Brenik sat up on the couch, rubbing at his eyes. When he came back from seeing Bray he had stayed on the couch for the remainder of the day and night.
After he finally got up, he went inside the bedroom and found the blood on the floor that he had vomited up. In anger, he slammed the door as hard as he could.
Clenching the sides of his head, he wasn’t sure what to do now, but there was his promise to see Bray. So that’s what he would do.
If he could have gotten himself drunk without vomiting it up, Brenik would have done that—he wanted to forget everything. There was no way he could get close to anyone ever again.
It took longer than expected, but he finally arrived at Wes’s house. Brenik didn’t remember exactly how he got there, but somehow, he had. Flattening his hand against the front door, Brenik struck it twice and waited for Bray to answer.
What he really wanted to do was lay on his hammock in the tree hole. Who would have ever thought he would think that again, because he sure as hell didn’t.
The door swung partially open, and there stood Luca. Even though the kid’s hazel eyes were open, Brenik still felt the intensity of his glare.
“I’m not inviting you in,” Luca muttered, not budging.
Brenik pushed on the wooden door and stepped inside.
“I guess this isn’t like The Lost Boys.” Luca sighed.
“I never saw it.” The movie looked terrible—with annoying kids, like the one in front of him.
“You know, like a vampire can’t come in unless they’re invited inside?” Luca toed the edge of the doorway, holding his ground.
“I’m not a vampire.”
“You have fangs that retract, and you drink blood. You’re a vampire.”
He ignored the kid’s comment, not surprised his sister let everyone know his secret. “Where’s Bray?”
“She’s in the backyard with Wes. I just came inside to get a drink real quick.” Luca brought a Coke can up to his mouth with the tab pulled around, and a straw inserted in the hole. He took a long sip as he stared down Brenik.
Who is this kid? He can’t drink a soda like a normal person? Brenik shoved past him and headed out the back door. He found Bray standing beside a man with mahogany hair that curled at the ends around his ears and brown skin slightly lighter than Luca’s.
As Bray lined up several bricks around the garden, the guy—who must have been Wes—watched her tenderly and affectionately. It made Brenik feel nauseated, reminding him of how he must have looked at Rana.
Wes’s head turned to the side and spotted Brenik, face immediately turning into a scowl.
“Where’s Luca?” Wes’s voice was low and serious as he approached Brenik. Bray lifted her head and didn’t smile either. He guessed that no one was thrilled to see him, even though Bray had wanted him to come.
Brenik couldn’t help himself and shrugged. “How should I know?”
Chewing on a granola bar, Luca opened the door just as Wes’s expression was getting a bit too intense for Brenik’s liking.
“Don’t act like a—”
“A what?” Brenik smiled sweetly after interrupting Wes and staring at Luca.
Ignoring Brenik, Wes nodded toward the door. “Luca, can you go back inside for a little while?”
“Why?” Luca whined. Wes narrowed his eyes and Luca must have got the drift. “Fine, I’ll go inside.”
After Luca shut the door behind him, Bray wandered over to Brenik. “Have you figured anything out?”
“You mean since I murdered Rana? No, I haven’t figured out anything besides sulking on the couch.” Brenik knew he was being a dick, but he was too miserable to worry about it.
Wes tugged Bray’s elbow. “I think he needs to leave, Bray.”
“What are you going to do? Call the cops?” Brenik taunted.
Wes moved forward, shoulders pulled back. “Yes.”
“You know what? Fuck off. You don’t own me, or this house, or that tree. If Ruth could have written me and Bray in a will, this would have been our house.” He wasn’t going to let some asshole take over everything in his life.
“Bray’s welcome to stay as long as she wants.” Wes shoved a finger at Brenik’s chest. “But you need to leave.”
“I can answer for myself,” Bray piped in.
Brenik didn’t know this Wes, and he knew he shouldn’t be starting shit, but he couldn’t muster the strength to care. His anger lessened as he grew frustrated when he thought about what all had happened, and Brenik was about to break down in front of them.
“Do you want to eat dinner with us?” Bray asked, attempting to break the tension.
Brenik was about to explode with that asinine question from Bray. “I. Can’t. Eat.”
Cringing, Bray spoke quickly, “Right, I’m sorry. Croquet?”
“Is this a joke? I mean, are we serious here, Bray?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know!” she screamed.
Brenik had rarely ever seen his sister angry, and he put his hands on her shoulders. “Chill, Bray. I’ll play a game of croquet.”
A sound came from inside the house, and they all turned to a window being shut. Luca had been listening through the small open gap.
Luca came outside, and they all acted as if nothing had even happened as Bray and Luca set up the game to play.
Brenik decided that this was one of the stupidest things he had ever done in his life—playing a game of croquet with these people.
Wes stood too close to Brenik, watching every one of his tiny movements, as if he thought Brenik was going to rip Luca’s throat apart. He wouldn’t touch the kid’s rotten blood with the end of his croquet stick.
Every time the kid got his ball through the hole, Bray would cheer and pat his little black head like he had just done something amazing for humanity. In actuality, all he did was strike a fucking ball.
Anyone here could do it. Well, except for Bray, who continued to struggle with each swing. Wes stood behind her as close as he could, probably to press himself against her.
Brenik couldn’t watch the vomit-inducing family show a moment longer. He wanted to head back to the cabin to be alone.
Without a goodbye, Brenik set the mallet down and walked out the gate. He heard steps squish through the grass behind him. “Bray, I just need to be alone, okay?”
“I’m not Bray.”
Turning around to the sound of Luca’s annoying voice, Brenik let out a sigh. “Listen, kid, I am going to be truthful here. I don’t feel like talking to you.” He said it as nicely as he possibly could.
“After school, can you come by to finish the game?” Luca asked.
“Who are you? Seriously, who are you?”
“Luca, duh.”
“But why do you want me to come back? You know what I am.” Brenik looked down at him with narrowed eyes.
“I know… But I know how much Bray wants to help you.”
His sister rounded the corner at that moment, followed by Wes. “Leaving already?” she asked.
“Let me go home and think”—he paused and looked at Luca—“but I’ll be here tomorrow to finish the game after Luca gets out of school.”
He felt his stomach heave when he thought about school—Rana was Luca’s teacher… Was.
Brenik left and moved Rana’s car to a different cabin after he got home. He couldn’t look at it any longer. Eventually someone would report her missing, and he would turn himself in. Holding back another breakdown, Brenik went into the bedroom and scrubbed the blood off the floor, hot tears sliding down his cheeks.
He picked up the dresser and placed it back against the wall. The mirror was broken in fragments strewn across the floor. Before cleaning them up, he looked at the painting. His heart sped up because that portrait had caused so many things—the bad was conquering all the good. To ease his torment, he picked up a piece of glass and brought it up to his face to inspect it. As his chest sank in, Brenik pushed the glass to the center of his wrist. He pressed down until he felt the prickling pain, then he slowly slid the glass across his skin, hoping to leave all his suffering behind.
The flesh opened, but the blood stayed inside. He slammed the shard of glass against the wall, and watched it shatter into smaller fragments that he wished were himself.
Brenik had an idea when he woke up late the next day. He headed to the library and found a woman with gray hair pulled into a low bun and a face covered in wrinkles. “May I help you?” she asked.
Running a hand through his hair, Brenik thought about what he should say. “Do you have the Dorian Gray book?”
“The Picture of Dorian Gray?”
He wasn’t sure. “Yes.”
“If we do it will be in the fiction section under Wilde,” she responded with a lazy tone and a flick of her hand.
“Can you spell that for me?” Brenik asked, attempting to sound it out in his head. He knew from the beginning sound that it started with a W.
“W-I-L-D-E,” she said slowly and pointed to the aisle straight ahead.
Nodding, Brenik walked in the direction of the fiction row where she had directed him. Frustrated, he thought the lady should have at least offered to help find the book for him. Brenik probably should have asked her, but he wanted to find it on his own.
Somehow, he passed over it and was in the section containing authors with Y last names, so he scanned his way back and found the black spine. He couldn’t make out the words, but there were five of them—and there were five words in The Picture of Dorian Gray, when he ticked them off on his fingers. Quickly tugging it out, he stuffed the book into the back of his pants and shuffled past the librarian.
“Couldn’t find it?” she asked, while scanning him up and down.
“I changed my mind on what I want to do my report on. I’ll come back when I figure it out, though.”
“You could do Jane Eyre. That is a lovely one,” she suggested.
“Maybe.” He shrugged and looked up at the large clock by the exit door. It was already close to the time school would let out.
Brenik made it to the school within five short minutes. The pickup line was already filled, and he hurried to the front of the building, right as the bell rang.
After a pack of kids rushed out, Luca and his redheaded, freckled friend strolled out, taking their precious time.
Luca lifted his head and noticed Brenik, then lowered his eyebrows in confusion. “I thought you were supposed to come to our house later.”
“I’m here to pick you up,” Brenik stated, needing the redhead to take a hike.
“You don’t have a car.” Luca looked out toward the parking lot.
“Stranger danger?” Freckles asked in a whisper. If only the redheaded kid knew what a danger Brenik really was.
“Nah. This is Bray’s brother.”
“Dude, she is seriously hot.” Freckles elbowed Luca’s ribs, and Brenik wanted to crack off the kid’s arm for talking about his sister.
“Right. Anyway, scurry on now.” Brenik motioned with his hand for Freckles to go away.
Freckles gave Luca a look, and Luca nodded him on.
“What’s going on?” Luca asked after the other kid was gone, not the least bit afraid.
“I need your help.” Brenik waved him away from the school, and Luca followed as they started for his cabin.
“Why me? Can’t you ask Bray?” Luca challenged when they got to the sidewalk.
“No, she is always stuck on being a savior.” Bray had such a good heart, and his was a blackened disaster.
“You do know I’m a kid, right?”
“You do know when I was two I found bodies slaughtered, right?” The kid needed to realize you have to grow up.
Luca’s eyes widened with surprise, but not fear. “We’re learning about World War II in school right now.”
Brenik stopped walking and turned to Luca. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Kids younger than me had to deal with a lot, so whatever you need, I’ll help you face it.” Another savior. No wonder Luca and Bray got along so well.
“That isn’t even relatable.”
“It kind of is. Bravery is key.”
“Are you a public speaker now?” Before the conversation got into stupid territory, Brenik pulled out the book from the waist of his pants. “Have you read this?”
Luca snatched the book from Brenik’s hand and inspected it. “I haven’t, but I can scan it over.”
“Do you think Bray and Wes are going to get upset if you don’t come straight home?” Brenik didn’t care what they thought, but he wouldn’t force the kid to come.
“Yep. At least I know Wes is going to be pissed.” Luca sighed.
“Good.” Brenik grinned because Wes seemed like a jackass.
“It shouldn’t take me too long to read over the pages. Do you not know how to read?” Luca’s eyes seemed to search Brenik’s face for an answer.
“I can read letters, but I’m not good with actual books.” Brenik was never interested in learning, and even when he tried, it was incredibly hard for him. He now wished he had listened to Ruth and tried harder.
By the time they reached the cabin, Luca had started going over vampire theories. Brenik thought he had made a mistake by bringing the kid with him because the talking never stopped.
Once inside the cabin, Luca went to sit on the couch while Brenik headed to the bedroom to grab his portrait. He brought it into the living room and set it down on the coffee table. “This is what the Stone of Desire gave me. I thought it was what I wanted, but it isn’t. Can you help me?”