HATCH

VI

⚠️TRIGGER WARNING: CRINGE STUFF AHEAD. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.⚠️

"Are you scared?" I heared Aniki say tauntingly but I ignored him.

At this point however, I didn't know what to do. Should I bury Aniki's dead body? How do I get rid of his doppelganger? How the hell do I get out of this hell hole?

"Are you afraid of me?!" Aniki screamed, still chasing after me.

I got to the second floor, running around the railings to juke him at least.

When I got to the other side of the floor, I got a clear look of his face. Everything was all the same, but his expression was grim. He was much more intimidating.

Aniki smiled devilishly and it was unsettling to see.      

I only glared at him, trying my best not to look scared although I was basically running away in fear.

"You look cute when you're angry."

Aniki admitting dark things was what scared me the most but this was just a miniscule of them.

"Stay right where you are. Don't come near me," I warned but he took another step forward. "Aniki!"

He stopped, staring right at me with a satisfied smile on his smug face.

"I like it when you call my name." His voice sent shivers down my spine.

"I'm going to kill you," I said seriously.

He looked quite taken aback but his smug expression quickly returned.

"Kill me if you can. Are you sure you can kill this step brother of yours whom you love so dearly? I knew... I knew from the start that you thought of me as something else other than a mere step brother. Those innocent eyes are so obvious, yn," Aniki pointed to my face, chuckling and shaking his head annoyingly. "You can't hide anything from me."

I was shocked by his words. It took me forever to understand by what he meant and finally, I realized how much I loved Aniki. I would very much appreciate if he just kept it to himself. It embarrassed me to the core hearing him say all those things but I maintained my composure.

Tears pricked my eyes and I couldn't help but cry. It was supposed to be a secret but he knew all along. Still, he (the real Aniki) kept it to himself so I wouldn't feel uncomfortable around him.

"You knew?" My voice cracked. "But why didn't you stay away from me? Didn't you feel disgusted that your sister likes you?"

Aniki began to laugh, approaching me slowly while shaking his head in disagreement.

"Good Aniki knew his limits, and so did you. He kept his true feelings in the dark and eventually, his undying love for you got to that side."

He meant himself, Aniki's dark side.

"He can be very selfish and in all honesty, he wanted you all for himself. Oh, how much I wanted to kill that boy who confessed his love for you," Aniki mused. "Good Aniki only wanted to protect you so he decided to stay behind that line... as your big brother. Too bad now that good Aniki is already dead."

I couldn't take it any longer and finally burst into tears. Everything overwhelmed me. I wasn't used to seeing and hearing Aniki say things like this.

"I love you, yn, and I'll do anything... everything just to make you stay by my side."

I gazed up at him, ignoring the fact that I looked so horrible from crying.

"No, stay away," I declared firmly.

Aniki, once smug and laid back, was taken by surprise.

"Are trying to play all good and innocent now?"

Now that I knew Aniki's final decision, I wanted to keep it that way. He stayed as my brother because he felt indebt to my parents for taking him in. He didn't want to hurt me and more importantly, he didn't want to break their trust.

He knew his place.

"You're out of line, Aniki."

"That's my role here, little girl. I'm his dark side, remember?"

There was no way I could stop this... entity. He had no ounce of compassion in him. He was the embodiment Aniki's every negative trait.

I took a deep breath and turned my back, dashing to the left as Aniki chased after me. I got around him and managed to run down the stairs, almost tripping.

I headed to the kitchen, quickly grabbing a knife from one of the counter drawers.

Suddenly, I heard the woman walking past, probably looking for me. I dropped the knife, not risking my life running around with it.

So there's two of them chasing me now? You've got to be kidding me.

I ran past her but she heard me. For a while, I had to run around the house just to juke the woman. I hid in a trashbin, jumping right in it and shutting the lid above my head, careful not to make any noise that could possibly attract anyone.

I listened to my surroundings and heard Aniki walking around. He was breathing heavily. I peeked, holding the lid open only for a little bit and saw Aniki's back facing me, standing still. He then walked away after a while so I left the trashbin to find a way to escape.

Just as I went downstairs, the woman came into view once more and began to run after me. I ran around the dark halls, panting as I did so. When I finally lost her, I hid under the dining table, letting the chairs block me from anyone's vuew even for only a little.

But the woman unsurprisingly spotted me (again). She briskly limped to the dining table and grabbed one of the chairs when Aniki suddenly came and pulled her away.

The woman was thrown to the ground as Aniki continuously beat her face with the baseball bat the exact same way he did with the real Aniki.

"Fuck you!"

I was shocked to hear Aniki, or at least someone who looked exactly like him, curse loudly. I've never heard Aniki mutter a single profanity in my whole life. He had always been a nice guy.

But I guessed that image was already shattered right now.

I couldn't stand seeing him beat even a foe that badly to death so I burst out from under the dining table and crashed into him. I pushed him with all my might and laid on top of him as he fell to the floor with a loud thud.

"Please stop! S-She's... She's already dead..." I sobbed on his shoulder, ignoring the little blood splatters on his blue long sleeve shirt.

Aniki froze in place. He didn't utter a single word either.

¬.¬

hi...

you wouldn't believe how much i was cringing the whole time i was writing, editing, and reading this WHOLE story. i guess ive already lost to the challenge but i hope ur still clinging to your smallest bit of sanity left.

i was g a g g i n g... while reading my own work lmaoooo

a little warning tho...

there are still more cringe chapters coming your way. like, WAAAAAY cringier than this one. brace yourself for the ULTIMATE cringe muahahaha >:D