Butterfly Wings

"Gracia! Get your ass out here this instance!"

Someone was loudly banging the door outside of the bedroom. The boy inside the room was curled up in his bed, his eyelashes fluttered for a second as if he was trying to wake up from the nightmare.

BANG BANG BANG

The boy opened his eyes slowly and reveal blood-red soulless eyes. His sight drifted toward the rattling wooden door.

[....]

He frowned, clutching a mess of his hair. His head feels like multiple trucks have run over it. The loud banging sound with profundity cuss noises didn't help either.

He slowly gets up and the blanket slipped off of him, revealing horrifying black and blue bruises on his face, arms, and neck.

He dragged his aching body and shuffled towards the door. As soon as he opened the door knob, the banging noise stopped but a middle-aged man's hollered voice immediately followed.

"Gracia! You sure have fucking guts!! How dare you let me wait here for so long!?"

A resounding slap noise rang throughout the room.

Gracia's face was flung aside due to the force behind the hand.

A pale red palm mark soon appeared on 18 years old's corpse-like pale skin.

Gracia looked down at the floor, his eyes gloomy. Footsteps rushed towards them; a hesitant voice spoke behind them.

"Gracia, F..father?"

Gracia looked behind Carlos, his father. It was a person splitting image of him, his twin brother, Louis.

Except for their personalities and eye colors, they basically looked the same everywhere else. Louis has green eyes, like father while he takes on mother. His brother's disposition was sunny, innocent, and outgoing, meanwhile, he was quiet, dirty, and gloomy. They are the two extremes.

Just like the wings on the butterfly.

When the butterfly flapped its wings, they are the closest but at the same time, far, far away. Just as butterfly can't survive with one wing, they cannot survive without each other.

Louis timidly walked closer to Gracia; his eyebrows furrowed in worry. His slender finger traced Gracia's cheek, his eyes filled with distress and self-blame.

Really, this person, even though he was just born one minute earlier than Gracia, he liked to act as an older brother.

Carlos looked at the brothers' display of warmth and sneered, his right-hand swinging towards Louis. Gracia swiftly pulled Louis aside.

Instead, Carlos's palm landed right on Gracia's left cheek. His pale skin tone turned bright red.

He can feel the blood in his mouth. He nonchalantly swallowed it since he didn't want to worry his brother any more than necessary. He briskly pulls out the contents in his pocket.

He handed them over to Carlos, and quietly spoke, "The rent for this month"

Carlos immediately counted the money; found them it was a bit more than the required amount. He was surprised for a moment and gave a quick look over to Gracia. In the end, he just snorted and left.

As soon as he left, Louis brought Gracia over to his room. He quickly took out first aid and treated the injuries swiftly and nimbly.

The atmosphere was serene for a moment. In the end, Louis couldn't take it anymore and speak out, "..Gracia, how about we move out? We're already over 18 and we can make money by ourselves"

Gracia looked out the window, "He'll just let the police drag us back, besides he has a good public image. No one will believe us. In the end, it will become our fault for arguing and disrespecting the parents"

No matter what, it's always the children's fault when having a dispute with parents.

Louis froze, his hand stopped re-bandaging the wound in the calf area and looked upwards at Gracia. His eyes looked far away and lifeless.

"But....can't you at least try to resist it...?", Louis said with a begging tone.

Gracia turned back and looked down at Louis.

At that moment, Louis seemed to see Gracia's eyes gain light for a moment, but it disappeared soon after.

"Because I deserved it"

"Because she died because of me"

"Because I kill mother"

Louis' eyes widened and he stood up immediately. The medical stuff rolled off the floor, and the scene immediately became a mess.

"H-have you been feeling this way all this time!?"

Louis hugged Gracia, his voice shaking, "I should've...I should've noticed your feeling"

"I was too deep in my grief itself…I should have noticed it as your brother.."

Louis stands back again, making sure to firmly looked Gracia in the eyes, and spoke, "Gracia, it wasn't your fault. It never was-"

Gracia cut off, "If only I wasn't a mischievous kid, mom would never die. Father would never beat us…and.."....you wouldn't get mad at me.

Gracia can understand though. If he were in his brother's shoes, he would get mad and angry too, and even feels like he should've been the one who died.

He can still vividly remember it to this day.

That day, he repeatedly pestered mom to go to the shopping mall. Mom finally relented and took him to the nearest one. That day, the building was maintaining glass windows. There's a signboard and mom telling him not to walk under it.

He didn't listen.

He should have.

He was too excited to buy father a birthday present, he runs ahead without holding mom's hand.

He suddenly heard people's shout and mom's terrified voice. He curiously looked upwards only to see a glass panel falling from the high-rise building.

He was too scared, too frightened, too terrified to move from the spot and stood there like a fucking idiot.

He feels so nervous he couldn't breathe looking at the falling glass. At that moment, someone pushed him to the side.

It was mom.

He wanted to go to mom and ask for a hug, wanted to cry, and complained about his injustice.

When he just raised his hand towards mom, the panel made contact with mom where he was originally standing.

At that moment, it was as if someone turned the world into slow-motion.

He can clearly see the glass cut through mom's head.

He can clearly see mom's sad smile.

He can clearly see mom's mouthing her final words.

"I love you"

He didn't dare accept it. He didn't deserve to. If it were not for him, both father and brother would hear this every day.

As the passersby shirked in shock, he saw the glass panel cut through her petite body whole. The blood poured out from her like her body was a water fountain.

Her skull was torn in half.

The brain matters and organs immediately leak out of the half-torn body.

Both of her ripped faces still have faint upturning lips as if she didn't regret it.

His tiny body bathe in his mother's blood shivered uncontrollably.

He naively believed that if he calls the police, mom would get better. Mom always says, if he needed help, he can call the police.

His brain is muddled, he can't recall the police's number. He suddenly looked towards the passersby, hoping they have already called the police.

But all he sees are flashing blind lights taking pictures, videos, and live-streaming of him and his mother.

His eyes dimmed. He tried to walk toward mom and call the police with her phone. But his legs trembled and he fell down.

He crawled towards his mom's body, his knees scraping and bloodied. He fumbled around mom's handbag and finally found her phone a while later.

He sighed in relief after he saw the police number on speed dial.

.

.

.

.

That day, father's birthday turned into mom's funeral.

That day, a pair of brothers has become motherless at age 4.