eating.
Luke laughed manically, attracting worrisome glances of the other two.
"Care to explain what's so amusing?" Brenner asked, eyeing his son.
"You two are like four. One half is for the country, the other is not. One half experiments on children, the other is sorry when they die in an accident" Luke stated, fiddling idly with the steak knife.
"We need to be, the lab is the lab and the home is the home" Brenner said.
"But the evil is the evil is the evil is the evil" Luke retorted, snorting at the end.
"If I seem to remember, you work with us? Correct?" Edward snapped at his brother.
"That is indeed correct, dear brother" Luke drew out the r-sound. "But I don't pretend that my hands are bloodless, that what I have participated in and contributed to hasn't tainted my soul in the slightest"
"If you think that is what we are doing, then you are incorrect" Brenner said, looking up from his meal. "We are doing this so the evil doesn't spread. You can take that either two ways; the firstly being that we ensure the virus of communism doesn't flood these shores with the blood of its dead and secondly; so that the evil within doesn't fester and rot and consume us. You will be wise to learn that." Brenner continued eating.
"What happens when the evil does consume you" Luke continued, twiddling the knife around with his thumb and forefinger.
"Then the affected part is amputated" Edward replied before his father.
"Is that what happened to Matthew" Edward and Brenner froze, both looking at each other wearily, before glaring at Luke with distaste. Luke laughed once again manically, the shrill noise bellowing through the house, making the wooden beams creak in disgust.
"I joke of course" Luke said, sipping from his mug.
"Why would you joke about something like that?" Edward asked, still glaring at his brother.
"Because he is dead, why does it matter? It's not as though he's listening in! Unless he is, then those little boys and girls who were given too much of this or too much of that must be gathered round like a choir ready to perform its piece, ready to burst into song when we too are amputated" Luke finished, stabbing the steak knife into the table with force.
"Why now? If I remember correctly it was you who said the experiments are immoral. Finally realised that we are related, sticks from the same tree?" Edward said, smirking sardonically.
"We are nothing alike, torture, school and a war has proven that" Luke rolled his eyes and his head on the chair.
"On the contrary, I and you are very similar. We are both capable of great things and yet at the same time are capable of great evil" Edward said, getting up and moving closer to his brother, the glare still unflinching.
"The evil within I and you, Edward, is very different rest assured." Luke quipped.
"But as you said earlier; Evil is evil is evil is evil" Edward now edged his face closer to Luke, his glare still maddening and filled with fury. "The same tar that flows through these veins, flow through yours too" Edward snapped away from his brother's face, the close distance being spread like the corpse of a victim of an explosion. Edward whipped round and stormed upstairs, leaving Luke to shrug in silence and continue eating, leaving Brenner in shock.
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Luke pounded his head against the wall, the repetitive thud somewhat calming and soothing to him. Will stood staring at him, worried but at the same time slightly amused.
"Are you okay?" Will asked, getting up and stroking Luke's back.
"Yeah, I've just got a bit of a headache" Luke replied drowsily.
"I was wondering" Will lead on "What exactly are we" Luke's cheeks blushed, matching the colour of Will's.
"We're whatever you want us to be" Luke replied, dodging the question.
"We've been on dates haven't we?" Will asked
"Yes..."
"We've snuggled against each other" Will wrap his arms around Luke's waist.
"Yes..."
"Therefore, we must be boyfriends" Will said happily.
"I guess so?" Luke said, turning round and reciprocating the hug.
"So what do you want to do? Do you want to announce it to the rest of the party?" Will said eagerly.
"Yeah okay, sounds good" Luke said, looking into Will's soft brown eyes.
They edged closer, their faces nearing with each passing second until they could feel each other's breath on their faces.
A loud knock interrupted their moment, making both boys fly apart as though pulled by some huge magnet.
"That's my ride" Luke said sheepishly as he left through the door, glaring at Edward for disturbing him.
"Actually I want to walk, I'll be back by six" Luke said, getting a shrug from Edward as he drove off.
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The sky slowly faded to a deep orange, then a thick hue of purple. Checking the trees and any unnatural noises behind him, Luke slowly made his way through the wood. The branches snapped every so often under his boots, but aside from that he was silent. The furtive movements made no disturbance, not even the animals registering his presence. The Thick oaks and redwoods gave way to pine trees, the vegetation growing thicker, smothering the ground below. The branches kept on creaking and snapping with each pressing step then suddenly, a louder crack alerted him to a presence. Pretending to be oblivious, Luke went on, ears pricking for any more signs or warnings of movement. As expected, another loud crack made his hairs bristle with energy. Pretending to look at his watch, he scanned around in the glass to see the assailant, the low light of the evening making it nearly impossible to distinguish figure from fence. Another louder crack made him swivel round, knife drawn from its sheath and ready to draw blood.
But instead of a masked assailant, instead of a guard or a soldier, a scared little girl dressed in a camouflage smock and trousers too big for her stood silently, her sunken eyes staring into his, melting the iron expression he was wearing.
"Oh it's you" he breathed a breath he didn't know he was holding in.
"The girl nodded silently, her vocabulary being small, if nonexistent.
"I brought some proper food today, but also your favourite" He opened up a small pouch in his coat and revealed a packet of skittles waving it in front of the girls face teasingly. She reached up to grab the swerving bag but eventually he stopped.
"You can have these after you eat your proper food. You need to stay strong" he told her affectionately. Although Luke had never had anyone younger than him to care about, this girl, 13, was more like a little sister than anything else. Despite his age, he could even consider her his daughter to a degree.
He pulled out some tinfoil wrapped eggy-bread with some pieces of vegetables mixed in.
"Sorry kid, it's all I could find without them being suspicious" Luke said, watching as the scare little girl, her pale face with dark brown eyes and buzz cut hair, wolfed down the food eagerly, before staring at Luke with a silent message.
More
"I'm sorry little one, I really am. Tomorrow I'm going to the wheelers and they have plenty of free food so I'll bring you some more then. I might even bring some waffles" He looked at her with a smirk, noticing the girl's expression immediately light up, despite the gloomy surroundings.
"Hey" she looked at him with a hopeful expression. "You almost forgot something" he teased, bringing out the packet of skittles from behind his bag. The girl snatched the bag and ripped it open, speedily wolfing down the bright coloured orbs that she held so dear.
"Thankyou" she said feebly after finishing them in record time.
"Hey, come here" Luke said, extending his arms around the frail girl, who's size had been tripled by the warm smock she was wearing over her hospital gown. He hugged her tight, the warm embrace meaning so much to each other, her cradled softly in his arms, her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs hung limp over his elbows. Realising she was asleep; he picked her up and walked softly to the little dugout, insulted by blankets and moss of all descriptions. He lay her down in the makeshift bed, closing the roof over her to conceal her hideaway from any prying eyes. Kissing her goodnight he walked softly away, careful not to disturb the sleeping child hidden below.
Tears streaming down his eyes, he walked away from the spot, picking up pace into a gentle jog as he left the forest.
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"What are we going to do about Luke?" Brenner asked.
"What do you mean?" Edward replied, playing the fool.
"He is mad is what I mean!" Brenner shouted.
"That outburst today was purely because of his grief over Matthew, the two were close" Edward replied nonchalantly.
"No, Edward, that outburst was a psychotic break down, he is evil!" Brenner shouted again, waving his arms through the air to add drama to his piece.
"As I said before, the same tar runs through these veins as does Luke's. You might as well be the pot calling the kettle black" Edward sighed, rubbing his temples gently.
"No, he needs to go" Brenner shouted at his son.
Edward stood up, towering over his father, the darkness in his eyes giving him a domineering quality.
"Sit down Mark" Edward said coolly, dragging the chair across so that it faced him. Brenner took the seat.
"Luke is one of us, he is evil, yes, but so are we. He is loyal to our cause; he wants to strive for the greater good! Can't you see that?! He is what Matthew..." Edward choked slightly at the utterance of that name "wasn't. He isn't weak; he is strong. He is what we need for the project, he isn't a threat!" It was Edward's turn to shout, the argument reaching a boiling point as Brenner cowered in fear of his own son.
"We still have to do something about him" Brenner said ominously.
Edward drew the pistol from his belt, pointing it straight at his father's head, his hand shaking with fury. Brenner raised his hand slowly.
"My hands are already red with the blood of my trade; I need not dirty it more. I killed Matthew, my own brother nonetheless, because he was weak, he was spineless, he was a coward. He couldn't get the job done" Edward leaned in closer to Brenner when he shouted this, the spittle making Brenner wince in disgust. "Luke... Luke is a gem, a diamond in the rough. He is what Matthew wasn't. He is strong, he is capable of greatness and here you are, frightened of your own creation. It is you who is the weakling, it is you who is the coward, it is then you who turns away when the water becomes a little too warm for his feelings" the last words were said in an airy way, mocking Brenner.
"Enough!" Edward shouted, slamming the gun down onto the chair, staring Brenner in the eyes. "It is you who I should shoot, or blow up, or stab, or gut like the spineless pig you are. Harden your resolve, don't be so weak. We can see where Matthew got that from." Edward stood up once again, running his hands through his hair.
"Let me tell you a story, about a boy named Edward" He said, pulling up a chair backwards and sitting down, glaring at Brenner and revelling in the fear he was causing him. "Now, some big bad men tried to invade Edward's home so he went out and killed them. One of his friends decided that he was afraid" Edward put emphasis on this word "And decided to run away in fear. Do you know what happened to him?" Edward asked rhetorically. "Well Edward saw the coward running over a field, but Edward was very far away. Despite that; Edward had a rifle and shot the coward dead. From a mile away." His voice raised into a crescendo. "I have no time for cowards; I was betrayed by them in the war enough times. Are you a coward mark?"Edward asked, once again staring into Brenner's eyes. He just shook his head in response, face white with fear.
"Good, because I don't want to have to open your skull like I did to that poor little boy now do I?" Edward asked, drawing his knife and tracing the point down the side of Brenner's clearly sweaty face.
"If you want to kill Luke, Just be aware that at that point you have become a coward, and we both know what happens to cowards" Edward got up off the chair before walking through the door leading to the landing.
"Goodnight Mark!" he shouted before heading upstairs laughing maniacally.
Nobody noticed the trembling figure of Luke in the shadows, wanting to kill both of the demons within that room.
Edward Killed Matthew
The thought coursed through his head, eventually filling it entirely.
His blood boiled in his veins, his black eyes now going red.
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A/N: Defecation has hit the ventilation. This is going far darker than what I had originally planned but I like it. R&R!
