Beyond Infinity: The Convergence

Dead Inside and Out

They sat the river's edge, and as irritate as the little girl was, she never left the confines of her brother's arms. She had thought about it so many times, the things she'd say, the questions she'd ask, yet, as they sat face to face, her words leapt not forth, nor did they leave her mouth.

She had sworn to herself that the thing before her was no longer her brother, yet still, she couldn't muster the strength to stand, to push him away and make distance between them. Thus, she thought, if she wasn't quite ready for her real questions, or rather, the answers, she'd ask superficial ones.

There was so much to ask too, she had been out for so long, where was she and what had happened to her. Where were the guides and what had happened to them?

It was a torrent of questions, and the more she thought about it looking into the man's empty eyes, the more she wondered if she indeed did want the answers. She knew her brother and while it wasn't quite the same, it was him, but the lack of his smile, even in the face of adversity, did worry her. As, after all that had happened, how could he be so content.

"Are you okay...?" The little girl's first words.

"Nope..." He didn't elaborate.

"Okay... so where... where is everyone else?"

"Dead, I killed them..." He did not stutter, nor did his eyes waver.

May's heart sunk to her gut as the words cemented themselves in her head, but she'd trust him, he was all she had left after all.

"W-why—wait... do I want to know?" The girl's heartbeat was riding a high yet again.

"I don't know if you'd like to know, but I'll tell you anyway. Those two were not the friends I introduced you to, not the ones I knew... you must have realized that through the way they treated you. Kim was no longer as soft and caring, and Brody was not going off on his stupid tangents... just because he could... they'd imitate it of course... but it wasn't the same..." There was regret in the man's voice.

"I... I'm going to need more than that. You do realize that you... that you—..." She didn't believe it; she couldn't say it to his face.

"That I killed them... yes..." Her brother finished her sentence.

"Yeah... S-so... t-tell me why...?" May's eyes glossed over as she spoke.

"Okay... they were imposters. Their bodies were stolen by... 'monsters' let's say, monsters that came from here. They took them over and pretended to be them, they wanted human bodies... and they took them. It is my fault though... if I was faster... I could have saved them... That is something I'll have to live with for the rest of my time..." His eyes finally faltered and he was forced to look away.

At that point, May did not know where to begin, she was angry, but a weight was still dragging her down from the gut.

"Wha- what do you mean...? You're telling me you left me with... 'monsters'...? Is that—... is that what you're telling me...?" The girl grabbed her brother's face with both hands, forcing him to look her in the eyes.

"Yes... it was the only way to ensure your safety... if they were the ones escorting you... then the likely hood that you'd be discovered would go down... since most the others in here would think that you'd all have been possessed... It's the same reason I didn't kill them earlier... they were valuable... until they weren't..." He forced his eyes to give her the decency of eye contact.

"I—... I don't even know what to say to you... what if they had hurt me... killed me...? What would you have done...?" May's hands had lost so much strength, they were beginning to slip.