How My Grandfather Killed His Brother

I felt a finger poke and dig deeper into my cheek as my drool
fell like a waterfall. My eyelids felt like sand bags as I struggled to open
them and as the blur ceased a figure I recognized anywhere was put into
perspective. There with her rosy cheeks and ear to ear grin was my little
sister holding up a stuff teddy bear and that teddy bear held a large story
book, the same book I always see in my nightmares, the same book she makes me
read every night for the last three months.
“Again with the fairytales, can’t you see I’m sleeping
here?” I asked exhausted as I tossed back and rolled over to the opposite side
to avoid her puppy dog eyes that she will eventually make and I will eventually
fall to because I’m a very weak individual who spoils his little sister,
rotten.
“Come on big bro, just this once, I just want to finish the
story.” Her voice felt like sweet honey to my ears, a mix of pleading and
sincerity that can only come out from such an innocent soul.
I grit my teeth as I took a throw pillow and covered my
exposed ear to it thus, blocking her spell completely. Of course she hadn’t
stopped as I felt her little body pushing me from the sofa and afterwards
trying to pull me out.
Then it stopped, I could no longer feel her prodding and
unrelenting annoyance, I guess this victory goes to me. Though, I did felt bad
crushing her little hopes like that, what was I to do? If I spoil her more then
she’ll eventually cling to me like some sort of parasite and I’m pretty sure
that title already belongs to me-but I guess it’s kind of a win if my little
sister would like to be like his college dropout brother- on second thought,
forget I said anything.
But still, there was something in my mind that wouldn’t
halt, my heart started thumping like drums being aggressively stomped on by a
tour de France contestant as I felt something was wrong. And in an instance it
fell on me like a ton of bricks, to put it clearer, she fell on me like a ton
of bricks.
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked as I picked her up from her
shoulders, carrying her like a lifelike doll, she only stared at me blankly as
she hid her face with the story book-again to describe it clearer, the story
book carried by a stuffed bear to emphasize how hard she was trying to melt my
heart, and I applaud her, because it did melt my heart and fractured a fair
amount of my ribs.
“Okay, I give up, you win. Just give me a little breather,
okay, princess?” I asked, stretching my back as I felt her nod in both approval
and victory.
Balancing house chores, finding a job and acting as a
plaything for my little sister was exhausting for a young man but I guess I
don’t have the right to complain, neither do I have the energy to. My ears
perked up as hoof like thuds began ringing across the house. Immediately, a
fluorescent light bulb lit up on top of my head as an Idea began to shine. I
extended my hand to the little girl with the light chocolate brown hair tied
into a ponytail as she complied immediately as we both skipped merrily into the
direction where the old grumpy troll sat and drank his brew.
“Good evening, grandfather.” We both said in unison as a
gruff old man sighed as though he had just inhaled a pound of smoke. His old
withering eyes stared at me with intensity as it shifted towards his cane
clearly he was about to make a run for it.
“Alice, get the cane!” I said, yelling as she sprinted
towards the cane. But even with her speed I know she wouldn’t be able to beat
the quick scoop of an old man filled with caffeine so the only thing I can do
to help is distract him, but how?
“Hey Grandfather, Elvis is dead!” I yelled as he stopped in
his tracks long enough for Alice to grab the cane and within that split second
run back to me as I held the cane smugly like the slickest, sexiest, most
charismatic pimp this side of the red district dark alleyway. My grandfather
only glared at me like he was about to shoot lasers from his eyes like one of
those x-mans as I could feel a telepathic voice repeat over and over “You’re
the biggest disappointment in my life.” This was a win and lose situation for
me as my heart split into feeling proud of my petty accomplishment and feeling
proud of my petty accomplishment.
“What do you want, parasite?” He said sternly as I felt a
little piece of me, piledrived and pinned into a mat.
“Well, Grandfather, I was thinking-
“The deal was food and shelter, nothing more, parasite.” He
said in retort as he sipped another cup of his coffee.
“No, I’m not asking for money, I’m asking for a story.” I
said as my words made him gulp his coffee rather abruptly, he began coughing as
he covered his mouth with his hand formed into a fist.
“Why on earth would you want that? Didn’t you hate my
stories?” He said astonished. “Well, yeah. But it did give me a few lessons,
and believe me I’ll never forget them so I was wondering if you could do the
same with Alice, she’s spoiled you see.”
“And whose fault is that?” He asked as I quickly answered
with my wittiest retort. “The Government, Thanks, Obama.”
“You need it alright, I guess I have no choice, you won’t
give me my cane back unless I give you a decent story. I guess it’ll help pass
the time.” He said as he motioned me to take a seat as I again prepared my
wittiest of retorts. “Yeah, you Cane-not (Cannot) leave until we say so.”
He sighed once more and began telling us a story…
“Box, it’s a game that come from god knows where but all I
do remember is that it’s a game, a dangerous one, more dangerous than Russian
roulette with a full chamber.” He said gruffly as I took a seat along with
Alice who sat on my lap.
“Everything’s a blur, I don’t even remember what date it was
but I do remember what prompt me to play such a game.” He took a large sip from
his nearly empty coffee cup and exhaled. “Annoyance, I played that game because
I was annoyed, annoyed of my little brother.”
“Little brother, but we don’t have a granduncle.” I suddenly
blurted out in surprise. “You had one. Regrettably, it’s my own fault that he is
no longer with us.”
“Y-you killed him?” I asked stuttering. “Not in the sense of
murder in the first degree but I pretty much did kill him in the same rules as
a judge sentences a convict to the electric chair.”
“I’m not going to tell you the entire detail about
replicating the box game, I’m afraid that you’re either too stupid or your
little sister is too naïve to actually listen to my warnings.” He said as his
eyes began examining me who was inching my hands closer for a cookie and Alice
whose eyes were the size of dinner plates.
“You two will inevitably try to imitate it, but for the
sake of telling a story I’ll tell you just a quarter of the ritual. A person
has to sit down in a cross sitting position on the floor as another person
holds his hands together and outstretches his arms forming a hoop with his
clasped hands and then that person slowly lets down the hoop as he says “You’re
now inside the box.” After saying that and reaching the hip of the one who is
sitting he will then again lift his hands up while saying the phrase again but
this time that person must mouth it that way the person sitting would think
that he had gone deaf, that’s why it’s called the box because it’s suppose to
simulate that you’re inside a soundless, invisible box.”
“Sounds innocent enough, but why is it so dangerous, and if
you're forming your hand into a ring, shouldn't it be called the hoop?” I asked
as I munch on the cookie, though I looked composed the thought of my dead granduncle
still bothered me but I guess I’ll prod on the subject later, when my little
sister is no longer around. “”It was, it was just supposed to be a prank but I
just had to improve it and ignore the name, I wasn't the one who made it.”
“Improve it?” I asked. “Yes, in addition of imitating
deafness, I also imitated blindness.”
“What’s wrong with that, that’s basically just ignoring
someone, right?” I asked trying to comically lighten the mood. “It would be called
ignoring if the box ritual wasn’t involved.”
“He always annoyed me you know. I was two years older and
was at the peak of maturing, in the teens thinking that they’re mature at the
age of thirteen kind of mind set. I didn’t want to be seen around him, he was
fat, hyperactive and a nuisance, what every pessimistic teenager writing poems
and haikus hated.”
“Were you-?
“Drop it.” He said flatly, causing me to stop my further
poking.
“Let’s just say that on the side I had other interest, with
the occult. It was always just on the side, I tried rituals and such and always
knew they would never work and they never did, but along the lines I was
successful, even if I wasn’t aware of it back then.”
“You summoned a demon?” I asked; my interest amped to eleven.
“I did, but we’ll talk about that later. Let’s go back to talking about the box
game. Thinking back at it now I guess I confused a prank I found in a joke book
into some sort of unfinished ritual from one of my occult books, but they never
worked on anybody- anybody who was normal, and my brother wasn’t normal.”
“My colleagues who claimed to see auras often told me that
he was emitting something powerful and that he had his third eye open all the
time, of course I wouldn’t expect demon like powers to come from such a jolly
child but that’s not always the case, a genie can take room into any lamp that
genie pleases after all.”
“It was a day I couldn’t remember but I did know that his
annoyance had become too strong, or was it because I was too full of angst, I
would have slapped him for his constant blabbering and nonsensical quips but a
part of me didn’t want to, call it kindness or just the fear of the folks
punishing me afterwards but my revenge was supposed to be just a harmless prank
but I didn’t know how dangerous that game was-it was supposed to be just a
prank, just a simple prank, a petty one at that.”
“So I put him in the box and pretended not to hear him, I
acted like I covered him inside of a soundproof box as he shouted and yelled,
hissed and barked-I remembered that they were deafening, If I wasn’t pretending
to be deaf I would have been from his noise.” He said rubbing his temples his
expression held a bothersome look mixed in with nostalgia and soon a contorted
face of regret.
“I was about to end the entire charade right then and there
but he just suddenly made a face so full of surprise followed by a quick dash
to somewhere, I didn’t bother chasing after him I just enjoyed the peace.” He
said forming a slight grin on his lips, a pitiful grin that took every ounce of
his strength.
“Did he hear a spirit?” I asked in wonder. “I have no idea,
I don’t know if what put him into a trance that day was the angelic voice of an
angel or a temptation of a demon. Either way, when he ran, he ran as if it was
the most important race in the world.”
“The next day I found him with a smile o his face, as his
eyes gleamed with pure happiness when he saw me. He explained that because of
the box game he could now hear Tony-ton-ton, Tony-ton-ton was his imaginary
friend that I thought he had grown out of but clearly I was wrong. He then
began rambling about how Tony had such a great voice, very calming, very
soothing and very soft. I should have taken that as a warning sign, but like any
rational person I dismissed it as simply just a child’s fantasy, I wish I
hadn’t- but then again there’s more than one thing I wish I hadn’t done in my
lifetime, regret is so familiar now that I keep making mistakes because the
pain of regret no longer stings. I guess that has its perks, somehow.”
“Did her run away with Tony?” I asked still intrigued by the
story. “I’m getting to that, para-boy, afternoon had passed I found him
drawing in his room with crayons, paint, and even colored condiments like jam
and peanut butter. Of course I quickly apprehended him and flat out yelled at
him for the mess he made I would have nagged his head off if it wasn’t for the
way he looked, quite exhausted and disheveled, a look I never would have expect
from a child his age.”
“When I confronted him he explained that he was trying to
draw Tony because Tony said that he looked different from how he drew him
originally. I remembered that crude drawing of a kangaroo-like thing with large
wings and fuzzy arms stuck to the wall of our refrigerator that was what he
would call Tony, but now the voice said otherwise.”
“All around I could see smudged drawings and sketches of
Tony all marked with an “X” made with red crayon. Seeing the mess he made and
how he was visibly exhausted I couldn’t help but try my best to at least help
him in drawing his imaginary friend. I gathered all my art materials and told
him to tell exactly what Tony looked like-at least how Tony viewed himself. He
told me that Tony described himself as a guy with a large mouth that reached
his stomach, the large head of an octopus and the torso and arms of a gorilla.”
“That’s kind of…” I said a little disturbed. “Weird, yes it
was- that was the same thing that popped into my mind as I finished, an entity with a large alien like head, a
mouth open like a broken ventriloquist dummy, and massive arms and torso of a
gorilla sounds weird but tamed. But when I asked him about the legs of his
imaginary friend he innocently responded that, he doesn’t have any, and when I
asked about the eyes, he just gave the same response. Finally just telling
myself to ignore it I asked what color the skin was so that I could color it,
he said that the same color that lies beneath our skin.”
“And that didn’t disturb you?” I asked prodding at him. “It
did, but I guess he was just loosely describing the color pink. After that he
told me to put him once again into the box so that he could hear what Tony had
to say I blindly agreed and he scampered off again.”
“You just dismissed it like that?” I asked quite
dumbfounded, my grandfather was always think first and then move- this wasn’t
like him. “Call it youth, maybe that’s why I’m so cautious, but either way
everything was harmless, my prank was harmless, the effects were harmless
enough that’s why I just dismissed everything and called it a day, I call
everyday that went with him talking about his imaginary friend as normal
as-harmless, just harmless fun.
“Are you okay, grandfather?” I asked as his eyes began to
bulge out and his breathing began becoming heavy. “I think you should lie down
for a minute.”
I said walking towards him holding up his wooden cane. He
took out his hand in protest and gestured me to leave it while coughing
heavily, I then began to rub his back all the while as I tried to again extend
my hand into assistance. “I’m not that old, parasite. I’m going to finish this
story if it’s the last thing I do. Alice, sweetie do me a favor will you and
grab the box from under my bed will you.”
His face once again had that same flare as it did once
before causing me to muster a small grin. Alice ran out with teddy bear in hand
as her small form faded into the distance. “Listen, boy. I want you to take
Alice out.”
“Grandfather, I can’t- I’m not like you!” I said almost
screaming as the thought of being ordered to kill my little sister filled me
with anger. “I don’t mean murder her, you piece of shit. I meant take her out
somewhere, but here. I’m going to give you some pocket money just take her out
into some place with animatronics or whatever kids go for these days.”
“Is this it?” Alice asked carrying a small brown box, old
and crusty. “That’s it, sweetie. Let’s continue the story then.”
“After weeks had passed I hadn’t notice but he showed
himself less, I’ll admit I was worried so I tried the best I can to make an
excuse to see him. His room was neat and tidy and he himself was the exact
definition of a perfect child but there was something in his eyes that felt
empty. When I confronted him about this I was only greeted with a giggle and a
chuckle asking me to stop being silly but I knew something was wrong.”
“Come a bit closer, children.” We both leaned in closer as
our ears perked up with intrigue. “One night when I was in the bathroom
brushing my teeth, I saw his eye peeking through the small creak of the
bathroom door, I was feeling cold that night and my heart began to thump and
thump but I couldn’t move, somehow his stare had frozen me in place, I was
helpless as his figure from the shadows let itself be known, then he opened the
door, got on the floor, everybody walk the dinosaur.”
We both stared at our grandfather who had a cheeky grin in
his face. “Good night, children.” He said as he took his cane and walked away.
“Brother, we have been had. I propose a plan for revenge.”
My little sister said; her face still devoid of any emotion apart from
frustration. “Just let him have this one. Want to go out tonight, princess?”
My sudden engagement caused her to spring up and get ready,
it was really troubling the she didn’t question anything but I guess she had
the right to do that-she is quite young after all. I scratched the back of my
head as I went into my grandfather’s room, my grandfather sitting on his bed
looking like he was expecting me to come. We exchanged looks as we both knew
that he was lying, not about the story but about the ending of the story.
“You copped out.” I said as I sat on a nearby wooden chair.
“I did, but I don’t think you’ll appreciate me traumatizing your sister, now,
won’t you?”
“Yeah, but tell me the real ending.” I said quite serious in
tone. “Of course, that’s why you’re here and that’s why I was waiting here. We
don’t need to kid ourselves we both know that I’m not that kind.”
“I didn’t check up on him for a few days, I didn’t check up
on him at all, the last thing I remember him telling me is that he could now
hear Tony without me simulating the box game, he could do it only if he covered
his ears with his fingers and so I was rid of him for about a month then he
came up to me and said that he wanted to see Tony.”
“And that’s when you “improved” the box game, right?” I said
sternly causing him to raise his eyebrows up and down in approval. “I
“improved” it by numbing my sense of sight, pretending that I couldn’t see him
meant that he could see his friend, at least that’s what we both thought. Again
he sprinted out as he went up the stairs and into the rooftop.”
“The rules were if you couldn’t be heard, then you would hear
him and if you couldn’t be seen, then you would see him. And what he saw scared
him out of his body, he didn’t fall, he was dead before even reaching the
ground but I guess the eyes full of fright I saw that day was the eyes of a kid
falling to his death slowly, but I’m not that grossly optimistic, I know something
scared him, and that was Tony.”
“Here you go.” He said throwing a wallet to me filled with
bills. “You’re giving me all of this? I could actually afford a social life
with this.”
“I want you to spend it on your sister, be a brother that I
never was, a good one. But if you would prefer to disappoint me then, spend it
on fleeting happiness but I warn you, if you do, I’m going to haunt you for the
rest of your life.”
“Haunt, you aren’t dead yet.” I laughed as my grandfather
motioned a gun with his hands shooting his temples. “You’re going to kill
yourself?!”
“Not so loud, wouldn’t want her to hear us.” He said
grinning with his eyes closed. “I’m very old, my eyes weren’t what they used to
back in the day, but I’m still healthy in a sense all that’s wrong with me is
my legs, my eyes are still working in tip top shape and so does my ears but my
legs, they’re numb, boy.
And the he gave me a look of pure horror as he grabbed both
of his knees and ran his nails into them. “…I could feel it touching my legs.”
After that I said goodbye to my grandfather, Alice dressed
in a cute dress, her teddy bear left in her room and her arms intertwined with
mine. We said goodbye to our grandfather, Alice waved her hand in goodbye with
pure happiness as I nodded my head as he did as well, we both know that he was
going through with it and I couldn’t blame him.
Along with his wallet which held the money inside it was
also the key to his pickup truck, which was fairly unused, I drove off with
Alice who was admiring the view of the night life, with people buzzing about
and giving them a greeting as we passed by. We drove into a drive thru as I
noticed Alice pouting and giving me a look of disappointment.
“This isn’t cool at all.” She said grumpily. “Come on. Don’t
give me that look, see- look over there.”
I pointed at a bunch of people from inside the fast food
restaurant hurry out along with their families as I opened the door to my side
and quickly opened the door to hers I then grabbed her as we both took a seat
in the back of the pickup truck.
“What’s going to happen, big brother?” She asked as her head
on my chest. “Something, pretty… ”
I said as the first explosion of fireworks went out, as the
reflection of the spark reflected on her eyes which were two times their normal
size. The beauty of the explosion, the shaped it formed and the mixture between
blue and yellow shone in the sky like diamonds and gold, I would be in awe but
the fireworks reminded me of the inevitable…
Had the bang gone off the same time as the first firework
exploded? Was it as loud? I didn’t know but somehow something so beautiful
caused me to remember something so morbid is beyond me, I was always the go
with the flow kind of guy, I would forget something if it wasn’t actually
appropriate for the time being but I couldn’t forget the inevitable, where will
I find his dead body? Will I be the one to see it first? All these questions
were silenced with a simple flick to my chin.
“What was that for?” I asked Alice who was glaring daggers
at me. “Read the moment, big bro.”
She said puffing her cheeks I just apologized and patted her
head as I hugged her beneath the stars and fireworks of the night sky.
I drove back home, Alice sleeping with a look of content on
her face as I picked her up into a piggy back ride, I knew she was awake. I
noticed that our parent’s cars wasn't there, that’s good... I guess. I gently
dropped her into her bed, wrapped her into her blanket, gave her the teddy bear
and kissed her on her cheek not forgetting to turn on the night light before I
left.
Someone as lazy as me would be tired now, but I wasn’t-call
it something preventing another, you know when a person wouldn’t jump off a
bridge because of common sense or maybe a person who runs in the morning in
order to get fit. But before I went into my grandfather’s room I noticed the
box from earlier, the box Alice took from his room. I was hesitant but I opened
it anyway, and inside were books and a note.
It read: “Don’t worry- these aren’t cursed, be sure to read
this to her if you’re sick of reading the same fairytales over and over again.”
I gave a small smile as I picked up a book, fairly normal
and newly bought-these weren’t definitely cursed. But that small smile faded
when I heard a creak, from my grandfather’s room. Call it curiosity, call it
kindness in fear of my little sister stumbling into it but I went and closed
the door but not before peeking.
I hung my head as I closed the door from the inside, the
image haunted me as I stumbled to sit in the same chair he stood moments ago. I
was exhausted; I needed to rest so I slept on the dinning room table with my
hands as a pillow I brought down my head into slumber.
Forever burnt into my mind is the image of my grandfather’s
corpse, dead. Blood splattered across the wall along with a small bullet hole,
his eyes were white, his face was full of unspeakable horror and he had a
bullet hole…on his shoulder. He didn’t die in his own hands…
… My grandfather missed.
Category:Ritual
Category:Beings