Where's Casper?

Coming back

A/N:wel... um... I haven't updated in the last month, so here you go.

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*Aric's POV*

I miss her, and it kills me. I miss her smile, I miss her laugh, I miss her voice, I miss the way she giggles out of nowhere, and I can't even remember her. I can't even remember our first kiss, even though I know we had it. I might as well call myself Gavriel and forget that Aric has ever existed. I don't have his memories and nor do I have his way of communicating. I'm one hundred times luckier than him. That poor boy couldn't even speak.

Now, I don't think I can do it anymore. I look at my pictures like I never lived those moments. I never have, actually. Aric has lived them. I'm just an impostor who pretends to be him.

"Good morning, Aric." Father says, mixing the cereals in his milk. He's a grown-up man, but he still eats what him and I used to have for breakfast when I was little.

"Morning, dad."

He frowns and leaves his spoon on the table. He didn't put his shirt on yet. He's pretty upset with Casper's leaving, too. He doesn't sleep much, and I can hear him crying in his room from time to time. Without her, life doesn't feel the same.

"Since when do you call me dad?" He asks, not realizing. "Oh. I forgot. Just so you know, you can call me Dante."

"Got it." I say, fake smiling. "Dante."

"Right. Dante"

Strangely, my childhood memories aren't mine. They are the real Gavriel's. I remember how I had three older sisters, how I attended each of them's wedding, how I used to have tea in our garden, and how I used to ask my servants to feed the rabbit three times a day.

Gavriel was a menace, and he probably got killed by Jacks. He was arranged to marry Casper since a very young age. I'm glad he didn't. I wouldn't have had a chance if she knew.

I also remember looking in the mirror each morning, and, from that, I know he was a handsome man. He had olive skin and beautiful brown eyes, wearing the most expensive clothes and so on. I could never stand feeling those itchy materials on my skin. Before, the image was morphed, but now, it's clear.

"How did you sleep last night?" He asks as I chop some tomatoes.

"Good. Actually, he was really quiet."

We don't say his name, or he might catch us. Her leaving had the exact opposite effect on him. He turned from irascible to nice, sweet, and clingy. He calls me his best brother, and I'm his only sibling. Actually, I'm not his sibling. I'm just someone who was raised by the same person.

"Finally." I roll my eyes, sitting down at the table. "Actually, I don't think I..."

I didn't get to finish. It's like he has eyes and ears everywhere. He enters the room, allowing the hot wind of summer to come in. I don't think I like his smile. Actually, I hate it. It looks unnatural. I'm used to a blank face and not a wide display of sharp teeth.

"Ah, my darlings! I see you've woken up earlier today!"

I look the other way when he passes me and reaches in the cupboard. I know what he will eat: the usual. Fruit salad and orange juice. I could never live on just fruits. Fruits for breakfast, fruits for lunch, no dinner, no matter how much Dante tries to get him to eat. He says he wants to stay fit, but, in reality, he doesn't gain and nor lose weight since we were kids. He looks even better than me, I have to admit it.

"Actually, Caspar, your watch doesn't work well." Dante says and stops eating. "You've woken up two hours after the usual."

Dante doesn't like him either, and it's very clear, even if he doesn't want me to know it. When I ask him, he says he loves us equally, but, in reality, It's the opposite.

"Oh... I'm... I'm sorry..."

Never have I ever seen someone's smile wiped off their faces so fast. He just wanted to be nice. Usually, he has breakfast before us.

And then, we ate in an awkward silence, and Caspar looked down the whole time, half upset, half ashamed.