Thorns (Sequel to A Dozen Roses)

Chapter 19 Two Sides

Chapter 19
Adam POV

When Brice told me the story of Deadlox i would have never believed it. If I didn't know the man myself, listened to how he talked or the way he would wake up shaking from nightmares. Nobody else would believe the story.

When Ty was taken by Ghost he was given his new name. For the longest time Ty was just "boy" until a suitable name was found.

Ty was sitting in his room reading a book when the bedroom door slammed open. He was startled but alert.

"I've picked a name for you boy." Ghost exclaimed grinning wildly. "From now on you're Deadlox. Understand me?"

Ty wanted to say that wasn't his name but he also scared of backlash. So he agreed and that was his name.

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It was around 15 that his name really started to effect him. To his 'father' and all of his fathers friends he was a soulless psycopathic killer. But to his brother Seto he was a kind hearted Ty that he'd always been.

He didn't want those people to cross.

So he pretended. When he was around his father he was his soldier. His assassin. His murderer. His monster. He felt like the monster from Frankenstein and his father was Dr.Frankenstein himself.

When he was around friends or Seto he was Ty. A boy who was in way over his head, a boy who liked hot cocoa, swimming in the summer and never told a lie.

They were like a coin. Heads for good and Tales for evil. But it drove him crazy ya know?

His mind would cross and sometimes Deadlox would do something only Ty would do or Vise versa.
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"It's killing him you know." Brice stated calmly sipping his tea. "Everyday it tears his mind apart just pretending to be who he has too."

"Then why does he do it? If it hurts him why does he still act like this?" I asked.

"Adam. Everyday you went to work as Sky right? And everyday you came home as Adam. Why'd you do it?" I opened my mouth to answer but he continued. "Because you wanted to keep who you were at work separate from who you were at home."

"Now Ty isn't very good at that. Often enough he slips up and gets aggressive or deadly and things like this happen. " He explained, "Right now he's probably cursing himself for acting like he did. I wouldn't be surprised if he broke the mirror in his bedroom."

I frowned and glanced down the hallway at the closed bedroom door. I wondered, what was Ty doing? Was he just sitting there contemplating what happened? Had he broken the mirror?

"Should I go check on him?" I asked, and Brice shook his head.

"Leave him time to think and settle down. He'll come out when he's ready. He'll freak out if someone goes in there and well....he'll end up being afraid of you if you do."

Afraid of me? He'd end up being afraid of me because I wanted to help him. You shouldn't be afraid of someone trying to help you.

I sighed and shook my head running my hands through my hair. Every fiber of my being wanted to go check on Ty and hold him against my chest and reassure him that everything would be okay.

There was a tap on the doorway and Lachlan stood there peeling the gloves off his hands.

"I'll tell you what Brice." He said calmly, "If Isaac tells me how to stitch up his own wound again I'm going to stitch his mouth shut." Bruce chuckled and let out a breathe of relief.

"So he's alright?"

"He's more than alright. Give it a few days and he'll be moving like normal. Your boy has some exceptional healing." He tossed his gloves in the garbage. "Go ahead and see him. He's been asking for you guys."

Brice went out first and I followed behind him. Isaac was laid back with bandages wrapped around his wound. He was conscious and talking to Kyle about something.

"Hey little man. How you feeling?" Brice asked running his fingers through his sons hair. Isaac shrugged.

"Lachlan did a sub-par job of stitching me up. I could do better. Wanna see?" He started to undo the bandages but Brice grabbed his hands.

"No no you can show me another time. For now let's keep that in place so it heals." Isaac frowned but nodded.

"I guess that would be the best thing to do." He turned his hand to look at me.

Sometimes you'd forget Isaac is just a kid and not some super short adult. But laid out and bandaged, with tear stains on his cheeks made you realize exactly how young he was. It was an almost scary thought.

To anyone who saw Isaac on the street would just assume he was another kid who went to normal school. One who hung out with friends on the weekends and was a little bit rebellious as kids are.

But to people who really knew Isaac would know he was self taught and more educated than any 4.0 HighSchool student. That he didn't have any friends because he hated most people and found them inferior. He was hardly rebellious against his parents and followed orders like a soldier unless he knew a better option.

"Hey Uncle Adam. Did you see how well I did out there?" He asked smiling, "I mean I need more practice obviously but I lasted a long time don't you think?" I smiled at the boy begged for praise that I realize he'd never gotten.

"Yeah bud you did great. A little more practice and you'll be able to knock Ty on his ass any day." He chuckled then winced in pain and moved a bit to lighten the pain.

"I'll go back to practicing when I'm better again. I promise."

There it was again. The little boy Isaac really was. He may claim to not care about anyone or what anyone has to say but he was also a kid striving for praise and encouragement from his family. That was me now. I was his family.

There's two sides of this family and I'm glad I get to see both sides of them.

"Isaac you should rest so you'll heal faster." Isaac opened his mouth to retort some kind of medical knowledge but decided against it and pulled a blanket tighter over him.

"Fine. Goodnight Dad." Brice kissed his forehead and told him goodnight and that he would be here when he woke up.

I chose to leave and walked back into the kitchen stopping in my tracks at the sight of Ty's bedroom door wide open. He stood in the doorway as if contemplating leaving the safety of his room.

"Hey Ty." I called softly, his ears perked and he looked up quickly, "You can come out here ya know." He didn't smile or laugh.

"Yeah...I know." He said softly, "But I'm not sure if I can make myself."