LOVING MY BEAST

THE TRUTH

  I took a cold shower and came out with some shorts and a tee-shirt only to get a disapproving look from Owen. "What?" I said with a hint of annoyance from his judging look.

My friend stares at me as if I had committed a sacrilege. “Are you seriously wearing that?” Andrew pointed out with a look of confusion. “What's wrong with this?” I asked. “First of all, that pairing is off. Secondly, are you seriously wearing that to a nightclub?” Oliver explained.

“I’m going nowhere!” I stated as a matter of fact with a look of disdain and left for my room. I took off my slippers and got into bed. I heard the knob turn. I slightly open one eye and saw them walk in. s**t! I forgot to lock the door. I turn my head to the other side. I felt my bed sink as they get into bed with me. I did not budge. They wanted to get a reaction but I won’t do as they plan maybe they’ll get bored and leave.

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Boy, I was wrong. As their friend, I knew they wouldn’t leave but I still clung to hope. Now they were having a conversation in full swing with two of them even using my back as a pillow. A frown formed on my face while I tried to keep my eyes closed despite their loud conversation. I felt a finger press between my eyebrows. I was tempted to open my eyes but my stubbornness right now was on a different level. “Yikes!  Continue frowning and you’ll really be single forever.” Owen commented, poking between my eyebrows.

“Speaking of relationships I wonder how this one does in bed.” “That's weird s**t to think about, Owen.” Oliver scrunches his nose in disgust. “But with his stamina as a doctor to work continues night shifts without even a yawn… poor girl must have to stay up all night to satisfy this beast.” He contradicts his previous words just like that.

“My, her moans must be really satisfying to hear.” Liam chuckled seeming to derive some form of amusement from this. “She’ll probably scream 'yes baby.'”  Oliver moaned. “No more like 'yes harder.'” Owen corrected. Just like that the four pigs behind me begin to moan shamelessly in high-pitched voices.

Unable to stand their nonsense I get up and storm into my closet, visibly pissed. I get dressed and come out with an outfit suitable for a night out. Maintaining my irritated look, I walked out of the room with them closely tailing me with satisfied looks.

I get into the hummer limo that the chauffeur has open and they also follow suit. Liam hands me a glass of apple juice which I proceed to ignore. I could see Owen rolling his eyes “Well boys we have an unexpected grouchy ten-year-old to babysit.” He gives me a challenging looking.

“At least give me some damn wine,” I grumble with folded arm. Liam gives me a bright yet spine-chilling smile. “Sorry doctor White but I feel the need to remind you that hepatitis is a thing and the lifestyle you developed a week ago is leading you down that path.” Liam is a doctor just like me so his anger is valid.

I rolled my eyes and sunk into the chair. “Do you want to talk about what’s causing all this sh*t?” Oliver turned to me with a worried look. I looked away “What's there to say, I’m a selfish bastard who deserves to die alone.”

“Well, there’s no cap in that,” Owen admits and I throw a pillow in his face and he laughs. “But you can try working on it. Nothing is permanent. If you find something wrong with you, work on it.”

“I wish it were as easy as changing myself and asking for forgiveness,” I muttered with a melancholic smile with my head rested on the chair. “Oh come on it can’t be that bad.” Oliver tried to reason. “Does murder sound bad enough to you?” I sigh with my eyes closed. Everyone went quiet with wide eyes. The car was dead silent as if everyone was trying to process what they just heard.

“What?” Owen bellowed. “Alex you’ll need to explain further. What incarnation did you mean by murder?” Liam added. Oliver was quiet he just stared at me, waiting for an explanation with a neutral look.

I clenched my jaw trying my best to hold any form of emotion that was threatening to pour out. Slowly and calmly, I explained it. By the time I was done the expressions on their faces varied. “Bloody hell.” Liam cussed in his thick British accent. “The fact that you were young is no f*cking excuse.” Owen raked his hand through his red hair at loss. “That can’t be true.” Confusion was written all over Adrian’s face.

Oliver was silent for a while with a pensive look on his face as if calculating something. It took a while before he finally spoke. “First of all no matter how much of a douche bag you were…” I wasn’t even allowed to feel offended at his choice of words. “That’s not something you would attempt. Do you remember the exact events of that day?” “Not really. My memory from that day is all foggy. The thought of my parent's divorce had occupied my mind. I can barely remember the events leading up to the airport.”

“Well, we can try going through the cameras’ footage from that day in the mansion to confirm. Did she give an exact description that made her conclude that it was you?” “She said it happened so fast but she managed to catch a male with black her and blue eyes.”

I devious smile appeared on Oliver’s lips. He stared at me like he was up to no good. “Alexander?” He called in a spine-chilling voice. “Yes,” I responded with a suspicious look. “Are you the only damn person in the entire White household with black hair and blue eyes?” I look at him with wide eyes.

“Impossible!” I exclaimed undertone as if doubting myself. “W-what reason would he have in the first place? It makes no sense. It can’t be him.” I tried to defend him. Oliver rose an eyebrow with a challenging look in his eyes. “We’ll have to see for ourselves then. Driver change course to……” He mentions the name of a town that gives me nostalgia at the mere mention of its name.

It was a long drive and I dozed off on the way. “Wake up sleepy head.” Owen lightly shakes me up. I reluctantly get and rub my eye. We alight the vehicle and enter the huge mansion. The familiar walls bring back so many memories especially those with her.

An old woman welcomes us. I hug the fifty-something-year-old woman with a genuine smile. “Cassandra it’s been long.” “Too long. Look at you. You’re a full-fledged man now.” The woman marvels at my physique. She then turns to the boys behind me and the smile on her face disappears.

“Boys.” She looked them up and down with a straight face. “Cassandra~” Owen called in a half terrified voice. “Hope you’re not still mad at us.” Cassandra folded her arm and directed a stink eye towards them. They glanced around at nothing in particular trying to avoid Cassandra’s death stare.

The last time they came to visit here they messed up the place so bad Cassandra had to call for help and it still took a week to get the mansion back in shape. She turned to me and the look of displeasure disappeared so fast it made me wary. “Let’s go in.” She gave me a warm smile. I closely walked behind her. The mansion hadn’t changed even one bit.

The golden interior was just as it was years ago. Cassandra motioned for me to take a seat on the couch in the living room. The boys try to follow suit but bolt back up when they notice Cassandra’s death stare. They continue to avoid eye contact with her.  “So what brings you here? Cause I know you wouldn’t drive such a distance just to come and see my face and go back.”

“Oh come on I would.” I try to convince her but it was obvious she was not buying any of my sweet talks. “By the way, what happened? The media is going crazy about your sudden disappearance.” “That’s kind of part of the reason why I came here.” “Really? Tell me, how can I help you?” “I need access to the recording on the security cameras from the day I left.”

She was quiet for a split second as if trying to process my words. She quickly got up and dashed upstairs and came down holding a huge box filled with DVDs. She placed them down and went up again this time bringing a DVD player. She connects it to the TV. “I’ll be right back.” She says as she runs in the direction of her quarters. She comes back with a red diary. She opens a bookmarked page and shows it as a date. “Search for the DVDs with this date written on them." I nodded and began searching through the pile with her.

She turned to the boys who were standing at a “safe” distance from us. Honestly, if Cassandra wanted to rip them apart she could do it from a mile away so the distance didn’t matter. “Don’t just stand there… Help out!” She ordered in an irritated tone.

They scramble to help me look through the huge pile of DVDs. After a long search, we found four DVDs from that day. Each DVD had footage from cameras in different locations of the house. We decided to play them in order, starting with the one at the gate.

The footage was several hours long so we increased the play speed and kicked back to relax. The footage showed me going to school then Cassandra left the house for grocery shopping. After some time a Nissan Versa came into the house. We couldn’t see the color because the footage was black and white. The door opens and someone steps out. Before we could figure out who it was the camera cuts off. We put in the next DVD. This time we see another side of the entrance. After waiting for long I come into view. I tell Cassandra to go back a few seconds and reduce the speed by a lot.

I notice a glitch in the recording; it’s been tampered with! I wouldn’t be surprised if the first one was too, the footage continues. I speed in with my truck, it was a Nissan Titan. An Armada closely tailing me comes to a stop right behind me. A guard got down to open the door and my dad stepped out.

I felt a tinge of nostalgia. It was the first time in a long time that he hugged me. I was too zoned out to hug him back. Everything was happening so fast I didn’t get time to process it all. I got into the back of the SUV and dad followed suit. . Just a few minutes after we left a high school girl came into a view. My heart felt like it had stopped for a moment and I held my breath.

Without realizing I leaned in. She looked fidgety and unsure as she looked around the compound, she tucked a strand of her beautiful white hair. She approached the door, going out of the camera’s view. I quickly scrambled to change the DVD and sat on the floor right in front of the TV as a kid. We now get a clear view of the entrance.

Claire paces around at the entrance with her hand on her belly. She looks troubled after a while she took a breath and rang the bell. After five rings, and still no answer, she very hesitantly opened the door and goes out of view.

I put in the last one. This camera covers half the interior of the house. We see Claire glancing around nervously calling out my name but still not getting any response. She carefully ascends the stairs and upon reaching the top a noise coming from the kitchen catches her attention. She turns around to check as soon as she turned a male figure quickly threaded towards her. When she turned back she was pushed without even a second to react.

 She tumbled down the cold tiled staircase and hit her head on the cold marble floor beneath the staircase.  She lay there bleeding. Unfortunately, the perpetrator’s face was blurred out confirming that it was tampered with but I could make out his black hair. The person watched quietly as she crawled in a pool of her blood begging for help. She coughed blood and seemed as if she was gasping for air, the figure watched on with no sign of wanting to help.

Then, Cassandra who had just arrived rushed to her aid and the figure disappeared amidst the chaos. Cassandra called an ambulance and she was taken away on a stretcher, unconscious. My heart felt like it would explode at any moment. The tightness was almost unbearable, seeing the state she was in. “She got to the hospital on time,” Cassandra spoke from behind me in a Grimm voice.

“The doctors managed to save her based on sheer luck. However, the little one living in her didn’t have much luck.” I swallowed hard. My throat felt dry and empty. “Why? Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked with my back facing her and my head lowered.

“Believe me, I wanted to, more than anything else but I couldn’t. That day I was waiting for her to come out of the ICU. I met her mother who made me swear to never mention a word of this to you. She told me her daughter wanted nothing more to do with you, that her daughter was only in this state because of you. It was for the best."

I don’t blame her for not telling me. Everything she said was true, it would have been for the best if we had never crossed paths again. I look up at the TV I need to find that person. “Cassandra play it back five minutes in” I order. She sends it back five minutes and I tell her to pause. Then I tell her to zoom in. Though the man’s face was blurry, the rest of his body was clear as day.

 She zoomed in and I told her to focus on his left hand. She zoomed in on his left hand. He had his sleeve rolled up so the tattoo was easy to distinguish. Rage, I felt rage. A lump formed in my throat and my fists were shaking as I clenched them. “Just as suspected” I heard Oliver. “There’s more to big brother White than meets the eye.” His tone was half-amused half annoyed. Before I knew it I was making my way to the garage with keys in hand. I got into my old Nissan Titan and sped off.

Why? Why the hell was the reason for that? How could you do such a thing, big brother? I held the wheel tight and clenched my jaw. I glanced at the rearview mirror. My eyes we bloodshot and my face was red with fury. I looked at the road ahead. “Tyler Nathan White, you’re so f*cking dead.”