Chapter 2

The stale smell of alcohol polluted the air as the door swung open as Daniel looked upon his brother and what he’d become. For a split second, Daniel felt himself fill with distain towards his brother but it passed as quickly as it came, “Would you like to come in?” Daniel spoke softly. “Well since you insist,” Gabriel said almost normally despite the large amounts of alcohol he had consumed. Gabriel staged through the door but stopped inside the door as he always did to stare at the home where his brother lived. The high ceilings held up by towering pillars, the gray walls that seemed to match everything, and the floors covered in the most elegant carpets always caught his attention every time he had entered the home. Gabriel spun around to face Daniel in one very unsmooth motion, “Still keeping thou around now is she brother?” Daniel noticed the look on Gabriel’s face. That crooked smile and the way he would look at you as if he knew something thou did not. Gabriel always had that air of confidence to him, always that look that just made people want to punch him in the face.  Gabriel spoke again before Daniel could get out a word, “Must be nice,” he said almost as low as a whisper.

Daniel felt the sudden sadness in his brother’s words, “What do thou mean?” he said facing his brother who seemed to be pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace. “Do thou not know dearest brother? Look around you! Thou has everything yet ye lives the same life father did.” Daniel walked up to Gabriel, gritting his teeth and clutching his hands into fists, as he took the final step up to Gabriel he leaned his head slightly down so to look his brother in the eyes, “I think it is time for you to retire, brother.” Gabe could see the intensity in Daniel’s eyes and the look was so out of the ordinary it made Gabriel laugh. Gabriel turned his head away from Daniel to try to control his laughter and when his fit passed, he looked up at Daniel with the same smirk that he knew would get under Daniel’s skin. “Intimidation is not the best look for you brother,” and Gabriel took a step back and extended his hand out beside him, “After you Daniel.”

 “Follow me to your room,” Daniel said as he turned his back on his brother and started down the hallway off to his left blowing out the candles as he went. Light started to fade around Gabriel til he was consumed by the darkness before he started to follow his brother. As he stepped up on his brother’s heels, Gabriel leaned as close as he could while still keeping a steady pace to his brother and whispered, “So how is it following in father’s footsteps? Is it as gratifying as thou once thought it to be? I mean thou were always father’s favorite pet.” Daniel continued walking til he blew out the last candle and as soon as the hallway fell dark; he dug his heels into the carpet and came to a sudden halt. Gabriel, unknowingly, rammed right into his brother causing him to stumble. Before he could regain his footing, Daniel had seized him by the collar and pinned Gabriel against the wall. “Temper Daniel, what did I just tell you dear brother?” and for a moment there was silence that was soon disturbed by Daniel’s harsh breathing.

“What happen to thyself Gabriel? I know not to condemn the, for thou cannot control thy sharp tongue yet thou tests me at every turn.” Daniel said with a pleading voice.  

“Thy tongue has always been sharp brother, for it has always been I who has been too afraid to wield, and cut with it so deep.” Gabriel growled.

“Do not act as if thou have always been as thou art because what thou keep making me out to be is exactly what thyself always wanted to be! Not thy man who stands before his brother and God, with alcohol on thy breath after a night of whoring about and expect a warm welcome.” Daniel said finally calming himself.

Daniel could hear his brother’s heart beating in the new silence and noticed the beating had not changed through any of this and it infuriated him that Gabriel did not even care about any of this. Daniel let his brother go and turned his back on him starting to walk away, disappearing into the dark halls of Kerke Manor. Gabriel found his way to a nearby guest room through the thick black velvet of blackness that surrounded him on his trek.  Gabriel sat on the side of the bed noticing the stiffness of it before kicking his boots onto the floor and thinking about how he had yet to sleep in his own bed in weeks. Always waking up with the headaches from the fair time he had had the night before and only having the ghosts of memories of what he may or may not have done. The wrenches who lay next to him were never the same one from night to night but the thought of sleeping alone somewhat frightened him. He slid beneath the covers and faced what frightened him most about laying alone and that was his own thoughts. He thought about his hypocritical brother who had changed just as much as he had since their father’s death. Daniel was blind like he always had been to the things that go about around him. Gabriel suppressed his thoughts before old wounds opened and focused on his own surrounding. He noticed the sheets he laid under were made of a silky fabric, which was thin, but at the same time held in body warmth to fight off the chills from the room. Gabriel tried much to his liking to not become a man who dwelled upon much as he closed his eyes and began to vision the real reason he had decided to show up at his brother’s home.

Author's Note

Please read chapter 3