Brother (Short) Read online

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  2

  Brother

  My eyes darted around the room. All my senses began kicking into high speed. I could hear the cars passing by on the street, smell the lingering aromas of the bacon, eggs, toast and coffee that Jack had for breakfast; I was able see details of Jack that I usually miss. His eyes, how they are both perfectly identical and evenly spaced, how black his eyes were becoming, changing from the beautiful deep blue they usually were. How white and perfectly straight his teeth are. I could almost feel his movement. I knew then that I was becoming more in tune with my Aberrant side.

  Jack was still getting larger, his muscles were stretching the limits of his shirt, and he was crouched slightly, ready to pounce.

  “Jack. Finally I get to meet you. I am sorry about the mess that I made.” I spun around towards the sound of the unfamiliar voice in the doorway. Before I had the chance to see who it was, Jack had jumped at him. He had a hold of the guy’s sweatshirt around his neck.

  “You did this!” Jack said as he threw the guy against the wall. “How dare you come into my house.” Jack punched the guy in the face. His hand making a terrible sound as it connected.

  The stranger stumbled backwards but Jack was on him again instantly, throwing punch after punch. The guy put his hands up to protect himself but Jack just threw the guy against the wall. I didn’t know what to do. The guy did break into Jack’s house and trashed it; maybe he did need to be taught a lesson?

  “Jack wait.” The guy said. But Jack just punched him again; I heard the sound of bone breaking and blood was pouring from his nose. This time the guy hit Jack back, which only seemed to make Jack even angrier.

  Jack was unrecognizable, his eyes were the blackest I had even seen and he looked so full of rage. Each time he hit seemed to get harder.

  “Jack, wait, listen to me.” The guy said again, but if Jack heard him, he didn’t listen.

  “You don’t come into my house, you don’t come anywhere near me, or Delilah.” Jack picked up part of the broken desk and threw it at the guy, knocking him to the ground. Jack jumped on top of him and punched him over and over again.

  “Jack stop. My name is Isaac.” He said between hits. His face was becoming unrecognizable; both eyes were swollen almost completely shut. His nose was bleeding and his breathing sounded shallow. Jack was doing more than teaching him a lesson; Jack was killing him.

  “Jack, I’m your brother.” What? Did I hear him right?

  “Jack stop it.” I said. But Jack had lost control.

  “I’m your brother.” The guy repeated.

  “Jack! Stop it! You’re killing him!” I shouted grabbing Jack’s arm before he hit him again.

  Jack froze. His arm was still raised ready to connect with the guy’s battered face.

  “Jack. Please, stop. You’re killing him.” I was terrified. I couldn’t tell if Jack had killed him already or not. He didn’t seem to be moving.

  “I’m your brother.” The guy moaned. Jack moved of him quickly. I was still holding onto Jack, I didn’t want to risk letting him go in case he attacked the guy again.

  We stood there frozen, holding our breath and watching as the guy’s face slowly began to heal. I was right; it was the boy from the coffee shop.

  After a few minutes he started opening his eyes, which were almost back to normal. He sat up slowly, his hands raised as if to say he was surrendering.

  “Who are you?” Jack asked.

  “Like I said, my name is Isaac. I’m your brother.”

  “I don’t have a brother.”

  “You mean you didn’t know you had a brother. You must know I have been searching for you for a very long time now, in the beginning I was careful, discreet, but I am afraid I have become rather sloppy over the years.” He said, pointing at the mess that was Jack’s house.

  “Why did you come here?” Jack asked. I kept my eyes on the stranger, trying to decide if he was there to harm us.

  “You have hidden yourself rather well, Jack, I must say. You managed to blend in remarkably. I wasn’t even sure it was you at first, you are older than you were when I last saw you.” Jack didn’t look older since we saw this guy in the coffee shop, at least I didn’t think he did. The guy started to get to his feet; Jack stepped back, guarding me from him.

  “Obviously I didn’t blend in well enough did I? After all, you managed to find me.” Jack moved as Isaac moved, constantly keeping me behind him. Isaac had a slight limp, I remembered seeing that in the coffee shop, I couldn’t help but be curious as to why.

  “It was not without difficulty, I assure you.” Isaac spoke with an accent, I wasn’t exactly sure where he was from it was hard to place. He wore the same hooded sweater he had on when I saw him the last time, along with his sunglasses. He was taller than Jack with broader shoulders too. I would still guess he wasn’t much older than Jack and I, although it would have been easier to tell for sure if he wasn’t so hidden behind his sunglasses.

  “Why exactly have you been looking for me, what do you want?”

  “I have heard rumors that you exist, I had to find out for myself if they were in fact true. And it seems as though they are.” Isaac seemed fascinated by Jack; it was quite strange. Was Isaac not Aberrant? That didn’t make sense, he had to be or how else would he have healed as quickly as he did?

  “I’m afraid that I don’t know what you are talking about.” Jack said.

  “Jack please, give me some credit. I am not that naive, I found you didn’t I?”

  “So what? I don’t know who you think I am, but I assure you, you are mistaken.” Now Jack was nervous, I could feel it. “You need to get out of my house, before I actually kill you, I don’t give a damn who you say you are. You don’t know me. Now get out.”

  “Oh Jack. Jack, Jack, Jack.” Isaac said, pacing a little, grinning and rubbing his hands together. “I know exactly who you are. You Jack are the son of August Bradford and Josephine Wells. You can’t deny it Jack, I saw the photo of you in your mother’s arms.” Isaac nodded his head, indicating at the photo on the desk. I stared at Isaac, then at Jack. How could Isaac know about Jack? But wait, if that was really Jack in the photo, if it’s the same photo I had found the day Jack left me here while he went to go find out the school had been closed, that would make Jack one hundred years old, at least. Was Isaac mistaking Jack for his Father or his grandfather? It seemed like the only logical explanation.

  “You’re wrong Isaac, sorry you went through all this trouble. The baby in the photo clearly is not me. It’s my Grandfather.” Ah, I was right.

  “That would be remarkable wouldn’t it, even for an Aberrant. To Father a child, when they are merely an infant themselves. As the woman in the photo is your mother.” Isaac reached for the picture on the part of desk that was still together, but Jack snatched it up before Isaac even got close.

  “Our Father never was one for following the rules now was he?” Jack’s eyes blackened again at Isaac’s words.

  “I don’t have a brother.”

  “I’m not surprised you don’t know. August did go to great lengths to protect his little secret.”

  Jack didn’t say a word; he just stared at the photo in his hand. Isaac suddenly looked at me, as though he hadn’t even noticed that I was in the room until then.

  “And who, may I ask, are you?” Jack pulled me closer to him. His body went ridged.

  “She is no concern of yours. And neither am I. I don’t have any family, nor do I want any; so I will tell you one last time. Get out.” Jack grabbed Isaac and shoved him towards the door. “I don’t want to see you again. You wasted your time coming here.”

  Isaac stared at Jack and I for a moment before Jack closed the door in his face. I went back to cleaning up the bookshelves; unable to think of the right thing to say so I chose not to say anything. If Jack wanted to talk about it he would. I hoped.

  It took a while to clean the place up, but when we were done it looked almost the same as b
efore minus the desk.

  “Thank you for helping me clean up Delilah.” Jack said as he looked at the picture he had kept from Isaac.

  “Jack, do you think Isaac is really your brother?”

  “I don’t know, and I don’t care.” Jack put the picture in his pocket.

  Jack picked me up for school the next morning and I was relieved to hear that Isaac had not returned to Jack’s. Maybe he had realized that Jack didn’t want anything to do with him and left Echo for good. Jack seemed a little unsure about my theory but he hoped I was right.

  I sat in class and stared out the window, I missed Sebastian sitting next to me counting the amount of times I twirled my hair around my finger. The sky was grey and cloudy, matching my mood. Worry, sadness and guilt were over whelming me. I was worried about Jack, the Perfects and the estranged brother of Jack’s. I hoped more than anything he had actually left town.

  I wasn’t sure whether to scream or cry when the classroom door opened and Isaac walked in. I turned to Jack who’s eyes were darkening right there in class. This was not going to be good at all.

  “Mrs. Watson?” Isaac asked with an irritatingly confident smile on his face.

  “Yes. Can I help you?”

  “My name is Isaac Bradford. I just transferred here.”

  “Hello Isaac, it’s nice to have a new face around here. I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to take your sunglasses off though.” I wasn’t sure why, but Mrs. Watson seemed a little intimidated by Isaac. “There is an empty desk right next to Delilah, you can sit there.” Putting aside that fact, Isaac shouldn’t be here, in our school, in our classroom. That was Sebastian’s spot. It had been filled already, it didn’t feel right. I wished more than anything there was another empty seat somewhere in the classroom, or even better in a classroom in another school, in another town.

  “Thank you Mrs. Watson.” Isaac said with a sympathetic smile, and taking his sunglasses off as asked. Surprisingly, Mrs. Watson smiled back.

  I wasn’t sure what to do, I couldn’t confront him right here in class. I looked back at Jack, who had his head down; I assumed he was trying his best to calm himself. There was no possible way this was going to end good at all.

  Each time the classroom door opened Isaac instantly became the focus of the eyes that entered. The girls all smiled and some blushed, the boys just looked him over, probably trying to see how much competition he might be. New students didn’t come to our quaint town of Echo very often, so when they did, everyone noticed.

  When the door opened and the familiar sniveling of Katie entered the room, I turned to pay attention. This was not going to go unnoticed. And I didn’t want to miss a single moment of the morning’s entertainment.

  “That seat is taken!” Katie said, eyes red and burning right through Isaac.

  “Now Katie, I told him to sit there honey. This is Isaac, he is a new student.” Mrs. Watson tried to explain.

  “He can’t sit there, that seat is taken!” Katie slipped out of Kevin’s grasp and leaped towards Isaac. “Get out of that seat! That is Sebastian’s seat!” Katie pounded her hands down on the desk.

  “Katie stop it, come and sit down.” Kevin said. Jess and Avery slipped to their seats, leaving Kevin alone to try and control Katie. I was fighting back my own tears the same as Mrs. Watson.

  “But that’s Sebastian’s seat, he can’t sit there. That seat is taken already. It’s Sebastian’s seat.” Katie sobbed as Kevin pulled her to her seat.

  “I know Katie, but you have to come sit down right now okay?” Kevin insisted.

  When Kevin had finally gotten Katie under control, Mrs. Watson dried her eyes and took a deep breath to calm steady herself.

  “Class, this is Isaac Bradford, he is new to Echo, so I will ask that you all show him how welcoming we can be.” Isaac simply nodded at Mrs. Watson and that was it. Class went on as normal. I had expected Isaac would have been forced to stand in front of the class and introduce himself; a little humiliation or something at least would have been appreciated.

  As soon as class was over Isaac got up with the rest of the students as though he had been in our class all this time. Jack and I followed him out the door, he would need to explain himself, and hopefully he would leave.

  “What the hell are you doing here, Isaac?” Jack asked.

  “Attending class.” Isaac said.

  “But why?”

  “That is what you do in high school Jack.”

  “Seriously Isaac, why are you doing it? I thought I made myself clear last night, I don’t want to see you.”

  “Jack, we don’t always get what we want.” Isaac said. “Now, where would I find our next class?” The hallway was starting to clear out, if we didn’t hurry we would be late. Jack slammed his fist into the locker nearest to him and started walking down the hall.

  Yesterday’s sadness still lingered in the hallways. There was no laughing, running or even friendly chitchat echoing through the hallways as there usually was. Not one face was marked with a smile. The somber ambiance enabled us to walk with Isaac with only being stared at instead of being bombarded by questions, from every nosey student in the school.

  All day Jack was angry, he looked like he was on the verge of losing control at any moment. Isaac wasn’t helping at all; he was always there, every time we turned around.

  “Do you have to sit with us?” Jack asked Isaac at lunch. I couldn’t help but feel bad for Isaac, even just slightly. He was the new kid; as much as I didn’t want him to be there at all, I knew what it felt like to not have any friends, or for someone to be outright mean.

  “Jack.” I whispered. I didn’t really know what to say; was I really going to defend Isaac? I was on Jack’s side, but if Isaac really was Jack’s brother, then maybe they should at least talk.

  “What? Don’t tell me you think I should welcome my so called brother to our school?”

  “I think maybe you should hear him out. What if he is telling the truth?”

  “You know, I am right here, and I can hear you.” Isaac said. “And this is not a conversation we should be having here.”

  “Then why did you come here?” Jack asked.

  “To learn.”

  “Right.”

  “I don’t need permission from you, or to explain myself to you. I am your brother Jack.” Isaac said in a whisper, looking around to make sure no one could hear him. “I don’t know how I can make you believe me, you could call August if you like?” Isaac handed Jack his cell phone. Jack just stared at it then shook his head. “The truth is Jack, if you look at my eyes, you will see they are the same as August’s, the same as yours. Considering the risk of being your brother, I assure you I would not lie about it.”

  It seemed as though Jack was beginning to believe him; I had to admit that once Isaac had pointed out the eyes, I had trouble not believing him. They were the same amazing blue.

  “So what if it is true? I don’t have to like it, and I don’t have to like you.” Jack got up and left the lunchroom. I followed him outside into the parking lot.

  “Jack wait. I know this is a surprise but maybe you could try and give him a chance?”

  “Delilah, he broke into my house, and trashed it.”

  “I know, and that was really terrible of him to do. The guy might be a jerk, but he’s your brother.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Jack look at him. You both have the same eyes, more than that, he’s your brother Jack.”

  “Are you really that childish Jack?” Isaac said, not helping his case at all. “You have been by yourself for so long, now you find out you have a brother and you don’t have to be alone.”

  “Maybe I like being alone.”

  “I have risked so much coming to find you Jack, you could at least give me a chance.”

  “I never asked you to come and find me, did I?”

  “No you didn’t.” Isaac admitted.

  “So why did you? After all this time, why did you bother?”


  “Because I wanted to. As soon as I found out the truth I have wanted to find you.” Isaac said and walked away, leaving Jack and I standing there not knowing what to say.

  When the bell for the end of lunch rang, Jack and I walked inside quietly. I felt awful and I know Jack did too. He was torn between his own anger and pride and the thought of having a brother who actually looked for him. I couldn’t begin to know how he should handle it, or feel; I just knew that if he didn’t do anything he would regret it.

  At the end of the day Isaac had disappeared before Jack or I had a chance to talk to him. Jack was quiet the whole way back to his house. When we saw Isaac sitting on the front step I was worried how Jack was going to react.

  “Well at least you didn’t just break in this time.” Jack said as he unlocked the door and indicated for Isaac to go inside.

  “Like I said before, I had been searching a long time.” That wasn’t exactly an apology. “I also told you I have been watching you for a while, there is something going on here that has put you and our secret at risk. I would rather not draw any unwanted attention in this direction.”

  “It is under control, and not your problem at all.”

  “Jack, you are my brother which makes it my problem. I was not pleased with August for keeping you a secret from me; things would have been different if I would have known.” Jack stared at Isaac for some time; which left me feeling completely awkward just standing there.

  “I dealt with the problem.” Was all Jack said, but there was something more in his eyes, I hoped Isaac could see it too.

  “And what about Delilah?”

  “What about Delilah?” Jack asked. I was wondering the same thing myself.

  “She is Aberrant is she not?” I didn’t know what to say, I wasn’t even sure I would be able to speak if I wanted to.

  “Yes. Delilah is Aberrant.” Jack said, as he gave my hand a squeeze.

  “And does she know the truth about you?” Isaac said, not taking his eyes off me. I found it rather unnerving. I hated people staring at me.

  “Yes, I told her everything. It appears now however, that I don’t know the whole story as I thought I did.” Now it was my turn to squeeze Jack’s hand. Why was this guy not listening? Did he really want Jack to start hitting him again?

  “You are most fortunate that Delilah knows the truth about you, and is still here, I assume that she hasn’t told anyone else that she knows. You are very lucky Jack.”

  “I am very lucky, I know that.” Jack said.

  “Delilah, you are most brave to keep such a dangerous secret like Jack to yourself.” I stared at Isaac; I wasn’t exactly sure what he was talking about. Jack told him I was Aberrant, why wouldn’t I keep it a secret? It wasn’t just Jack’s.

  “It is Delilah’s secret also.” Isaac finally turned away from me, his eyes now surveying Jack once again.

  “Yes, being Aberrant is Delilah’s secret as well, but what about you Jack? Why exactly would she risk so much for you?”

  “I would risk my life for Jack, in fact, if it wasn’t for Jack, I wouldn’t have a life at all!” Jack turned around quickly; I tried to read his expression, but didn’t get the chance. Isaac had moved so quickly to Jack neither one of us noticed until Jack was being spun around again.

  “What is she talking about Jack?”

  “I really don’t think this is any of your business, I don’t have to explain myself to you.” Jack raised his fist again ready to punch Isaac in the face. But Isaac caught Jack’s hand before he connected.

  “Considering the circumstances Jack I believe that you may want to reconsider that.” I couldn’t understand the underlying tone in his voice at all. Jack reached for my hand again and squeezed it, not so much to reassure me this time, it felt more like a warning to keep quiet.

  “Delilah was having some trouble with a group of bullies at school, they attacked her. She could have fought them off, however, not without revealing her true identity. I happened to overhear the commotion and came to her rescue. We have been close ever since.” From Jack’s explanation, I understood Jack and I were to keep the truth a secret from everyone.

  “The bullies, they were the group you were spying on at the coffee shop?”

  “Exactly.” Jack said.

  “The ones that you have spent the last week tormenting?”

  “The same one’s yes. We needed to ensure that they would leave Delilah alone from now on. We didn’t want them stumbling across anything by accident.” Jack explained. “Wait, how did you know about that?”

  “I have been watching you Jack; I needed to know you were keeping our secret, not making your presence or your identity known. Anyway, did you accomplish your goal?”

  “We did yes. No one in the town suspects anything. Of course I have been keeping the secret; it was I that will be in danger if my whereabouts were to be discovered.” Jack said. Isaac moved back slightly, but still kept a close suspicious eye on both Jack and I.

  “Not only you Jack.”

  “So what are your plans Isaac, I mean now that you have found me, are you going back to tell the others? You do realize that I will not be here waiting for you when you return.” Jack can’t leave! Why would he? Who were the others and why would Jack leave if they came? I was panicking inside, I wanted to ask Jack my questions, and demand answers; I wouldn’t let him get away without telling me everything I wanted to know. But I couldn’t, not in front of Isaac.

  “I don’t know what my plans are yet, but rest assured I will not betray you.” I felt a slight glimpse of hope.

  “Why not, what’s in it for you?”

  “You are my brother Jack. We have the same blood.”

  “Not the exact same, we do have different mothers.” Jack said.

  “The blood that counts, the Aberrant blood, that is the same.”

  Jack had been on his own for so long now how could Isaac possibly think that Jack would just welcome him with open arms? Jack didn’t trust Isaac, and I wasn’t sure if he was willing to even try, not yet at least. Isaac just showed up, out of the blue and destroyed Jack’s house; tells Jack he’s his brother and Jack is supposed to just trust that? Where was Isaac’s proof? How could Jack be certain they are in fact brothers?

  “The kids at the coffee shop that were teasing you Delilah, what was their reasoning behind it?” Their reasoning? I wondered how to answer that, do I tell him that they thought I was a Vampire? Or just that they had picked on me for as long as I can remember, because I was different, even before being Aberrant. I didn’t really think they had a specific reason for why they ever started picking on me. I don’t think any bully ever has a real reason for picking their victims, except the fact they pick ones who usually don’t fight back.

  “One of the girls liked a boy, but he liked Delilah instead, and the girl got jealous of Delilah.” Jack said. Even I knew that wasn’t going to be enough of an explanation. And it definitely wasn’t why they had originally started, I knew I would never know that why.

  “That’s it, a boy? A boy was enough of a reason for them to attack you, to the point that Jack had to save you? There must be more to it than that.”

  “They thought I was a Vampire.” My big mouth blurted out before my brain could stop it.

  “What?” Isaac said.

  “They thought I was a Vampire, like the ones on the island in the 1960’s.” As soon as the words were out I knew I should not have said them.

  “That’s what they think happened? Vampires? Humans can certainly be so pathetic and predictable sometimes.”

  “What else were they supposed to think? Isn’t it better that they think it was Vampires than anything else?” Jack was right Vampires were a great cover.

  “I suppose they do keep suspicion away from us. What is it about Vampires that makes people so obsessed?”

  “They make good stories, and they are usually very good looking. Not to mention rich and dangerous and some even sparkle.” I knew from the look
on Jack and Isaac’s faces I had said that out loud. I felt my face get hot. I really needed to put a lock on that mouth of mine.

  “I thought everyone from the town left after the island burned. No one talks about it now, I thought the story was long forgotten. Everyone that knew the truth died on the island that day. I was told the boats were empty when they drifted back to the main land.” Jack said.

  “Helen told you that didn’t she?”

  “How do you know Helen? Did you go to her first? Did you hurt her? I swear Isaac, if you hurt her I will kill you.” I know Jack had never mentioned Helen to me before, so who was she?

  “I did see Helen first, and of course I didn’t harm her Jack, why would you even think that?”

  “Who is Helen?” I asked, so Jack could avoid answering Isaac.

  “Helen is the woman you met at the store.”

  “The one whose son runs the bank, and sent you cards?”

  “August made it seem that Helen did a lot more for you than that Jack.” Isaac said, the look on Jack’s face said it all.

  “Helen was the closest thing to a mother I’ve known. She took care of me for a long time. Then, just as August had instructed, she cared for me from a far. I came back to Echo to live alone. That was the only way to ensure that Helen and her family were able to stop moving around all over and more importantly that they were never harmed. August ensured that Helen, and her family were always well taken care of for their sacrifice.”

  “Your mother would have been so proud of her granddaughter. She has done a terrific job in your final aging.” Isaac wasn’t making sense now, how could Jack’s mother’s granddaughter have raised Jack? And wouldn’t that make her Jack’s niece, or great niece? This didn’t make sense at all.

  “The woman and baby in the photo, who is that Jack?” I asked, I hated feeling so confused.

  “My mother and me.” My mind was racing, trying to untangle the mess; the time line that didn’t make any sense to me what so ever.

  “Were you both dressed in some kind of costume or something?” That had to be it, one of those pictures you get done at a fair where they make you look like you’re from the eighteen hundreds.

  “No, we weren’t in costume.” Jack said, looking at the ground as he spoke. I dropped his hand and shifted in front of him.

  “Jack, I have to ask you; when were you born?” I had the feeling that I didn’t really want to know the answer to that question.

  “I don’t actually know the exact day, but it was in November, 1890.”

  “Jack is the baby of the family. Well as far as we know any way. I cannot be entirely certain that August doesn’t have any more off spring running around somewhere.” Isaac said with a laugh that only made me feel worse. 1890? If Jack was the “baby” of the family as Isaac had just claimed, then how old was Isaac, or their Father? How on earth was that even possible, and why did they look so young?

  “You were born in 1890? Jack that’s not possible it would make you, one hundred and twenty three years old. How exactly do you explain that not only are you still alive, but that you only appear to be sixteen?” It wasn’t possible; it was madness. How could that be true at all?

  “Wait a minute, I thought you were Aberrant Delilah? You should know all this,” Isaac looked at me then Jack, and then back to me, making me feel even more nervous. “Unless that is, if you were born to non-Aberrant parents? You are a very rare find if that is in fact the case.” Isaac waited for my answer, but I was too busy trying to come to terms with Jack’s age. I nodded; I think I did at least. Isaac seemed satisfied and smiled.

  “Wow, what can I say? This really is quite extraordinary isn’t it? Two very rare Aberrants finding each other. What are the odds?”

  “We’re lucky that we did.” Jack said.

  Isaac paced as he let the new information sink in. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking; the expression on his face was unreadable. I wanted more than anything for him to leave, so I could ask Jack my questions. I didn’t want to answer anymore of Isaac’s questions. I didn’t like feeling like I was being grilled; Jack and I had done nothing wrong yet Isaac was making me feel like we had.

  “How old are you Delilah?” Isaac asked.

  “Sixteen.” I said, not looking at Isaac or Jack. For some reason I felt guilty about my age.

  “Only sixteen. Interesting. Has your aging slowed down any at all?”

  “No, not that I have noticed at least.” What kind of a question was that? It sounded ridiculous; how on earth would ones aging slowdown?

  “Jack have you not explained all the important parts of being Aberrant to Delilah?” I vaguely remembered Jack saying something about a rose being frozen, but I didn’t realize he meant anything at all like this.

  “Jack did mention this, I just didn’t really understand what he had meant at the time, not completely at least.” I tried to explain; I felt the sudden need to defend Jack.

  “There is no real way of knowing how much each of us will age unfortunately, very few have eventually grown to be old, the majority mature slowly until we simply seem to stop aging all together. Our Father managed to age to forty five, granted he has been forty five for almost seven hundred years now, but that is beside the point.” My hand dropped from Jack’s again, without realizing that I had been holding onto it. Then my whole body went numb. I was now realizing why Jack had thought I would be mad at him for bringing me back Aberrant. While he had been trying to save my life, he had made it so I would never die. I could live for hundreds of years or more. What happens if I don’t ever age another day? How would I possibly explain that to my parents? I was now finding out that there was far more to being Aberrant than I had realized. I couldn’t help but wondered what else there was? And for that matter, whether I was okay with being Aberrant at all? I began pacing. I reached for the comfort of my hair to twirl around my finger, but dropped my hand when I remembered it wasn’t there.

  “You didn’t explain that thoroughly, Jack.” I had to hold back my anger. Or sadness, I wasn’t sure which it was exactly. Would it have been better to die on the island when the Perfects had killed me? What was going to happen to me now? What if I never aged any more than I have already? I wondered how long it would take my parents to notice I wasn’t getting any older. Thankfully with my parents, I probably had ten, twenty years at least.

  “I’m sorry Delilah. I never meant to keep it from you, I just wasn’t sure how exactly to explain.” I knew Jack was truly sorry, I also knew now was not the time to discuss this any further.

  “I know you are Jack. We can talk about it later.” Jack gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

  “Thank you.” He whispered in my ear.

  “So how is high school treating you this time Jack?” Isaac asked. This time? Jack had done high school more than once? I suppose if he is over one hundred and twenty years old, that makes sense. But why the heck anyone would want to go through the absolute torturous experience that is high school more than required is beyond me. But then it hit me. What if I didn’t get any older than sixteen, there is no way I could go through high school again, I just couldn’t! The first time had literally killed me!

  “Fine I guess. Better now that I have Delilah with me.” Jack smiled, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

  “I have to say, I am surprised that you came back to Echo. Although August did cover you up very well, I almost didn’t even bother checking here.”

  “He couldn’t have done that great of a job if there were rumors going around that I was alive.” I offered to make something for us to eat while they talked; I was taking in every word, quite happy to be finally learning something about Jack.

  “There are a lot of rumors going around all the time Jack, many of which have not an ounce of truth to them. I just happen to be worried that August was making the same mistake again, so I started following him. He was going to the bank far more than necessary. He had also taken a few extra business trips and made some secretive pho
ne calls. When I heard him say the name Helen a few times, so I decided to track her down. When I found out who Helen was, I assumed the only reason he would have to still have contact with her, was you.”

  “And what about others? Was anyone else as curious as you about August’s actions as you were?”

  “Of course, seeing as who our Father is, but they have different suspicions than I did.” I wondered who exactly their Father was, but knew now was not the time to ask.

  “The last time our Father lived here he was the Sheriff. Other Aberrants had been coming to the island trying to kill you Jack, anyone that went across to the island was killed.”

  “That’s what Katie and the others were talking about, that’s why they thought I was a Vampire.” I blurted out before I could stop myself.

  “Back then Delilah, the town believed there was something evil on the island, it makes sense that people now believe it was Vampire’s. The Sheriff’s department, along with a group of volunteers went to the island to look for a group of teenagers that had been out there partying, and none of them ever came back. The island burned, along with everyone on it. Including the group of Aberrants that were trying to kill you Jack, Father told us that you had been killed on the island along with the others. He did all of that to protect you.”

  “If your Father was the town’s Sheriff, and you both lived in town how did you and Jack not know each other Isaac?”

  “I didn’t live here with my Father; we all move around a lot, and often not together. It can be quite insufferable to live with someone for hundreds of years, especially your parents. We often spend decades apart.” Isaac explained.

  “Don’t think for a second that he didn’t do it to protect himself. He would be killed too if I was ever found, if that wasn’t the case, he would not work so hard to keep me hidden.” Jack said. Isaac glanced at him and nodded. It infuriated me to think that Jack’s Father could be so callus; how could any Father not want to be a part of their son’s lives, regardless of whether that son should have been born or not? How could he have left Jack without any family, especially after his mother died?

  “True as that may be Jack, it doesn’t leave you any less protected; and I do believe you are always well taken care of.”

  “Financially yes; but I have taken care of myself. I have been the one to do all the things a parent should do.”

  “Let’s face it Jack, you are not exactly a child anymore are you?”

  “You are right there Isaac, but was I ever able to be a child? I never knew any part of a normal childhood. I may not have taken myself to my very first day of school, but I did come home alone. I drew pictures of an imaginary family; I never looked out into the crowd and saw my parents watching me in the school play.” My heart was breaking listening to Jack talk, I understood more than most would about absent parents, even though mine were not missing nearly as much as Jack’s were. Jack and I were very much alike.

  “I didn’t realize you were so sentimental Jack.”

  “You have no idea what it was like Isaac, you had family.” Jack said. I got the impression Jack wanted to say a lot more, but was holding back.

  “You think August did any of those things for me Jack?”

  “I’m sure you had more of a Father than you think you did Isaac, trust me.” Isaac turned away from Jack, he paced slightly as though he was debating what his next move was going to be. Unfortunately, when he did speak again, the subject had returned to me.

  “So why you Delilah? What would make them think you were a Vampire?”

  “I don’t know really, the Perfects have always bullied me.” I really didn’t want to have to explain this to Isaac.

  “The Perfects?”

  “The popular kids.”

  “But why? There has to be a reason that you stood out. Could they have known that you were different?” Was he serious?

  “There was no reason Isaac, they were just mean kids. Every school has them, you know, the ones that think they are better than everyone else, and build themselves up by knocking others down. They are just bullies. They pick on the weaker ones, the ones who are too nice, shy, or smart to fight back.” Jack said.

  “So what happens with them now? Is it over, will they leave you alone, and move onto bullying someone else instead?” I hadn’t really thought about that. Were the Perfects actually just going to let it go, would they just pass by me in the hallways at school and not say a word? Had Jack and I changed them, or would they really move onto someone else?

  “I doubt that.” Jack said. I looked up at him, eyes wide and mouth slightly open.

  “Why not?” I almost whispered.

  “Delilah, they’re hurt, angry, and embarrassed, they will want to fight back. Especially Kevin, he won’t be willing to just let this go, to let you win”

  “I thought we scared them so much that they will just leave me alone. At least I really hoped we had.” If they seek revenge then what? This could go on and on forever. “You would think that they would have learned their lesson.”

  “It may have ended if Sebastian hadn’t killed himself Delilah. But not now, Katie isn’t about to let that go. I don’t think Kevin will just let it go either. Not after what you did to him.” Jack was right. Kevin and Katie were probably plotting their revenge as we speak.

  “Well now, I am most curious to know what exactly you did to the boy.” Jack filled Isaac in on my gluing incident. I felt my cheeks going red as Isaac looked at me with wide eyes.

  “I must say Delilah, I am rather impressed, and definitely shocked.”

  “Thank you.” I did think it was rather clever of me.

  “So what are we going to do?” Isaac asked. Jack and I stared at each other before turning to Isaac.

  “Nothing.” Jack said.

  “You can’t just sit back and do nothing Jack, surely that will not help at all.”

  “We just spent a week torturing them. They need to make the next move.”

  “Jack’s right, we don’t know for certain who will have any part of anything they do. We need to know what we are up against. And for that matter, what they think that they are up against. Do they still think I’m a Vampire, or am I a ghost now?”

  “Maybe they just need a little bit more of a push?” Isaac took his sunglasses and hoodie off as we moved into the living room. He looked similar to Jack as far as they both had black hair and blue eyes; however, Isaac was a slightly heavier build. His face was more filled in and his muscles were evident through his shirt. If I didn’t already know they were brothers, I don’t think I would have guessed.

  “What do mean?” Jack asked.

  “Well, you must have done quite a job of torturing them if one of them killed themselves over it.” At that moment my alarm on my phone went off. It was time for me to go home. I was somewhat relieved; I couldn’t sit there while Jack explained what happened to Sebastian, not without bursting into tears. And with everything that I had learned today I was eager to have some time to myself to think.

  “I better go.” I said, jumping to my feet.

  “I’ll drive you.”

  “No, it’s fine Jack. I can walk. You stay here.”

  “Delilah, I’m not going to let you walk home. Besides, it is getting late.”

  “I should get going also, it is after all a school night.” Isaac said, not sounding impressed by the thought at all.

  There was no point in arguing so I followed Jack to his car. We sat silently all the way to my house. I didn’t know where to begin, the short ride would not be enough to cover all my questions and I was unsuccessful in deciphering which was the most important so I chose to not ask any for now.

  “I think we shouldn’t tell Isaac the truth about you becoming Aberrant, not just yet any way. I don’t know if we can trust him.” I wanted to trust Isaac; not doing so would mean Jack wouldn’t be safe.

  “I agree.” Was all I could find to say. I wanted to tell him I was scared, angry and needed more than anything for
him to hold me, but once again my mouth had failed me. Why was it that when I wanted to speak my mouth didn’t seem to work, yet it has no trouble blurting things out that should not be said?

  “Can I pick you up for school in the morning?” Jack asked.

  “I’d like that. Jack, please be careful.” Jack leaned over and kissed my cheek.

  “I will, I promise.” I got out of the car and headed for my front door. I waved to Jack once I had opened the door and watched him drive away.

  I did my chores, took a shower, grabbed my book and iPod and went to bed. As soon as the first song started to play, my tears began to fall.

  Question after question came flooding through my mind. Could we trust Isaac? Would Jack be able to have a relationship with his brother? Why did he show up now? Was I okay with the possibility of not aging? I know people pay ridiculous amounts of money to keep looking youthful, but this was way beyond that. This was immortality at its worst; the possibility of being sixteen years old forever was terrifying. How would I explain to my parents without telling them the truth, or would I just disappear one day? Even that would need some kind of explanation. And on top of all that there was the very real possibility that the Perfects were not going to leave me alone.

  I was overwhelmed and exhausted; it wasn’t long before I fell asleep without a single answer to even one of my questions.