[ 3:52 PM ]
"what did you do to him?" i question through gritted teeth.
ann stands without care in her corner of the room, unbothered by the state of my brother.
his lip is busted with dry blood caked on his wound. he's got burn marks on his temple. one of his eyes is dark blue to black in color and swollen shut, while his other eye is low, like he's drugged.
i start toward him but am stopped by the chain around my ankle. i huff looking down, wishing i can break it off.
"you have five minutes," ann says and walks out.
her guard pushes alex toward me and leaves.
the electric door slides closed.
unable to stand up on his own, alex crumbles to the floor, landing out of my reach.
"alex," i call out to him. he doesn't move or respond. "alex!"
he groans, rolling over onto his back.
"shh! it's too loud," he slurs out.
"alex. it's me. it's dom," i whisper to him, sitting on the ground.
"dom? i have... i have a brother named dom," he smiles, eyes closed.
"alex, look at me." i want to pick him up and hug him close. i want to make sure he's good. he doesn't look anything like my alex.
he turns his head to look at me and opens his eyes. i search and search his eyes for any sign of recognition and nothing clicks. nothing registers. he holds a blank expression on his face, as if looking past me or maybe at me in a trance.
"you remind me of someone," he finally states.
"alex," i whisper, a stabbing pain hitting my heart over and over. "it's me. it's dominic."
he doesn't remember me?
"dom-i-nic," he sounds out, his face scrunching into confusion as he tries to recall where the name originates. "...sounds familiar."
"what did they do to you?" i question, eyes watering and vision blurring.
"bro! you're crying! the rooms kinda spinning but once it stops i can help," he tells me, looking up at the ceiling.
"it's me alex. it's dominic. your brother. our mom is jessica. we have a little sister," i whisper to him, thinking this could all be a joke.
i don't recognize this person in me. this isn't alex.
what the hell did they do to him?
he starts to laugh.
"that's a nice joke man," he laughs, holding his stomach. "you do not want to be dominic fike. the bastard left me and ran off with some bitch."
"alex, look at me, like really. it's me dominic. i would never do that to you. you should know that. they're fucking with your head bro. i'm here. i found you."
he stares at me, his one good eye roaming over my features; darting to my eyes, nose, hair and face tattoos.
"you look an awful lot like my brother but you're not him. ann's got you playing your role well. my brother left me and didn't care enough to come back for me and find me. he ran away. he's a coward."
"alex..."
"and you know what?" he asks, slowly picking himself off the ground. "he can go suck all the dicks that are waiting. he's not here dealing with this shit! he left me!" he yells, finally standing upright and stumbling a little.
"alex, please... it's me!" i cry, body heaving and shaking. "i'm your brother! i wouldn't do that to you. you know i have your back through every fucking thing."
"THEY TOLD ME THE TRUTH!" he shouts, pointing to the exit. "if you were really my brother, you wouldn't do shit this way. dom is smart. if he left, he's going to stay gone."
"your nickname is noonie."
"anyone could figure that one out," he sneers.
"when you were little, you wanted to be a firefighter."
"you did your research," he tells me, crossing his arms over his chest. his functions seem to slowly return.
"your first ever girlfriend was ada in 4th grade. you used to masturbate with music bumping because you thought everyone could hear you. your worst fear is not achieving the things you wish for."
"who told you these things?!" he asks, confusion setting in.
"i'm your brother! i know these things!"
"dude! you're not my brother!"
i pick myself off the ground. we stand face to face, an arms length distance between us.
"how can i convince you that you grew up with me! i'm here to save you alex. i'm here to get you out of here."
he walks up to me and lays a hand on my cheek. it's cold, a chill running through my body. i fight the urge to shiver as alex stares into my two eyes with his one.
a low vibration tingles against my skin where his palm resides.
i look at him frowning, a million questions rushing through my mind all at once.
"you-"
he cocks his arm back before landing a blow on my cheek.
"you're not my brother!" he shouts.
i eat the hit, gritting my teeth.
it's not him.
they changed him.
the lights above us start to flicker. i look up at them, knowing it's not me doing it.
"you are not my brother," alex grits.
i look at him.
his fists are clenched shut and his rage is present in his stature.
"wait! ale-"
a force as similar to soraya's when she was moving those police officers hits my entire body, knocking me back onto the cot i woke up on.
i wheeze out inhumane sounds and a shiver runs through my body.
what the hell is going on?
there's a 'beep'.
i'm slowly able to start moving again.
"team four; another E.19-20," i hear ann.
another what?
"no! no! let me go! let me go!" i hear alex as he fades away.
i pick my head up finally to see a piece of alex's leg being dragged out and a team of white lab coats rush in after toward me.
"where... where..." i try to speak, my energy is depleted.
once they reach me, something stings my neck and everything goes black.
{ a/n: i literally didn't forget you guys. work has been so fucking stupid but i'm making money to do bigger things. i'm going to try to churn out more content for a lot of my stories to speed things along. i want to finish commensalism, start the hardy's, and finish the rewrite of stockholm. there's more ideas that i want to put out but i don't want to have months of an update time. it's stressful but i'm going to make it work :) }