Like Ghosts In The Snow

I awoke as the slight strip of daylight had filtered into my room. The birds were singing, just outside the window, a thing that I have not heard my entire stay here. Everything thing was so peaceful, the air had felt clean, as If there were no tension, no bad feeling emotion. It was strange, yet I had loved how it had felt on my skin. I had loved the feeling of peace that was filtering around me. I closed my eyes and let it all just soak in.

“Gerard!” A blood-curdling scream stripped me of my euphoria, sending me straight into panic mode. It was Mikey, and he was screaming screams of horror.

I didn’t think twice as I jumped out of bed and ran down stairs to see exactly what was going on with my little brother. My way down had seemed like it was taking forever, even with the speed I was going it had just felt like I was being dragged down. I fell down the last two steps as I made my way towards the front door, where I saw it.

Mikey was on his hands and knees in front of a limp body, his entire body trembling in fear. I ran over to him and grabbed him by the shoulders. He was starring at the body on the floor, my father’s body with wide eyes and a trembling lip. He pushed his head up to the ceiling and let out another ripping scream.

I looked down at my Father, the bloodied mess that was his mangled body. Stab wounds and punctures had now littered his body, the blood still fresh and seeping through the fabric. I looked at his eyes; the light was gone from them, the color dull. He skin was pale, and as I reached out to touch him, cold as ice. I starred at the site while Mikey's screams shut out into the background. As my ears began to ring, I grabbed at my head as pain filtered through me. I let out a scream of my own; right before everything had went black.

…

“Gerard!” I heard the scream again as I was shaken awake. It was Mikey, his eyes still wide from terror. I looked at him as my vision began to come back. I blinked away the blurriness as my eyes trailed down to an object that was laid in Mikey’s hand. It was steel and blood stained. Stained with my Father’s blood, I could tell. My mouth dropped open.

“Mikey? What did you do?” I whispered to my little brother who was now beginning to hyperventilate. He looked at me, pain ridden.

“I had to kill him…” Mikey trailed off. “He asked me to help him…”

“Help him what, Mikey?” the boy shivered as his eyes cascaded down to the body on the floor.

“Kill you.”

The door flew open, breaking at the hinges as the door fell to the ground just inches in front of my father’s corpse. A man stood in front of the wreckage. His hair was grayed, highlighted by the few strays of black that had still yet to age. His facial hair had matched the hair that was on his head. He was a sickly looking man, skinny and short with dark skin. He had a pair of black-rimmed glasses that sat perched on his nose. His eyes were hazel. I felt something begin to filter in my brain. Some things were beginning to lay in front of me, the answers to everything. The lights began to flicker as the man walked further into the house, making his way to stand in front of my father’s corpse. This man, he had resembled Frank so much. And as he reached out a hand touch my father, it hit me.

“Your Frank’s dad.” The words were like daggers in the air, slicing through the words that should not have been spoken. The man looked up at me, eyes hungry. He walked over to me as slowly as he could, the tension building.

“Your Gerard.” He said tapping at his stubble filled chin. He reached out his frail hand and let it travel across my face, making my entire body go still, my breath hitching in my throat. “You’re the kid that Don wanted to get rid of,” he whispered, eyes trailing my body, then his gaze snapped over to Mikey. “Your Michael,” he gripped onto a piece of my hair, tugging at it forcefully. I let out a scream as he ripped out a chunk from my scalp. “Don wanted to keep you, thought you had some potential,” he threw my hair on the ground. “But now that you’ve killed daddy, I know what he would have wanted.”

The man returned his glare back to me, his eyes dripping with hate that was unexplainable. “Tell me, how did you know Frankie?”

A growl made its way out of my throat. “You killed him. You don’t deserve to call him that. He was your fucking only son, and you killed him! Was it because you had no money? Was it because you were scared? You’re a fucking coward. You deserve to burn in hell, you son of a bitch.”

“You have no right to speak to me in that tone again, boy!” the man screamed, grabbing me by the hair yet again to pull me up from the ground. I followed reluctantly letting my self be yanked up.

The man dragged me by the hair into the kitchen where he threw me down into the chair. He starred at me momentarily before he pulled out a rope from his back pocket. I starred at it as he walked over to me and placed my hands behind my back where he then began to tie me.

Mikey looked at me from the doorframe, fear in his eyes that began to tear up. I forced out the smallest smile that I could manage, being the older brother and feeling the need to protect him, even with the lack of brotherly interaction that we had in the last few years. I still loved him, even if neither of us had acted like the other had. And I had a feeling that one day I would regret everything that had went on between him and I. this possibly being the last time I would see him, I began to regret. ‘Go’, I mouthed to him. He looked at me with sadness in his eyes, and I just knew what he was trying to get through to me. I nodded my head to him. Yes, I forgave him. Yes, I would forgive him for going.

Mikey hesitated by the door, looking back at me. I starred at him, giving him the best look that I could that just shouted go. He frowned, but nodded his head as he dashed out the front door. Part of me had hoped and prayed that he didn’t go to get help. I didn’t want help. I just wanted out of hell.

“Before we get this show on the road I guess I should introduce myself.” The man spoke as he made his way back around to the front of me. “I’m Frank’s dad Frank, as you may know.” He smiled at me, a devilish grin on his face. “And, I am going to kill you.”