The Empty Room

Chapter 9-Final Chapter

To my shock, out of the shadows stepped my oldest brother, Edgar. However, he was unrecognizable. The oldest brother that I had known all my life looked like a truly dangerous madman. His eyes were wild as a beast and his left cheek was swollen where I had hit him.

"Edgar?!"

With no response, Edgar pulled the knife in his hand and was ready to strike me.

"NO!" The lights flickered on fully and in the doorway stood Taylor. Her hair was a mess and her clothes were torn as if she had been living in the wilderness. Suddenly, I realized that Taylor was the one who told me to be quiet. She knew that if she delayed enough, he would be surprised enough to not hurt me.

"Edgar, what are you doing?" She screamed and grasped the handle of his knife.

"Taylor?" Edgar whispered in shock. "I'd never thought you'd come back." He seemed to relax for a moment, lowering his knife, but then smiled evilly. "It took you a while to realize what I have done."

"Edgar, what did Mom ever do to you? What did Tristan?" Taylor shouted.

"Oh, it wasn't all on them. It was you. You left without me, Taylor. Do you realize what you did to me?" Edgar's hand started trembling in furiousness, his eyes glowering with hate. Not waiting for a response, he continued, "When you left, I felt the cold betrayal. I pondered to myself, Were all the times we spent together just a joke? Or was I just not good enough for you? Each day, I was haunted by fear, anxiety, and your message kept reappearing in my mind. I had been left abandoned and tricked."

"You're mad," Taylor shot back, "You've lost your mind."

"Psychosis. I hadn't realized soon enough," Edgar said sadly, "Suddenly, I felt like I needed a way to punish you as you did to me. It was simple, really, setting up the murder. I would use the Empty Room as my hideout since no one ever went in. The window was a perfect escape if I needed it, and it turned out I did when Dad locked me out."

The pieces of the puzzle started clicking in my mind and I couldn't help but release my curiosity. "But the evidence of the crime scene!"

"Yes, Tristan. You didn't notice that when you had shown me the note, I had plucked out a piece of your hair while rubbing your back? Did you not notice that Dad only drank five bottles instead of six? I had used one of the bottles to doze off Mom and spilled some liquor on her body to blame it on Dad. When I was locked outside, I found it a perfect time to murder Mom, though Mr. Grubbs had caught me lurking around the house. I wrote the note in Mom's blood and signed it with Taylor's name. I had set it all up. All of it up to show my anger to our family and to send a message to Taylor if she ever came back. Now, she is back and I hope she understands the pain of leaving your brother who loved and cared for you."

"Edgar I know you don't want to do this." Taylor said agonizingly."Do you really think I would just leave you alone?"

"It's too late Taylor. I don't care about your useless apologizes and anyways, you deserve to be taught a lesson. My psychosis has overrun me and I have to complete my job, whether you like it or not. So choose who dies, you or Tristan."

"Edgar, please! Let me explain!" Taylor cried out desperately, "I left because of Dad. I was always the one who got you in trouble so I wanted to protect you! I still left a note promising that I was coming back, but you were the one who perceived it wrong and twisted the meaning!"

"Liar!" Edgar yelled, "You wanted to spare your own life. You never cared about me." He raised his knife towards me, ignoring Taylor's warnings and protests. I raised my arms in an attempt to shield myself, with tears in my eyes and silently saying my goodbyes. However, the impending pain never came. Confused, I looked up just in time to see Taylor, her mouth frozen in a silent scream. Edgar's knife was lodged deep in her chest.

"NOOO!" I yelled.

Taylor had sacrificed herself for me.

Everything else happened in a blur of my tears. I averted my eyes to see Edgar still in a state of shock, processing of what he had just done. Alerted by all the yelling, Dad came in and knocked him out cold. However, all I could think about was Taylor. This time she wasn't coming back. She was gone for good, saving my life. This time, she stood strong to save those she loved.