Brother

Roger would always come back home from school first. His older brother, Sam, went to a different school that let their students out later than his. Today was no different.

As usual, Roger went to his bedroom, sat down at his computer, and played video games on it. He would not start his homework until after dinner unless his teachers had assigned his class more homework than usual or if there was a big test coming up.

The front door opened with a bang; Sam was home.

Roger didn't care much though, he continued playing his video games as his brother went up the stairs to his own room. Today, though, Sam slammed the door to his room shut, which usually meant that he was in a bad mood. Roger briefly wondered what could have made Sam so angry, but let it slip his mind and continued on with his own daily routine.

The rest of the day was completely normal, and, outside of Sam staying in his room more, nothing else about him had changed.

As the days went by, though, Sam's behavior began to change a bit more. He would stay in his room much longer than he normally would, and not only talked less at home, but also, from what Roger overheard from his parents, at school as well.

Roger tried to talk to his brother once, but Sam wouldn't respond. I wonder what could've made Sam become like this? Roger thought to himself.

When Roger came home after school one day though, he was surprised to see his older brother's backpack laying by the door already.

Roger assumed that Sam's school had a minimum day, but if he did then he would've heard of it. The sounds coming from his brother's room confirmed that he was home. Suddenly, he remembered how Sam's behavior changed in the past few days. Maybe he did something wrong at school and had to be taken home early? Or was he sick? He had a feeling that Sam also could've snuck out of his school and made his way back home, though Roger wasn't sure of how Sam could've pulled that off.

Other than that, it was a normal day, and Roger dropped his backpack on the floor and went upstairs to his room.

Roger played his video games and forgot about Sam, quickly losing track of time. Eventually, he glanced at the clock and realized that it was already time for him and his brother to eat dinner. However, neither of his parents were home. Roger was confused, since his mother would always be home before dinner. Maybe his brother knew, there wasn't anywhere else he could get the information.

Getting up from his seat, Roger walked over to the closed door of his brother's bedroom and knocked on the door.

"Hello?" Roger said. "Sam? Do you know why mom isn't home yet?"

The sounds of what Roger presumed to be Sam finishing up some homework stopped. Then, after a brief moment of silence, he could hear his brother get up from his chair and walk slowly towards the door. Sam’s footsteps were loud, almost like he was stomping, as they got closer to the door. Then, the door opened with a bang.

Whoever, or whatever was standing in the doorway before him looked similar to his brother, but it was clear that it was not Sam. The monster had eyes that were completely red, with sharp fangs that filled its mouth, squeezing together as if the thing's mouth could not contain the number of teeth it had. Small but sharp claws stuck out of its fingers, and the feet were shorter but wider than they should be.

The monster that looked like Sam roared and began to chase Roger throughout his house, and Roger had almost made it to the front door when it pounced.

The house was silent.

A neighbor had heard a loud, monstrous scream, and went over to check on Roger's house. The front door was dented, the lock broken. He wrenched the door open as the other neighbors came out to see what was happening.

The neighbor who wrenched open the door found some blood splattered on the door and the floor in front of it. Just the remains of another victim of the Brother.