He was 12 years old when his other brother went missing, they never found the body. Now, Roman was 15, a lot had changed since then, for example the bunk bed had been changed into a twin size. He remembered how he would stay up watching the tv with his parents just waiting for his brother's face to show up on the news, anything.
Talking to the cops was always such a chore, nothing he nor his parents knew would ever be quite enough to find the one who took his brother.
Nothing.
Eventually he lost hope, and his life went back to normal, except he got picked up from school instead of walking home with...
Oliver, that was his older brother's name.
His eyes shot up from his screen, the sound of his mother's knuckles tapping against his door echoed through his ears and through his stomach, it moved like a maze, shaking him to his core. His mother opened the door right behind her was his father, they looked empty, the satures their movements were so careful and planned.
“Roman?” his mother said, her mouth fixed into a mask of a smile.
“We have a surprise for you.” her voice was bittersweet.
Roman nodded, tuning off his phone and sitting it gently on his bed sheet, he could feel the temperature of his sheets, reminding him how cold it was. His room was dark aside from the angled door where his parents stood letting in the light from the hallway, it was blue outside, his window let in the moon painting his room in the mystical might.
“Oh.. What is it?” he muttered, barely above a whisper, his voice shaking like a nervous bunny.
His mother motioned for him to follow, which he already expected, his mother was empty handed by the way she spoke he assumed he had left such a thing behind.
The walk to the living room was unbearably quiet, he could hear his own heart beating, ‘what could it be’? He wondered.
And before he knew it that was answered, on the living room floor was a small white cat stretching on a brown fluffy bed.
His face lit up he turned to his mom who smiled back, he walked over to his new pet, placing and hand on its fur, it was soft to the touch, but it was cold, its fur was cold, which met this cat was probably brought in from outside or a rescue of some kind, he was so focused on the cat that he didn't notice his mom setting a mossy green water bottle beside him,
“this was the real surprise,” his mother said, “i saw it at the store and thought of you, i already filled it up so you can test it!” She hummed almost robotically, he glanced over to the water bottle, sitting down, he opened the cap of the dinosaur themed water bottle, taking a big sip, the water tasted bitter on his tongue, but he knew the taste of water was never particularly good so he thought nothing of it, taking another big chug.
He brought the cat back to his room, sitting its bed in the corner by the window and his desk, turning some music on his Tv, the first song that started playing was eminem, ‘under the influence’, a song he would’ve preferred to listen to with his headphones he skipped that one, he didn't really have a chance to take in the next song because he was interrupted by something much more interesting,
“Hey, let that one play.” the voice echoed, a ghostly whisper, raspy like his brother's voice. It sounded just like Oliver but colder. He paused the music, his body froze, spikes of cold perked up across his soldiers, he felt the noise breathing down his neck and consuming him, but where was it coming from? The cat, he looked out the window and then to his new pet, it looked straight back, its cold dead eyes piercing into his gut, they were such a contrast with its fur, pure and white, just like a cloud.
“Wh-what?” he uttered hesitantly, and hoped his parents couldn't hear him in case he was talking to himself.
The cat stayed quiet, opting to groom its head clean. Maybe he was making it all up, he decided to sleep it off; turning his Tv down and his lights, well ,those were already off;
He crawled into bed, his head hit the pillow with that same old feeling, he knew he wouldn't be asleep for another hour or two, it was the same helpless panic he felt every night and it was intensified by that cat…. its dead eyes staring at him.
He closed his eyes and let his brain drift into nothing.
“What are you doing?” its voice fast, slightly panicked yet excited like it was being held at gunpoint.
“Don't go to bed yet.” he hushed still it stared at him, this was when he noticed that his mouth never… actually moved.but hit spoke so clearly it gave the allusion of a doll the voice box deep inside never actually moved the mouth,
His eyes shot open, the cat was now sitting beside him on the bed forever focused on him.
“What- What the fuck are you!” he shouted now Roman stared back at the cat and the cats face seemed to change with his words,
“It's oliver.” as it spoke its head twitch its words still sounding rushed.
He sat there for a second, his body cold and his brain a never ending puzzle.
‘Ovlier?’
‘It made since, didn't it? His brother always found him in the end so he should've guessed he would find him in the after life,’
it was a bittersweet feeling, to hear him ago but not being able to hug him, not to see his face, it was almost worse than not hearing him at all,’
“Oliver?” roman asked, rubbed the sleep from his eyes, the cat nodded standing up on its for legs,
“I need you to follow me.” it looked towards the window, jumping off the bed and running to it. “Open the window.” its face seemed to change and contrast as it looked back at me, its eyes and ears grow bigger and its smile was longer, like a cartoon, almost, it was strange, to be sure but he felt comforted by it, maybe it was the time, being that it was almost midnight, to make him get up from his bed, and what puppets him to open the window picking up Oliver and crawling out.
The next thing he remembered was the drop, how bad his feet hurt after, their house was on a slight hill so even though he was on the first floor the drop was still noticeable.
He let Oliver slip down from his arms and onto the sharp grass, immediately, he began leaping away like a frog towards the road, he looked back waiting for Roman to follow, and he did just that.
The walk was horrid, and he felt like he was gonna faint, he hadn't known how long they'd been walking for, hours? Days? No, it couldn't have been days, the sun had never risen, in fact the idea that the sun could rise had begun to fade, all he knew was the road, cars passing across the road, like raindrops pouring down a window. Soon the road turned into a rever, and he wasn't quite sure when, but things were changing, the sky seemed redder than before, prettier, he felt at ease, he almost felt,
Dead.
Before he knew it they were at a bridge, he recognized this bridge because this was one of the few landmarks near his highschool, Oliver stopped under the bridge, when roman caught up, that's when the motion sickness hit, like on que he fell to his knees and threw up.
The cat didn't seem bothered, no, Oliver was a lot more concerned with the river, as he sniffed down on the dirt.
Eventually the cat dug up a plastic bag, pulling it over to roman,
“Im sorry, Brother,” for the first time he was whispering, calmly, everything was okay.
Roman could make out his brother's head through the plastic, he knew his job was to turn this into the police but he felt so sleepy all of a sudden, again he spat out another river, this time the puke was redder too, he didn't realize how alarming this should've been.
His vision became blurred as he slumped down on the cold ground, it was just as cold as his bedroom, it was just as cold as the cat's fur, he remembered his water bottle, the bitter taste. He felt numb, he knew now.
And then everything went black.
‘Roman, 15 male was found dead along with his brother, Oliver 17 male’s dead wrapped in a yellow warmart bag, Subjects, unknown.’