Our Tainted Dream

Epilogue

The floor of the house feels foreign to my feet.

The air is ash, but I breathe in nonetheless.

Usually, I would be the one to hold the chain.

Now I hold his.

I take in everything that seems out of place.

The photo frames, mum's smiling face.

The one person who kept us together.

Gone. But the pain is no more.

But mine kicks in. It hurts.

Replaced by vacancy, empathy.

A doll brought to life, a doll bound to dust.

Now you receive the pain you have given me.

Now I receive the pain I've given him.

He deserves it, no?

Do I deserve it? Yes.

But do I not?

If not for him, it would be me.

He should be thankful. Is he thankful?

But this is not him.

Why would he?

He bears the name, Davidson.

He tries to pull me back, swallow the darkness to gain the light. But I do not give it to him. He cannot bring me back. He cannot undo the path he has chosen. He chose to follow the darkness of his heart. And so I am here.

He is not my brother. He is different.

The demon inside himself.

And father laughs, almost joyful for his son.

The son he destroyed.

The son he turned into a monster.

Yes, yes. Before he wakes I will enjoy it. Later, I will grieve.

And the reality he has given me. The lie we all live in. Father's lie. Knowing or not, we both live in it.

Because to him, I am the better. To father, I am his son. To Gray, I am deceased. And to Kei, I am the grandest liar of all.

And now I look into his once lively eyes, twinkling with joy and happiness.

To mum, I am a failure.

Now it is empty, lifeless, broken.

The pain is no more, I tell myself. I am his son, I tell myself. He loves me, I tell myself.

He's still in pain.

I can distract it. The warm blood distracts me. Father's false love distracts me.

Yet now the remnants die. Now the family truly falls apart.

Though I know it is false, I willingly fall into his grasp. But the pain tugs at my heart when he says,

What have I done?

Yet I feel loved. False love.

Father smiles, looking at his son's crazed eyes.

And I look into his. I see no love. But I fall nonetheless.

"Welcome home, Reid."