Aftermath (765 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 2 on 6 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Lutes <absolutes18.at.hotmail.com> (View user info) at 2005-03-19 15:32:22 EST
Alicia already felt the vacancy of the bed before her mind fully returned to awareness. In her dream she had been running down a corridor, trying to reach Adam's retreating figure, but the hallway had stretched impossibly long. It was this powerful sense of loss that awakened her, and Alicia instinctively knew that she lay abandoned in the covers. Her eyes flickered open, slowly adjusting to the daylight, and immediately sought the face of her brother. It was a face that had belonged to a stranger only a few months ago, but now she felt she could trace it perfectly; every line and detail was as familiar as her own. "Adam."
He turned around, surprised and uneasy; Alicia could tell he had been trying to sneak out of the room and felt disappointment cramp her stomach. "Good morning."
"Morning," he replied roughly, his attention snapping back to pulling a woollen sock over his foot.
"You're leaving." It wasn't a question.
"Yes."
"Oh." The silent air fell heavy between them. "Well, I wanted to thank you... you know, for sticking up for me."
"Mmhmm," he mumbled, still avoiding her gaze as he stood up.
"When will you be home?"
"Later."
"Can we talk when you get back?"
His tone was brisk and unyielding, "There's nothing to talk about."
"Why are you acting like this right now? Please, I just want to talk about last night... I want to talk about us."
"Dammit, Allie, I feel sick when I think about it." Frustrated, he punched her cluttered dresser, knocking loose paper to the floor. She flinched, but neither of them moved to pick it up. "This isn't normal."
"What part of either of our lives has ever been normal?"
"Our pasts are fucked up and so is our new family, but even they would be disgusted by the things you're suggesting!"
"I'm not suggesting anything that you didn't already suggest when you kissed me!"
His eyes darkened with anger: a warning. "I was drunk."
"No, being drunk was your excuse to let go of your inhibitions."
"Listen to yourself, listen to what you're saying, Alicia. Don't you get it? We're brother and sister. We're twins, for Christ's sake!"
She shook her head, refusing to believe. "But we weren't raised as brother and sister."
"That doesn't change our blood!"
"Explain last night to me then, because we seem to have different versions of what happened."
"I don't have time for this right now, I'm late for work."
"Do you have feelings for me or not?" she demanded before he could move, desperate to hear him voice the unspoken taboo.
"Sometimes I look at you," he answered evenly, "and I hate you."
The remark hurt, just as he had intended; Alicia's voice wavered in unhappy sincerity. "Sometimes I hate you too, but love is stronger than hate."
"You sound like our mom when you say all that love bullshit."
"Don't call her that," she reprimanded sharply, temporarily sidetracked. "Linda's never been any kind of real mother to either of us."
"Whatever, I'm done with this conversation. I'll see you later."
"You can't just leave every time you don't want to talk about something." She stepped forward to block his exit. "When you kissed me last night, I -"
"Drop it," Adam advised, cutting her off, "and move out of my way."
"Listen, I know last night was a mistake and that I'm acting crazy right now and that this could never work, but we shared something together." Alicia pressed the tips of her fingers against his cheek, unconsciously imprinting the invisible lines of their intertwined identities. "You can't tell me you didn't feel it too."
Adam pushed her away from him with a roughness that surprised both siblings. "The only thing we've ever shared together," he snarled, "was our mother's womb."
There were no words to respond with. Alicia stood there dumbly, her limbs shocked into a familiar immobility. A few seconds of uneasy silence elapsed before Adam hastily released her shoulders, revealing two identical marks of discoloured skin. His fury dissolved into an unreadable expression as he stared at the palm-shaped bruises forming on her pale skin. "Jesus," he muttered, taking a step back. "I can't do this anymore."
"Adam," she began helplessly, "Adam, I..."
"Just stay away from me."
Alicia watched her brother's departure without tears, but her chest shuddered with muted confusion and devastation. Mr. Barnett had molested her on a weekly basis, and each time she had consoled herself with the dream of a handsome prince that was on his way to rescue and marry her. Her prince eventually arrived in the form of a grim police officer, but she had refused to let go of the concept of falling in love. Even as she grew older, she had still imagined that once she met the perfect man who understood her better than anyone else, love would feel exactly like the magical, happy experience depicted in her childhood storybooks. How then, Alicia wondered, could an emotion as cherished and sought after as love feel just as wrong and cause just as much pain as those sleepless nights at the Barnett's?
User Reviews
Submitted by ruthless (user info) at 2005-05-06 15:51:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
The last paragraph seemed a bit forced, and possibly too short. I think more detail on that and maybe her thoughts would be good.
Submitted by Chinaski (user info) at 2005-03-20 14:04:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
thanks for giving me astigmatism by raping my pupils so hard.
just kidding, it was good.
Submitted by Mister_Fahrenheit (user info) at 2005-03-19 19:43:19 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by DanielH (user info) at 2005-03-19 19:40:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Very Byronic, and nicely written.
(He, Byron, acted the same to his sister, Augusta.) +++
Submitted by Lmarie22000 (user info) at 2005-03-19 18:54:16 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
good stuff
Submitted by rad1101 (user info) at 2005-03-19 17:29:12 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment