Viscera and Other Tales

The Sibling

I was an extremely lonely child.

When I was 6, my father was killed in a car crash. Mom never really moved on from him so I remained an only child despite my desperate wishes for a sibling.

A couple of years passed and I grew more and more withdrawn from the world. Elementary school was hell and I was a friendless loser who sat alone at lunchtime.

By fourth grade I was nihilistic, devoid of joy, and teetering on the verge of a depressed meltdown. I would lay in bed and weep, wishing there was someone, anyone that could be there for me.

One day, feeling particularly downtrodden, I remember sending out a prayer.

A plea for anybody that was listening.

"Please give me a sibling." I whispered.

I remember the room growing a bit hazy, my vision melted as if I was going to pass out. There was a burning sensation in my back, I wanted to jump up and run, but I couldn't.

It was like I was frozen in place.

Something tore at my back and, as I passed out from the pain, I saw a shadow stand behind me.

When I awoke, he was there.

A little brother. Just as I had always imagined.

He smiled and held his hand out to me.

"Let's go play!" He said.

I stared at his hand, a deep hesitation within me. None of this felt real. Hell, none of it felt right. I knew it didn't make sense, I knew it wasn't possible.

And still...

I slowly crept my hand forward and held onto his. He was there. I could feel him. My fear melted away.

From that day forward, I suddenly wasn't alone. I had someone to talk to, someone to play with, someone just for me.

I named him David. Nobody else could see him, believe me I tested it out a million ways.

But I could see him and that's all that really mattered.

"Georgie," he said to me, "promise me you'll always need me."

I smiled and draped my arm around him. "I always will, David. I promise. You're my brother after all, right?"

He smiled, a big grin with a couple teeth missing, and jumped down from the log we were on.

"Enough sappy stuff, I'll race you back home!"

I didn't tell anybody about him, I figured no one would believe me anyways. Mom had taken to the bottle so it was just me and David, brothers against the world.

Things were pretty steady for two and a half years. I remained friendless but happy to finally have a sibling.

Things started to change when I got to middle school.

Due to some address shenanigans I was going to a middle school different than most of my peers. I felt nervous, but also a bit excited.

I felt like I had a chance to start over.

And start over I did.

I quickly fell in with a group of guys that really seemed to enjoy my company. We joked around a lot, I was suddenly getting invitations to mall hang outs and sleepovers.

Things were going good.

Except for with David.

"Can I come too?" I remember him asking one day. I was off to visit my friend Alex.

"Sorry, D," I had said, "I think we're gonna be pretty busy."

He looked sad but hadn't said anything more.

I could feel a distance growing between us after that. A loss of connection. As my schedule grew more and more preoccupied, I had less and less time with David.

One day, I decided to end things.

"I'm sorry." I said. "I don't think I need you anymore. I want you to know I appreciate all you've done for me. I'll always love you, brother."

I was sitting on my bed, back towards him. There was an eerie silence behind me.

"David?" I asked. I turned to look towards him but was met with a burning pain on my cheek.

I screamed out and ran to the bathroom. In the mirror I could see 4 bright red markings on my face.

Scratches.

I ran back to my room and found it empty.

David was gone.

After that I didn't see him anymore aside from occasionally in my dreams. Those were never pleasant though.

I'd see him in the background of them, watching me from a distance. Only ever from my peripheral vision, however.

Whenever I'd look directly at him, he'd be gone.

Eventually I stopped seeing him there as well.

Time passed, I moved on. I got to high school, kept a well rounded circle of friends, met a girl.

Married her eventually.

Her name was Clarissa and she was the love of my life.

We got married young, fresh out of graduation, but I knew she was the one.

And then, somewhat unexpectedly, we found out she was pregnant.

We were elated, but also concerned. What were we gonna do with a baby?

"We'll make it work." I remember her saying. "You're gonna be a great father."

The months passed and things continued to chug along. We found out it was going to be a girl, Clarissa chose the name Aubrey.

I started to settle into the idea of fatherhood, it was becoming a growing excitement for me.

Then in my dreams, every once in a while, I'd see something just out of the corner of my eye.

A figure that would disappear just as quickly as I'd notice it.

David.

I'd wake up in a cold sweat, a feeling of eyes upon me.

One night, I swore I saw him in the corner of the room.

Fearful, I called out to him when Clarissa had left for the evening.

"David." I said. "If you're here, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have abandoned you. I messed up, okay?"

He didn't appear.

In my dreams I still occasionally saw him, but the fearful awakenings went away.

Things settled down again.

Then, one day, I came home from work.

"Hey babe?" I called out. "I brought the takeout you wanted."

No response.

"Babe?" I repeated.

Nothing.

"Clarissa?"

I made my way upstairs to our bedroom and noticed the slightly ajar door.

I pushed it forward and was shocked by the horror before me.

Clarissa, dead.

Her throat was ripped out in 4 big fleshy cuts. Her eyes were still open wide with fear.

I screamed. I couldn't stop screaming.

I fell backwards into the hallway and slid down against the wall.

To my left, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something.

But when I turned to look, it was gone.

He was gone.