Brother

Yelling and a lot of it, woke me. I stiffly sat up from the floor and yawned as I saw Danny beside me. Danny; not a black wolf. His head was still on my lap and looking at the space beside me, I’d been sleeping on a pillow. A blanket covered Danny and as I stirred, so did he. I didn’t move and slowly his head rolled back to look up at me.

“Sarah?” He croaked, though it was a more whisper than an actual word.

“I’m here Danny. You’re okay.” I promised.

My hand trembled as I caressed his cheek and smoothed back his hair; he noticed. His hand came up to hold mine, dirty and covered with blood. I tried not to cringe as I saw it, but then I saw him. The blanket had slipped slightly so his bare chest was exposed. Blood was smeared randomly over his chest, and a few pink cuts had nearly healed in other areas. As he lifted his other arm, I gasped and his eyes instantly rolled over to see the damage.

Bite marks left red welts on his wrist, the scratches there still red and oozing. I felt Danny go tense against me as he inspected the damage, his chest vibrating against my legs as he, growled?

“It’s okay.” I told him, not sure if it actually was. He didn’t need to panic now.

Turning to look back at me, he leaned his head closer and breathed in deeply; the vibration only growing as his lips parted and curled into a snarl.

“Take it off.” He snapped.

“What?” I looked down to find myself in Micheal’s jumper. “The jumper?”

He grunted.

I awkwardly did just that, tossing it up onto the vacant bed. Danny sighed and relaxed against me, before he rolled onto his side and hugged me, pulling me closer I tried not to cry out as he found bruises of my own. Then he started to cry.

“Oh Danny, what did you do?” I stroked his hair, and glancing down, his back was as cut up as the front.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t, and then it was too late, and I’m so sorry Sar!” He sobbed against me.

We sat like that for a few minutes, until the yelling that woke me up sounded closer, angrier and I realised it was Rachelle. What was she doing here?

Last night broke into the moment; the party, the tents, the fact I’d stayed in here instead of out there.

Jake.

“Shit!” I cursed under my breath. “Danny, I have to get up. I’ll come right back!”

He didn’t let go. “No, don’t leave me Sar. No!”

“I swear to god, I will bring back the police, the SES, the fucking army if you do not let me down there right now!” Rachelle was in full battle mode. “You’ve been to jail! Fancy going back?”

Oh that’s so not good.

“I’m not leaving you. I just need to go and save my best friend from a pack of werewolves.” I actually laughed.

“What?”

“Rachelle, can you hear her?” I pointed out.

Danny groaned, holding his ears as the shouting was definitely getting closer now. With him letting me go, I was able to get up and quickly went out the door.

“Sarah!” Rachelle screamed; half furious, half relieved, before turning to Michael. “That better not be your room!”

“It is!” He answered rather smugly, but his gaze wasn’t on Rachelle. It was on Jake.

“Quiet, please, Danny is trying to, sleep?” I mumbled, unable to stop myself crying out as she hugged me, nearly knocking us both over.

“Are you hurt? What’s going on?” Inspector Rachelle instantly lifted my shirt from where I went to hold my side and the bruises I noticed last night had gone from a red mark to a deep purple. “Fuck! Sarah! Are you okay?”

Jake pushed past one of the brothers, I don’t know if it was Justin or Joe, taking place beside Rachelle. “Sarah?”

“It looks worse than it is. Honest.” I lied and the corridor suddenly felt twenty times smaller than it was.

A thud from the bedroom had me looking at Michael, his face void of the amusement that had been there seconds before and with a nod, he understood. Danny.

“Come on, let’s go somewhere with more room?” I suggested.

“These people are nuts. What happened last night? He’s taken a vow of silence and Wendi said you never came back to our tent?” Rachelle was talking faster than she ever had before and Jake kept behind me, acting like a barrier between us girls and the Blakes.

Michael had gone into his room.

“I’ll explain later. You should go.” I tell her, glancing out the front window to notice the tents had all been packed up and a couple of the other guys in Danny’s little group were picking up the last bits of rubbish from the area. Wendi stood by her car, looking at the house fearfully.

“Go? And leave you here with these freaks? You were right, we shouldn’t have come. Danny was right. Where is Danny? Why is he in Michael’s room?”

“He was, sick. It was close to the bathroom so I stayed with him last night.” Another lie.

“You’re lying!” She declared, coming in close to whisper into my ear. “Do I need to call the police? Tell me to go, home, if you need me out and I’ll make sure they’re here in five minutes!”

I look up and see Mr. Blake standing in the doorway. How were they so calm right now?

“No. Nothing like that. I’ll just wait for Danny to sleep it off, and you get a ride back with Wendi right? I’ll go with Jake and Danny.” I smile, praying she believes me.

“If you don’t call me by twelve, I’ll be back!” She declares, looking at the brothers. “With, my friends!”

“Okay, but it’s fine. Really Rach.” I hug her, tighter than I intended and walked her out.

Once Wendi’s car was disappearing down the drive, Justin came out only he went to the others and after a few minutes and a couple of fist bumps, they left too. Looking back at the house, I didn’t want to go back inside. I wanted to get as far from here as possible and then some. It was a good thing I’d been given today off work, otherwise I’d be running late and I’d just put my bag over my shoulder from where Wendi had dropped it at my feet, when Jake came out the front door.

“Sarah, he needs you!” He called.

I ran after him, dropping my bag in the doorway and while Mr. Blake cooked toast in the kitchen, Michael was wrestling with Danny. Kind of. He had him pinned on the ground, his forearm against Danny’s throat as my brother sounded like a mad dog squirming underneath him.

“Where is she? I smell her. What did you do!” Danny roared, the fact Michael looked one step away from killing him not obvious to my brother.

“What are you doing?” I yelled, and both guys stopped.

Danny used the distraction to grab Michaels arm and with a hand on his shoulder and another at his waist, Danny somehow managed to lift, and throw Michael over him and into the wall beside the bed. Michael recovered in seconds, but so did Danny as he was up and suddenly I was being pushed against the opposite wall with Danny shielding me from the oldest Blake brother.

Jake stood in the doorway frozen and I wasn’t much better.

“I told you to stay away from her!” Danny roughly screamed at Michael, who now stood in the middle of the room. “Sarah, who hurt you. Did they bite you too, last night, did they bite you?”

The same question was repeated about six times before I could get Danny to focus.

“Danny, calm down. I’m okay. No one has hurt or bit me.” I assured him.

“I can smell it. Pain. Fear. I can smell it. Everything. You. Him. The wood, the blood, the fucking washing powder on the sheets!” Danny mumbled. “Pain. I can smell it. All of it.”

“Sarah is okay Danny. I promised you we wouldn’t hurt her. You trust me, you know me, it’s true isn’t it. We didn’t hurt Sarah.” Michael spoke calmly, and for a second, I believed him. I wasn’t hurt. Until I realised what he was saying the same second Danny did.

An anguished cry left Danny as he turned to face me. His eyes were wide, wild; feral. His nostrils flared as he seemed to sniff me and I froze, wishing for the wall to just swallow me up. His hands gripped my shoulders; stronger than he had been before, and I tried to ignore the fear that was taking over. He said he could smell it. I didn’t know what that meant, but I didn’t want to stress him out further.

“I did. I hurt you. It was me.” He cried, his emotions all over the place.

A startled squeak left me as his cheek was suddenly against my stomach, and my eyes found Michael as he dared to take a step closer. It was a mistake. Danny was on him in the blink of an eye, his fist raised, ready to strike. “You made me hurt her!”

The other pair of werewolves moved Jake back and took to guarding the door, their gaze focused on Danny.

“Breathe Danny. You know I am not the enemy here.” Michael assured him.

Danny hesitated, listening, but he wasn’t buying it. I saw the muscle in his back tighten, his arm swaying back slightly he crouched over Michael, growling. He didn’t have control. My mind was hazy with confusion, his confusion, he didn’t understand. He was scared.

Without thinking I pushed myself away from the wall and slipped between Michael and Danny, despite Michael’s protesting.

“Danny, look at me, Danny!” I ordered, and the second he lost his concentration on Michael, he focused on me. “You didn’t hurt me. I fell over trying to find you. Jake helped me. We saw what happened, but it’s going to be okay. I’m here. We’re all going to help you.”

He threw his head back and screamed out a howl; human and animal, fighting to understand what was happening.“Sarah?” Danny lowered his arm, and slowly moved off Michael. I stood in the same movement as Danny and nodded. “Help me.”

Then he collapsed.

“Breakfast!” Mr. Blake called out.

I was breathless, shaking and unable to comprehend anything while he was going about his morning like nothing was happening in the room over. With a nod, Michael clearly dismissed his siblings as they went to their fathers call, dragging Jake with them.

“He’ll be out for a bit. This would have worn him out.” Michael sighed, lifting Danny easily enough and dumped him on his bed.

“How do you not care?” I snapped.

“I care. This, is normal. He’s got new urges to deal with, his body is still adjusting to the fact he now possesses the ability to change into a wolf and he has to learn his place. I’m the dominant wolf here, he’s still fighting that, but he’ll learn soon enough.”

It was like i’d stepped into another world and nothing made sense anymore. I half sat, half fell beside Danny, not willing to leave him. Michael left and came back, a plate of food I didn’t want as well as a cup of coffee put on the bedside table.

“You shouldn’t be here.” Michael spoke a few minutes later.

“I’m not leaving him.”

“I know.” He left us alone and I must’ve fallen asleep because I woke to find Danny shoving as much of the bacon and eggs in his mouth as he could.

“I’m sorry Sarah. I never wanted you to be brought into this!” He got out before shoving the toast in too.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I couldn’t. It’s a secret. Now you and Jake are in danger. We have to go.” He decided.

“They know where we live.” I reminded him.

“No, go away. Away, away. I hate this place. It smells like, him.” Danny growled. He finished eating and looked over himself. “I smell like him.”

“A shower. Have a shower, I’ll get your bag off Jake and you’ll feel better after okay?”

I felt like I was on autopilot, not really processing the fact he was talking about smelling stuff I couldn’t. He kept sniffing, picking up everything and not just actual scents, but other stuff too. Fear. Pain. He’d mentioned it before, but he was calmer now, talking it out, even if it was to himself.

He went to stand and nearly fell over, so one arm went over my shoulders and somehow we managed to go across the hall and into the bathroom. Luckily they had a shower that was over a bath, and once Danny was sitting in the bottom, I helped wash his back and arms, surprised to find the cuts that I noticed this morning had healed, and the others were gone completely.

Jake came and sat on the toilet, staring at the door as if he expected them to break it down any second, and Rachelle had been right. Apart from yelling at me when I’d been outside, he wasn’t talking.

“You going to be okay?” I asked him softly, opening Danny’s bag to find his own deodorant and new clothes.

“Me? What about you?” He snapped fearfully. “They have Danny. You’ll be next.”

“No. I told you, I’ll keep her safe like you were supposed to do!” Danny answered him.

“How the hell did I know this was going to happen? You could have fucking told me! Werewolves Danny! You’re a fucking werewolf.” Jake started to pace.

Danny’s eyes didn’t leave him. I’d seen a similar look of concentration on the sheepdogs when they were at work and I quickly snapped my fingers in front of his face. Shaking his head, Danny looked around confused before he went back to washing himself and giving him some privacy, I pulled the curtain shut. Soon after his wet pants were dropped over the edge of the bath, making a big puddle over the tiles.

“Calm down, it’s not helping.” Stopping Jake, I hugged him and he hugged me back, keeping his arms up under my arms rather than anywhere lower were it hurt. “We’ll work it out. I just don’t know how right now.”

“I don’t think we will. Things like, them, don’t exist. They just don’t Sarah!” He was shaking in my arms. “This is his fuck up, we’ll go. I’ll take you home, we can go back to our lives and-”

“And Danny?” I whisper.

“I don’t care. This, this is all too much for me Sar. How are you not freaking out?” Jake let me go. Bloodshot eyes stared back at me expectantly, fearfully, and I couldn’t work out my answer. I still felt numb and empty, and when he held me again, I let him, just so I could feel something that wasn’t fear.

The curtain opened and Danny stepped out with a towel around his waist. “Get out.”

“What?” Jake and I said at the same time.

“Jake, out.” Danny growled.

He left without a word and I stood facing the door as he got dressed. I didn’t expect to then be sprayed with Danny’s cheap mix of deodorant and cologne.

“What are you doing?” I coughed, needing fresh air as he took over the bathroom.

“You stink of him.” He muttered. “They need to know, you’re mine. I told them you’re to be left alone. From the first day I met them, the rule was clear. Not. My. Sister. They, well he didn’t listen.” He started to ramble about Michael following me, that I wasn’t part of their pack and they all had to stay away. “I smell it on him now. I won’t let him hurt you.”

“Michael?” Just saying his name made Danny snarl and grabbing his bag, he opened the door to find Jake waiting.

“We’re going.” He ordered.

Jake nodded, not needing to be told twice and with Danny leading the way, we simply followed. The Blakes were in the kitchen and we made it to the front door before they tried to stop us. Danny passed Jake his bag and the younger ones were pushed aside easily. Mr. Blake simply watched; which was something he seemed good at.

“Danny!” It sounded like a threat and instantly Michael was outside with us.

“I told you I didn’t want it anymore. You did it. I told you, you can’t have her!” He pointed at me, “You still think you can. Come near us, and I will kill you.”

“You can’t leave. Not now, not when you’re like this.” Michael turned to me, “He’s dangerous. He’s unpredictable and if he loses control and changes in town or in front of your parents, then what?”

I hesitated.

“Jake has sworn his silence, if anyone else finds out about us, it will be me who does the killing. We haven’t existed this long without knowing how to cover our tracks.” He warned.

“Fuck you!” Danny snapped, grabbing my arm, I couldn’t get him to let go. The car creaked and groaned as he pulled the door open and nearly threw me in.

“Danny! Stop!”

He did, frowning as he realised what was going on. “Sorry. I’m sorry.”

“You’re a smart girl Sarah. Don’t be stupid now!” Michael taunted. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was actually enjoying this and that only worked against Danny.

“He’s right. Leave us alone.” I decided, and climbed in the back while Jake started the car.

“As you wish.” He snarled, bowing slightly which only had the atmosphere in the car darkening. “It’ll be your funeral!”

“I’m going to-” Danny started and I put my hand on his shoulder.

“No, you’re not. We’re going to get away from these people and then we can work out the rest. Okay?”

“Sure about this Sarah?” Jake asked doubtfully, turning the car towards the driveway.

I wasn’t, but I also wasn’t going to leave Danny here with them, so what choice did we have?

“Yes. Let’s go home.”

-x-

Mum was at work and Dad was washing his car when we got home. He waved, turning off the hose and carried on covering the vehicle with bubbles from the bucket at his feet. The second we got out, he smiled, oblivious to our night.

“Morning sunshine, boys!”

“Hey Dad!” I called, ushering Danny out of the car. He’d fallen asleep during the drive, and hadn’t quite woken up yet.

“You okay there Sarah?” Looking down, I forgot how much of a mess I was.

“Yeah, camping. I don’t know I let Rachelle talk me into it!” I laughed, and cringed as it sounded so fake.

“Oh! Yeah! Rachelle called asking if you were home yet, said you had something of hers, well wanted to check that you did. Might want to give her a call, sounded urgent.”

“Will do!” I smiled, guiding Danny to the front door, though I could see the look on Dads face.

It was better he be disappointed of Danny right now, than angry, or much else. He knew we were at a party, so to see him ‘hungover’ shouldn’t be a surprise. Luckily he left it at that, and with Jake’s help, we got Danny inside, and upstairs.

The second he was on his bed, he passed out.

“What are we going to do? They’ll kill us if we tell anyone!” Jake started to stress, pacing the length of Danny’s room.

“We’re not going to tell. Michael was bugging Danny. Now he’s home and calm, I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

“You’re right.” He nodded. “Um, you might want to take a shower.”

His eyes went down to my jeans and the red smears I hadn’t noticed before made me jump. “Good idea.”

Leaving a sleeping Danny with Jake, I went straight into the bathroom, shedding my clothes in a heap in the corner. Again I avoided looking at myself in the mirror as simply glancing down showed me my bruises well enough. Well, I survived a night with a werewolf - werewolves. A few bruises were nothing.

I scrubbed my skin as best I could and washed my hair twice. Leaning back against the tiles in the corner, the warm water didn’t help a lot. I couldn’t wash away the memory of seeing Danny twisting and breaking on the ground. The sound of bones cracking wasn’t drowned out over the sound of the running water and before I knew it, I was on the floor sobbing as I couldn’t make my hands stop shaking.

Werewolf.

“Sar! You’ve been in there for twenty minutes. You know your Mum would have cut the hot water by now!” Dad banged on the door, snapping me out of my pity party.

“Sorry, I was, washing my hair!” I answered, slowly getting up and cutting the water.

After getting dressed, I went back to Danny’s room. Jake was asleep in the corner chair and I wanted to do the same. One of us had to stay away, and going downstairs, I needed coffee.

“Good night?” Dad asked, trying to act like he wasn’t just trying to get the goss.

“Boring actually.” I lied. Then I remembered I had to call Rachelle back. “Coffee?”

“That would be great, thanks.”

I made us both a cup and soon realised that I was starving. Call Rachelle, then eat.

“About time! Are you home?” She yelled down the phone.

“Home, showered and hungry. Relax.”

“Why were you in his room. If you’ve been holding out on me I’ll-”

“No, nothing like that. I was really with Danny.”

“Drugs. I knew it. Explains the jail time. So what have they got him addicted to? Meth? Ice? Speed?”

“I’m pretty sure Meth is Ice and Speed.” I point out.

She gasps. “How do you know so much about drugs?”

“Fine, we’re all off our faces and addicted to whatever you want to call it.” I snap sarcastically.

Rachelle goes quiet for a minute.

“Sorry. It’s been a long, long night.” I sigh, and the coffee isn’t helping.

“Sarah. What happened? I’m your best friend. Danny is like a brother to me. What is going on?” She asks softly, the drama now missing from her voice.

“I can’t tell you.”

“That bad?”

“You have no idea, but we’re home. Danny is, ah, sleeping it off and we’re good. I’ll see you tomorrow okay?”

“Call me if you need me. Anytime.” She offers.

“Thanks Rach!”

I hang up and raid a bunch of the frozen party foods Mum always makes sure fill our freezer. I’m nearly drooling by the time it’s all heated up and with the party pies, sausage rolls and pizza buns ready to go, I head upstairs. Jake doesn’t wake up as I go in, but Danny does.

He looks around confused before his eyes settle on the tray of food. “I’m home?”

“Yeah.” I smile at him, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

“What have I done Sarah?”

I decide to ignore that question. “Hungry?”

He doesn’t need to be asked twice, and I’m nearly fighting him for food as he scoffs it all down. Once he’s done, he takes another shower and leaving Jake to sleep, we head downstairs and get comfortable in front of the TV. We watch reruns of old cartoons, not really paying much attention as I struggle to stay awake and Danny, is tense. He sits on the cushioned sofa like it’s made of barbed wire, tense and alert, like he’s waiting for something to jump out and attack him.

I spend more time focusing on him than the TV and just when I’ve fallen asleep, he talks. “Jake is awake.”

“He is?” I yawn.

“I can, hear him. He’s just stood up, and now he’s calling his Dad.”

I couldn’t hear a thing. “Really?”

He holds up his hand, counting down from five and sure enough, as he hits one, Jake is on the top of the stairs, finishing his phone call. “Do I smell food?”

“In the microwave!” I call out.

Dad is in the yard, fiddling around with the lawnmower and Jake joins us with a few bits i managed to save for him.

“Can I take a shower?” He asks, looking between the pair of us for a sign something is wrong.

“Go for it. We’re good here.” I assure him and once he’s gone, I turn to Danny. “Are you?”

“Yeah. I can just, hear and smell things so much better. It’s a lot, but I can already like, switch it off!”

“That’s good. What about, turning into wolf?” I whisper.

“I wouldn’t know how, and after last night, I don’t want to do that ever again!”

“Why did you then? Why did you say yes when you were asked?”

“Joe could lift a car. Justin is fast, strong and they made the change look easy. Michael made it sound awesome. I fell for it. It’s bullshit. Yeah, you get superpowers, but there is more too. Like when Jake moves fast, I want to chase him. I’m hungry, but already I know nothing we have will help. I want meat, I want to go and run and hunt.” The more he starts to talk about hunting, the more excited he becomes and his eyes dilate, turning canine.

“Danny. Stop!” I command and his eyes snap to me as he growls. “Calm down.”

No fear.

Fear is a weakness and despite every instinct I have to run, to get away from the monster my brother has become, well has inside him, I don’t move an inch.

“You should have left me there. What if I hurt you?” His eyes go back to normal.

“You haven’t yet. You said you’d keep me safe, remember?”

Danny nods, but I can tell he doesn’t believe it. “I will, from them. I don’t know about me though. I killed two cows last night. Don’t trust me, don’t think I won’t hurt you because, I don’t know if I can promise you that I won’t.”

I don’t know what to say and he looks around the living room again.

Watching.

Waiting.

I take his hand and feel the fight leave him as he lays down beside me. “You always know what to do Sar, you always fix my fuck ups. I went too far this time, I don’t know why I did it, but I’m not like you. I don’t think about the consequences and now, I’m scared. I’m so, so sorry!”

And then, my brother, my twin, who refuses to ever show real emotion, cried again. He was right. He did go too far and I can’t fix it.

Jake stayed with him that afternoon. I don’t know what they did in Danny’s room, but I was in mine and slept until it was dark. Eventually Jake went home and after dinner, we sat in the living room and watched a movie as a family. I could see things my parents couldn’t, from the way Danny kept checking the exits to the room, kept higher than everyone else, and reacted to things quicker than anyone else. By the time our parents went to bed, he was doing laps of the lower section of the house in an effort to defend his territory.

“They’ll come. I know they will.” He whispered to me, his paranoia reaching new levels.

Eventually I talked him into going to sleep, promising to wake him if anything did happen. For someone who never lies, I was doing a great job of it because there was no chance I was going to tell him Michael - in his wolf form had been sitting out in our street on the neighbours lawn. I also didn’t tell him he was there, sometimes as a human, but mostly as a wolf every night in the week that followed.