Dark Omega

CHAPTER 27 - THE NEW RECRUIT

When Haides got back home, it was obvious things weren't going to work out as planned. To start with, his brother Jan was there. That was as awkward as it was unexpected.

Haides tried telling Jan about Mother, how she had suffered, but the older boy didn't seem to care. He said she was to blame for her own death. She'd left them all alone, she'd fornicated with the enemy. Janus had kept talking, ranting about how wicked the Coalition was, and how he would fight back. How he'd join the Khiones. How they would lead all true Akakians against the oppressors.

For Jan to join forces with the very men who had tortured, raped, and killed Mother—Haides felt sick to the core. He wanted his brother to understand. That Mother had done the best she could. It wasn't her fault—if anything, it was Jan's fault for not filling Father's shoes. But there was no getting through to the older boy. He just got angry when Haides mentioned Father. And when the younger boy asked where he'd been that fateful day, he got a beating for his troubles. Whatever respect Haides had left for his brother went out the shattered window.

Telling Jan the truth about Luca and the Coalition soldiers was out of the question. Not that Haides wanted him along or anything. Far from it. Luca had said no, and Haides was fully committed to telling his brother that. But he dared not. If Haides tried to paint Luca and the other soldiers in a favorable light, he wouldn't get off with just a beating. He tried to test the waters, so to speak, but the moment Luca's name was mentioned, Jan flew into a rage and hit Haides again several times—much harder than before.

Jan stalked the apartment, shouting and pointing fingers. Suddenly it was Luca's fault. Haides found it very odd since up until that time, Jan hadn't mentioned the sniper by name—not even once. Now there was no end to the horrible things—most of which Haides didn't understand—Luca had done to Mother. From what Haides could tell, Jan didn't even know who Luca was, but was blaming everything the Coalition had ever done on a fantasy enemy that existed only in his mind. It was a strange feeling, realizing your older brother, who you had always admired and respected, was afraid and confused in a way you were not.

But most of all, Jan finally concluded, long after Haides had realized where this would lead, his brother was to blame. If it wasn't for the damnable cake, none of this would have happened. If his baby brother hadn't been such a whoreson—as if he wasn't one himself—Mother would be alive, and Father too. Then he shouted something obscene at Eli before running off, voice all thick and eyes watering.

Jan was deluded, that much was clear. Haides knew the truth. In this particular play, the Khiones were the bad guys, not the Coalition. It made him feel sad, but that didn't make it less of a fact. He wanted to run after Jan and make him see it too, but in his young heart, Haides knew it wouldn't work. His brother was a deluded wreck, and nothing could save him.

When Haides later tried to tell his sister about the deal with Luca, that they could go with him to live in a better place, if only she'd open her legs to him, he couldn't find a proper angle. The boy was only twelve and didn't understand all that took place between men and women, but he knew enough to know that after the things Jan had said, suggesting that his sister sell her body to the enemy wouldn't be the right thing to do.

But Haides didn't really have a choice. He had to tell her. What else could he do? Leave Eli behind without speaking about the deal? That would turn out far worse for her, Haides was sure. Marrying Luca wouldn't be so bad for her, would it? After pining over the matter for the longest time, he decided to try, despite his misgivings.

He needn't have worried. Eli didn't seem to care, one way or the other. She just shrugged and said 'sure,' and that was the end of that talk. Haides's sister had become Eli the Lizard again, sitting motionless in the broken window, soaking up the sun, staring at everything and nothing. If she had started scratching her arms bloody, he could not have been less surprised.