My Brother's Keeper

There’s barely enough blood to fill the thermos. When removing her heart, I opt against the tools and break her ribs with my bare hands. Partly because I’m in a hurry but mostly because I want to get revenge on her for trying to harm my brother.

It makes more sense why Odile wants to open the gates. The clans of Mallard, Graylag, and Gadwall don’t want to sit on the throne. Each death is easy for them because they lack the drive and want to open the gates. They care about survival, even if it means annihilating the chance to leave the static realm and return to their home.

From what it sounds like, the last two houses are already in cahoots with otherworldly creatures. This means Preston will be out for blood even though he thinks I’m royalty and not Pax. The only thing Eider hasn’t helped me to understand is my sister’s inability to maintain a solid manifestation on any other land but the island.

“It’s consecrated ground. The only reason she could be here before was because of you. She was using your conscience to make you like her.” Pax throws my mother’s journal at me and winks. “You dropped it when you went crazy on the beast in the surgical wing. I read what was available to understand the purpose of this.”

I stare at him as I shove Nurse Patterson’s shriveled heart into the jar and return to my bag, where I place the bottle. I’ll feel no remorse when I offer it as a sacrifice.

“I was born here,” I groan.

“Children are innocent until they do wrong. Odile knocked out her first kill at age nine.” Pax looks impressed. I honestly hope he never has to meet her. I would hate to know what conversations they’d have.

I change the subject. “What did the elves say?”

“That they hope to see me on the other side. They were going to pack up their things. They figure in a few hours, you will have achieved what Nurse Patterson has been trying to do for some time. How could you let them torture you the way they did?” Pax grabs my bag from my shoulder and tosses it over his. I hear a clink of glass inside and pray none of the jars have broken.

I flash an amused smile. “Look at you. Diplomacy is in your blood.”

“What do we do about that?” Pax gestures to the body and makes a disgusted face. “Do you have to be so brutal?”

I shrug. “We bury it, but first, I offer the blood to the reservoir.” I grab the journal from my back pocket and look for the location.

I must backtrack to the surgical ward I was born in. Under the drain is a line that leads to the reservoir underground. From there, the body must be buried in an unmarked grave outside the asylum in the patient cemetery. Then, I’ll be free to leave Eider for Pirate Island and the last victim.

There’s only one problem: I do not know what surgical room I was born in. Am I supposed to guess, or will I magically know when the room is near?

I pace the hallway outside the rooms, hoping to feel a tingle or something to indicate I’m on the right trail. Anything would have been appreciated. Instead, the air is stale, the concrete uneven, and each room looks the same. There’s no way to differentiate between each one.

“We could always check the drains,” Pax suggests.

“I only have the one thermos, and most of the leftover blood is sprayed all over the wall,” I groan as I lean my butt against the wall. “I have only a few hours left, and I’m useless.”

“You aren’t useless, just stressed,” my brother says, rubbing my back.

“If you told me five years ago that I would be a serial killer, I would have called you crazy.” I laugh softly and try to clear my head. Maybe Pax is correct, and it’s stress.

“I wouldn’t exactly call you a serial killer. I’ve done my fair share of research on the subject. You take no joy in this.” He’s trying to soothe me, but it’s not working.

“I wouldn’t say I don’t enjoy it. That up there with Nurse Patterson felt pretty damn good. I mean, years of frustration all came out.” I look at Pax as he smiles.

“Yeah, that was pretty gratifying.”

I’m not sure if it’s the jokes or the rest, but as I look at the doors ahead, an odd memory comes back, one I might not have remembered if I had not been standing here.

“Do you think she knows?” Nurse Patterson asked Doctor Lawrence.

“What do you mean?” he responded.

“We are extracting her magic in the same room her mother gave birth to her.” Nurse Patterson laughed manically, and Doctor Lawrence smiled.

“You are despicable, Irene,” Doctor Lawrence said as he leaned in and passionately kissed her.

“Once we have the witch’s blood, we can open the door and leave this world behind.”

The rest of the image makes my stomach crawl. I’m not sure why my mind went such an erotic way, but it did, and I need to cleanse my brain of the memory.

“It’s this one.” I point to the one on our right.

“How do you know for sure?” Pax asks as I race into the room.

“I remember. I was fourteen, and they were trying to take my magic. I was sedated heavily, but I remember seeing them, and then I focused on a star over my head.” I look up, and sure enough, over the surgical table is a star cutout stuck to the ceiling. “They told me to look up and count.”

Pax tears the drain cover off the floor, and I dump the thermos of blood directly into the line. There’s a sound. It’s a shriek, shrill, and when my mother comes at me, I push Pax behind me. I know he can’t see her, but I fear sharing the one image my mother gives me. Her body differs from the new visit. Her face is less dead, and her limbs are not as bloody. It’s as if the deaths are rejuvenating her just as they had Odile. Maybe not in the same sense, but similar.

Good work, Odette. One more to go, the hardest of them all.

“What is it?” Pax asks as I come out of the vision.

“I don’t understand this,” I reply, pulling the journal from my pocket and thumbing the pages to the most recent entry.

Doctor Stuart was the kindest of them all. His son, however, has a dark heart and wicked determination. He has hurt my dearest Odile, but she cannot return the favor in her weakened state. I can only hope the boy’s blood will cleanse the kingdom and return his father to his rightful place. Unlike the warriors of Eider, the children, the Elven captives, and the other creatures kept within these walls, Doctor Stuart has remained kind even with the evil likes of Doctor Lawrence and Nurse Paterson running the place with its cruel tests and magic stealing. Therefore, I have chosen Preston Stuart as the fifth and final sacrifice. His death will open the kingdom’s gates and return the city’s borders to their earlier state.

Let the battle royale begin!

“What does she mean, battle royale?” Pax asked as I shut the journal.

“We have to bury the body,” I explain as I try to figure out the best way to answer his question.

Pax carries his aunt’s mutilated body into the patients’ cemetery, where we find a spot to bury her. An old shovel had been left near one of the other graves, and we took turns digging. Pax places her body, and I pay the toll. I have no remorse for what I’ve done.

Irene Patterson was not a strong woman. She couldn’t have faced me alone. Her strength came from the alliances she made while working in the asylum. However, look how quickly those alliances broke when my brother was thrown from the mezzanine. Preston is going to be different. He has strength while his family makes alliances. Doctor Stuart may have been a kind man to my mother, but he had a dark heart, as she eloquently stated.

“You ready for this?” Pax asks as I toss the shovel onto the ground next to the grave.

“Yeah,” I say as he wraps his arms around my shoulders, and we leave Eider.

I know my magic is within the asylum’s walls, but we don’t have time to find it. I’ll have to return another day once the gates are open. I know I’m in danger of Odile, but if I don’t have my magic, she can’t take it if she attacks me.

Something tells me the fifth gate won’t be the last death.

We take an hour to get to the edge of the river. The island looks much further away than it had the day before. I know I can shift into a swan, but I do not know what Pax will do to get to the island. His magic is still unknown; for all we know, what had happened at Eider was a fluke.

“Do you think this is going to be hard?” Pax asks as I gaze out over the water. The sun sets, and I’ve yet to see Preston on the beach.

“I think if anyone can kill me, it’s him,” I sigh.

“Dad’s got a boat at the dock. I’ll meet you there. I need to do something.”

I frown. “Yeah.”

Part of me is glad he’s bailing out on me. I’m sure the near-death experience of Eider has made him question his choices. Should he follow his sister to a location surrounded by water where she is forced to take on one of his worst enemies? In all fairness, would I have followed Odile if my life was in danger? Okay, so maybe that isn’t the best example to use.

I’m following Odile through a blood maze, servicing a deity I’ve never seen. I mean, that is what sacrifices are for, right? You provide blood and hearts for something as if it’s the reason the borders closed.

Pax hugs me before he leaves. The hug is tight and not as loving as it would have been. He’s scared. Then again, so am I.

“You did it then?” I hear Odile say next to me, and I groan.

“Yes, without your help.” I step into the water and wait for the shift to occur.

The first time it happened, I thought it was odd and felt warm, changing from the skin to the feathers. This time, it feels even weirder. Maybe it wouldn’t be as awkward if I had a list of successful shifts. Still, I turn into the black swan and swim from the shore to the island, where I crawl upon the sand before returning to my previous state of unrest.

“To be honest, Mom was worried when you didn’t show up an hour ago,” Odile says as she collects wood from the island’s small beach.

“Nurse Patterson was a little more protected than I had expected. If not for Pax, I would still be there picking splinters from my body.”

“Baby bro, huh? That wasn’t a part of Mom’s plan.” Odile laughs softly.

“Not everything is going to follow a fifteen-year-old plot. Especially one that involves our brother, who she so lovingly cared for.” I’m speaking through my teeth for several reasons. Foremost is because I’m cold. Everything after that is based on the resentment I’m growing toward my sister and mother.

Putting pieces of her flesh into the garbage disposal doesn’t seem so bad. In a small way, I feel I had gotten even before she could destroy my life.

“You need to change,” Odile mentions as I rub my shoulders.

“And you expect me to do that how?” I retort, scowling.

Odile puts down the wood, points at it with her slender index finger, and it goes up in flames. Then she comes to me and places a single finger on my forehead. After that, it’s like being stuck in a princess movie. My bloody clothes morph into a red dress, and my hair is magically combed and styled. It’s confusing, exciting, and revolting all at the same time. Now all I need are magic slippers and a talking rat.

“Consider it a thank-you gift. It won’t be long until we’re home. You just have to lure this one in with a little seduction. If you want to keep baby bro safe, I suggest keeping your trap shut.” Odile winks and returns to the fire.