The Odd Way of Life (completed)

Epilogue

Alfred cried.

He cried as he began to heal the wound and realized there was no uneven rise and fall of Kiku's chest. He cried as he left the room and fell into one of his brother's arms. He cried for days. He cried until there were no more tears to shed. And when he was done crying he laid on his bed, shivering for no real reason.

Everyone tried feeding him, they did, but he was not hungry. For the days that slowed by, he did not notice that they had turned around. Arthur would say he was depressed and that he had lost a best friend. Francis would say that he was being unreasonable. But Matthew, Matthew would tell the truth. He would say that Alfred was despairing over the death of the boy he loved, and that he would never in a thousand years overcome the pain deep in his heart.
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Five years later, Alfred was 24. He managed to go a day or two without thinking about... him. He had almost moved on.

Fifteen years later, 39. The thought of the man lingered in a place far in his mind. He had moved on.

One year later, 40. He had fallen in love again with a man named Adrian Veidt. They were happy together, though they had to keep their love secret. He had forgotten.

Five years later, 45, 1885. Adrian and Alfred are murdered in their sleep, half naked. The murderer gives the reason that he had seen their odd behavior and assumed them as homosexuals. As the fact that homosexuality was illegal, the man is let free.

Alfred had been having an old nightmare of blood on his arms and a gasping Japanese boy on a wooden table.

But that was the odd way of life.