Disturbed

Chapter Twenty-Two

Brantley smiles and hugs Valerie as she smiles. He sits down next to her as he sips the rest of his water and turns to her, lowering the volume of the television. Valerie forms this confused puzzled face and asks impatiently,

Valerie : What is it?
Brantley : Can we talk about da... Rudy.
Valerie : Um yeah kiddo, what's up?
Brantley : Why did he leave us?
Valerie : He was an unfaithful son of a bitch. I caught him multiple times. I tried to make things right, but he just wouldn't change or try for us. You know this already, why ask again?
Brantley : Did you know about Asher?
Valerie : Who's that?
Brantley : Oh... Um...
Valerie : Tell me.
Brantley : O'Shay is dating this guy, name Asher.
Valerie : Yeah?
Brantley : Asher is nineteen. We look identical, he has the same exact birthmark that I do, and he may or may not be another son of Rudy. My brother, we may or may not be half brothers.

Valerie's face froze as she looks down slowly. She stands up, paces around the room as she walks to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of wine, and a skewer. Brantley sighs and hands her a glass.

Valerie : Wait, so you're telling me that this kid Asher. Is one year younger than you, and was born throughout the marriage between me and your father?
Brantley : Yes.
Valerie : Wh-What does he look like. This kid, Asher? Do you know his mom's name?
Brantley : About that, our trip. We were attacked and Caleb only used me for sex, so he stayed behind with our phones on his ranch.
Valerie : You got attacked!!? You let your phone behind!? Who the hell is Caleb!? You had sex!?

Brantley sighs and looks away trying not to lose his shit. Valerie takes a sip of her wine and sits back down. Brantley sits on the couch with her as he begins to explain everything. Throughout their conversation, they hear a knock at the door as Brantley has a paranoid look. He walks to the door and opens it. He notices a small package on the step mat outside. He opens the small package and notices his phone that was left in the ranch, inside the package. He shuts the door, locks it, and brings it to the table.

Brantley : That was fucking weird.
Valerie : What honey?
Brantley : Someone dropped off my phone in this package.
Valerie : Maybe it was one of those police officers?
Brantley : Maybe? Who knows.

Brantley powers back on his phone to see if anyone else got their phones back. As the phone turns on, Brantley jumps and drops his phone on the ground.

Brantley : Oh shit! Fuck!
Valerie : Wh-What is it?
Brantley : It's him! My phone! Look at my phone screen!

Valerie goes to his phone as she presses the home button and sees the man in the hooded cloak, and she makes a creeped face. She shakes her head and hands him the phone back.

Valerie : You need to report this to the police so-
Brantley : I did already!
Valerie : No, I meant about this. If it wasn't the police who dropped your phone off, there could be someone dangerous around us.
Brantley : Okay fine, you do have a poi-

Mid-sentence, they both hear the door knocking as they flinch with fear. Brantley grabs a knife and puts it behind his back as he walks straight to the door. He slowly unlocks the door, opens it, and sighs as he sees Asher standing.

Brantley : Oh, it's just you. I thought you were someone else. Wait, how do you know where I live?
Asher : Brantley... I'm so sorry. I didn't know what else to do. We need to talk.
Brantley : Talk about wh-

Before finishing his sentence, he hears footsteps as he steps back and drops the knife on the floor. Shaking his head, he realizes Rudy coming towards to the porch.