Underneath the Moon is Where My Secrets Lie

Chapter Seventeen: I'm Not Letting Him Go

     "WHAT!?" I yelled shrilly. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?"

     "I said that I hired a hitman, Raven."

     His voice was eerie. Deadly, even. It even seemed a bit...

     ... calculated.

     Their murders hadn't been loosely planned.

     No. This?

     This... had taken time.

     Time that we all never had.

     "WHY?! HOW COULD YOU JUST -"

     "Listen. Let me sit up, and I'll tell you the story."

     I was grateful as I withdrew from him, horrified, my dagger still pointed at him, my other hand now glowing purple.

     "My hitman didn't kill them," Emeran began, wiping the blood off his neck with the back of his hand. "My hitman hired another hitman to do it, and then he packed his bags and moved somewhere else, probably across the world - I don't know. He disappeared off the face of the earth, and I lost contact with him. But the hitman that my hitman hired wouldn't kill your parents, either. And the story continues that same way until a man - not hired by anyone - down the line actually killed them," Emeran explained quickly, wondering if I'd cut his throat once again before he'd be able to finish.

     This time, for good.

     Suddenly, I understood who the assassin was.

     "So, it's your fault they're dead?" I questioned him, not willing to jump to conclusions just yet.

      "They took everything from me," he protested. "Ever since I was born. Don't you understand? I mean, I suppose you do; after all, once I saw on the news that they'd been killed, what more could I do except enjoy the show with a cup of tea? I couldn't enjoy the fact that they were gone, like I wanted them to be? You were always the loved, prodigal son, Raven - I knew that you would be the one who was heartbroken. But I had to do it."

     "You killed my parents. I don't give a damn who you claim to be, but you are certainly not my brother. Perhaps you have your family lines mixed up." My voice and eyes were hard, cold, and I could only stare at him as tears sprang to my eyes. 

     I was full of shock - Emeran could possibly be my older brother??

     He read my thoughts.

     Uncontrolled tears spilled from the corners of my eyes. Emeran didn't seem to care.

     "I was given up for adoption, and my name was changed. So was my life, but they kept poking into it, saying they wanted to help me make a better life for myself - they didn't even try to help me, Raven, they just kept ruining me in every way possible - they threw me away."

     He was sobbing, making awkward pauses as he spoke.

     "No. They loved you! They would've loved you if you're who you claim to be, but if they knew what you'd done, they'd hate you! I know it! This is all your fault!"  I screamed.

     "I loved them!" he screeched, his finger jabbing, hard, into his own skin, his pointed fae ears lighting up with licks of red. "You'll never understand!"

     "I don't care," I growled. "I don't care. You killed them, and that's all I... all I need to know."

     He continued to profess his fake love - his impossible love - in screams.

     "You killed them, you killed them, you killed them, you -"

     "Shut up, Raven. Shut up!!" 

     He never once admitted it, either; but he sure knew a lot about the murders. I knew it was him; and I knew I hated him.

     I was hysterical, losing my mind, and I stood up at the same time that Emeran did, my back facing the door. I gritted my teeth to attempt to hold my emotions in.

     But it wasn't quite working.