Chapter 5- Papa’s son and Mama
I stared at him. No. Please. You can’t be dead, older brother. I grasped my throat and felt around for a heartbeat, even the faintest, and held my breath to hear a sound. There was none, none, simply none. Struck with shock and grief, I collapsed down on the floor, staring at him.
“You can’t be dead,” I muttered, shaking my head. “You, of all people? You, who is my brother, nah, you…you can’t be dead. You- you won’t leave me here alone, right?”
My own words echoed and bounced across the cell. One by one teardrops splattered down on the cobblestones, and finally it rained down heavily. I buried my face in his chest, on his lifeless body, almost wailing like a child. I couldn’t breathe. I was crying too hard- I was gasping for breath, and crying, shaking him.
“Wake up, you fool! Please! Marv, you are papa’s son, remember, not mama’s son? Yeah, that papa of yours is waiting for you at home, okay? You can’t die!” I screamed; my scream muffled through as I buried myself on top of him. “Please! Wake up! Whenever you fight with me, I’ll lose on purpose.
“I won’t shout back at you. I won’t be rude, I promise. I won’t beat you back. You can be beat me as many times as you want when we fight. I’ll treat you with respect. Respect? You want it, man? Yeah, you can’t have all the respect you want from me. Fear? Yeah, you can get all the fear from me. I’ll do whatever you tell me to do. I won’t disobey you like last time.
“It’s O.K. if I die, but…Marv, remember? Grace? Yeah, you’ve got to be a great warrior and please her, and maybe she’ll come back to you.”
I couldn’t speak- tears choked up my throat. I choked and wailed, screaming and pounding on him with my fists, when I could speak again.
“Wake up, you stupid! You are so dumb and inconsiderate! How…how can you leave your younger brother all alone in this harsh and cruel world? You are leaving me nothing? You are leaving me? You can’t. You…you...can’t.”
My voice cracked and split, and I crashed down on his chest, breathing shallowly.
“Please, Marv,” I whispered. “Take me with you. I don’t want to be alone. I’m…I’m scared. Please. I beg you like this. Please…”
The door opens, and Rose came in, laughing.
“Oh, Prince of Ice is begging his brother to take him with him because he is…scared.”
I glared at her, and slammed my fist towards her, but my fist was twisted, and I fell to the ground with a crash, hitting my head against the floor. Blood wet my head, and the side of my face was bleeding profusely. I felt a surge of power course through my veins, at the rage that flows through my body.
“There’s one thing that I learnt from your father-in-law,” I growled, raising my fist skywards, then her. “Ava Castada!”
A clap of thunder, followed by a roar of storm rippled through the room. The ceiling and the walls were torn away by an immense strength, and the bricks fall apart and fly away in a hurricane that I had formed. Storms rippled around me, and leaves and twigs snapped and fly towards the sky.
“Ava Castada!”
The mark on her own arm began to glow white-hot, and energy flowed through once again in my body.
