His Trophy | Jerome Valeska

thirty eight

Jeremiah was taller than Jerome remembered him to be. It was the only feature about him that had changed. As children, Jeremiah was always the skinny kid who would fumble about behind his brother. Jerome had always thought that his brother's bones were too long for his skin. A jolt of jealously shot through the psychopath now that the gangly boy had grown into his body. How perfect his face was, untouched by their inherited madness.

"So, how ya been?" Jerome's voice rang out around them. He held the gun up to his brothers face. His twin looked terrified.

"Oh, you look great! To think that I used to be the handsome one, right?" Jerome laughed at this, waving the gun around, causing Jeremiahs' nerves to visibly sky-rocket.

Jerome's interaction with Rory had sent shockwaves through him and finally standing in front of his brother, the boy who caused his life to spiral, he felt complete. He had the woman that he loved and the brother that hated.

"How did you find your way through the maze?" Jeremiah asked timidly.

"Oh, bro, we might not look the same anymore, but we still think the same. Plus, you used to draw those stupid things all the time as a kid. I paid attention." He leaned into his brother as he said this, his smile impossibly stretched over his face. Jerome then acknowledged his lurking companions with annoyance.

"Hey, uh, hat-head. Take Crane. Find Jimbo and his bearded sidekick. Kill them." He shrugged. He paused for a moment, listening for movement from Rory. He half expected her to start screaming out for her father. But Tetch's sweet words seemed to work and there was no interruption.

He refocused on his brother and slowly stalked towards him.

"I've been waiting for this moment for 15 years. Ever since you ran away in the middle of the night, like a coward." He spat, pointing the gun towards his twin.

"You're insane." Jeremiah stumbled, watching the revolver which was jolting around with Jerome.

"Yeah." Jerome comically frowned.

"And I tried telling Mom, but she didn't want to listen to me," Jeremiah mumbled as he looked at his twin. Jerome could see the little switches in his brother's brain flicking as he becomes more confrontational.

"You blame me for everything that's gone wrong in your life. But the truth is, Jerome, is you were born bad." The architect snapped, using his adrenaline to taunt Jerome. Jeremiah standing up for himself surprised Jerome almost as much as his words.

"Born bad, huh? So that's why you made her think that I tried to kill you. Right?" Jerome's voice was calmer than before, he spoke slower with more caution.

"Yeah, we both..." Jerome cut Jeremiah off.

"What was it again? What was it? I put a blade to your throat. No, no, no, no, no. I tried to... light you on fire."

"We both know you wanted to!" Jeremiah yelled, desperately trying to avoid what Jerome was hinting too. Jerome could tell that guilt ran through his brother, whether his twin wanted it to or not.

Rory had been holding her breath as she heard the two brothers talk. Tetch's hypnotism kept her frozen and she stood pushing herself into the concrete wall, pressing her nails into her bleeding palms. The conversation between Jerome and Jeremiah had pricked her attention when she heard her fathers name mentioned.

Her stomach turned when Jeremiah mentioned Jerome's mother. She could remember the abuse she had hurled at him. How she would stumble into the trailer in a blind drunk rage. She had thrown things at the two of them, calling Jerome the devil. Jerome never told her about his brother, only that his family lied about him.

"Yeah, that was a funny story, wasn't it?" Jerome sneered.

"Okay. Maybe it didn't happen exactly like that, but... but I didn't have a choice, and I was right."

"Hmm?"

"You killed our mother." Jeramiah spat.

"She did deserve it though. After that whore hid you away, she gave up on me. Poisoned by your stories. You turned everyone I ever loved against me. My own flesh and blood!" Jerome snapped, his voice ringing around the empty corrdoors. Rory flinched at his outburst, she was surprised by his anger. There was a moment of silence between the two brothers, the tension was heavy around them.

"Yeah, I guess it's like what they say. We all could go insane with just one bad day." Jerome spoke again, his voice returning to the insane joky tone it was usually set at. Then again there was another pause as Jerome thought. Then with a chuckle he taunted his brother.

"I guess with you, it's more like one bad spray. You'll see."

The sound of Jerome pushing Jeremiah into the wall followed and with a thud the twin fell to the floor. Rory jumped when she saw his body peaking from the corner, he was still conscious and was trying to get away from his brother. The two made eye contact. Jeremiah opened his mouth to try and call for help but was interrupted by Jerome wacking him over the head with the handle of his gun. Jerome looked at and smiled manicly

"Meet your brother-in-law."

A/N

Sorry its been so long to update, will try to publish another chapter in the next week but don't hold your breath or anything!! Hope you are all enjoying your summer, its really hot here in the UK atm so hope everyone is wearing their sunscreen :)

All the best,

- R. x