~SPECTORTOME~ Wattys 2016

Chapter 11

After a few hours, it was dark, and the brothers were handling it in their own way. After closing the store, we sat in the kitchen, all but one chair being used.

Horatio never let us out of his sight, sometimes refusing to let us sit too far away from him. His paranoia was understandable, since being a parent to a little brother and a girl you barely know must be hard.

Caleb regretted a lot of things he did to his mother, especially the conversation this morning. Once in a while he would look at the open door or empty chair. The room seemed to hold a ghost which only Caleb could see, curious considering I'm the one that's supposed to be able to see the specters.

Cormac was quiet, keeping to himself, but periodically reminding Horatio that we needed to breathe. It became clear that he had been with living with the Jacobs a while, since he was taking it as hard as the others. A rouge glance my way would ensure I was alright before he went back to silence.

Richard sat next to me, sometimes bringing up memories, or, when he ran out of things to say, rambling on about frivolous things, desperately trying to keep his mind off of his mom. At any moment I would think that he'd bring up the weather, but he never did. He ran his hand through his hair for the fifteenth time in the last half-hour.

I, however, had given up trying to make sense of everything. I guess people would say I just went numb, or am in shock, but that isn't it. I feel too much right now; I'm overwhelmed.

A storm raged outside, falling in heavy waves and coating the window which had just this morning provided a soft glow due to the sun. The lights above us flickered, but didn't go out. The thunder was giants fighting in the distance. The wind was the call of an army to battle. Yet the lightning was a memory, a simple thing gone too soon that left you wondering when it all went wrong.

"I'm going to bed." Caleb sighed.

"So am I." Cormac sympathized. Richard, although not saying anything, followed his brothers up the stairs.

"You should go to bed too." Horatio suggested.

"Are you?" I questioned, not moving from my perch on the couch. Horatio was still as pale as a dove.

"No, but I'm in charge now, so I can go to bed whenever I deem fit." Horatio faltered, trying to assert dominance but failing.

"Come on," I beckoned, "let's go upstairs; it's already dark outside."

"What's the point?" He mused.

"You need sleep," I dragged my supposed to be adopted father over and up the stairs, "now go to bed and don't come out until it's morning, you hear?"

Nodding, he yawned, but made a final remark, "Why can't you be in charge? I have no idea what to do, I can't be a father! I don't even know how to take care of myself. I need someone like you to help me."

"I will, I promised earlier that I would help you." I reminded, slightly confused to as why he would ask that.

"Thanks, but that's not what I meant." Horatio settled, disappearing into his room and turning out the hallway light.

I took my own advice and got ready to go to sleep, ducking into my room. Everything was happening so fast. Just three days ago, if you had asked me if I had a brother I would say no. My mother was normal, my dad had abandoned me. I was a social freak and didn't belong anywhere.

Things have changed so much since then.

I have a brother. My true mom is a ghost, and the women I've lived with is some person who happens to look like me. I suddenly have found the place I belong. Everyone likes me for me, and no one has insulted me since I left school. The only thing that hasn't is that my father still despises me and abandons me at every turn.