Chained to You [Sorlato]

Chapter 2: King of Mirrors

He opened the bathroom door and walked in, turning to the counter to wash his hands. Once he dried them, he went and got ready to shower. Why bother washing his hands if he was showering? He didn't know what made him do it.

During the time it took for him to prepare to shower he found his mind going back to his little brother constantly.

Is he okay? We haven't heard from him in way too long for comfort. Not to mention the house was a mess, signs of a struggle.. he sighed. He was really beginning to doubt that Sorbet and Gelato were alive. Yet he never stops searching.... he just wants to be sure. He wanted to be able to tell his family for sure what happened, he doesn't want them to have to wonder, make up scenarios of what happened. He's done that enough. So many worst case scenarios he thinks up, every one makes him feel sick to the stomach. He just can't stand the thought of his little brother dead, it seemed. But who could?

He was walking over to sink to get a towel from the cabinet but stopped to look at his reflection. His long black hair a mess, bags under his eyes, and he had a horrible headache from his lack of sleep. In short, Illuso looked and felt like shit.

Its been a month. Where the hell are they? It doesnt make sense for The Boss to have them killed in secret, if he wanted to make a point, he would have proved them to be dead by now. A whole month, he can't think of any preservation that could well preserve a body for that long.. or he could, but he doesn't want to think of it.

Illuso is usually one of the most egotistical of the team, looking down upon others and acting king. His overly smug, know-it-all behavior usually pissed the majority of La Squadra off. In reality, he knows he only rules over one realm, his Mirror World. The personality he always shows is a defense mechanism- his way of keeping others from getting too close, so they can't hurt him or vice versa.

But he let himself get close to Gelato. Maybe because he's known him for years, before Passione. When his parents brought him home and told Illuso that he was his new brother, he hadn't liked the kid much. Illuso's parents adopted Gelato because a good friend of theirs' child found him on the street and refused to leave him. Since they couldn't take the kid in themselves, they pawned him off on Illuso and his family.

Though he disliked his new brother at first, he grew on him over time. He wasn't all that bad, just a teenage boy with a fucked up past. He grew to respect him, for putting up with his biological parents abuse for so long and still making it out. He was stronger then Illuso could have been, at least at the time.

And that kid that found the bruised and bloody teenager had managed to stay in the twos lives ever since. Great... it won't only affect my family. It will affect his too. He hadn't thought about the fact that Sorbet was a close friend to the family. With that in mind, if they really are dead, this will hit both families hard. And he'll only blame himself for failing to protect them. He had made a promise to Gelato he would protect him no matter what, but how did that turn out?

He turned away from the sink after grabbing his towel and he draped it over the handrail on the outside of the shower.

Please, tell me they aren't gone for good.. he sighed. He really had failed miserably. But he would try to make it up to them, if he could.

He turned the water on, making sure it was warm before he undressed and got into the shower. He gave thought to turning the knob fully and just boiling himself with the water but he never did.
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After he finished his shower and got dressed, he brush his teeth, then went downstairs. Halfway down he could already hear Formaggio and Melone talking, and he had a pretty good idea what the topic was.

"There you are. You're usually up earlier then this." He heard and turned to see Prosciutto staring at him.

"Yeah. Took a bit longer in the shower then I intended." What kind of a lie is that? Anyone can see through it.