The Eyes of Fate (Currently in Rewrite)

Chapter 47

"Sentinel, you know that you don't have to do this," Fang said, staring at him in shock. The other's wore similar looks.

It wasn't very common for people to share what gave them their eyes, or if they did, it was usually just a vague explanation. If somebody did share the whole story, it was with somebody they were closest to, or maybe a therapist or support group. Somebody who wouldn't judge them. Somebody they trusted not to do that. The last thing they'd want was for somebody to change how they saw them, basing assumptions on their past instead of who they are now.

"I know," Sentinel made himself take a deep breath. He could feel himself starting to hyperventilate. "But I trust you. Trust all of you. Plus you saved me, so I think you've earned it."

"If you're sure." Oracle said, giving him an encouraging smile.

"I'm not." Sentinel chuckled at that, as did the others. "But I'm doing it anyway. Just, don't interrupt me, okay?"

The others nodded, and Sentinel took a deep breath. It had been a long time since he told anyone this story. Probably not since he had told it to the police. He shut his eyes and let his head hang down. 

"My real name is Orion Grey. I was six years old when my brother disappeared. Our parents died when we were young, a car crash, so we were raised by our grandmother for as long as we could remember. There were woods out behind our house, and we used to love to go play in them. I always wanted to go deeper, but I was the big brother so I had to stay with my little brother. Keep an eye on him, you know?

"Well, one day while we were playing, I saw a salamander. I tried to catch it so I could go show my grandma, but it got away from me. When I turned back around, he was gone. I had my back turned maybe thirty seconds, and my baby brother just disappeared." 

Sentinel's voice cracked, and he paused for a moment to compose himself. He could see the memories  on the backs of his eyelids. The tree they had always climbed, the patch of grass where his brother had been sitting before he disappeared. The way the scenery blurred with how fast he was turning his head trying to see where his brother had run off to.

He forced his eyes open and the memories shattered. Sentinel heard somebody breathing hard, and it took him a second to realize it was him. His chest was heaving, and his heart was jackhammering inside of it. He realized that the panic from that time had risen back up, and tried to calm himself back down. He avoided looking towards the others, afraid of what was on their faces. After a moment, he continued.

"I looked everywhere for him. He was so little, he shouldn't have been able to get away from me, especially not without making a bunch of knees. Besides, he always called over for me to go with him. By the time my grandma came looking for us, I was exhausted. I'd looked everywhere for him, I'd been yelling for him and crying. By the time she found me, and I'd managed to tell her what was wrong, it was dark out.

"She called the police, obviously. The search went on for forever, the entire community coming together to go look for him. The woods weren't that big, so it was obvious pretty early on that he'd been taken, not that anybody had told me that. I was questioned by the police multiple times, but I hadn't seen anything, hadn't heard anything. My grandma even went on the news to plead for him to come back. It was while she was gone, and I was home, that he came back."

He heard somebody give a happy, almost hopeful gasp, and he laughed bitterly.

"I was playing with my toys. My grandma had taken the tv remote with her so I couldn't turn it on. She hadn't let me watch tv since my brother had disappeared. The doorbell rang. I wasn't supposed to answer the door, but what if it had been my brother? It hadn't even occurred to me that he wasn't even tall enough to ring the doorbell. When I answered it, there was a tall man holding a box. He had a hat on that covered his eyes. I asked him what the box was, and he said it was a present for me. He wasn't the first person to bring me a present those few weeks, so I took it and thanked him. He said to make sure I opened it quickly, and he left. I went right into the kitchen, grabbed the scissors, and opened the box.