Change

I think we deserve a soft epilogue, love

We are good people and we've suffered enough

-

"So what now? What do we do with all this shit you got us into?" Kenia nagged as she pulled down her green bandana revealing multiple scars on her lips. She looked uncomfortable and her hidden cold hands showed a sign of anxiety.

Dante then stood up and lifted Collem up with great power. He sighed, and looked over at his sister in disgust. "Are you scared? You realize if we go to jail, you'll come with us right? Better run now that we know you're of the same ilk as our parents." Collem hugged his brother from behind and whispered something too distant for me to hear.

"What do you mean Dante? Jail? We can't go to jail why would we? Our actions are justified." I let out a laugh with a sense of self-regard.

"Yeah, yeah. That's not what our lovely sister said to the cops."

"Huh? You called the cops?! You really don't understand that we finally gave you some freedom from your tortures? WE SAVED YOU! Do you want to go to jail though Ken? Mmm you know there's no proof which one of us killed our mother. Perhaps, since you clearly aren't going to appreciate your given gift, you should pay." I walked closer to her and looked her straight in the eyes; her vulnerable figure would soon give in.

"You know you're the one who did it. You wouldn't be good enough to give me the cred-"

"Fool!" I took a step closer and grabbed her by the neck. The look in her eyes made me shiver, while she only displayed fear. "Had you grown stronger we wouldn't be in this position" I muttered and kissed her pale cheek.

The smell of blood filled the room and only my brothers' laughter was heard.

"Kill her!" They cheered.

"Wait!" Collem chanted.. "Cut her tongue, take her eyes, make her suffer!"

My vision became blurry as I heard something louder than my brother's chants. In my left ear something whispered to me not to kill her, after all she was my sister, she loved me, I loved her. If I really want to change, I need to start now. The voice was calm, it felt almost warm like sand on the beach; a smile formed softly on my lips while my sister's crismon hair soothed my mind. A tear ran down my cheek, and I let go of her neck.

"We need to go." I brushed down the tear off and looked over at my brothers.

"What about her?" Collem asked excitedly. "Let's kill her and then go!"

"The cops will be here any minute. We don't have time".

"Hmph. Fine, another time I guess. Let's go then." They quickly walked together to the exit of the room, while cleaning some of the blood on their face off.

I walked over to Kenia, hugged her, but she pulled me away.

"I hope you rot in hell." Her voice was uneven and sad.

"I love you too sister." I walked away and followed down my brothers.

-

The cops had arrived 5 minutes after our departure, leaving us enough time to flee.

"What's the plan now Matt?" Col asked while Dante went over to a cat he found on the road.

"We're heading home now, we'll grab some money and food." I looked over at the cat while I answered. His dark eyes were focused on me although Dante kept pushing his head over to him, his nose exposed a white spot in which he may have been burnt, though his figure lied with vigor. He was small, but strong as his relaxed body showed no sign of moving. Dante slowly touched his black fur with delicacy, while he admired the mysteries of the many white spots that covered it.

"Why don't you join your brother?" I sat down on the side of the road while continuing to analyze the cat.

"I don't feel like it. I want to talk to you. Why are we going home? We could..steal a bank and get out of the city! Maybe even fly to another country. Find a better future for us."

Dante then grabbed the cat and vigorously stabbed his body over and over. He ran his knife to his mouth and licked the blood while smirking. The cat, caught off guard, lied lifelessly now as his once vigorous body disintegrated. Dante went on and removed the cat's fangs, then saved it in his pocket.

"There's no future for us Col." I stood up and Dante walked to me.

"Look Matt! Look! It's fangs are so cool and big! Maybe I can make knives out of them!" He excitedly smiled with pride.

"Good job tiger, go show your brother." I smiled while he went to show Collem. The cat lay dead as I walked to it slowly, I picked it up; his body heavy from his strong muscles, his fur still soft, I thought to myself he didn't deserve to die. His white burnt spots though told me that he had suffered enough, so I digged his grave in honour of another strong being with a hard life that deserved to rest in peace, and I named him after my father, Tate.

Now that he's gone, I can't help but feel guilty about our last discussion. He'd always take care of us, watch over us, and although he was a bad father, I miss him. I miss my old life, how my mother would make me and my sister breakfast before school, and get us ice cream afterwards. Though instead those memories are weak in comparison to my vivid nightmares.

"Dante," I started, "Do you miss mom and dad?"

"What? No, why?"

"And you, Collem?"

"There's no reason for me to miss them.. right?"

Their tainted identical faces smiled but somehow Collem's brought me warmness, he did miss them, even though they weren't good parents. I wonder how it'll go once we get home.

The night long and timeless, seemed to never go away as we walked through the empty alleyways of New Jersey. Police cars drove around patrolling the area though they'd expect us to head to the airport. In advantage, Collem and Dante had undying energy and didn't need to sleep for days, they could be perfect soldiers with their extraordinary ability and high tolerances, hence their cruel childcare. I'll have to take better care of them than my mother, I thought.

"..So tell me what did I miss while I was gone." I broke the silence.

"Not much, dad always made sure we'd hide our identities so we wouldn't get caught, and we stopped going to school. There were woods near our new home so I always went to hunt there, not many people dared to enter because of the poisonous plants and stuff." Dante responded first as if he knew I'd ask.

"Mmm.."Collem hesitated, "I- well, after our mother's death, I spent most days in the graveyard, you know making sure she doesn't rest in peace." He laughed. "Nah, I studied at home. I also earned some money helping dad. He had started his own company as a veterinary and I was his star employee.. Until, well we got tired." He looked down and continued walking.

"Why'd you kill him then?"

Dante took the chance to respond again. "He was rude and dumb, I mean, a veterinary? Really? So all of the sudden he's a good man? We'd never forgive him for not standing up for us."

"Right." I nodded, after all, they had it worse and it still infuriates me how much he loved our mother.

We turned another street and that's when the memories got stronger. Even though this was another city and there was no one in sight, I could imagine my friends waving at me and telling me to walk with them to school, we'd talk about how much fun our sleepover had been or we'd be making plans for the weekend. A sudden shadow made me stop on my tracks and tilt my head. The silhouette was standing against a wall next to a pet store, similar to the one in which Eli always waited for Synda so they could walk together. I remember smiling every time I saw her scarlet hair and broad smile even though it was early in the morning. She enjoyed looking at the animals waiting to be adopted and sometimes volunteered when she stayed home in the summer. She loved animals.

"Who's that?" Dante wondered. He ran almost excitedly to greet the unknown person standing on the street in the middle of the night.

I followed him down and analyzed the person. It was a woman, with black long hair, red at the bottom, and a broad smile that greeted Dante with just as much charm.

"She's weird.." Collem muttered.

"Why do you think?"

"No one has ever greeted Dante so kindly." He laughed, then composed himself. "I think she's gonna live through the night."

"Hello, what is a beautiful woman like you doing alone at this time?" I ignored Collem and greeted the woman.

"Hey, I'm just walking by, nights are too beautiful to sleep on them."

"Right?! Hey Matt I love this girl already" He smiled and asked the woman to come with us.

She kindly accepted the offer and looked over at me. "Matt? For Mathias? Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too.. ??" I wondered why she hadn't mentioned her name. "What's your name?"

"The less you know, the more you live, did you know?" The saying brought me shivers, for I had always hated it, and Eli knew it more than anyone.

"Well babygirl, I'm willing to risk it." I winked and pushed my hair back, letting my bangs show my scared face.

Collem and Danted both snorted at my flirting and moved me aside to continue chatting with her.

For the looks of it, they had caught some attachment to her, and her fate was now less obvious than her true identity.