This Can't Be Real

Chapter 31

Pushing the male away from him so he lands face-first t the floor, Thom dusts off his hands and folds his arms over his chest. The male on the floor groans as he uses his battered and bruised hands to try and get up, pushing hard against the floor to try and get some weight behind him to move. When he's finally up right, he kneels back, swaying a few times, and slowly raises his head.

I'm praying and hoping that my eyes are deceiving me at the sight before me. I don't think they are, though.

This 'Thom' is the spitting image of the guy we've come to know as Thom. His hair is longer than his brothers, untamed but the same shade of brown as his brother's - dark brown and close to being black. From behind the black eyes, his brown eyes seem lighter, mixed with a sense of tiredness and a hint of fear. There's red marks over his face, hidden behind the cuts and bruises, from what looks like a blunt razor scrapping the area without care. It's like he's been shaved only today with the fresh blood coming from the cuts. It's been rushed and I can only take a wild guess as to why he was shaved today.

He looks like a mess and judging by his pale and thin frame hidden under the ill-fitted and dirty clothes he has on, it looks like he's been left to rot away for a long time and beaten up on many occasions that have led to this.

I almost feel sorry for him. Correction, I do feel sorry for him. It's not like he asked for any of this to happen and because it has, he doesn't know what's going to happen next. I feel bad that he has a sibling that has went to these measures just to get close to someone who has hurt them in the past. I feel sorry that he has a twin brother who has acted like him in every way and who has treated it like it's a normal thing to do.

That's not normal.

"Thom-"

"Wait a minute!" I shout. I can feel all eyes on me and I shift uncomfortably on the ground. "If that's Thom-" I nod towards the guy on the floor before looking up to 'Thom'. "-who are you?"

"Kurt Swanson," he smiles. It's a creepy smile that has me turning my nose up in disgust at and looking to the floor. "Don't look at me that wat, Leigh. I did what was needed to be done and all my sneaking around and play acting as my little brother has finally paid off."

"How has keeping your brother locked up in a barn for-"

"Five years ago," he starts, coming closer to me, "we went out to a nightclub for drinks and to have fun." He crouches down next to me and I can feel his hot breath on my face as he leans into me. "We saw a group of girls dancing and having a right laugh. So, us guys being guys, decided to join them. We mingled. A few of the guys tried it on with a few of the girls. Things got awkward when my brother behind me came on to this one girl."

I swallow hard and look over at Jess. She looks worried and I don't blame her. I've heard this story before. I know how it ends. I don't want to hear it again.I don't want to be reminded of that night and what happened when they joined us.

"She rejected him and because I vowed to aways look after him, I made it my mission to get even with the one girl that made my little brother so unhappy."

"Taking your brother's identity was a bit much," I whisper, looking over at Thom who's watching us with care.

"It wasn't and it isn't. You see, the drinks she thought he was buying her, they were actually from me. She kept drinking them and I kept buying them until she excused herself from the group and walked outside. At that point, all the guys had left all the girls alone but I didn't. I followed her outside and it was all too easy for me to just grab her by the arm and pull her into the nearest alley.

"I had her pinned to the wall and or all she kept saying that she felt like she was tipsy, she didn't take any notice of the fact that I was going to rape her. She kept talking in tongues and it wasn't until I began to undo her dress that she began to fight against me. She pleaded for me to stop but I didn't want to. I wanted her to feel the hurt my brother felt when she rejected him. I wanted her to feel as bad as what he felt and I damn well was going to make sure she did.