Sweet Devil [BL]

Chapter 146. White Eyed-Wolf PART II

TRIGGER WARNING: There's a part that can be disturbing for some people (especially if you don't like bugs). So I put it in bold! Feel free to skip it :) 

Though Jake agreed to talk about what had happened, he took a moment to reorganize his thoughts. He sorted out what could be said and what he wanted to brush off. Some experiences were too painful or too shameful to talk about; he hadn't written them in the diaries for a reason. They were things he wanted to forget and had buried in the darkest, deepest parts of his mind. He didn't want to dig them out, not even for Stephan.

"Where should I start?" Jake wondered aloud. "Well, I guess a bit of context wouldn't hurt. It doesn't please me to say this, but there was no one to guide Tristan on the right path in both past lives. Angela hated it whenever I got close to him, so I kept my distance. Anyway, she was spoiling him rotten and never "punished" him no matter what he did, so I thought he'd be fine."

"I seriously don't get why your mother hates you so much! You're also her son, and she had you with Matthew too! Seriously, what the heck is her problem?!"

"My guess is as good as yours," Jake shrugged. "But perhaps it's because she had me while my father was with Gabriel's mother. I was born from their intercourse before Matthew's marriage, and I probably remind her of that fact. She could never accept that her lover had been "stolen" by Gabriel's mother. Even if she was aware Matthew married Helene only to obtain her family's assets, she couldn't stand it. But well, that's another story."

Jake paused for an instant. These three's love story was a mess, and he didn't know what to think of it. Helene wasn't all white in the tragedy that led to her death, but she didn't necessarily deserve to die for it. And Gabriel deserved even less to become collateral damage of their feud.

No matter how many years went by, Jake could never forget his mother's ecstatic face when she learned the boy had eaten the apple pie destined for Helene and was left between life and death. It had made shivers run down his spine; it was also when he realized that his mother was a monster in human's skin. Before, he thought that he was the one at fault and that it was normal to be punished. He just had to do better next time. The desire to be loved by his mother had blinded him for years, only thinking of the rare times she hugged him and nothing else. She had skillfully used the carrot and stick approach, which, to be honest, had worked wonders on him.

'What a fool, honestly,' Jake thought.

"Anyway, back to Tristan. He was mostly left alone as a child, and the loneliness twisted his personality a little. Afterward, he grew up in the shadow of Angela. What he learned, he learned it from her. He had also inherited some of her, well, not-so-good personality traits."

"Like what?"

"....He was possessive of the people he considered to be "his", and if they didn't submit to his obsessive-twisted love, he'd use whatever method he had to to make them accept his feelings. It's something he learned from Angela. However, unlike her, he had always acted like a Holy Saint in front of others. His acting was perfect, and you'd only see his dark side if he allowed you to see it. I think I have never met someone as manipulative as him, and I lived through two long lives."

There was a chuckle, followed by silence. Jake hadn't realized what was going on until it was too late. He had only seen a cute little brother who was growing up well, unaware that dark thoughts were gradually devouring his mind. He had been too focused on other problems and never took the time to talk with his brother. But he should have made time, however busy he was, and he should have found a way to get him away from their mother's clutches. And for not doing it, he paid a hefty price.

"Don't beat yourself over it," Stephan said. "You're not omnipotent, and you couldn't do much as a teenager. Even if you had sought help as an adult, no one would have believed you. After all, your parents' reputation has always been top-notch, save maybe for Matthew's cold personality. But that's not enough for the cops to act on."